GBA Legal Pro. Exam formalised under mainland law; lawyers laud oppor.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA Legal Professional Examination scheme has been formalized under mainland Chinese law this month, allowing Hong Kong lawyers to practice in the Greater Bay Area.

A lawyer among the first batch of qualified individuals, has already become a partner at a law firm in Guangzhou.

He believes that the GBA market is huge, especially in the intellectual property sector.

IP lawyer Alan Chiu takes the high-speed rail, from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, and heads to his office, to kickstart a day of work.

Alan is a partner at this Guangzhou law firm, helping mainland enterprises "go global" through Hong Kong, and serving foreign companies that are expanding their businesses in the mainland.

He says he returns to the mainland once or twice a week.

He believes that for Hong Kong lawyers working in the GBA, having a common law mindset is a major advantage.

Lawyer in GBA ALAN CHIU: "Say for example I am handling for a client a trademark dispute across the board in over 20 jurisdictions, many of them are common law systems, the upside is we can relatively easy to predict the possible results in those common law jurisdictions. The clients can come with an informed decision easier."

He notes that it has taken him some time to overcome the institutional differences between mainland and Hong Kong courts.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA Legal Professional Examination was launched as a pilot in 2020, and more than 650 people have obtained certificates so far.

Alan believes that intellectual property legal services have a huge market in the GBA and mainland clients tend to stick to one firm after they have established confidence in the firm.

His colleague Tiffany has been practising for five years and is preparing to take the exam next year.

Hong Kong lawyer TIFFANY LI: "I was unsure if the legal exam and the qualification would actually benefit me. Given that there are market trends, there are close connection with Hong Kong and GBA areas, I believe that it is a very good timing for lawyers to take the exam."

A Legislative Council member from the legal sector suggests expanding the scheme to other mainland cities.

Nick Chan explains that many law firms have headquarters in Shanghai and Beijing, so the expansion of the scheme to these cities is only natural.

The exam can be registered through the official website of the Ministry of Justice. Test centres are located in Shenzhen and Zhuhai.