Law Society chief says solicitors want to do more than just law
If the Law Society has its way, solicitors could soon be running one-stop businesses that offer an array of services including non-legal ones
The city's lawyers are looking at ways to expand their business into other professional areas, the Law Society's new chief says.
Stephen Hung Wan-shun said an internal report would soon be finalised on how local law firms could co-run partnerships with other professionals.
"We're looking into ways for solicitors' scope of work to be expanded," Hung said yesterday in his first press meeting since he succeeded Ambrose Lam San-keung last month.
He promised to start longer-term discussions on whether solicitors alone could run businesses that would include non-legal elements such as the property and insurance sectors.
"The Law Society council is studying how to make the situation less strict," Hung said, citing accountants as a contrasting example. "Decades ago, accountants merely did auditing. Today, they offer an array of services, like consulting.
"If the status quo is changed [for lawyers, then they] can take other examinations and adopt a one-stop business model."
Restrictions on lawyers doing so at present stemmed from the need to protect clients' legal confidentiality, Hung said.