The Shanghai Bar Association has released its first industry development plan, outlining 44 tasks to enhance legal services, expand foreign-related practice, and support young lawyers.

The association issued a three-year action plan for Shanghai's legal profession from 2026 to 2028 on May 13, detailing 44 major tasks designed to overcome development bottlenecks and promote high-quality growth within Shanghai's legal profession.

This marks the first industry plan issued by the Shanghai Bar Association since the restoration of the lawyer system 47 years ago.

Shanghai currently has more than 48,000 registered lawyers, with the legal sector moving toward refined governance and high-quality development.

The plan sets targets for foreign-related legal services: by 2028, Shanghai's legal profession aims to have more than 300 overseas liaison points and 100 overseas branches, while cultivating more than 500 foreign-related lawyers familiar with international rules and skilled in foreign-related legal practice.

The plan also emphasizes cooperation with international legal professional organizations and specially invited members to develop mechanisms for overseas business matchmaking and professional exchanges.

Training systems for foreign-related lawyers will be upgraded, and communication and cooperation will be strengthened with business associations, federations of industry and commerce, and government departments, including the Commission of Commerce and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

These efforts aim to foster collaboration between law firms and enterprises going global, providing comprehensive legal services for companies exploring overseas markets.

To help create a fair competition environment in the legal services market, the plan calls for special research on the impact of law firms promoted online and legal consulting companies on the lawyer industry.  It will assist relevant departments in improving mechanisms for cross-system transfer, investigation, and handling of leads on improper lawyer practice, as well as notification mechanisms for violations of laws and regulations, while investigating and dealing with illegal or non-compliant cooperation among law firms, lawyers, and legal consulting agencies.

Small and medium-sized law firms will receive additional support through a risk alert manual, professional guidance, resource sharing, business referral mechanisms, and access to legal technology products and services.

The plan also emphasizes basic living support and career support for young lawyers in the early stages of their careers, and calls for the establishment of a dedicated young lawyers' development fund.

To ensure effective implementation, the association has developed a detailed responsibility table, breaking the 44 major tasks into more than 300 specific action items. Each task is assigned to responsible individuals, with clear deadlines, monitoring of progress, regular assessment of effectiveness, and dynamic adjustment of goals.

Source: Shanghai Observer