2024 ALB China 区域市场排名：
长三角地区律师新星
宋继聪
汉坤律师事务所合伙人
vincent.song@hankunlaw.com
坚持自我定位和客户导向，于存量市场中把握增量
专访2024 ALB China长三角地区律师新星：
汉坤律师事务所宋继聪律师
Q
ALB：请结合您的执业领域，谈谈您观察到的非诉市场发展趋势。
宋继聪律师，汉坤律师事务所合伙人：我主要从事的是基金设立、风险投资及私募融资、境外资本市场等私募股权领域相关业务。如同大多数私募股权市场从业者观察以及正在经历的那样，受近几年中国及全球经济格局变化、地缘政治、新冠疫情及国内产业政策调整等影响，私募股权业务从过去10数年高速增长的态势，进入到一个存量整合期。
在上述背景下，私募股权领域法律服务在目前阶段也有了不同的发展趋势，比如投资机构重心从投前向投后转变、非标项目越来越多的替代标准化项目、投资方向从互联网等to C领域向to B科技领域的转变、客户类型从美元投资人变为国资为主的投资人、境内存量市场激烈竞争的同时出海项目以及产业整合并购机会的出现等等，这些变化和发展趋势对私募股权领域法律服务提供者的执业提出了不同的要求。
Q
ALB：在当前环境下，市场和客户的开拓维系对于律师来说尤为重要。您有哪些心得与年轻合伙人分享？
宋继聪：我有以下几点分享：首先，紧扣客户的需求。客户在不同周期的业务重点，需要律师时刻跟进并能提供对应的法律服务，比如基金客户关注投后退出、争议解决等事项需要非诉合伙人和诉讼合伙人的同时配合、客户出海业务需要中国律师能整合海外律师的资源并主导整个项目等。在发掘客户需求的情况下，整合团队和律所的资源以满足客户多样化的需求是在存量市场中寻求增量的关键；
第二，自我定位和标签。无论是在增量市场还是存量市场，我认为找准自己的客户群是至关重要的。举个例子，一个律师团队在以往服务美元基金客户时以其专业和处理复杂项目的能力见长，那么在市场周期和玩家发生变化的情况下，该团队仍然应当尝试去寻找对他们这种核心能力有需求的客户并重点挖掘，这样才能最大程度地避免过度拥挤的市场竞争带来的影响，更有效地开拓和维系客户；
第三，增加自身的技能包。在坚持自我定位和客户导向的基础上，结合市场需求和地域特点，增加自己的业务面和技能包，比如掌握服务不同类型客户的能力、积累相关业务领域的人脉和资源等，都能在后续业务开拓中发挥作用。
Q
ALB：在团队建设方面，您有怎样的思考和实践？如何更好地帮助年轻律师成长？
宋继聪：根据最近的观察，选择非诉法律行业入门的毕业生有明显减少的趋势，这也是毕业生就业对于市场下行较为直接的反应。在非标项目增多、工作压力增大但又一定程度上缺乏对应激励的大市场环境下，年轻律师的选聘以及成长也成为各大律所和合伙人日益重视的话题。
对于团队，我认为最重要的是能找到一批对于法律工作的认知和目标相对一致的人员组合在一起工作。我认为合伙人应该就律师工作的性质和后续发展路径对年轻律师有比较公开透明的披露和及时沟通，让年轻律师在充分知情的情况下进行职业路径的选择和规划，这样才能筛选出各阶段最合适的人员留在团队中，同时也尊重年轻律师的选择。
另外，现在年轻律师可能接触的项目越来越不标准化，一些标准的事情或者基础的东西并不能像以前一样通过大量的项目进行锻炼和掌握。对于这个现象，合伙人亲自带教的作用就会显得更加重要——需要亲自下场，从尽调、文件等角度在项目上言传身教，才能让年轻律师更快成长并更好帮助团队。
Winning new market share by having a clear self-positioning and focusing on client needs:
Interview with Vincent Song, Partner of Han Kun Law Offices and winner of 2024 ALB China Yangtze River Delta Rising Lawyers
Q
ALB: Could you share your observations of the development trends of the market for non-contentious services based on your practice area?
Vincent Song, Partner of Han Kun Law Offices: I specialize in services related to private equity, such as fund establishment, venture capital and PE financing, as well as overseas capital markets. As most PE/VC practitioners have observed and are experiencing, PE/VC deals have entered a period of consolidation from the rapid growth seen over the past ten years or so, influenced by factors such as changes in domestic and global economic dynamics, geopolitics, the COVID-19 pandemic and domestic industrial policy adjustments in recent years.
Against this backdrop, legal services for PE/VC have also shown different development trends. For example, investment institutions have shifted their focus from pre-investment to post-investment. More and more non-standard projects have replaced standard ones. Investment directions have changed from consumer-oriented sectors, such as the Internet, to business-oriented sectors, such as technology. The key client type has changed from US dollar investors to investors holding state-owned capital. Further, while competition is fierce on the existing domestic market, opportunities have emerged for outbound projects and industry consolidation and M&As. All these changes and trends have raised different requirements for legal services providers specializing in PE/VC.
Q
ALB: In the current climate, it is particularly important for lawyers to develop and maintain clients. What could you share with young partners?
Song: I think we need to first focus on meeting client needs. Lawyers need to be able to closely follow up with clients' business priorities in different cycles and provide corresponding legal services. For example, fund clients are concerned about post-investment exit and dispute resolution, which requires non-litigation and litigation partners to work together. For clients' overseas expansion projects, PRC lawyers need to integrate the resources of overseas lawyers and lead the entire projects. Exploring client needs and integrating team and firm resources to meet the diverse needs of clients are the key to seeking growth in the existing market.
Second, lawyers should be clear about their own market positioning. Whether in a new market or an existing market, I believe it is crucial for a lawyer to identify his or her own client base. Take as example a team of lawyers who are known for their expertise in handling complex projects when serving US dollar fund clients. In the face of changing market cycles and players, the team should still try to secure clients who have a need for its core competencies and focus on pursuing such clients. Only by doing this can the team minimize the impact of competition on a saturated market and more effectively develop and maintain clients.
Third, lawyers must upskill. Apart from having a clear market positioning and focusing on client needs, lawyers must, in light of market demand and regional characteristics, expand their practice coverage and skills toolkit, such as mastering the ability to serve clients of different types and accumulating contacts and resources in relevant business areas, all of which can play a role in subsequent business development.
Q
ALB: What can you share with us on team building? How can we better support young lawyers?
Song: Based on my recent observations, there is a significant drop in the number of graduates who choose to enter the legal industry by specializing in non-contentious areas. This is a direct response of graduates to a sluggish job market. As non-standard projects increase and work pressure escalates while incentives remain somewhat lacking, the recruitment and career growth of young lawyers have also become increasingly important topics for firms and partners.
I think the most important thing is to find a group of people who share similar understanding and goals for legal work. In my view, partners should have open, transparent and timely dialogues with young lawyers regarding the nature of a lawyer’s role and their future development paths, so that young lawyers can make informed career choices and plans. This way, we can select the most suitable members to stay in the team at each stage while also respecting the choices of young lawyers.
In addition, the projects that young lawyers may be exposed to nowadays are becoming less standardized. As a result, some standard or basic matters cannot be taught and mastered simply by having young lawyers working on a large number of projects as before. In this case, the role of partners becomes ever more important. Partners should get involved personally and provide mentorship from different angles such as due diligence, documentation, etc., so that young lawyers can grow faster and contribute more effectively.
