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IV. Demand for Legal Services in the GBA

The advantages of Hong Kong legal practitioners perceived
by the Mainland Enterprises

Familiarity with foreign laws and customs 95%

Ability to provide cross-border legal services 65%

Having an international perspective 35%

4.3.2 Comparative disadvantages of Hong Kong legal practitioners

(a) Unfamiliarity of Hong Kong legal practitioners with the local environment

The surveys show that 83.3% of the Mainland law firms consider Hong Kong legal practitioners’
unfamiliarity with the local environment of the GBA as a relative disadvantage of Hong Kong legal practitioners.

More than half of the Mainland enterprises consider that “Hong Kong lawyers are unfamiliar with Mainland laws
and trade customs”, “Hong Kong lawyers are unfamiliar with Mainland’s litigation procedures”, “Hong Kong

lawyers are unfamiliar with Mainland’s business environment and policies”, which were among the reasons for
not choosing Hong Kong lawyers.

The term “environment” should be understood in a broad and holistic sense, including the Mainland’s legal
system, judicial environment, business environment and the demand for legal services in the Mainland market.

Respondents to the survey indicate that currently, Hong Kong legal practitioners’ familiarity with the judicial
process in the Mainland, as well as their understanding of the substantive laws, administrative regulations and

normative documents in the Mainland are still inadequate. Mainland legal practitioners generally believe that if
Hong Kong legal practitioners want to expand their business in the GBA, they must gain a better understanding

of the environment in the Mainland.

(b) Relatively high fees charged by legal practitioners in Hong Kong

Fee standard is an important criterion for Mainland enterprises when choosing legal services, with 68.2%

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