Hong Kong Law Society hosts student sharing seminar in London

The Law Society of Hong Kong co-hosted a student sharing seminar in London for the third consecutive year with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London, in conjunction with the Opening of the Legal Year in England and Wales.

The initiative is designed to connect with young people and has grown into an annual platform for dialogue and mentorship. 

Over the past three years, more than 100 students from leading universities in the United Kingdom and beyond have taken part. Several of them have since become mentees of the president of the Law Society, Roden Tong Man-lung, according to the law society.

This year’s seminar welcomed students and representatives from the London School of Economics Students’ Union Asia Careers Society, the UK Joint University Hong Kong Career Society, and the UCL Asia-Pacific Law Society, as well as students from the London School of Economics and Political Science, King’s College London, the University of Bristol, and University College London.

Tong shared about the mindset young people need to thrive in an increasingly competitive and interconnected legal landscape. He urged participants to “stay humble, be proactive, and keep an open and international mindset.”

He emphasized that the future of the Hong Kong legal profession is increasingly international. Hong Kong’s legal sector is no longer defined solely by the local market. 

“To practise in Hong Kong is to connect with the world,” he said.

Tong also highlighted the Greater Bay Area (GBA) Legal Professional Examination as an important example of the opportunities available to Hong Kong lawyers. 

The scheme allows eligible Hong Kong and Macao legal practitioners to expand their practice and contribute to cross-boundary legal services in the GBA, reflecting the growing demand for lawyers who understand different legal systems, cultures, and markets, he said.

He reminded students that opportunity comes with competition. Young lawyers from the Chinese Mainland, Korea, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and other jurisdictions are increasingly multilingual, outward-looking, and globally competitive. 

Future lawyers must therefore build more than legal expertise and must also develop commercial awareness, cultural sensitivity, language proficiency, technological literacy, and a commitment to ongoing learning, he added.

Tong encouraged students to keep an eye on emerging areas of growth, including artificial intelligence, fintech, intellectual property, high technology, space law, the Northern Metropolis, and other future-facing sectors.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓