The article is on foreign law firms in China and it starts noting foreign lawyers “are not permitted to practice law in China.” Thus, “when a deal is completed and a formal legal docu­ment is necessary, they can’t create it or litigate it.” Despite this, the Chinese legal market has been heating up and foreign firms are fighting to get in.

Great post on a subject that hits close to home for many of us lawyers who have an interest in or actually work in the China market. For a while, as a young law student I tied my carriage to the China horse…interning in China for both my 1L and 2L summers and then moving back to China after graduation to “start” my legal career only to be shunned by more than a few American firms for not having “solid lawyering (read: American) skills.” In the beginning, I actually bought into this feihua. I figured that unless I would somehow get “big firm” experience back home I was doomed to teaching gigs as the only avenue of employment for the expat attorney in China. But as I delved deeper into the China legal scheme I found that “big firm” experience is about as useful as a one chopstick with a plate of rice. You see…officially foreign firms/attorneys are not allowed to do anything other then advise on legal issues in their home jurisdiction (American firm=advice on American legal issues) and/or general international legal advice. Officially, they are not allowed to give legal advice about the Chinese legal structure. However, they can act as consultants for business strategy, management strategy, due diligence issues and marketing. In other words, they can do what business consultants such as Arthur Anderson having been doing for more than a decade. And there lies the rub…basically…officially, foreign law firms/attorneys can only act as a business consultant. The bottom line then is that all the snobbery that many of the big law firms have towards an attorney deciding to start out in China is a crock. My advise would be then for the young attorney that wants to start out in China…rather then seek a job at a law firm…try an alternative route by looking for work in the myriad consulting firms or business intelligence companies. It might not have the shine of a position at Baker Botts but you’ll be doing similar work and getting good experience at it. After a couple of years “cutting your teeth” in that forum…your chances of finding a more lucrative position at the firm are extremely good…that is if you even want to go back to those hoary halls of fluff where all the real legal work is done by Chinese firms and Chinese licensed attorneys

Chinese Foreign Lawyer Ethics Rules Unclear?