2021 ALB China中国最大30家律所专访
海纳百川，当为大所——盈科为更多人才提供更广阔的的施展舞台
Yingke Law Firm: creating a larger stage for more talented lawyers
受访律师：
ALB：祝贺盈科律师事务所再一次入选榜单并蝉联榜首！在过去一年中，盈科在团队规模、分所建设方面取得了怎样的进展？
李正主任：截止今年10月底，我们在中国区有98家分所、12022名律师，并在美国、德国、英国等83个国家的145个城市设有分支机构。我们盈科有足够大的空间、有足够大的胸怀、有足够大的舞台吸引更多的同仁来加入盈科。
ALB：广纳人才后的盈科如何进行人才培养和团队管理？这对专业化发展起到了怎样的作用？
李正主任：在人才培养方面，我们采取以下几点：首先，盈科给予青年律师宽广的施展舞台和充分的成长空间。作为一个非常具有包容性的平台，我们一直不拘一格、大胆使用人才，只要优秀的年轻律师有着想要有所作为的激情，盈科就会提供这样的机会；其次，我们注重培养律师提升专业服务能力。在盈科，我们提供内部培训，并且通过各个专业委员会、专业部门等共同提升律师的专业能力。再次，重点引进优秀专业人才。专业律师的吸纳，尤其是在某一专业领域里已经十分优秀的律师的横向引进，对我们的专业化建设来说是至关重要的。
在团队管理方面，盈科有着独特的职业经理人制度，职业经理人制度的核心就在于，一旦成为职业经理人，无论之前是否为律师，都不能再办理案件，专职服务于客户、律师的需求。职业经理人既是重大决策的参与者、日常运营管理的执行者，同时也是经营责任的承担者。各地法律市场服务的发展不均衡，法律服务水平也不尽相同，想让盈科在每个地方都有竞争力，就要根据当地的市场环境为律师提供高标准的服务。
执行主任带领行政服务团队，为律师提供行政辅助、财务支持、品牌推广、风险控制、客户管理、市场营销等后勤相关服务，律师只需专注于精进业务，利用盈科平台为客户争取最大权益，提供更全面的服务。在这项制度下，管理团队与业务人员各司其职，实现了“1+1>2”的协同效应。
ALB：今年8月，盈科官宣了德国杜塞尔多夫办公室的成立。这一布局有何重要意义？后疫情时代的盈科在国际化发展道路上面临哪些挑战？又是如何应对的？
杨琳主任：德国是欧洲强国，拥有强劲的经济和众多拥有核心技术的企业。因此盈科在欧洲布局的第一站选择了德国。盈科德国合伙人律师由经验丰富的盈科中国律师、德国本土律师以及持有中德双证的华人律师组成。未来随着业务的发展，盈科德国也可能会在其他城市设立分支机构，比如柏林、慕尼黑、汉堡、法兰克福等。
作为中国律所，盈科在国际化方面的挑战主要有三个方面。第一是合作律所的选择。盈科全球法律服务网络已经覆盖83个国家，我们需要继续扩充国际版图。在选择合作伙伴时，我们的首要关注是该律所认同中国发展，当然专业服务能力和工作效率也是我们的重要考量。我们通常是通过现有体系内的合伙人推荐他们多年合作的律所加入我们的网络。第二是直营律所的设立。我们下一步的战略是在中国企业投资较多的国家成立直营律所，但是在很多国家还不允许外国律所进入或者条件极为严苛。这种情况下我们会设立咨询公司，法律事宜与当地律所合作，盈科派驻中国律师在当地协助客户与各方沟通。第三是涉外法律人才。对政治经济有深刻的理解，熟练使用一门外语作为工作语言、在某一领域有丰富经验的涉外法律人才是很稀缺的。我们在对内部律师加强培训的基础上引入外部人才，保障我们国际化人才储备。
ALB：未来，盈科还有着怎样的战略规划？
李正主任：未来，盈科将继续加大中国区律所和全球法律服务网络的建立。在国内方面，着眼于中国律师行业发展大局，了解并预判中国律师行业的发展趋势,在大局观的指引下做分所规划。不局限于覆盖全部一线城市、直辖市和全国大多数省份的省会,“哪里有客户需求，盈科就走到哪里”,重点关注国内GDP排名前100及其他具有发展潜力的城市。
杨琳主任：在国际方面，一是在更多的国家开设直营海外分所。我们会考察中国企业“走出去”的重点目标国家都有哪些，然后选择允许外国律所设立分支机构的国家，在当地设立海外直营分所，并遴选优秀涉外律师派驻直营分所，从而建立顺畅、高效的沟通渠道，并同时与当地政府、商会、律所等建立友好的合作关系。
二是继续扩大盈科全球法律服务网络。我们会进一步与外国顶尖律所交流探讨合作事宜，选择和邀请认同中国发展、专业性强、沟通高效的知名律所加入网络，继续在全球范围内向中国企业和公民提供跨语言、跨文化、跨法域的专业而高效的法律服务。
ALB: Congratulations on retaining the top spot in the ALB China Top 30 Largest Law Firms this year! Could you share with us what progress Yingke has made in the development of teams and the setting up of offices and branches over the last year?
Li Zheng (Li): As of the end of October this year, Yingke has opened 98 offices in China, with 12022 lawyers; and Yingke’s international network covers 145 cities in 83 countries around the world, including among others the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. With its broad space, open and productive work environment, and extensive network, Yingke welcomes more legal talent to join us.
ALB: With more and more legal talent joining Yingke, what is your strategy for talent development and team management? How does this contribute to the firm’s development plan?
Li: We take the following measures for talent development: First, Yingke gives young lawyers a broad stage for displaying their talents and capabilities and offers them sufficient room for career development and personal growth. At Yingke, we offer a very inclusive platform for young talent to try out various possibilities and find the practice areas in which they want to specialize. Secondly, we focus on training lawyers on their capabilities to provide quality services and help them excel. We provide internal training and help lawyers improve professional capabilities through various expertise committees and departments. And thirdly, we always attach importance to recruiting outstanding talent, in particular the lateral recruitment of those who are experts in some practice areas, which we believe is vital to the specialization construction of the firm.
In terms of the team management, Yingke adopts a unique professional manager system. According to this system, whoever serves as a professional manager can no longer handle cases, instead, he needs to focus on serving clients and lawyers. A professional manager participates in making major decisions, and meanwhile is the one who executes daily operation and management matters, and bears business operation responsibilities. The development of legal service market varies in different regions, so does the level of legal services provided. To make Yingke a competitive firm in all regions, professional managers need to provide lawyers with high-standard services in light of the local market environment.
Under the leadership of the executive director, the administrative service team provides lawyers with administrative assistance, financial support, brand promotion, risk control, customer management, marketing and other logistics-related services. Lawyers only need to focus on improving their expertise and use the Yingke’s platform to strive for the greatest rights and interests for their clients, and provide them with more comprehensive services. Under this unique system, the management team and business personnel perform their respective duties, achieving a synergy effect of “1+1>2”.
ALB: Yingke officially announced the opening of its office in Dusseldorf, Germany in August this year. What’s the strategic significance of this office? And how do you address the challenges facing Yingke on the path of international expansion in the post-pandemic era?
Yang Lin (Yang): We chose to set up Dusseldorf Office in Germany as our first stop on the business expansion in Europe because of the economic and innovative strengths of Germany, which is now widely regarded the most powerful economy in Europe. The partners of Yingke Germany are composed of experienced Yingke Chinese lawyers, local German lawyers and Chinese lawyers with qualifications to practice law in both China and Germany. Yingke Germany will possibly open offices in other major cities of Germany, such as Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and Frankfurt, if the business requires so.
As a Chinese law firm, Yingke is faced with three main challenges in the international business expansion. The first is to find the right firms to form partnerships. Yingke’s global legal service network now covers 83 countries around the world, and we need to continue to expand our international territory. When forming a partnership with a foreign law firm, our primary concern is that we must agree with each other about the development of China. Then of course, professional service capabilities and work efficiency are very important factors. Firms usually join our network through the referrals of the existing partners in our network. The second is the establishment of directly operated law firms. Our next-step strategy is to establish directly operated law firms in foreign countries where there are many Chinese-invested companies. But the challenge is that many of those countries do not allow foreign law firms to set up offices there, or they impose very strict access restrictions. In that case, we will set up a consulting firm there to cooperate with local law firms on legal matters. Yingke will send Chinese lawyers to the consulting firm to assist clients in the communication with all parties concerned. And thirdly, it is about foreign-related legal talents. The foreign-related legal talents who have a deep understanding of politics and economy, are proficient in using a foreign language as a working language, and have extensive experience in a certain field are scarce. We will recruit more talent while strengthening the internal training of our lawyers to build and maintain an effective talent pool.
ALB: What is your strategic planning for the next step?
Li: Yingke will continue to step up efforts in the development of the firm in China and the construction of global legal service network. At the domestic level, we will work on the expansion layout in the country, and learn about and predict the development trend of China’s legal industry to open offices under the guidance of the outlook of the overall situation. Our domestic network will not only cover first-tier cities, municipalities directly under the Central Government and most provincial capitals, but also the top 100 Chinese cities by GDP and other cities with development potential, so that “clients can reach us wherever they need us”.
Yang: Internationally, on the one hand, we will open directly-operated overseas branches in more countries. We will work to find out the top investment destination countries of most Chinese companies that are planning to “go global”, set up overseas directly-operated branches in the countries that allow foreign firms to set up offices, and dispatch outstanding foreign-related lawyers to be stationed in those directly-operated branches to establish smooth and efficient communication channels, and at the same time build friendly cooperative relations with local governments, chambers of commerce, law firms, etc.
On the other hand, we will continue to expand Yingke’s global legal service network. In this regard, we will develop further cooperation with top foreign law firms, select and invite well-known law firms that recognize China’s development and have strong expertise and efficient communication to join the network, and continue to efficiently provide Chinese companies and citizens with multilanguage, cross-cultural, and cross-jurisdiction legal services on a global scale.
