News

On May 16, 2026, the 2026 Symposium on Lawyer Law and the 5th Beijing-Shanghai Lawyers Forum successfully concluded at the Haidian Campus of China University of Political Science and Law. This event was spearheaded by the Center for Lawyer Studies at China University of Political Science and Law, the Beijing Association for Lawyer Law Studies, and the Shanghai Law Society’s Association for Lawyer Law Studies, and co-hosted in collaboration with lawyer (and legal) studies associations from multiple provinces and cities across the country. Taking the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of the *Lawyers Law* and and the 74th anniversary of the founding of China University of Political Science and Law. It brought together top domestic legal experts, industry scholars, managers from leading law firms, and seasoned legal professionals to engage in in-depth discussions on major topics such as high-quality development of the legal profession in the new era, modernization of law firm governance, safeguarding of professional rights, and cross-regional collaborative development. The event provided authoritative theoretical support and practical references for the industry’s transformation toward standardization, digitalization, and collaboration.

Zhao Cenghai, Director of Beijing JAVY Law Firm and Vice President of the Beijing Lawyers’ Law Research Association, was invited to attend the forum and delivered a keynote presentation during the core roundtable discussion titled “Issues Regarding the Establishment and Management of Law Firm Branches.” Drawing on the current challenges of scaling law firms and JAVY’s years of practical operational experience, Director Zhao Cenghai systematically analyzed the governance challenges faced by headquarters and branch offices. He proposed a new modern governance approach characterized by compliance safeguards, clear delineation of rights and responsibilities, digital empowerment, and mutual benefit. His professional and pragmatic presentation received high praise and widespread resonance from experts and industry peers in attendance.

As a leading law firm in the industry known for high-quality, large-scale development, Jia Law Firm has experienced rapid growth in recent years and has steadily completed its national strategic expansion. It has now established seven branch offices in Chongqing, Nanjing, Fuzhou, Nanning, Dezhou, Zaozhuang, and Guigang, with a total team of nearly 400 practicing attorneys across all locations, including over 200 practicing attorneys and operational staff at its Beijing headquarters. Leveraging its efficient operational system and reputation for high-quality service, the firm achieved a growth rate of 209.2% in 2022, ranking first among Beijing-based law firms with over 100 attorneys. This marks a leap forward in development that balances both speed and quality.

In terms of governance across the headquarters and branch offices, Jia Law Firm has established a mature and comprehensive modern governance system. It has innovatively implemented a three-tier partner decision-making framework with a four-tier separation of “deliberation, decision-making, execution, and supervision,” creating an internal governance structure characterized by clear delineation of authority and responsibility, mutual checks and balances, and efficient operations. Regarding branch operations, the firm implements a market-oriented mechanism of independent accounting and self-financing, fully unleashing the operational vitality of regional teams. At the same time, the headquarters upholds governance standards, firmly maintaining control over three core authorities: the appointment and removal of branch managers, comprehensive compliance and risk management, and unified brand standards. By precisely balancing oversight and empowerment, the firm truly achieves “delegating authority without abandoning responsibility, maintaining autonomy without losing control, exercising unified management with appropriate flexibility, and ensuring steady and sustainable progress.”

To break down regional barriers within the industry and resolve the issue of fragmented resources, in early 2025, JIA LAWYER established the JIA LAWYER Global Service Network. Member firms of this network have innovatively introduced a symbiotic system comprising both branch offices and joint venture firms. The network grants access to the official “JIA LAWYER” trademark and brand authorization, while simultaneously providing six core benefits: precise case allocation, shared digital and intelligent systems across all regions, and the “JIA Law Appointment” intelligent platform powered by the DeepSeek-R1 large language model. Leveraging digital and intelligent tools, this initiative completely overcomes the developmental challenges faced by traditional law firms operating in isolation, establishing a new legal service ecosystem characterized by nationwide connectivity, resource sharing, and mutual empowerment.

At the forum, Director Zhao Cenghai synthesized three core perspectives on industry development based on sector trends and Jialu Law Firm’s practical achievements, offering guidance to break the deadlock in the governance of law firm headquarters and branch offices.

First, adhere to the principles of compliance first and quality priority, and reject the industry’s chaotic, unsustainable expansion. While the legal industry is accelerating its scale-driven expansion, some firms prioritize scale over risk control and expand despite existing issues. The excessively low thresholds for establishing branch offices have led to frequent incidents of non-compliant practice, brand dilution, and risk transmission. In response, Director Zhao Cenghai recommends that the industry further refine regulatory standards, moderately raise the entry threshold for establishing branch offices, and establish a “one-strike-and-you’re-out” disciplinary mechanism for violations. This will resolutely put an end to the industry’s chaotic practice of expanding while under penalty, ensuring that the large-scale development of law firms returns to its roots of compliance and professionalism.

Second, optimize the governance logic between headquarters and branches to achieve a balance between centralization and decentralization, with clear delineation of authority and responsibility. Addressing the industry’s persistent governance dilemma of “stifling growth through over-regulation and causing chaos through lax oversight,” Jia Law Firm has developed a mature solution: the headquarters focuses on baseline controls, uniformly managing brand standards, compliance and risk management, and core personnel to safeguard the foundation of the firm’s nationwide development; while member firms concentrate on deepening market penetration, independently conducting local operations, market expansion, and client service to fully activate regional development vitality, thereby completely breaking free from the dual extremes of centralized rigidity and loose affiliation.

Third, we are deeply committed to digital empowerment, building a service network characterized by synergy, mutual growth, and shared value. Leveraging its self-developed digital empowerment system, the firm has established seamless communication channels between the headquarters and member firms through brand licensing, AI-driven capabilities, nationwide case sharing, and the pooling of professional resources. This transforms member firms from isolated business entities into an interconnected, mutually supportive professional community. By reducing collaboration costs through digitalization and amplifying development value through branding, the firm achieves comprehensive, two-way empowerment and sustainable, long-term mutual success.

Director Zhao Cenghai concluded by stating that a high-quality relationship between the headquarters and member firms is, at its core, a community of shared destiny characterized by compliance safeguards, balanced centralization and decentralization, digital synergy, and mutual growth. This month, JIA LAWYER has officially launched the cooperation program for China-based member firms within its global service network, and we welcome high-quality law firms from across the country to join the JIA LAWYER Global Service Network. Moving forward, Jia Law Firm will continue to deepen its focus on refined, digital, and standardized governance, continuously optimizing the ecosystem of the JIA LAWYER Global Service Network. By leveraging the headquarters as a foundation to empower comprehensive development and utilizing regional strengths to fuel brand enhancement, we will collectively contribute to the high-quality and sustainable development of the legal industry.