Elaine Lo, the pioneering lawyer on her way up
Lawyer pioneered M&A negotiations on the mainland 30 years ago on her way to becoming the first female senior partner at Mayer Brown JSM
Elaine Lo's career exemplifies the rise in Hong Kong of professional women, whose efforts have made this city one of the best in Asia for them.
Lo, Asia chair and senior partner at Mayer Brown JSM, has worked for the law firm for more than 30 years. She has handled major mergers and acquisitions (M&A), some of which have epitomised the mainland's changing face.
She first went to the mainland in 1983, when the bamboo curtain was opening up and foreign businesses were being allowed in.
Her task was to negotiate a shipbuilding contract for China State Shipbuilding Corporation (the arm of the government that supervised all shipyards), which had received its first order to build a vessel commissioned by a Norwegian shipping company.
This assignment and subsequent ones helped her learn how to communicate with and serve mainland clients, and she was given responsibilities usually limited to more senior lawyers.
In the 1980s, many banks were giving loans to foreign investors to finance ports, toll roads, bridges and power plants on the mainland.
She quickly acquired a reputation for handling the development and financing for such infrastructure projects. Her efforts prompted Johnson Stokes & Master (JSM), as the law firm was known then, to open an office in Beijing. Promoted to partner in 1986, she was then sent to manage the Beijing office in 1987, "a responsibility which would normally have been reserved for a more senior partner", she says.
She is highly regarded by her peers and has won many awards, including her ranking as a leading Company/Commercial/M&A Project Finance Lawyer by Chambers Global; leading PRC Law Lawyer by the Asia Law and Practice Survey; and leading China Practice Lawyer by Who's Who Legal.
She also won the Asian Legal Business Law Award for Managing Partner of the Year for 2008 and 2009.
In 2007, Lo's career took a dramatic turn when she became the first woman to be elected as the senior partner at JSM, a 150-year-old law firm. Her father thought she was one of many senior partners in the firm, not realising that Hong Kong law firms only have one senior partner.
On Hong Kong's acceptance of women professionals, Lo says the city rewards those women who have the right experience and are willing to work hard.
"Hong Kong values skills and talents. It is a very tolerant and diverse society. If you have the requisite qualifications and skills, you will be given the opportunity to prove that you can manage a complex project or lead an organisation. There is no gender discrimination," she says.
Lo says that while working in Beijing, she met many female professionals, particularly in the accounting sector, who served as role models.
"Chinese women professionals have an advantage over their expatriate male counterparts. They are beneficiaries of a society that has given opportunities to women because talent, skills and experience were in short supply and therefore valued."
Circumstances in Hong Kong and the mainland also work to the advantage of women. The central government has always encouraged women to take responsibility. After all, it was Mao Zedong who said: "Women hold up half the sky".
But Lo adds that women should not expect special treatment at work, and should be willing to accept challenging assignments and assume more responsibilities.
"A woman has to deliver results just like her male colleagues. Determination, perseverance and commercial sense are important qualities to achieve professional excellence," she says.
So what advice would she give to women who want to juggle a career and family?
"Sort out your priorities," Lo says. "Sometimes women have to sacrifice quality time with the family and, for that, you need the understanding and support of your family members.
"A successful woman professional has to choose between maintaining a challenging career and fulfilling her family obligations."
