IBA Scholar Report On Auckland Conference 2004

By Mr. Bai Xianyue from Zhang Ying Law Office

It has been a great experience attending the IBA Conference as one of the

IBA scholars in Auckland this October where I met many intelligent and

sharp international colleagues, experienced veterans of attorneys, legal

experts, specialists in various legal disciplines, and legal practitioners

from different legal culture. Personally I think this conference was very

well organized and very successful. I fully enjoyed the one-week event

with so many interesting seminars and discussions on various legal topics.

Several of the sessions, delivered by several IBA committees which I

attended had been very informative and insightful on their particular

subjects. I would like to take this chance to reflect upon my enriching

experiences in Auckland and summarize in what ways this IBA

conference helps me to make a comparative study of legal practices and

adopt an international perspective on how to benefit from exchange of

ideas, sharing of legal expertise , socializing with international

counterparts etc, in the meantime examine the its relevance to my career

in China .

On the first day of the Conference, 22nd Oct, when there was the special

session for young lawyers and IBA scholars, I enjoyed the presentations

by Mr. Lock who talked about Project Financing and his personal legal

practice experiences with Asian countries. After the presentation, I had a

very pleasant private conversation with him and we soon found that there

might be some chances to work together in the committee of Energy,

Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law since he will

become the rotating chair of this committee after this IBA Conference in

Auckland, thus taking charge for the sessions of next IBA annual

conference. He suggested that the committee would love to have more

legal input from countries like China where there must be a huge market

for this particular legal field, which is true indeed. Across the nation,

there are hundreds of big infrastructure projects like power plant, water

resources project etc in progress and even more being planned, which

provides enormous legal service market of this area for lawyers.

Mr. Lock then asked me whether I would like to join him and his

colleagues in their next conference and become part of their team to put

together next IBA conference. I gave it some thought and happily

accepted his kind invitation after I returned from Auckland to China,

although I do not know yet what I can contribute to this committee, which

I am ashamed to say.

On 28th of Oct, I joined many of the young lawyers , together with quite a

number of IBA scholars in the launching session of IBA Young Lawyers

Committee, which was really exciting and lively since the interaction

between the panel of guest speakers and the audience revealed some of

the key issues that the young committee has to figure out, which are also
of concern for young lawyers. I also made a very brief remark on the

point of whether there should be an age limit on the future membership of

this committee. The presentations by two young lawyer representatives

from New Zealand and two from Australia, as well as the president of

The Bar of England and Wales were very impressive, through which I

learned many practices and experience in those countries designed to

assist and guide young lawyers in their early stage of career. During the

session, the interim organizing chairman of this committee invited the

participants to volunteer to become the national representatives of their

country. I expressed my interest in taking up this position, if possible ,by

leaving my business card and would love to play a role in this new

committee.

Inspired by what I learned from this session, I have been invited to give

a presentation during a legal forum here in my city, on 20th November on

the experience of other countries on what the Bar Association can do to

facilitate the adjustment of newly admitted lawyers. Coincidentally, this

year’s China lawyer legal conference sponsored by All China Bar

Association in October, a high-profile annual event in Chinese legal

community, also had its theme for that conference focused on the growth

and development of young lawyers’ legal practice. There is no doubt that

the challenges confronted by young lawyer’s and their concerns have

increasingly attracted the attention of Chinese national as well as local

bars. In contrast with other developed countries, young lawyers in China

face very tough practice environment where there is not sufficient

specific enabling program intended to ease the adjusting period for them,

who are usually left to explore the sometimes treacherous terrain, at their

own risk. Trial and error is more often than not the norm rather than

exception, which is very problematic, giving rise to various professional

risks and liability issues. Just as in other countries, young lawyers, among

other things, have to face up to the enormous financial pressure , given

the fact that they are newcomers and do not have major income sources.

Bar associations in China still have many daunting tasks to accomplish

and the potential for them to improve their performance remains huge.

That’s why it’s not surprising that I find the Young Lawyer Committee

just set up by IBA very relevant to what I experienced and witnessed in

China as a young lawyer myself. What some of the speakers shared with

the audience intrigued me and I want to learn more of their experiences in

this regard. I hope my future interactions with my colleagues of IBA in

other countries will shed some light on many of the seemingly baffling

problems faced by many young Chinese lawyers and introduce the

effective measures and practices of other countries to Bar of Tianjin ,

where I will make an effort to disseminate related helpful and effective

measures and information to my Chinese colleagues.

And next year’s China lawyer’s annual conference will take place in my
city, to be hosted by Bar of Tianjin, and one of the senior partners of my

firm is now the chairman of Tianjin Bar. I expect that it will be a great

chance to for me to get involved in the organizational work in preparation

for this event assisted by my experience with IBA and the Young

Lawyer’s Committee in particular.

In conclusion, I would like to express my heart-felt thanks to people who

have made this IBA conference possible and those who have shared their

experiences during that one exciting week in Auckland. I have benefited

very much from this fantastic event.

Yours Sincerely

Mr. Xianyue BAI of Zhang Ying Law Firm Tianjin China