33 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM/CHINA 2023 ALB CHINA TOP 15 FEMALE LAWYERS services involving international trade, ship financing, non-litigation projects in maritime logistics, as well as litigation and arbitration business. Zheng has also won multiple awards for her outstanding performance. For instance, Zheng was selected as one of the first members of the young lawyer pool of the Shanghai Bar Association in 2010. In 2018, she was awarded the nomination prize for the Shanghai Outstanding Female Lawyer and was selected as one of the outstanding lawyers handling foreign-related matters worthy of recommendation for the 45th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up. Zheng believes that these awards validate her years of hard work. In terms of theoretical research and legislative proposals, Zheng was invited to participate as an expert in the formulation of several regulations and policies and research topics, such as the formulation of the Measures of the People’s Republic of China on the Registration of Ships, as well as the revision of the Admiralty law by the Ministry of Transportation. Zheng was also appointed as an expert on the revision of the regulations of the registration of ships, as well as a legal advisor of the ship registration. Zheng was entrusted by the China Maritime Arbitration Commission in 2014 to draft the standard format of ship financing and leasing contracts. It was completed in 2022 and officially released at the North Bund Forum in 2022. “It was China’s first and only standard format of contract specialized for ship financing and leasing. With more than 100 pages, it is a detailed document that provides a universally accepted contract sample in the field of maritime finance and acts as China’s sample contract in international shipping,” says Zheng. Ma Zhe, the Executive Partner at Grandway Law Offices, has been with the firm since graduation and worked her way up from paralegal to associate and partner. “Grandway Law Offices has always adhered to the mentorship mechanism. I received rigorous and professional training as well as friendships from my colleagues when I first joined the firm. I am also willing to pass on the tradition after becoming a senior lawyer,” says Ma. Regarding obtaining recognition from clients, Ma believes it is essential to see things from the client’s perspective. “Put yourself in the client’s shoes. When there is a conflict between the client’s interests and your own, the client’s interests are paramount. Additionally, you should not make moral or value judgments about the client and strictly adhere to your professional duties.” Paula Liu, a partner at Han Kun Law Offices, tells ALB that after graduating from Peking University Law School in 2001, she obtained her LL.M. and Ph.D. in the U.S. and returned to China at the end of 2005. From her perspective, she was fortunate to start practicing in China at a time when cross-border M&A and private equity in the modern sense were beginning to emerge in the country. Prior to joining Han Kun, she had been practicing in two reputable international law firms for more than ten years, focusing on private equity and M&A. Her years of experience have laid a solid foundation for her development. “At that time, is still an imported product and a local newborn, and both investors and portfolio companies are in the process of figuring out. While international practices are useful as references, a great deal of localized exploration and thinking is required to make them commercially viable in the domestic environment. Thanks to my top-tier legal education background both in the U.S. and in China, I have been able to participate in this historical process and witness the localization, maturation, and marketization of private equity investment. During this process, I have come to realize that lawyers need to constantly refresh their knowledge structure to adapt to the changes. The completion of a pioneering transaction often means the opening up of new frontiers and opportunities for new business,” says Liu. Liu also points out that since transactions involve different areas, a transactional lawyer should not limit themselves to a particular form of investment and M&A at a certain stage. “Enterprises focus on different fields when they are at different stages FAN ZHAOXIA 范朝霞 DeHeng Law Offices 德恒律师事务所 FENG XIAOYI 冯晓奕 Grandall Law Firm 国浩律师事务所 CATHY FU 傅莲芳 AllBright Law Offices 锦天城律师事务所 LI HAIRONG 李海容 Zhong Lun Law Firm 中伦律师事务所 PAULA LIU 刘云鸽 Han Kun Law Offices 汉坤律师事务所
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA0NzE4Mw==