Beijing’s silver bullets help law firms withstand pandemic

More than 90 percent of Beijing's law firms are small- or medium-sized firms which employ over 80 percent of the city's 35,000 lawyers and are much more vulnerable to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic than large ones. 

Bearing this in mind, the Department of Justice of Beijing has enacted a basket of nine specific measures in a bid to help local law firms, especially small and medium-sized ones, navigate the ongoing crisis.

1. Strengthen the Party's leadership over the development of the industry

- Encourage larger law firms to help out smaller ones under the leadership of the same Party cells

2. Streamline the procedure for getting a lawyer's license

- Simplify the formalities for acquiring a lawyer's license in order to help law firms bring in talents more readily 

3. Lower the threshold for founding a law firm

- Reduce the minimum asset requirement for establishing a law firm 

4. Exempt lawyers from part of the annual membership fee

- Exempt local lawyers from partial annual membership fee charged by the city's lawyers' association during the level I public health emergency response period

5. Raise the ratio of mutual aid fund

- Appropriately increase the mutual aid fund as a share of the annual membership fee and provide financial support for lawyers with severe diseases

6. Provide technical support for remote working

- Propel the building of an online case-handling platform and a data sharing mechanism with local courts to enable lawyers to file and handle cases online

7. Conduct fast-track annual evaluation for qualified law firms and lawyers

- Shorten the evaluation process for well-managed law firms and eligible lawyers in order to lower the operating cost of law firms

8. Strive to include law firms into the preferential policies for SMEs

- Try to let law firms benefit from the same preferential and supporting policies of the municipal government for small and medium-sized enterprises

9. Strive to help law firms obtain credit support 

- Work with the city's banking and insurance regulator and initial loan service center to provide initial loans for credit-free law firms which are in need of funding