Chapter 3: Helping Before Being Hired<\/em><\/p>\n Published as part of the Trust Across Borders series.<\/em><\/p>\n When a person contacts a lawyer, there is an obvious commercial question:<\/p>\n Will this person become a client?<\/p>\n But there is another question that comes before it:<\/p>\n Can I help this person?<\/strong><\/p>\n The two questions are not always the same.<\/p>\n Sometimes the answer to the first question is no, while the answer to the second is yes.<\/p>\n A person may have a legal question that can be answered in a few sentences.<\/p>\n A business owner may have misunderstood a basic point of Chinese law.<\/p>\n Someone may be considering a lawsuit without understanding the likely cost or difficulty.<\/p>\n Another person may have a dispute that is simply too small to justify professional fees.<\/p>\n In these situations, it is tempting for a professional to think:<\/p>\n There is no business here.<\/p>\n But I have gradually come to think differently.<\/p>\n If I can help someone understand their situation better, that has value even if no engagement follows.<\/p>\n Perhaps that person will never become a client.<\/p>\n Perhaps I will never hear from them again.<\/p>\n That does not make the help meaningless.<\/p>\n This was one of the reasons I continued writing in English.<\/p>\n I could have kept my knowledge inside paid consultations.<\/p>\n That would have been commercially understandable.<\/p>\n But I also knew that many foreign businesses were making decisions before they ever spoke to a Chinese lawyer.<\/p>\n They were reading contracts.<\/p>\n They were negotiating with suppliers.<\/p>\n They were transferring money.<\/p>\n They were trying to understand unfamiliar Chinese business practices.<\/p>\n By the time a serious dispute reached a lawyer, many important decisions had already been made.<\/p>\n Sometimes the most valuable legal advice is advice given before<\/strong> a dispute begins.<\/p>\n That was something I wanted my writing to provide.<\/p>\n Not a substitute for legal representation.<\/p>\n Not a promise that a business would never encounter problems.<\/p>\n Simply a better understanding of the risks.<\/p>\n Cross-border business creates a particular kind of information gap.<\/p>\n A foreign entrepreneur may be highly experienced in business and still know very little about the Chinese legal system.<\/p>\n This does not mean that the entrepreneur is inexperienced.<\/p>\n It means that experience is often country-specific.<\/p>\n A successful business owner in Germany, Japan, Australia, Peru, or the United States may understand contracts, negotiation, finance, and management extremely well.<\/p>\n But that experience does not automatically explain how a Chinese company is registered, how Chinese courts handle evidence, how a contract should be enforced in Xiamen, or how a dispute with a Chinese supplier should actually be approached.<\/p>\n The foreign business therefore has to make decisions while knowing that something important is missing.<\/p>\n That missing knowledge can be expensive.<\/p>\n Sometimes it costs money.<\/p>\n Sometimes it costs time.<\/p>\n Sometimes it costs an entire business relationship.<\/p>\n And sometimes it cannot be recovered at all.<\/p>\n I believe one of the most useful things a lawyer can do is reduce that information gap.<\/p>\n One unusual thing about writing online is that you rarely know who is reading.<\/p>\n When I wrote an article, I did not know whether the reader was a company owner in Europe, a purchasing manager in Asia, an entrepreneur in Africa, or someone simply researching a problem.<\/p>\n I did not know what they would eventually do with the information.<\/p>\n They might contact a Chinese lawyer.<\/p>\n They might consult their own lawyer.<\/p>\n They might decide not to proceed with a transaction.<\/p>\n They might simply become more careful when dealing with a supplier.<\/p>\n That uncertainty is part of the nature of public writing.<\/p>\n You give something to people you may never meet.<\/p>\n There is no guarantee of a return.<\/p>\n But that is also what makes it meaningful.<\/p>\n As a lawyer, I naturally have to distinguish between information and professional legal services.<\/p>\n A detailed review of a contract is different from answering a general question.<\/p>\n Representing a client in litigation is different from explaining how Chinese courts generally work.<\/p>\n Conducting a legal investigation is different from pointing someone toward the issues they should investigate.<\/p>\n Professional work has a value, and lawyers need to be paid for serious professional work.<\/p>\n I do not believe that everything a lawyer does should be free.<\/p>\n But I also do not believe that every interaction should immediately become a sales conversation.<\/p>\n There should be room between the two.<\/p>\n There should be room for education.<\/p>\n There should be room for honest information.<\/p>\n There should be room for telling someone:<\/p>\n “You probably do not need to hire me for this.”<\/p>\n That sentence may not generate revenue.<\/p>\n But it can generate something else.<\/p>\n Credibility.<\/p>\n One of the easiest ways for a professional to lose trust is to tell people only what they want to hear.<\/p>\n A client may want to believe that their case is extremely strong.<\/p>\n They may want to believe that they can certainly recover their money.<\/p>\n They may want to believe that litigation will be quick and inexpensive.<\/p>\n Sometimes the honest answer is different.<\/p>\n A case may be legally possible but economically unreasonable.<\/p>\n A claim may have merit but still be difficult to prove.<\/p>\n A Chinese court may have jurisdiction, but enforcement may still present practical difficulties.<\/p>\n A contract may contain rights that are difficult to enforce in reality.<\/p>\n These are not always pleasant things to hear.<\/p>\n But a lawyer’s responsibility is not to provide reassurance at any cost.<\/p>\n It is to provide an honest assessment.<\/p>\n That principle also applies before someone becomes a client.<\/p>\n If I cannot genuinely help someone, I would rather tell them that than persuade them to spend money unnecessarily.<\/p>\n Over time, I began to see a connection between my writing and my legal practice.<\/p>\n A person might read an article today.<\/p>\n Six months later, that person might encounter a problem with a Chinese supplier.<\/p>\n A year later, they might remember the lawyer whose article helped them understand Chinese law.<\/p>\n They might then make contact.<\/p>\n When that happens, the relationship did not actually begin with the first email.<\/p>\n It began much earlier.<\/p>\n It began with information.<\/p>\n That is why I do not see public legal writing simply as marketing.<\/p>\n It can be the first stage of a professional relationship.<\/p>\n And sometimes that first stage happens long before there is any discussion of money.<\/p>\n There is another lesson in this.<\/p>\n When a serious dispute occurs, a foreign business may suddenly need a Chinese lawyer.<\/p>\n But choosing a lawyer in the middle of a crisis is difficult.<\/p>\n The client has little information.<\/p>\n The lawyer is a stranger.<\/p>\n The amount of money at stake may be substantial.<\/p>\n There may be very little time.<\/p>\n In such circumstances, trust becomes extremely important.<\/p>\n That is one reason I believe in building trust before it is needed.<\/p>\n Writing articles is one way of doing that.<\/p>\n Publishing practical information is another.<\/p>\n Being transparent about who I am and what I do is another.<\/p>\n None of these guarantees that someone will choose me.<\/p>\n They should not.<\/p>\n The purpose is not to manufacture trust.<\/p>\n The purpose is to give people enough information to make their own judgment.<\/p>\n A professional reputation is similar to an emergency fund.<\/p>\n You cannot create it instantly when you suddenly need it.<\/p>\n It has to exist beforehand.<\/p>\n Every article contributes something.<\/p>\n Every conversation contributes something.<\/p>\n Every client interaction contributes something.<\/p>\n Every time a lawyer refuses to exaggerate a case, every time he tells a client an inconvenient truth, and every time he does careful work when nobody is watching, a little more reputation is built.<\/p>\n The opposite is also true.<\/p>\n A single dishonest act can damage years of work.<\/p>\n That is why reputation cannot be separated from professional ethics.<\/p>\n They are essentially the same long-term project.<\/p>\n There is a strong temptation in modern business to measure everything.<\/p>\n Revenue.<\/p>\n Return on investment.<\/p>\n These numbers are useful.<\/p>\n But they cannot measure everything that matters.<\/p>\n An article may receive very little traffic and still help one person.<\/p>\n A conversation may generate no fee and still leave someone with a better understanding of their situation.<\/p>\n A professional decision may produce less money today but protect a reputation that becomes valuable ten years later.<\/p>\n Some things have delayed returns.<\/p>\n Some things cannot be measured easily at all.<\/p>\n That does not mean they have no value.<\/p>\n It means that their value operates on a longer time scale.<\/p>\n This idea is also connected to where I practice.<\/p>\n I have been fortunate that my living expenses in Xuzhou are relatively manageable.<\/p>\n That gives me a degree of freedom that I do not take for granted.<\/p>\n I do not have to maximize every possible source of income.<\/p>\n I do not have to accept every case simply because someone is willing to pay.<\/p>\n I can sometimes say no.<\/p>\n I can spend time writing.<\/p>\n I can answer a question without immediately asking whether it will become a paid engagement.<\/p>\n This may sound like a small thing.<\/p>\n I do not think it is.<\/p>\n Financial pressure can influence professional judgment.<\/p>\n When a person is under intense pressure to make money, short-term interests can gradually become more important than long-term principles.<\/p>\n I believe one of the greatest professional advantages a lawyer can have is enough independence to say:<\/p>\n This is profitable, but it is not right for me.<\/strong><\/p>\n Or:<\/p>\n This person needs help, but does not necessarily need to hire me.<\/strong><\/p>\n That freedom is worth protecting.<\/p>\n I am also conscious that this freedom should not be taken for granted.<\/p>\n If I moved to a much more expensive city, my living costs would probably increase.<\/p>\n The pressure to generate income could become greater.<\/p>\n That might make some decisions more difficult.<\/p>\n This is one reason I believe professional ethics cannot depend entirely on circumstances.<\/p>\n A person should know what they believe before circumstances test those beliefs.<\/p>\n It is easy to say that long-term values matter when life is comfortable.<\/p>\n The real test comes when money is scarce, competition is intense, and a short-term opportunity is difficult to refuse.<\/p>\n That is when principles become more than words.<\/p>\n They become choices.<\/p>\n There is an important distinction here.<\/p>\n I do not believe that professionals should give away all their work.<\/p>\n A sustainable professional practice is necessary.<\/p>\n Lawyers have employees, offices, technology, research costs, taxes, training, and families to support.<\/p>\n Professional knowledge has economic value.<\/p>\n Charging appropriate fees is not inconsistent with helping others.<\/p>\n In fact, a profession cannot serve society for the long term if its practitioners cannot sustain themselves.<\/p>\n The principle I believe in is different:<\/p>\n Do not make money the only measure of value.<\/strong><\/p>\n A good professional should be able to create value before, during, and sometimes even outside a paid engagement.<\/p>\n The fee is compensation for professional work.<\/p>\n It should not be the only reason the professional cares about the person on the other side.<\/p>\n Ironically, this approach can also make good business sense.<\/p>\n People remember those who helped them.<\/p>\n They recommend professionals they trust.<\/p>\n They return to people who treated them honestly.<\/p>\n They are more comfortable paying for serious professional work when they already understand the value of that work.<\/p>\n In other words, helping people and building a sustainable practice are not necessarily opposites.<\/p>\n The difference lies in the time horizon.<\/p>\n A short-term approach asks:<\/p>\n How much can I earn from this person today?<\/strong><\/p>\n A long-term approach asks:<\/p>\n What kind of professional relationship am I building?<\/strong><\/p>\n The second question is much more important to me.<\/p>\n Looking back at the years I spent writing, I realize that the articles taught me something about being a lawyer.<\/p>\n A lawyer’s work does not begin when the engagement letter is signed.<\/p>\n It begins with knowledge.<\/p>\n It begins with responsibility.<\/p>\n It begins with the willingness to understand another person’s problem seriously.<\/p>\n And sometimes it begins with simply answering a question honestly.<\/p>\n The legal profession is built around trust because clients often give lawyers access to things that matter enormously to them.<\/p>\n Their money.<\/p>\n Their businesses.<\/p>\n Their contracts.<\/p>\n Their disputes.<\/p>\n Sometimes their livelihoods.<\/p>\n That trust has to be earned before it can be exercised responsibly.<\/p>\n I do not know how many people have benefited from the articles I have written.<\/p>\n I probably never will.<\/p>\n Some readers may have forgotten them.<\/p>\n Others may never have needed them.<\/p>\n A few may have made important decisions because of them.<\/p>\n That is enough for me.<\/p>\n I have come to believe that professional life should not always be measured by the number of people who pay you.<\/p>\n Sometimes it should also be measured by the number of people whose decisions became a little better because you were willing to share what you knew.<\/p>\n That is not charity.<\/p>\n It is part of what I believe a profession can be.<\/p>\n A way of using knowledge responsibly.<\/p>\n A way of creating value.<\/p>\n And, ultimately, a way of earning trust.<\/p>\n \u2190 Chapter 2: The Values That Shaped My Career<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2192 Chapter 4: [Next Chapter]<\/strong><\/p>\n To read the complete Trust Across Borders<\/em> series, search:<\/p>\n Trust Across Borders<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Trust Across Borders Chapter 3: Helping Before Being Hired Published as part of the Trust Across Borders series. What Does […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trust-across-borders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/xiamen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/xiamen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/xiamen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/xiamen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/xiamen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/xiamen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/xiamen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/xiamen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lyuandassociates.com\/xiamen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWhat Does It Mean to Help Someone?<\/h3>\n
\nWhy I Started Giving Information Away<\/h3>\n
\nThe Information Gap<\/h3>\n
\nWriting for Someone I Had Never Met<\/h3>\n
\nNot Every Question Needs a Paid Engagement<\/h3>\n
\nThe Importance of Saying What People Need to Hear<\/h3>\n
\nThe First Value Comes Before the First Fee<\/h3>\n
\nTrust Cannot Be Purchased at the Last Minute<\/h3>\n
\nReputation Is Built Before You Need It<\/h3>\n
\nWhy I Do Not Measure Everything by Immediate Results<\/h3>\n
\nThe Freedom to Think Long Term<\/h3>\n
\nWhat Happens If the Circumstances Change?<\/h3>\n
\nHelping Is Not the Same as Working for Free<\/h3>\n
\nThe Business Case for Trust<\/h3>\n
\nWhat Writing Taught Me About My Profession<\/h3>\n
\nA Small Principle With a Long Life<\/h3>\n
\nContinue Reading<\/h3>\n