Beijing Municipal Lawyers' Association, Lawyer Practice Standards (Trial Implementation)

Published: July 4 2001
Interpreting authority: Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal Lawyers' association

Main contents: With 82 articles in 12 parts, the Standards aim to regulate the conduct of certified lawyers, provide standards for judging competence and specify the measures that can be taken to handle malpractice by lawyers and law firms. A lawyer shall comply with the law and the law only (Article 5). A lawyer shall not practise for more than one law firm at the same time (Article 18). Client business must be accepted in the name of a law firm (Article 19). Before accepting client business, a lawyer or his/her law firm shall verify that there is no conflict of interest in acting for the client (Article 46). Lawyer fees may be charged on an hourly, fixed sum or proportional basis (Article 49). A lawyer has the right to choose any method within the bounds of the law and ethical standards to achieve the objective of the client (Article 54). Malpractice may be penalized by warning, internal reprimand, public reprimand, suspension of membership rights or other punishments authorized by the judicial or administrative authorities depending on the seriousness of the case (Articles 72 to 77).
Related legislation: PRC, Lawyers Law (Amended), Oct 28 2007, CLP 2007 No.10 p83 and The All China Law Association, Charter of the Law Association