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IV. Demand for Legal Services in the GBA

(b) Law firms in both regions will maintain loose cooperation model in the short term

As mentioned above, the mode of cooperation between the Mainland law firms and Hong Kong legal
practitioners is mainly done through ad hoc or permanent partnerships, with “case-by-case cooperation” being
the main mode.

From the current status of cooperation between Mainland law firms and Hong Kong law firms, the

geographical distance between the two regions is close but the cooperation is loose. For areas such as Shenzhen
and Dongguan, which are geographically closer to Hong Kong, there is no imminent need to set up representative
offices or partnership associations as it is possible to commute within a day. For Guangzhou, where there

are relatively more representative offices, most of them also adopt a loose case-by-case cooperation model.

According to the survey data, some Mainland law firms also indicate that it is more appropriate to maintain the
existing loose case-by-case cooperation model. In the coming few years, this situation will not change much due
to the convenience of transportation and the limitations imposed by the types of business.

(c) Mode of cooperation between law firms in the two regions developing in the direction
of partnership associations

Although the current mode of cooperation between law firms in the Mainland and Hong Kong is dominated
by casework collaboration, it is precisely through this collaboration approach that fosters mutual understanding

and cooperation between the two regions.
According to the survey data, 73.3% of the surveyed Mainland law firms indicate that partnership

associations can help Mainland lawyers gain international business experience. 63.3% indicate that partnership
associations help expand their business scope and create more job opportunities in the Mainland. Most of

the interviewed Hong Kong law firms generally agree that the provisions regarding the capital contribution
limit, scope of business, hiring of lawyers and scope of practice as outlined in the “Interim Measures of the

Guangdong Justice Department on Hong Kong Law Firms and Macao Law Firms Operating in the Form of
Partnership Association with Mainland Law Firms in Guangdong Province” are reasonable and agreeable. Few

held opposing views, with 18.3% of Mainland law firms believing that partnership associations would bring
competition to non-associated Mainland law firms. This indicates that the majority of lawyers interviewed still

have a positive acceptance towards the model of partnership associations.
The views of Hong Kong and the Mainland law firms on setting up partnership associations are generally

consistent, with the majority of firms believing that partnership associations will bring about a win-win situation
and law firms of both regions are inclined to adopt partnership associations for future cooperation. Although there

are many problems with the existing partnership associations model, with the implementation and improvement

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