Lawyers in Wuhan provide vital legal support for COVID-19 fight

Hu Jinming, a lawyer based in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak at the time, was about to go to bed when he received a WeChat message that immediately drove away his sleepiness. 

According to the message, a legal document on the accident insurance for personnel fighting bravely on the front line of the battle against the epidemic was in urgent need of review.

Hu jumpstarted the review work despite the late hour, and finally finished it at 3 am the next day.

Hu was just one of the lawyers in a WeChat group set up by the judicial bureau of Wuchang district who have been focusing on the review of official documents since the outbreak. 

The work they have done epitomizes the relentless effort of lawyers across Wuhan to provide strong legal support for the battle.

Support for enterprises

As the legal counsel for the government of Hubei province and the province's industrial and commercial federation, Wang Junguo, together with another 36 lawyers from across the province, voluntarily established a lawyers' team for the public interest to provide legal services for Hubei's private enterprises.

They drew on such online methods as telephone calls, emails, online platforms and video communications to help enterprises cope with legal matters ranging from labor relations to the donation of epidemic prevention materials.

In addition, they collected and compiled information about the legal problems commonly shared by enterprises into a legal service guide which is now available for private enterprises for free.

"Our lawyers' spontaneous efforts to provide high-quality legal services for epidemic prevention and control have fully demonstrated the legal profession's commitment to their social responsibility," said Hu Yingfa, head of the lawyers' association in Wuhan.

Care for the public

Since the outbreak, thanks to the stringent quarantine measures implemented across Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, many Hubei citizens staying outside the province were unable to return to their hometown, an issue that Hu Tao, a Wuhan-based female lawyer, was determined to address.

Hu quickly drafted an agreement on collective efforts to help Hubei citizens staying in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, which was later signed by the female lawyer arm of the All China Lawyers Association, the lawyers' association in Heilongjiang and the female lawyer arm of the lawyers' association in Wuhan.

As an executive member of the women's federation in Wuhan, she also joined hands with the federation in recruiting volunteer lawyers to provide legal services and disseminate relevant legal information to the public during the epidemic.

As with Hu, lawyers at the Wuhan branch of Yingke Law Firm, one of China's largest law firms, have also been developing standard legal documents and providing online free consultations for the public.