[Meet the Member] Hui Ye Law Firm
Photo: Lynette Pan and Tjan Ho Lai at the annual gala organized by the Benelux Chamber of Commerce "Shanghai Legends"
Lynette Pan - Partner Hui Ye Law Firm
“My most memorable case was an arbitration case between my client and a Chinese company. The odds of winning the case were 50/50% based on the provided evidence, so what matters was persuading the arbitrators. What is your strategy? How do you present the case? What makes your story more believable than the counterpart based on the evidence?”
Lynette Pan, a local Shanghainese, started her professional career after studying Japanese with minor in Law, then 2 years at a law firm with specialization in IP and trademark litigation, afterwards studied Master Law degree, then worked 4 years at Beijing Zhong Lun Law Firm (Shanghai office), and currently as a partner for 3 years at Hui Ye Law firm. An interesting note is that Lynette studied in Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Shanghai and speaks fluent Japanese.
In this edition of Meet the Member, the Benelux Chamber of Commerce has lunch with Lynette Pan and discusses her legal cases and expertise.
Hui Ye Law Firm
Hui Ye Law Firm, established in 1999, is a domestic pioneering full-service law firm in China, with its headquarters in Shanghai and over 40 offices across major cities in China, as well as in Hong Kong, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.
The law firm comprises more than 2,000 lawyers who specialize in various practice areas, providing corporate and commercial legal services to both domestic and international clients. Hui Ye distinguishes itself through its bilingual professionals, many of whom have studied or worked overseas, and is recognized for high-quality, personalized legal services at competitive fees.
The organization aims to fully understand the business of its clients, provide flexible, individualized, client-oriented and value-added services, provide top-tier legal services at reasonable and competitive fees, strives to provide personalized and creative legal services for its global clients and supports the local society by developing a cohesive community together.
Q: Hui Ye has offices globally, including in the U.S. How does your international network support cross-border transactions and litigation involving Chinese entities?
A: Hui Ye Law firm is a leading firm in Mainland China. The local offices cooperate with overseas partners to do litigation together. This is effective to solve problems like cultural and language barriers through partner law firms.
Chinese lawyers will communicate, negotiate and monitor the case, afterwards provide advice to partners. We work internationally to obtain different perspectives and hear different attitudes. It is the same case with Chinese arbitration for multinational cases. Then the cases are evaluated in the UK and US, which have different methods and explanations, for example the common vs. civil law system.
Q: Hui Ye Law is highly ranked for Corporate and M&A work. Could you share insights into some recent trends in this area, particularly regarding cross-border investments in China?
A: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Shanghai is decreasing. Nowadays, Chinese enterprises are going overseas. The trend is now to invest in European and American countries but also Thailand, Vietnam and Japan are popular destinations.
Minimum capital requirements for companies in South East Asia. China Plus One strategy is quite relevant these days and Japan for its IP on technology. Currency rates also play a role.
Q: Hui Ye emphasizes individualized and client-oriented services. Could you describe your approach to understanding and adapting to clients’ unique business needs?
A: First, a client meeting is set up to management expectations. Questions asked are such as: “What kind of legal services? What is their purpose? What is their story?”
A proposal with recommendations is submitted. Afterwards, a second meeting is established in which we try to achieve the goals while the service scope is customized to the business needs.
Local universities in Shanghai
Hui Ye Law Firm has strong collaboration and partnerships with local universities in Shanghai such as
- Hui Ye Compliance Fund with East China Normal University,
- Hui Ye Excellence Scholarship with East China University of Political Science and Law,
- Hui Ye Legal Education and Practice Base with Shanghai Normal University
- Hui Ye Environmental Resources & Energy Law Practice Collaborative Innovation Base with Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.
Charity Work
Hui Ye Law Firm also gives back to society - the firm provides weekly pro bono legal counseling to the public under the designation of the Xuhui District Judicial Bureau. Furthermore, Hui Ye Law Firm donated to a clean water initiative to Zhada County, Ali in Tibet with an amount of 300.000 RMB.
Personal reflection
Mrs Pan remarks: “I joined Hui Ye Law Firm in November 2021. It is a good environment. Senior partners are willing to share their experience with junior lawyers. Working here feels encouraging and supportive. Before joining, I wanted to change my job decision. My work/life balance was not balanced, I was working till 2 AM. I wanted to focus on my physical and emotional health.
A friend referred me to Hui Ye Law firm, where I scheduled a partner. Hui Ye Law firm feels like family. Here I started my own business - pursuing a career as partner lawyer instead of a salaried lawyer with fixed monthly payments and no incentive payments. Here I have my own portfolio of clients which consist of European and American clients.”
Message to the Benelux community
“The Benelux Chamber of Commerce is a great association that provides a platform to connect with each other. I joined BenCham for several events and activities.
It is helpful for companies to connect and to exchange ideas within this tight-knit community. Events that cooperate with other chambers.
I wanted to become a lawyer to help people and pursue justice. I learnt to study and work hard, and provide better services to clients. I consider myself a lucky and diligent person.”
Contact
Lynette Pan: ling.pan@huiyelaw.com
Hui Ye Law office:
5F/12F/13F/14F, Huamin Empire Plaza, 726 West Yan'an Rd, Shanghai 200050, PR China
Website: https://www.huiyelaw.com/