The Law Society of Hong Kong is a professional association for solicitors in Hong Kong vested with statutory powers to regulate the professional conduct of solicitors, trainee solicitors and foreign lawyers. It was incorporated in 1907 as a company limited by guarantee.
The Law Society speaks for the solicitors’ profession in Hong Kong and ensures our voice are accurately and purposefully communicated to relevant parties
The Law Society is dedicated to providing relevant and effective support to our members including professional training and legal practice updates.
The Law Society is committed to facilitating the attainment and maintenance of the highest professional standards by our members in the interest of the community
The Law Society reaches out and maintains a wide local and global network for knowledge exchange, experience sharing and collaboration between our members and different sectors of both the local and international communities.
The Law Society strives to raise general public legal awareness, facilitate public access to legal services and promote a culture of giving back to the community among our members.
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The Risk Management Education (“RME”) Programme is a mandatory programme developed for all solicitors, trainee solicitors and registered foreign lawyers in Hong Kong solicitors’ firms pursuant to the Legal Practitioners (Risk Management Education) Rules (Cap 159, sub.leg.) ("Rules"). A “solicitor” refers to a solicitor practising as such in a Hong Kong law firm. The Rules therefore do not apply to in-house solicitors practising in organisations or corporations other than Hong Kong law firms.
The RME Practice YearA practice year for the purposes of the Rules (“RME practice year”) means a period of 12 months ending on 31 October each year. The RME RequirementsA person to whom the Rules apply shall be required to complete a core programme before the expiry of the practice year in which the Rules first apply to him and thereafter, to attend at least 3 hours of elective courses each year or failing which, attend at least 6 hours of elective courses within the first and second succeeding practice years. Exempted practice year A person to whom the Rules apply shall not be required to complete the RME requirements in an exempted practice year. An “exempted practice year” is a practice year in which:
RME Core Programme The core programme shall consist of core courses designed specifically for:
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Related Information:
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The Society’s principal’s core courses consist of 4 half-day modules on the basis that the participants attending the courses have already completed the non-principal’s core courses before their promotion to partnership. |
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| (b) |
Accordingly, with respect to the solicitors who are required to complete the principal’s core courses from the 2007/08 RME practice year onwards, |
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| (i) |
those who have already completed the non-principal’s core courses will proceed to complete the principal’s core courses; |
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| (ii) |
those who have not completed the non-principal’s core courses will complete them first before proceeding to the principal’s core courses. |
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| (c) |
A principal who has completed the principal’s core courses in accordance with the Rules shall not be required to complete the non-principal’s core courses even if he changes position from principal to non-principal at any time thereafter. |
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| (a) |
The Society’s non-principal’s core courses consist of two half-day modules. |
| (a) |
The Society’s trainee solicitor’s core courses consist of two half-day modules. |
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During the first practice year in which the Rules apply to a trainee solicitor, he shall complete the trainee solicitor’s core courses consisting of two half-day modules. |
| (c) |
During the second practice year in which the Rules apply to a trainee solicitor, he shall complete a compulsory first elective for trainee solicitors consisting of two half-day modules. |
| (d) |
The completion of the trainee solicitor’s core courses and the compulsory first elective and compliance of any other applicable RME obligations is a condition of admission for trainee solicitors. |
| (e) |
Trainee solicitors should note that the RME practice year runs from 1 November to 31 October. Where a trainee solicitor starts his trainee solicitor contract after the commencement of a practice year, the first practice year for the purposes of the Rules begins on 1 November immediately preceding the date of commencement of his contract and expires on 31 October the following year. The second practice year commences on 1 November immediately after the first practice year and again ends on 31 October the following year. There have been instances of misinterpretation of the RME requirement whereby the trainee solicitors calculate the 12-month period for the first practice year in which they have to complete the core courses from the date of commencement of the trainee solicitor contract, instead of 1 November. See the Frequently Asked Questions for examples. |
| (f) |
Trainee solicitors who have completed the trainee solicitor’s core courses and the compulsory first elective shall be exempted from completion of the non-principal’s core courses during the year when they start working as a non-principal after admission as a Hong Kong solicitor. They nevertheless remain subject to the annual RME elective obligations. |
| (g) |
Any CPD points accumulated by completion of the compulsory first elective in excess of a practice year’s RME elective requirement (i.e. 3 CPD points from attendance of RME elective courses) may be carried over to the immediately succeeding practice year for satisfaction of that year’s RME elective obligation. |
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The foreign lawyer’s core courses of the Society consist of two half-day modules. |
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| (b) |
For foreign lawyers who have successfully taken the Overseas Lawyers Qualification Examination (OLQE”) and are admitted as Hong Kong solicitors, they are exempted from complying with the RME requirements as follows: | |
| (i) |
Foreign lawyers who have already taken the core courses for foreign lawyers are not required to attend the core courses for non-principal Hong Kong solicitors after their admission as Hong Kong solicitors; |
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| (ii) |
Foreign lawyers who have not taken the core courses for foreign lawyers are exempted from taking the courses and are permitted to take the core courses for non-principal Hong Kong solicitors after their admission as Hong Kong solicitors. |
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| (c) |
For the avoidance of doubt, the exemption is granted on condition that a foreign lawyer, who is required to complete the core programme for foreign lawyers in a practice year but has been admitted as a Hong Kong solicitor, takes either the core programme for foreign lawyers or the core programme for non-principal Hong Kong solicitors within the practice year. |
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For more details about the RME requirements, please refer to paragraph 2 of Section B of the RME Information Package.
As an exception to the CPD policy, a practitioner who has completed all requisite modules of the principal’s core courses within the practice year specified under rule 6 of the Rules will be permitted to carry over a maximum of 15 CPD points accumulated in excess of the requirement in one CPD practice year to the next immediately succeeding CPD practice year.
Accordingly, if a practitioner has attended other CPD activities in addition to all requisite modules of the principal’s core courses in one CPD practice year, he is permitted to carry over all his CPD points obtained during the CPD practice year, up to a maximum of 15 CPD points, to the next immediately succeeding CPD practice year.
After completion of the principal’s core courses as provided under the Rules, a practitioner is required to complete at least 3 hours of elective courses within each subsequent practice year.
For RME practice years from 2006/07 onwards, if a practitioner is required to comply with RME elective obligation in a practice year and he obtains more than 3 CPD points from attending RME electives, then out of the CPD points permitted to be carried over to satisfy the CPD obligation in the succeeding practice year, he may utilise a maximum of 3 CPD points obtained from completion of RME electives to satisfy the RME elective obligation for that succeeding practice year only.
Similarly, with respect to a registered foreign lawyer, if he is required to comply with RME elective obligation in a practice year and he obtains more than 3 CPD points from attending RME electives, then he may carry over the points in excess to satisfy the RME elective obligation for the succeeding practice year.
