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IV. Demand for Legal Services in the GBA

of relevant policies, the law firms in the two regions getting more familiar with casework collaboration, coupled

with the continual expansion of Hong Kong’s representative offices in the Mainland, it is anticipated that the
two regions will inevitably adopt further exchange measures. The setting up of partnership associations, a model

familiar and recognised by both sides, will be the direction of cooperation between both regions.

4.3 Comments on Hong Kong legal practitioners by the Mainland legal practitioners

4.3.1 Comparative advantages of Hong Kong legal practitioners

(a) Familiarity with foreign laws and customs

According to the survey, 80% of the Mainland law firms consider familiarity with “foreign laws and

customs” as a comparative advantage of Hong Kong legal practitioners, while 95% of the Mainland enterprises
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cited “Hong Kong lawyers are more familiar with foreign laws and customs” as the reason for choosing them.
As there are more legal matters involving Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in the GBA, Hong Kong legal
practitioners have a more pronounced advantage over Mainland lawyers in clarifying foreign-related laws and

customary issues. Particularly in cases related to Hong Kong, the procedural rules in Hong Kong are complex
and diverse. The substantive rules involve the coexistence of Hong Kong local laws, British laws, and Chinese

traditional customary laws, and a combination of statutory law and case law is adopted, with case law as the main
focus. Officially recognised compilations like the “Hong Kong Law Reports and Digests” and non-government

publications like the “Hong Kong Case Precedents” collect important precedents, which are more readily
accessible to Hong Kong legal practitioners. In addition, based on the legal tradition of the case law system and

their rich experience in handling foreign-related legal matters, Hong Kong legal practitioners are more familiar
with the laws and customs of other countries and regions outside Hong Kong.

53 As there are various areas in which Mainland law firms consider that Hong Kong legal practitioners have an advantage, the relevant
question in the questionnaire allows multiple choices, leading to a statistical result of more than 100%.

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