the gav lUNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY | CHINESE LAW STUDENTS SOCIETY

ISSUE 01AUGUST 2016

The GavelIssue 01 August 2016

Acknowledgment

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFStella Zhao

CONTENT CONTRIBUTORSGeorge BishopAnn Yee LimShirley SongNathan StormontRebecca YanLap Yim

Copyright and Disclaimer

Information contained in this publication reflects the views of indiviuals, not CLSS as an entity. Readers should conduct their own research to verify the accuracy of the information contained in the Gavel.

All pictures are properties of their respective copyright owners. Reference to third party information and consent by trade name, trademark, logo or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply sponsorship, endorsement or connection with the relevant parties concerned.

The Publications Team and the Chinese Law Students Society accept no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned to any person or entity resulting from reliance, wholly or in part, on any information, implied or omitted in this Publication.

Sponsors

PLATINUMFreshfields Bruchkaus Deringer

GOLDAllen & OveryLinklatersLatham & Watkins LLP

SILVERDavis PolkDeaconsSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEDear Readers,

The University of Sydney Chinese Law Students Society proudly presents the 2016 edition of the Gavel.

This year, CLSS has continued to offer educational support and careers opportunities to students interested in pursuing international careers throughout Asia.

We were delighted to host seventeen global law firms and law schools at the 2016 Hong Kong Law Fair, which saw many students gaining invaluable insights into the international legal opportunities available to them. Our collaborations with other law societies on campus resulted in another successful International Internship Panel, hosted in collaboration with SULS.

This year also saw greater support for students in their first year at law school, with our Educations team delivering a highly popular Case Note Workshop at which high-achieving former students provided valuable advice on successfully completing students’ very first law assessment. We also fulfilled our vision in presenting a professional and collegiate Society in holding diverse social events that encouraged networking and informal mentoring amongst students and executive members.

I would like to extend the warmest thanks to the dedicated CLSS Executive and Sub-committee team for a successful and rewarding year. I also extend a special thanks to our valued Sponsors for their continued support.

On behalf of CLSS, I wish you all the best on your endeavours and hope you have a wonderful Semester ahead!

Ann Yee Lim

President

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Choose a firm where your curiosity, ideas and hard work will be rewarded. Where you can experience everything that a career in commercial law has to offer, through a distinctively flexible training contract and beyond. A firm whose international outlook and world-class reputation open up a multitude of opportunities.

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CONTENTS

06Legal Digest

A summary of law-related newsby Rebecca Yan

08Secession and Separatism in the Xinjiang

Uyghur Autonomous Region Feature Article

by Nathan Stormont

12Leadrship, Creativity and Extraordinary Client Service

Interview with Terese Au Yeung of Davis Polk & Wardwellby Rosanna Lau

14The Ghost of 18C; Past, Present and Future

A Study of Racial Discrimination Act (Cth) Section 18Cby George Bishop

17Passion and Hard Work; keys to success

Interview with Queenie Ma of Skaddenby Lap Yim

18Hong Kong Law Fair

CLSS’s biggest event of 2016

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Legal Digest

Singapore’s new Cybersecurity Act to be tabled in Parliament in 2017In response to the growth of the threat of cyber security, Singapore is expecting a new, standalone Cybersecurity Act to be tabled in Parliament in 2017. Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI)’s Dr Yaacob states that the existing Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act (CMCA) has been effective in enabling law enforcement bodies to investigate and prosecute entities or individuals who commit acts of cybercrime. However, as the technological landscape rapidly develops, the interconnectivity of the internet presents greater vulnerability for Singapore to be susceptible to cyberattacks that have improved in sophistication and speed and thus the law must respond to these threats.

Corporates in South Korea face stricter laws and potential criminal liabilityAnticipated to take effect in September 2016, South Korea’s National Assembly passed anti-bribery legislation, ‘Act on the Prohibition of Improper Request and Provision/Receipt of Money and Valuables’. This act marks a key departure from the nation’s existing regime dealing with anti-bribery. Major features involve imposing criminal liability for payments made to public officials exceeding won1m in a single payment, payments made to public officials by employees and public officials who were aware but failed to report payments provided to their spouse in connection with official duties.

China passes controversial laws imposing security controls on foreign NGOsWhilst international critics have argued that new laws on foreign NGOs are a form of crackdown, the Chinese Government has argued that such regulation has been long anticipated and overdue. The full text of laws are not available online, however previous drafts suggest the power of Chinese authorities to have wide discretionary powers to target and monitor NGO activities. With over 7,000 foreign NGOs operating within China, these new laws have implications on the way they carry out their activities, particularly when NGOS have primarily operated within a grey zone in China’s laws without prior strict regulation on their operations.

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Rebecca Yan

Taiwan announces amendments to Copyright ActThe Taiwanese Government has announced plans to update its Copyright Act this year by adding an additional 32 articles to the Act. Amendments involve clarification of definitions surrounding “public broadcasting”, fair uses of distance learning and adjustments of liability for copyright infringements. It is anticipated that these amendments will raise levels of public awareness as owners are able to inform potential infringers of liabilities that can be sought to gain compensation for works used without its permission.

Apple loses its “iPhone” trademark in China Apple has lost the battle of retaining ownership of its trademark of “iPhone” and must now share it with Beijing-based leather manufacturer, XintongTiandi Technology. Xintong also sells products including purses, passport and mobile phone cases branded with the “iPhone” mark which was registered in 2007, the same year Apple introduced the iPhone in the United States. Apple registered the “iPhone” in China in 2012. The Court rejected the argument that Apple’s interests would be harmed and noted that Apple did not engage in selling any iPhones in China until 2009.

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According to Reuters, in the wake of the violence the Chinese government passed at least 26 death sentences, while the BBC reported that more than 1,500 were arrested in relation to the riots. In a country already known for its suppression of social networking and internet freedom, it took nearly a year after the July 2009 riots before internet access was restrictively restored to Urumqi.

At the heart of the 2009 Urumqi riots was an intrinsically ethnic dimension. On one side of the conflict were the Uyghur people, a Turkic nation who had lived in the region for thousands of years. A minority in the cities, the Uyghur people made up a majority of the rural population of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Republic. On the other side of the conflict were the Han Chinese, who accounted for a majority of the population in Urumqi, although a much smaller percentage in the countryside. The Uyghur people belong to the vast and diverse Turkic peoples. Their language is a Turkic language, related closely to Kazakh and Kyrgyz, and,

further field, Azeri and Turkish. They overwhelmingly are followers of Islam, and are ethnically, religiously, and linguistically distinct from the Han Chinese ruling Xinjiang from Beijing.

In the past few decades, an enormous influx of Han Chinese migrants had seen the demographic balance of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region shift: the Fifth National Census, conducted in 2000, showed that ethnic Uyghurs accounted only for approximately 43% of Xinjiang’s population.

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the PRC’s approach to the ‘national question’The relationship between the Han and the Uyghur are closely intertwined in the region now known as Xinjiang. However, this topic is highly controversial in today’s China. As the territorial, cultural, and political successor to Imperial China, the PRC claims a long and historical presence in Xinjiang, dating back to ancient times.

More recently, the Uyghurs have found

Feature Article

Secession and Separatism in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

Nathan Stormont

themselves subject to modern types of persecution, particularly as a result of their faith. They have also recently experienced negative publicity in the West. Most notoriously, when MH370 disappeared without a trace enroute to Beijing in March 2014, a number of publications, including the Sydney Morning Herald , inferred that Uyghur separatists may be to blame.

Chinese law—on paper—affords nationalities living within the borders of the PRC certain freedoms. For example, the Chinese constitution declared that national minorities have freedom to preserve and develop their language and culture, free from discrimination or oppression, in an atmosphere of “equality, unit, and mutual assistance”. The drafters of the constitution deplored what they called “big nation Chauvinism”, arguing that to safeguard national unity, China must combat chauvinism, and “do its utmost to promote the common prosperity of all the nationalities”. However, in practice, the laws of the PRC offer little protection to the rights and freedoms of the Uyghur minority.

In July 2009 riots enveloped the city of Urumqi, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region the far north-west of China.

As quickly as the unrest started, security forces under the command of the People’s Republic of China swiftly moved to end the unrest, and to stem news of the savagery of their response trickling to the West. Despite these efforts, the international community gradually become aware of the scale of the Chinese security forces’ response.

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As a result, the Uyghur people face the real threat of their identity being subsumed into wider Chinese culture. For example, a Uyghur man in 2015 was accused of ‘provoking trouble’ and sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment for growing a beard. In the same year, it was reported that Imams in Xinjiang were forced to pledge an oath that they would not teach religion to children1. These Imams were also forced to dance in the streets and to declare that their income came from the Chinese Communist Party, and not from Allah2.

While these are extreme examples, the institutional structures negatively impacting the Uyghurs’ cultural and national development may be seen in the education of their children.

I am a law student, and in November last year, I completed a short course on Chinese law at a university in Shanghai. The constitutional law lecturer, a member of the predominantly Muslim Hui minority centred around Xi’an, spoke proudly of the assimilatory practice of bringing all minorities into the fold of a “Chinese” nationality,

without losing the ties to their culture and homeland.

He cited, specifically, the fact that the law afforded to parents the choice of whether to educate their children in Mandarin, or their local language. While this appears to foster cultural development, it may have negative consequences. For example, when the Soviet Union—a similarly multiethnic, socialist state—introduced similar legislation in Ukraine in the 1959, dissidents were outraged3. When given the choice to send their children to Mandarin or Uyghur schools, parents, concerned with their children’s social mobility and future prospects, would naturally choose to have their children educated in Mandarin, China’s lingua franca. As a result, over generations minority nations lose command of the one tangible expression of their identity—language.

A future for the Uyghur people? Self-determination through separatism and statehoodGiven these threats to Uyghur national identity, one would hope that

international law offers an avenue for the Uyghurs to assert their independence. However, in the last few decades, understandings of self-determination as a right, versus a concept or principle, have become less clear-cut.

The major human rights documents of the 1970s, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Helsinki Final Act, included a reference to self-determination as an inalienable human right. However, contemporary jurisprudence has taken the bite out of the practice of this inalienable right. A strong distinction has been drawn between so-called ‘internal’ and ‘external’ self-determination, of which the former is the preferred means by which a people can pursue their cultural, national, and political independence.

‘Internal’ and ‘External’ self-determination refers to whether the right is exercised within or beyond the existing territory of the larger state in which the people seeking to exercise that right find themselves. A key decision, delivered by the Canadian Supreme

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Court in determining the question of Quebec’s independence, took the bite out of self-determination. Specifically, the Canadian Supreme Court held that references to a right to self-determination in the important human rights documents were neutered by parallel statements supporting states’ territorial integrity.

The Quebec Decision also established three scenarios “at best” in which self-determination may be exercised by secession. The first relates to former colonies; the second, to persons oppressed under foreign military occupation. The third and final scenario relates to a situation “where a definable group is denied meaningful access to government to pursue their political, economic, social and cultural development”. Given the examples set out above, it is arguable that the third Quebec scenario is playing out in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Republic.

However, the complexities of international relations and the mechanisms for safeguarding human rights mean that the Uyghurs face a strong uphill battle to exercise this right. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is China’s permanent perch on the UN Security Council, a position which affords China the right to veto motions placed before it. It is the UN Security Council which give bite to the UN system, and it is unlikely that China would jeopardise its territorial integrity or lose face politically over something as insignificant as human rights.

Unfortunately, facing these serious structural impediments to pursuing their freedom, and an international community ignorant to their plight, some disillusioned members of the Uyghur community have turned to violence to voice their frustration. On 1 March 2014, for example, assailants armed with knives and cleavers killed 29 and wounded at least 130 at a railway station in Kunming in southern China. The Chinese authorities were quick to place the blame on Uyghur separatists.

1. http://tribune.com.pk/story/861151/chinese-court-jails-muslim-uighur-for-6-years-for-growing-beard-wife-gets-2-years-for-wearing-veil/

2. http://tribune.com.pk/story/871879/suppressing-religious-freedoms-chinese-imams-forced-to-dance-in-xinjiang-region/

3. Cf. Dzyuba, Ivan, Internationalism or Russification, New York: Pathfinder Press (1974): pp.179-180

4. At [138]

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Allen & Overy means Allen & Overy LLP and/or its affiliated undertakings. © Allen & Overy 2016

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allenovery.comAllen & Overy means Allen & Overy LLP and/or its affiliated undertakings.© Allen & Overy 2016

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Known as the law firm of choice for highly complex matters, Davis Polk & Wardwell is no doubt one of the world’s premier law firms. The firm has worked on many of the most significant business and legal developments of the past 160 years, and has continued to expand upon its tradition of leadership, creativity and extraordinary client service.

The firm operates from 10 offices around the world, with its Hong Kong office being one of the first opened by a major Wall Street firm in Hong Kong and is currently the firm’s largest non-U.S. office. The Hong Kong office has been involved in many of the most important and high-profile capital markets, M&A/private equity transactions and litigation and enforcement matters in China and elsewhere in Asia.

I had the opportunity to interview Terese Au Yeung, the Legal Recruiting and Development Manager at Davis Polk & Wardwell, when she was at the University of Sydney for the Hong Kong Law Fair.

When asked about how Davis Polk & Wardwell is different from

davispolk.com

New YorkMenlo ParkWashington DC São PauloLondon

ParisMadridHong KongBeijingTokyo

© 2016 Davis Polk & Wardwell, Hong Kong Solicitors

Every practice. Every office. For every client. Work at the very center of the developments that shape global business – from international capital markets transactions to industry-shifting litigation and mergers and acquisitions.

Students interested in training contracts and vacation schemes can find more information at careers.davispolk.com

“Law Firm of the Year” – 2015 Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards

“China Practice of the Year” – 2016 IFLR Asia Awards

1st tier in Asia-Pacific Debt, Equity and High-Yield Products (no other firm is ranked 1st tier in all four categories)

– Chambers Asia-Pacific 2011-2016

1st tier in China Corporate M&A – Chambers Global 2015

1st tier in China Capital Markets and High-Yield categories

– Chambers Asia-Pacific 2012-2016

1st tier in Capital Markets in China, Hong Kong and Japan

– IFLR1000 2012-2015

“Most Innovative Law Firm in Asia” – 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016 IFLR Asia Awards

“Disputes Firm of the Year” – 2015 Asian Lawyer Awards

Leadership, Creativity and Extraordinary Client ServiceAn Interview with Terese Au Yeung, Legal Recruiting and Development Manager at Davis Polk & Wardwell

By Rosanna Lau

other international law firms in Hong Kong, Terese expressed that “it’s the culture at Davis Polk that distinguishes us from all the other international law firms. We’re very collegial and friendly. This is driven by the fact that we have a lockstep compensation system for the partners.” As opposed to the ‘eat what you kill’ compensation structures, the firm’s lockstep compensation system is purely based on seniority and not on what each member of the firm brings to the business.

This in turn highlights the firm’s commitment to collaboration and teamwork within the firm, and encourages the sharing of resources and talent across the firm.

“We want to get to know the student behind the CV”

Davis Polk & Wardwell offers four-week Hong Kong vacation schemes in the summer and winter for students interested in being considered for training contracts. The firm is looking for students who are “open-minded, flexible, and intellectually curious.”

Terese explained that because there is a lot of cross-border work in the office, strong oral Mandarin language skills, as well as the ability to read and write Chinese, are very important. In addition, the students’ academic performance is also important. Furthermore, students should have personal interests outside the law. The firm is not looking for any one particular characteristic of a student, but rather a combination of different factors and as Terese emphasised, “we want to get to know the student behind the CV.”

There really is no ‘average day’ for a vacation student at Davis Polk & Wardwell, mainly because the students are actually placed on live deals. Although the firm cannot promise that there will be an IPO, or an M&A deal during the vacation scheme program as it is very much guided by market conditions, students will no doubt get a mix of different types of work, both within the corporate and litigation practice areas. The aim is to give students the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a trainee solicitor at the firm.

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In the past, when the transaction required, students have been sent on business trips as well.

Davis Polk & Wardwell offers many social events and fun activities throughout the year, particularly when the vacation scheme students are at the firm. Events include horseracing, cooking classes, exploring historical areas of Hong Kong with a tour guide, as well as participating in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) events. In June this year, there will be a big office retreat at Hong Kong Disneyland. During Christmas, the firm organises children’s parties and a partner is usually selected to be Santa Claus.

davispolk.com

New YorkMenlo ParkWashington DC São PauloLondon

ParisMadridHong KongBeijingTokyo

© 2016 Davis Polk & Wardwell, Hong Kong Solicitors

Every practice. Every office. For every client. Work at the very center of the developments that shape global business – from international capital markets transactions to industry-shifting litigation and mergers and acquisitions.

Students interested in training contracts and vacation schemes can find more information at careers.davispolk.com

“Law Firm of the Year” – 2015 Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards

“China Practice of the Year” – 2016 IFLR Asia Awards

1st tier in Asia-Pacific Debt, Equity and High-Yield Products (no other firm is ranked 1st tier in all four categories)

– Chambers Asia-Pacific 2011-2016

1st tier in China Corporate M&A – Chambers Global 2015

1st tier in China Capital Markets and High-Yield categories

– Chambers Asia-Pacific 2012-2016

1st tier in Capital Markets in China, Hong Kong and Japan

– IFLR1000 2012-2015

“Most Innovative Law Firm in Asia” – 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016 IFLR Asia Awards

“Disputes Firm of the Year” – 2015 Asian Lawyer Awards

Finally, the firm is committed to serving the public good, and providing legal services to those who cannot otherwise obtain legal representation. Lawyers at Davis Polk & Wardwell work on pro bono matters throughout their careers. For example, the Hong Kong office works with Justice Centre Hong Kong, a refugee centre. “Our partners individually, and as a group, advise charities, giving their time and skills to provide legal advice,” Terese stated. The firm also has a CSR component, separate from pro bono work. This component is more about giving back to the community.

Members of Davis Polk & Wardwell are often involved in community engagement activities that make a positive impact on the community.

The firm has worked with many charities, including the Crossroads Foundation, a Hong Kong based non-profit organisation that connects those in need with those who want to give. Davis Polk & Wardwell strongly supports civic and charitable matters that reflect the firm’s culture and commitment to the community.

There really is no ‘average day’ for a vacation student at Davis Polk & Wardwell

The Gavel

18CThe Ghost of

When Scrooge was visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, his eyes were awaked as to what he had become; a grumpy, distorted, twisted old man – something which he realised he never wanted to be. So too our society, as well as the society of modern Asia, needs a visit from the ghosts of 18C Past, Present and Future to wake it up to what it has become and the freedoms which it cedes, whether willingly or otherwise, from the individual.

By George Bishop

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Section 18C Racial Discrimination Act (Cth) makes it unlawful for an individual to ‘offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or group of people.’What this law does is that it takes power of an individual to regulate their speech as they see fit and puts it in the hands of government, the hands of an unelected judiciary or worse still, ‘the majority.’ It takes away the power of individuals to genuinely express constructive opinions, to joke, to satire lest someone be likely to be offended, insulted, humiliated or intimidated. Now, it must be made clear that I am all for individuals being loving, gracious, humble, thoughtful and constructive in the way they exercise their speech, particularly in the public domain. Indeed, it is these very forces which maintain a tolerant, multicultural, respectful society. However, it is one thing to advocate for individuals to be loving in the exercise of their speech, it is another to have the definition of just what that entails prescribed by the state, by an unelected judiciary or simply by ‘the majority.’

One might ask, what is the danger of this? The danger of this is that ‘the majority’ and the views contained within can define what one is and is not allowed to say, what is and is not offensive. Is it offensive to say that Christians and Muslims are homophobic dinosaurs? Apparently not(indeed, I would argue this is not the case). Yet, is

Past, Present and Future

it offensive to say ‘just got kicked out of the unsigned Indigenous computer room. [Queensland University of Technology] stopping segregation with segregation?’ Apparently so, as the university student who posted this on Facebook is currently being sued under 18C. This is the ghost of 18C Past which haunts us. Suits of the kind of the highly publicised Andrew Bolt case are not uncommon and are signs of a society which has ceded its rights of speech to a higher power.

Asia, too, bears the mark of a society which is thoroughly illiberal in its speech. The 2014/15 democratic protests in Hong Kong likewise attest to this fact. The inability of protestors to express a dissenting opinion of the government and speak for a democratic process and its suppression by the government is no different to the suppression of other dissenting opinions under 18C. The regulation of the internet by Chinese government is yet another example of the control of speech and thought. Yet the example of Asia not only reminds us of ghosts past, but also provides a sober warning of what society may become if the power to define the content of what is appropriate speech continues to be ceded. This is the ghost of 18C Future.

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The ghost of 18C Future is one marked by the protection of an idea or person of ‘the majority’ from any sort of contempt, criticism (constructive or otherwise) and annoyance, where dissenting opinion is shut down. J.S Mill in his famous book ‘On Liberty’ spoke precisely of this phenomena, labelling it the ‘tyranny of the majority.’ This is a tyranny not of military might but of enforcing the will of the majority on the minority. A society marked by the ghost of 18C Future is not a progressive society, but a regressive one. It is a society which cannot exchange ideas freely and robustly, debate them, reject them and progress because of them. Where would society be if the women’s suffragettes were not able to express a contemporaneously dissenting opinion on the right of women to vote? Where would society be if, like it was in Myanmar, the dissenting democratic opinion could not be expressed? Where would society be if the best way to recognise Indigenous Australians could not be robustly discussed, resulting in something which may go against the will and benefit of Indigenous peoples?

Yet, a shadow of this dystopic world is present today. As political commentator Mark Steyn recently remarked during his Australian tour ‘we’re living in the dawn of a new age – the End of Argument. People no longer want to win the debate; they want to prevent the debate.’ There is a lot of insight with this statement. Thankfully, the future is not all grim. Canada recently repealed, albeit by a very small majority of 153 to 136, Section 13 of its Human Rights Act which made it illegal to do anything ‘likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt.’ Democracy advocates continue to fight across Asia for change – may they succeed in their mission. Fourteen Australian Senators are committed to the repeal of, and many more to the amendment of, 18C.

So I ask, what will our ghost of 18C Present look like?

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SkADDEn, ARPS, SLAtE, mEAGhER & fLom

lawyers who get it get it / making an making an impact impact / culture culture of inclusion inclusion / lawyers lawyers who get get it / making making an impact impact / culture culture of inclusion inclusion / lawyers

APPLicAtion DEADLinESvacation placementsSummer 2017 Vacation Schemes: February 1, 2017

Program takes place in June and July 2017; candidates will be considered for 2019 contracts.

Winter 2018 Vacation Schemes: June 1, 2017

Program takes place in January and February 2018; candidates will be considered for 2020 contracts.

training contractsSeptember 2019 Training Contracts: August 1, 2017

September 2020 Training Contracts: August 1, 2018

APPLyCandidates interested in a training contract or vacation placement position in Hong Kong should send their resume/C.V. and transcript to:

Queenie Ma / Attorney Recruiting & Development Specialist

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom42/F Edinburgh Tower / The Landmark / 15 Queen’s Road Central / Hong Kongasiacareers@skadden.com

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Founded in 1948 as a three-lawyer shop in Manhattan, Skadden rose to prominence by taking on the proxy fights and hostile tender offers that white-shoe law firms were not willing to touch as they deemed these “ungentlemanly”. The firm has since become one of Wall Street’s most powerful law firms with a strong reputation worldwide. Consistently recognised as a top law firm in various rankings, Skadden currently boasts 22 offices and approximately 1,700 lawyers worldwide with more than 50 distinct areas of practice. The Hong Kong office focuses in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and other corporate law matters.

I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Queenie Ma, the recruiting specialist of Skadden, in their Sydney office on the day she travelled to Australia for the Hong Kong Law Fair at University of Sydney.

In Hong Kong, Skadden distinguishes itself from the competitors in a multitude of ways. These include working on big and interesting deals, such as the IPO of Tencent. Skadden also prides itself in having an open culture and environment, people are approachable and partners are always open to advices. “If you have a problem, you just go to someone’s office and talk to them.” Employees of Skadden enjoy the variety of work provided, and weekly training sessions either led by a partner, or in the form of external training. Departments would also take turns leading group lunches which everyone can join.

Skadden also encourages and supports its employees to learn and develop by providing not only professional reading time and business development time, but also budget for one on one tutoring in Chinese language skills for its staff.

A typical career path in Skadden usually starts with being a vacation student there during summer or winter break. If the student is successful in getting the training contract after that, he or she will spend two years as a trainee before becoming an associate. When recruiting students for vacation or graduate positions, there is not a set mould of characteristics or qualities that Skadden would look for. All things would be taken into account, for example, decent grades, language skills, work

experiences (legal experience is a plus, but any relevant work experience would be an advantage), and also things that may set the student apart and something interesting that makes the student different. Although 100% fluency is not expected, Mandarin is getting more important now and tests on Mandarin skills have been incorporated into interviews.

To succeed in Skadden, and more broadly in the legal industry of Hong Kong, students should not only be passionate about law, but also be passionate about the firm they work in and the underlying culture of the firm, and most importantly, Queenie said, to work hard. It is also essential that prospective students and lawyers be focused on not just the legal issues, but the overarching commercial affairs as well. These help lawyers to anticipate their clients’ needs, and formulate strategies and solutions accordingly.

When asked on how to best prepare themselves to work in the Hong Kong legal industry, Queenie advises students to make sure their legal knowledge is up to date. She also suggests students to stay aware of the commercial topics in the world and in Hong Kong, e.g. the recent trends in the market and the implications and consequences of these trends. Lastly, Queenie also emphasised the importance of improving their Chinese skills for students who are determined to work in Hong Kong.

“To succeed in Skadden and more broadly in the legal industry of

Hong Kong, students should not only be passionate about law, but also be passionate about the firm

they work in...and most importantly to work hard”

Passion and Hard Work; keys to successAn Interview with Queenie Ma, Legal Recruiting Specialist at Skadden

By Lap Yim

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Hong Kong Law Fair 201619 April - Law Foyer

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The biggest event of the year for CLSS, the Hong Kong Law Fair connects students with prestigious international firms and educational institutions. This year, numerous leading international firms with a strong presence in Hong Kong, as well as key educational institutions were showcased, providing valuable information and advice, as well as freebies, for those interested in working in Hong Kong. All who came not only thoroughly enjoyed themselves, but also found it to be a rewarding opportunity to learn about the legal industry and specific opportunities available in Hong Kong.

Additionally as part of Hong Kong Law Fair, numerous Information Sessions were held to provide students with greater insight into each law firm, as well as allowing students to network with the firm’s representatives. Information sessions included Orrick, Davis Polk, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer , Latham & Watkins, Linklaters, Allen & Overy and Baker & McKenzie, They proved invaluable to enhancing clerkship applications!

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