28 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 OCTOBER 2023 ALB YOUNG LAWYER CAREER SURVEY don’t proactively do something. Especially when your seniors don’t know you very well, you should proactively report your work. You must first have something to show others before others can provide feedback.” Regarding resource allocation, Li says that the firm he works for currently has a good mechanism. On the one hand, the public case department of the firm will draw up a list of young lawyers, allocate some cases to individuals every month, and give subsidies to young lawyers with lower income. “Although the amount is not much, it shows the care of the firm for younger colleagues.” On the other hand, his firm has established a four-tier partner system, which is more conducive to helping young people achieve step-by-step promotion. “Generally speaking, promotion is based on ability. As long as you meet the basic standards, you can be promoted to a tier-4 partner.” Regarding whether firms should give more management roles to young people, as mentioned earlier, respondents generally support this view. According to Luo: “Different generations have different ideas and thinking, so it is beneficial for reliable and thoughtful young lawyers to participate in law firm management.” But he also believes that “there must be one precondition: young lawyers must first prove their ability to generate revenue and prove that they have achieved some results in this industry. The purpose of law firm management is to enable each lawyer to enjoy better career prospects and gain higher income. How can a young lawyer who has not achieved very good results for himself or herself help other lawyers increase income and tap development potential? I don’t think this makes sense.” INDIVIDUALITY AND EXPRESSION In addition to earning a decent living by working as lawyers, young people today also want to get more from their work. After all, work is an important part of life, and it is also one of the channels that helps individuals gain a sense of existence, value, and accomplishment. Young people do not want a “zero-sum relationship” between individuals and organizations but hope the two sides can reconcile and support each other. Eighty-seven percent of survey respondents say they “want to work in an organization where they can fully ‘be themselves’ instead of suppressing ‘who they are’.” In reality, however, one lawyer comments: “As long as young people do not comply with the firm’s traditional expectations and instead raise their own demands, they are dismissed as ‘having high requirements but little ability’.” In addition, 78 percent of respondents say they “greatly value the sense of life fulfillment that work brings,” while 70 percent “would like to show my own worth by engaging in some or more pro bono legal services, if possible.” At the same time, young people find it difficult to accept firms whose values are too contrary to their own, with 78 percent saying “I will choose to leave if I cannot agree with the firm’s specific measures in terms of human resources, management approaches, reputation, development strategies, etc.” Another interesting finding is that firms may wish to be more open-minded about the “gossiping culture”: In the era of self-media, respecting everyone’s right to free expression can help a firm gain popularity. In this survey, 76 percent of respondents agree that the “gossiping culture” exists to a certain extent in their firms, where “young lawyers will chat about their firms’ partners, management, latest policies, etc.” However, only 17 percent think “gossiping culture is bad for a law firm.” Speaking of the sense of value and meaning brought about by working as a lawyer, Li has much to share: he has worked in the government sector for several years after graduation before finally making up his mind to resign and become a lawyer. “Even a new graduate would have weighed different options before finally choosing lawyering as a career. So those who choose to become lawyers still have ambitions and ideals and want to find their self-worth.” In addition, young lawyers’ sense of value is not restricted to themselves. Li, who is 28 now, often chats with friends of similar age, and he “finds that as a new generation in the legal SURVEY RESULTS I am willing to trade off some salary for more personal time 我愿意用一定程度降低 薪酬来换取更多的私人 休息时间 Agree strongly 很同意 Agree 同意 Neutral 一般 Disagree 不同意 Disagree strongly 很不同意 22.88% 28.82% 27.97% 11.86% 8.47% If I can’t align with the law firm on actions related to human resources, management style, reputation, development strategy, etc., I would choose to leave 如果无法认同律所在人 力资源、管理方式、声誉、 发展策略等方面的具体 举措，我会选择离开 Agree strongly 很同意 Agree 同意 Neutral 一般 Disagree 不同意 Disagree strongly 很不同意 46.62% 32.2% 16.1% 2.54% 2.54%
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