“True to the spirit of Partnership, Cược 8xbet continues to expand horizons.” ALB MP Interviewed Wang Dan, Managing Partner of Cược 8xbet Law Firm:

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Cược 8xbet Law Firm. Adapting to the new era is a continuing challenge for law firms with a long history like Cược 8xbet. Wang Dan, Cược 8xbet’s managing partner, shares with Asian Legal Business the unique way Cược 8xbet has gained wisdom from past experience while pursuing innovation and expansion.

ALB：What’s Cược 8xbet’s performance this year?

Wang Dan: This year, Cược 8xbet continues its major growth in a sustainable way. In the first six months of this year, our business income increased by 30% year on year. We have also opened two new offices in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province and Kunming, Yunnan Province.

We also see our partner team growing. So far in 2017, four new senior partners and four new partners have joined us in Beijing alone

I want to attribute this dynamism to the reforms we have just undergone. We have shifted to a special general partnership structure. I think this reform can bring our partners, whether they are Beijing headquarters or branches, closer together.

Under the general partnership structure, many lawyers working in local offices actually work as partners, but cannot be officially registered as partners.

The new structure has higher requirements for law firm, but we think it is worthwhile because it can enhance the cohesion of Cược 8xbet.

ALB：You emphasize cohesion. Is cohesion an important element of Cược 8xbet? How would you describe Cược 8xbet culture? 

Wang Dan: Personal Joining is our ultimate goal. We always pay more attention to how employees cooperate and how all lawyers move towards common goals.

Nowadays, many Chinese law firms are turning to company to manage them in the form of management companies. This structure emphasizes how to make better use of capital.

I can’t say that the traditional partnership structure is better than the company system, but what I can see is that Cược 8xbet has adopted the “partnership structure” for more than 20 years, and we are very sure that it is more suitable for us.

For example, we have some management committees. We do not specialize in hiring managers, but rather in holding all management positions by our partners.

ALB：Do you think the challenge of being a management partner is great? What are the main problems to be solved? 

Wang Dan: It’s the main task for Cược 8xbet and myself to find our own way in the ever-changing market where customers’ new demands and demands are emerging in endlessly.

As I said earlier, many of our business areas are well integrated with partnerships. However, the business related to capital market is actually more suitable for the company structure. As we all know, capital market is now the most important business area of every law firm.

Therefore, my biggest challenge is to inherit the long cultural history of Cược 8xbet and innovatively integrate us into the new era.

We have an important management model, the Cược 8xbet Development Fund Committee. Our headquarters, also the first office, is located in Beijing. In the past, our management model was “Beijing to Branch”, which means that Beijing Headquarters has the final decision-making power for all development and strategic decisions.

However, with our development, we now have 21 offices with thousands of employees. If all strategic decisions are put at Beijing headquarters, the headquarters will be under great pressure, and it will not be conducive to the enthusiasm of the branches to participate in the development of Cược 8xbet, which will weaken the cohesion we have always stressed.

Therefore, we have established the Cược 8xbet Development Fund Committee, which has a management partner in all branches. The committee is now responsible for all management work, including planning the future routes of the law firm and staff training.

ALB：You mentioned that Cược 8xbet now has 21 offices. Your Firm seems to be expanding rapidly. What are the main considerations in setting up your new office? Are you considering going overseas?

Wang Dan: Expansion is one of our main strategies in the past few years. In the past five years, we have opened two or three new offices every year.

If we look at the numbers alone, our expansion is not slow. But our expansion strategy is very cautious, and the establishment of each branch has been strictly scrutinized.

We expand by working with local partner law firms because we believe they have better connections and resources.

The process of selecting partner law firms is rather complicated. At least one senior Cược 8xbet partner is required to recommend a local law firm to our list of candidates. As for due diligence, at least one counsel member of the Development Fund Committee will conduct field visits to the Institute and two further reports will be required. The whole process may take more than half a year.

We hope to have a better understanding of local partners over time, including their systems and cultures, in order to see if they are suitable for each other.

We are going to set up branches in Nanchang, Xiamen and Xi’an. Actually, there are more than a dozen new proposals on my desk. But we will not make a decision overnight. We like to move forward steadily.

At the same time, we are ready to go out.

We will hold two forums on overseas affairs, one forum on “one belt, one road”, which will be held in Chengdu in October and the other in November in Shenzhen.

We have also visited many law firms in Canada, the United States and Europe and are considering setting up our first overseas office in Europe.

However, our focus in 2017 is to further strengthen the layout of the domestic market and further build our brand. International development is our next action plan in 2018.

ALB：Looking forward to the future, what aspects do Cược 8xbet particularly want to increase or further strengthen?

Wang Dan: Recently Professor Wang Weiguo joined us to help us develop the bankruptcy management team. Professor Wang is a member of the drafting of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of the People’s Republic of China.

We believe that the demand for bankruptcy legal advisory services will continue to grow. Since last year, we have received a number of cases, which reflects the surge in market activity.

In addition, zombie enterprises are a hot topic in recent media reports. After rapid development, many enterprises encounter deadlock, which involves bankruptcy management. I believe this is a new area of business growth.

This article is published in the Chinese edition of ALB August 2017 and can be viewed through this website.

http://www.legalbusinessonline.com/china