Lawyers in Mainland China Or Solicitors in Hong Kong May Help Clients Generally, But May Not Help Themselves Sometimes !

1. A Chinese lawyer is ordered by a Beijing court to return groundless fees to his clients

According to a report by Beijing Youth Daily in earlier February 2008, Mr. XU, a lawyer of Beijing Heng Cheng Law Firm has recently been ordered by the Beijing Haidian court to be detained for 15 days.

Mr. XU is said to have illegally obtained agency fees twice while he represented clients, and were sued to the Haidian court thereafter. The court had issued two judgments for the lawsuits, demanding Mr. XU to return the illegal fees to his clients. Mr. XU, however, had not performed the judgments. The judgments plaintiffs alternatively in 2005 and 2007 applied to the court for their enforcements.

The court has issued an enforcement notice to Mr. XU, and also seized his property, but Mr. XU presented to the court stating that there were faults of the two judgements requiring judicial reviews, and expecting the court to extend enforcement periods. Thereafter, Mr. XU had no more contacts with the court, no speaking of returning of any judgments' fees.

2. A Hong Kong solicitor's request for anonymity is rejected by a Hong Kong Court

According to the Souch China Morning Post of 20 March 2008, the identity of a solicitor who is claiming damages from his former employer for psychiatric problems would not be protected, a Hong Kong District Court judge ruled.

The District Court judge David Lok Kai-hong dismissed the application made by Tam Kam-tong for an anonymity order in relation to his claim for employment compensation arising from an incident. He asked the court to conceal his identity fearing future discrimination, but the judge said it did not apply in this case.