Outstanding Young Lawyer in Yangpu District—Liu Honglin

Certainly. Last year, we handled a case in Shanghai involving an NFT entrepreneur suspected of criminal offenses. The client’s family contacted me after reading an article I had published online. The client’s parents traveled specially from another province to Shanghai for an in-depth discussion at our office, after which they decided to engage our firm to handle the case. Because NFTs represent an emerging technology, many grassroots judicial personnel were unfamiliar with the associated business models and operational methods. To help the public security organs handling the case understand that our client was engaged in a business direction encouraged by the government, and to demonstrate that our client was operating a legitimate business, Attorney Shao Shiwei of our team and I worked closely together. We reviewed all of the company’s historical commercial contracts, detailed financial income and expenditure records, and operational details related to previous NFT issuances. We demonstrated that the company was not engaged in illegal operations and that the relevant personnel did not have intent for illegal possession, ultimately achieving the dismissal of the case for our client.

Each generation has its own entrepreneurial opportunities, and every entrepreneur has their own mission. The fundamental reason for the existence of a business organization is to solve a social problem and meet the needs of certain members of society. From my personal perspective, the Web3.0 blockchain industry currently faces substantial legal risks, and practitioners have a strong need for legal education. As an entrepreneur, I hope to work with my colleagues at Mankun to make positive contributions to this industry within our capacity. Our commitment to legal education, our persistence in organizing market activities, and our dedication to providing high-quality service in every case are all manifestations of our entrepreneurial mission to “ensure the legitimate development of Web3.0 in China.”

As lawyers, I believe that legal publicity is not only a social responsibility of the legal community but also an excellent way for individual lawyers to hone their written and oral expression skills and improve communication with clients. It is a mutually beneficial endeavor worth pursuing. I also encourage my lawyer friends to make full use of new media to conduct legal education outreach to those around them and to their target clients, without hesitation.

I believe that writing professional legal education articles is not only the best way for young lawyers to enhance their professional skills but also an excellent choice for personal brand marketing. However, I have observed that many lawyer friends often “get it wrong” when writing articles. This does not mean they make errors in professionalism or legal viewpoints; rather, they fail to understand who the intended audience is. It is common to see articles that satisfy the authors’ professional ego but are difficult for clients to read and understand. At Mankun, we have specific writing standards referred to as “Mankun Writing,” which center on two core principles: First, the audience for the article must be the client; it is written for them. Second, no article should be overly lengthy; instead, readers should find it useful upon completion. In our view, these are the standards for a high-quality legal education article.

As the number of lawyers in China continues to grow and the economic situation appears less optimistic in the short term, young lawyers may wonder how to avoid intense internal competition. My view is: specialization combined with industry focus. Specialization is the lawyer’s perspective, regardless of whether one focuses on labor law or equity. Proficiency and professionalism in one’s practice are the duty and prerequisite of an excellent lawyer; indeed, without professional competence, it is unlikely one can serve clients well. Industry focus is the client’s perspective and represents a differentiated advantage for lawyers facing market competition. While there are many lawyers who understand legal knowledge, few understand their clients’ businesses or comprehend the scenarios of users’ problems. When a client encounters a legal issue and multiple lawyers present themselves, if you can instantly understand their business and context, you are more likely to win their trust and engagement. However, this is a career choice requiring long-term commitment. Therefore, a good approach is to initially learn and accumulate experience within industry-focused law firms or teams, which may serve as a promising starting point.

We came into contact with the blockchain industry in 2017 due to project investment considerations. I was also fortunate to study under Professor Gong Yan of CEIBS for nearly two years, systematically learning academic issues related to blockchain, which provided me with a more systematic and in-depth understanding of the industry. In 2021, when I was seeking new entrepreneurial directions, discussions with friends revealed their legal needs and the state of legal services in the market from the perspective of industry users. This made me realize that it was a promising niche entry point. Therefore, we early on identified blockchain as our focused area of business development. Based on our experience, young lawyers pursuing a path of specialization should analyze their choices based on their past professional experiences and potential industry resources they can leverage. Of course, entrepreneurship rarely begins with all conditions perfectly met; thinking alone creates problems, while action yields answers. When starting a business in one’s youth, the opportunity cost is relatively low, so it is advisable to boldly step out of one’s comfort zone.

It is essential to embrace digitalization and make effective use of emerging technological tools. I have previously shared many articles on our law firm’s use of digital tools and operational thinking on my personal WeChat official account, “Attorney Liu Honglin.” Interested readers are welcome to review them.

We remain firmly committed to Mankun’s existing strategic path, focusing deeply on the Web3.0 blockchain industry. We aim to provide more comprehensive and higher-quality legal compliance services to friends in the Chinese-speaking community, striving to become the preferred brand for practitioners in the Chinese-speaking world when selecting legal services.

Lawyers are knowledge professionals. Therefore, I recommend hobbies that can facilitate professional work, such as reading, particularly books related to Drucker’s management theories and Hua & Hua’s marketing methodologies.

Your choices were correct. The detours taken, the pitfalls encountered, and the mentors and partners met along the way were all part of the right path.

Thank you!