News

On July 10^th, 2023, JAVY’s deputy director Cao Chunfang Esq. was invited to join the 10^th Guike bimonthly seminar, and shared her professional insights on how to be a successful trial lawyer. The meeting was joined by multiple law firm leaders who are also veteran trial lawyers.

As Ms. Cao pointed out, a successful trial lawyer should have two main quality, the first one is the ability to locate the focal point of the case, while keep an open mind, the other one is the ability to communicate effectively.

The “focal point” means the center of the argument of a specific case, a successful trial lawyer needs to quickly analyze the case and locate the core issue of the dispute, and based their evidence & analysis on this focal point. During trial, the lawyer must focus on this point and avoid being led by the nose by the other party, they also need to maintain the judge/arbitrator’s attention on their own focal point at all times.

“Keeping an open mind” means the trial lawyer should not limit themselves on the focal point mentioned above only, but also needs to prepare for all possibilities, because there may be multiple perspectives to view a case, what you view as the focal point is not necessarily a consensus of the judge or the other party’s lawyer, so it is vital to listen to the others’ opinions, too.

The ability to communicate effectively covers both written and verbal communication, as the only goal of trial is to persuade the judge or arbitrator to give a favorable rule, trial lawyers should combine both communication methods. The trial lawyer must be resilient and adaptable in tackle unexpected circumstances such as evidence attack from the other party, they also need to need to adopt writing skills such as utilizing subheadings to effectively express themselves.

Ms. Cao concluded that all the skills & experiences mentioned above are gained through actual training, rather than by remembering books, as being a trial lawyer means lifelong learning.

Cao Chufang

Deputy Director/Founding Partner

Education Backgrounds:

China Youth University of Political Studies, bachelor of Law;

Peking University, master of Laws.

Social Titles:

· Deputy Director of 11^th Civil Procedure Law Research Committee of the BLA;

· Secretary of 8^th Civil Procedure Law Research Committee of the BLA;

· Deputy Secretary of 9^th Disciplinary and Ethics Committee of the BLA;

· Deputy Director of 9^th and 10^th Civil Law Research Committee of the BLA;

· Deputy Director of Civil Law Research Committee of the CLA;

· Counsel of Beijing Tourism Bureau;

· Counsel of Capital Cinema Legal Service Center;

· Guest Lecturer for Undergraduates of PPSUC.

Notable Clients:

· China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation Ltd;

· China Tourism Group;

· China International Travel Services Limited;

· China South Industries Group Corporation Limited;

· China Petrochemical Corporation;

· Beijing Urban & Rural Construction Group Co., Ltd.