A New Model for Bridging Markets
“Because of our understanding of different cultures, our connections and deep roots in both communities were able to bridge [the Canadian and Chinese] markets and help add value by bringing people together.” – Jack Yong
On Episode 8: A New Model for Bridging Markets – Mark Fancourt-Smith and Alix Stoicheff speak to our China Group Leader, Jack Yong about how the China Group operates differently from other practice areas in the firm and how their unique skill sets and understanding best support their clients.
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Don't have time to listen to the full podcast? Here's what this episode covered:
How is Lawson Lundell’s China Group different from other practice areas? 01:00
What areas does the China Group advise clients on? 01:43
What are some unique skill sets of our China Group? 02:28
How does the China Group service the Greater China market and our community? 04:38
How does the firm celebrate Chinese New Year? 08:56
Transcript
Mark Fancourt-Smith 00:07
Welcome to LawsonInsight. I'm Mark Fancourt-Smith, a partner in the commercial litigation department in Lawson Lundell’s Vancouver office.
Alix Stoicheff 00:14
And I'm Alixandra Stoicheff, an associate in the firm's litigation and dispute resolution group based in the Calgary office. Thank you for joining us on our podcast brought to you by Lawson Lundell. On this episode, we will be speaking with the leader of Lawson Lundell’s China Group, Jack Yong.
Mark Fancourt-Smith 00:28
Jack is based in our Vancouver office and has experience representing clients on issues relating to corporate and commercial law in providing clients with strategic counsel in diverse areas of business law in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Jack and I have actually known each other for over 20 years, we met back in law school when we both volunteered at the law students legal advice program at UBC. And after practicing the different firms for a number of years now, in recent years, I found ourselves both at Lawson Lundell. So Jack, welcome to the podcast.
Jack Yong 00:58
Thank you. Great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Mark Fancourt-Smith 01:00
Pleasure. The reason we had you here today is we wanted you to tell us about the China group. It's pretty unique among practice groups at Lawson Lundell, insofar as it's not so much limited to a specific practice area, but rather focuses on a client group. What can you tell us about it?
Jack Yong 01:16
Yes, that's right. Over the years, as the group evolved, we realized that we were best able to serve this particular group of clients meeting Chinese clients, or people batch with Chinese capital, with a more diverse group of practice areas within the same group that allowed us to be more responsive and be able to look around the corners and spot more issues for these clients who are relatively new to the market.
Alix Stoicheff 01:43
So Jack, what are some of the practice areas that this group is engaged in?
Jack Yong 01:47
So we're a team that, broadly speaking, practices business law, and that includes the areas of corporate commercial real estate and trusts, I think of ourselves as kind of an external legal department for our clients, meaning, we get the first call for any legal issues; and for the most part, those involve business law issues; and a lot of it has to do with transactions like acquiring a business making an adjustment, or a reorganization of their corporate structure; and beyond that, you know, we tap the expertise within our firm or outside and help the client quarterback, the matters that they need to be resolved.
Alix Stoicheff 02:28
And Jack you mentioned that sometimes you look to expertise of lawyers that are not officially part of the group, but are part of the firm. So what areas of expertise? Are you thinking of there?
Jack Yong 02:38
So a lot of that work is in litigation, our team does not do dispute resolution will work, so we coordinate with our great litigators like Mark to assist our client in those areas. There's also a lot of employment work, which we tap our employment group for; and as well, some IP.
Alix Stoicheff 02:57
And so looking at the roster of individuals, I can put it that way who are part of the China group in our office. What are some examples of their skill sets, in addition to the ones you've already mentioned,
Jack Yong 03:08
Many of these individuals actually speak read and write Chinese, most of it is Mandarin in spoken language, and some people speak Cantonese. Many of them have a background from China, or Greater China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, which means there's a better cultural understanding of our clients, and a better ability to understand what clients mean and need when they're speaking to us within a business or legal context. And just following up on that point, Jack, I understand that, that those language abilities extend to both paralegals and legal assistants, in addition to a number of the lawyers that work in the group. Am I right about that? Yes, that's right. And, in fact, both of our paralegals in the group and three out of four assistants all speak Mandarin, and can read and write Chinese, which is really cost effective way of servicing our clients so that they can reach us at all levels, and seek information or coordination at a lower cost than they might get with a lawyer. And we also have a dedicated marketing and business development manager, who actually is from China. She was in that role for a long time and has a real good understanding of the Chinese market. And she brings to us this cultural understanding and an understanding of the business climate there that we otherwise may not have.
Mark Fancourt-Smith 04:38
That's actually one of the things that struck me when we were doing the prep call with Jack was that it's so advantageous to have, you know, each level of people within the group have that capability. Yeah, in some ways, having our China group follows on from the strategy that we saw in firms in the 80s and 90s of opening offices in Hong Kong or Taipei or, more recently, in Shanghai and Beijing. In what ways is this group a further iteration of that? And in what ways is this group a bit of an evolution away from that
Jack Yong 05:09
It's a further iteration in the sense that there's a continuing focus on the Greater China market. Those earlier office openings were a reaction to, you know, waves of immigration that came from Hong Kong and a desire to be able to tap into these cross border movements and transactions. It's also similar in what you see, with offices being opened in Beijing and Shanghai, obviously, China has grown tremendously, and is a real source of capital for many places in the world, Canada is no exception. But what's different about our group, and the way we're situated in Vancouver, is the reflection of this quite unique community that we have in Western Canada, which is a big presence of the Chinese diaspora from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And it's created this strong network that has ties back in Greater China. So not only are we serving this local Chinese community, it's also through this community with its extensive business and personal networks, that we also service, you know, capital and companies and individuals that come directly out of China. So in a way, with this presence of a substantial population, the way that technology has evolved, so that you don't need to be physically present.
Mark Fancourt-Smith 06:34
I think the presence here, in fact, is a better way to service that part of the market, in some ways as well. The fact that Lawson's China group is here in Vancouver, I suppose, also allows the office to act as something of a bridge to the local community as well, isn't that right?
Jack Yong 06:52
It's true. I think Lawson has had a history of, you know, servicing the Chinese and Asian communities here. What we have done more extensively now is trying to bridge between the Chinese market as the local clients that we've always serviced, because of our understanding of different cultures, our connections and deep roots in both communities, were able to bridge these two communities and help add value by bringing people together, helping to cross the divides, that there may be in business transactions, helping one side understand the other more. So in a way, we're just part of this greater community in Vancouver that is constantly doing that. And our firm is a reflection of the community we're in.
Alix Stoicheff 07:45
And Jack, following up on that point, last week, when we were chatting about having you on the podcast, one of the things that we discussed was how, in addition to the China group, ensuring that the firm is serving increased segments of the community, the China group has also played a role in making the firm itself more representative of the community that we're serving. And I'm wondering if you would just comment on that of it?
Jack Yong 08:08
Oh, sure. You know, we've been really lucky to get quite a bit of attention from the legal community for the work we do. I as a partner here and a member of our recruitment committee, I get requests fairly often from law students who are hoping to talk about what I've done and power group functions. Because we are unique and interesting in the way that we've come to be a part of the, you know, Chinese diaspora servicing that and tapping into this growing market. So we've been able to bring talent that's quite diverse to the firm and to the team. And our team is also a reflection of our client base. You know, we are majority of Asian background, but still diverse. We're not a monolith.
Alix Stoicheff 08:56
So with Chinese New Year coming up soon, how does the firm celebrate Chinese New Year typically with clients and how have we shifted our firm celebrations this year, given the pandemic?
Jack Yong 09:04
Traditionally, we've gone together with clients in person, it's a very festive period, as you can imagine, with loss of wining and dining. Unfortunately, we can't do that this year. So we'll get some people together over zoom and have a toast. We've also put together some nice gifts to send to our clients, just to show our appreciation.
Alix Stoicheff 09:26
And how will you be celebrating Chinese New Year this year?
Jack Yong 09:29
Well, I'll first drive around to drop off gifts and red envelopes for the children and our extended family. And then hopefully, we'll be able to have a family dinner over zoom and be able to see each other. I'm really looking forward to you know, getting together again in person one day and enjoying some good food together.
Mark Fancourt-Smith 09:50
Last week when we were talking about you coming on the podcast we discussed that Lawson Lundell at one point had a Hong Kong office this was before both my time and yours after data. Of course, we googled, it turns out the closest we could find anything was there was a band called Lawson, which has a very active Hong Kong fan Facebook page. I take it there's no connection.
Jack Yong 10:13
Not that I'm aware of, but we should look into sponsoring them. I should tell you that Lawson was a great name, because, as you mentioned, I moved to the firm some time ago, laterally. And when I was telling Chinese clients about this new for most joining, they said, the SAT literally means son of law. And that does that was a well received name for a law.
Mark Fancourt-Smith 10:41
Well, we'll take it, we'll take it whether intentional, unintentional, or linguistically coincidental. We'll take whatever good publicity we can get for the name. Jack, thank you so much for coming on the show.
Alix Stoicheff 10:52
And thanks for listening and we wish you a Happy New Year, which this year is the year of the ox. For more information, please visit our website at Lawson lundell.com. You can also stay up to date by connecting with us on social media using the handle at Lawson Lundell. And by subscribing to the podcast on Apple, Spotify or Google podcasts.
About LawsonInsight
Hosted by partner Mark Fancourt-Smith and associate Alix Stoicheff, LawsonInsight is a look inside the legal mind. If you would like us to cover a particular topic, please email your requests to inquiries@lawsonlundell.com
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