Legal service combination boosts operation resumption for enterprises

After a long late-night conversation with a private entrepreneur over the phone, Jiao Jingshou, partner of a Beijing-based law firm, found it very hard to fall asleep.

Concerned about the plight of numerous small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, Jiao swiftly got up and turned on his laptop. He then spent the night drawing up an open letter to SMEs, laying out the government's supporting policies as well as his legal advice on a range of issues including labor-management relationship, business deals, rent and tax.

"It's hard to not become anxious at present as many private enterprises are confronting huge pressure," said Jiao. "It's very important for them to learn about and make full use of these supporting policies and measures. However, many haven't done it so far."

Jiao's effort epitomizes a broader move of judicial administrative organs across the country to mobilize legal professionals like lawyers, notaries and mediators to help private enterprises overcome their difficulties.

To help SMEs resume their operation as soon as possible, judicial administrative bodies in Shanghai, Liaoning and Hu'nan provinces organized professionals to thoroughly study the legal issues of particular concern to enterprises such as the validity of force majeure clauses and the consequences of default.

Other provinces like Guangdong and Hubei compiled all the supporting policies to provide guidance for the resumption of operation.

In provinces like Sichuan, Guangdong, Qinghai and Ningxia Hui autonomous region, judicial administrative authorities also set up teams of lawyers for public interests to provide enterprises with free legal consultations.

The judicial bureau in Guangzhou, for example, formed a large service team of 305 lawyers to provide customized legal solutions for SMEs. 

In another case in point, the southwestern province of Guizhou selected 100 lawyers to provide online legal consultations 24 hours a day. A number of law firms in Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu province are also drawing on such online approaches as telephone, e-mail and online platforms.

What's more, administrative judicial organs in Shanghai, Guangdong and Sichuan provinces have opened green channels to supply enterprises with a variety of legal services such as notarization, mediation and arbitration.