Law Society of Hong Kong

The Law Society of Hong Kong is the professional association and law society for solicitors in Hong Kong, established in 1907. The Law Society of Hong Kong is responsible for the classification and qualification of lawyers in Hong Kong. According to Hong Kong law, all Hong Kong solicitors must be members of this association.

The Law Society is currently headed by President Roden Tong (湯文龍) and is located on the third floor of Wing On House in Central.

History
It was formed on 8 April 1907 as a company limited by guarantee, and was then known as The Incorporated Law Society of Hong Kong. The present name was adopted in 1969.

In 2014, the society underwent its first ever motion of no confidence in its president over his declared support for the white paper published by the PRC on the city's autonomy in which patriotism was a prerequisite for the territory's judges. Ambrose Lam's declaration appeared to be at odds with sentiment of its members, a thousand of whom marched in response to the white paper. Over 100 petitioners objected to Lam's politicisation of the Law Society, requesting that Lam withdraw his comments and reassert support for judicial independence. The tabler of the no confidence vote had expected Lam to be able to call on a large reservoir of proxy votes in his defence. At a meeting called for 14 August 2014, Lam suffered a surprising defeat in the non-binding vote calling for him to resign. The motion was carried by 2,392 votes to 1,478, with almost half its members voting in person or by proxy. There had been complaints of members receiving external pressure from Chinese companies, the central government Liaison Office, and members of the CPPCC National Committee. Lam resigned on 19 August 2014, with neither an apology nor a retraction.

President
On 5 January 2022, Carrie Lam announced new warnings and restrictions against social gathering due to potential COVID-19 outbreaks. One day later, it was discovered that president Chan Chak-ming attended a birthday party hosted by Witman Hung Wai-man, with 222 guests. At least one guest tested positive with COVID-19, causing many guests to be quarantined.

In November 2022, president Chan Chak-ming said that he and 3 vice-presidents recently went overseas to dispel ideas that "there is no judicial independence, fair trials and free speech" in Hong Kong.

In January 2023, after the NPCSC gave the Chief Executive power to ban foreign lawyers in response to Jimmy Lai attempting to hire Tim Owen, Chan said the NPCSC's decision was a "good example" of the government's commitment to implementing One Country, Two Systems.

Structure
The society is divided into two bodies:
 * The Council – the governing body of the society and consists of 20 members with 2 vice-presidents and 1 president.
 * The Secretariat – the body responsible for the standing committees within the society and has around 100 staff.

Profile of the profession
As of 30 June 2024, the Law Society regulates 13,195 solicitors in Hong Kong with a current practising certificate.

Structure of the profession

 * 11,553 solicitors were in private practice in 922 firms.
 * Of these firms:
 * 46% were sole practitioners.
 * 42% were firms with 2 to 5 partners.
 * 64 were limited liability partnerships formed pursuant to the Legal Practitioners Ordinance.

Foreign lawyers
1,471 registered foreign lawyers in Hong Kong coming from 32 jurisdictions

Gender

 * Of all practising solicitors, 52% were female and 48% were female (as of 2023).

Finance
In 2006, the Society's income was HK$86.0 million, HK$46.26 million being raised through annual practising certificate fees and membership subscriptions.

In 2007, the Society's income was HK$91.6 million, HK$47.7 million being raised through annual practising certificate fees and membership subscriptions.

The fee for a practising certificate was HK$6,800 and the fee for membership subscription was HK$1,200.

The Society had an annual income budget of HK$80.6 million for 2007.

In 2017, the Society generated an income of HK$103 million, out of which HK$47 million was raised through annual practising certificate fees. The annual practising certificate fee in 2017 was HK$5,000 and membership fee was HK$800.

Artistic Work
On the 22nd of July 2022, the Society uploaded a music video of 《Love for Hong Kong – 法治新一代》, "a song dedicated to the learning and protection of the rule of law amongst the general public, in particular young people", to its official YouTube channel. The song was composed and lyricized by the preceding president Pang. The video description states that it featured the singing and dancing performance of Eastern District Youth and Children’s Choir, a group of children, incumbent president C. M. Chan, and other council members.

List of presidents

 * 1950–51: C. Y. Kwan
 * 1957–58: K. Y. Kan
 * 1959–60: P. C. Woo
 * 1962–6?: Peter A. L. Vine
 * 1969–71: T. S. Lo
 * 1971–7?: Brian Mcelney
 * 1973–75: Peter C. Wong
 * 1975–76: I. R. A. MacCallum
 * 1976–77: K. L. Mak
 * 1977–79: C. H. Wong
 * 1979–81: Edmund Cheung
 * 1981–83: P. S. Wan
 * 1983–84: T. S. Tong
 * 1984–85: Tim Freshwater
 * 1985–87: Brian Tisdall
 * 1987–89: Simon Ip
 * 1989–92: Alfred Donald Yap
 * 1992–93: Ambrose Lau
 * 1993–96: Roderick Woo
 * 1996–97: Christopher Chan
 * 1997–2000: Anthony Chow
 * 2000–02: Herbert Tsoi
 * 2002–04: S. H. Ip
 * 2004–05: Michael Lintern-Smith
 * 2005–07: Peter C. L. Lo
 * 2007–09: Lester Huang
 * 2009–11: Huen Wong
 * 2011–12: Junius Ho
 * 2012–13: Dieter Yih
 * 2013–14: Ambrose Lam
 * 2014–16: Stephen Hung
 * 2016–18: Thomas So
 * 2018–21: Melissa K. Pang
 * 2021-24: C. M. Chan
 * 2024-Incumbent: Roden Tong