AllBright: The Journey of Shanghai’s Largest Law Firm

On September 22, 1999, a small announcement titled “AllBright Law Firm Established” appeared in an inconspicuous corner of the Shanghai Xinmin Evening News. At that time, the future of AllBright was unknown to all.

Twenty-five years later, AllBright has rapidly grown from a small firm with only 45 lawyers into one of the most influential large law firms in southeastern China. By 2024, AllBright boasts 20 specialized committees and 29 branch offices.

What secrets lie behind these impressive figures?

Management System: Hiring External Directors

A significant part of AllBright’s success can be attributed to its decentralized management model. From the firm’s inception, all partners agreed on the selection of the firm’s director. Senior partner Zhang Xiaohong believes that the key to AllBright’s success lies in its practice of hiring external directors since 1999, a policy explicitly stated in the firm’s charter.

Many once-excellent law firms have split due to partners vying for the director position, a major loss for the development of the Chinese legal industry. Understanding this danger, AllBright’s partners decided to hire directors from outside the firm, with the stipulation that these directors would not engage in legal practice.

Over the past 20 years, AllBright has hired three highly respected legal veterans as directors: Shi Huanzhang, Wu Mingde, and Gu Gongyun. Their external status and non-involvement in legal practice prevented conflicts of interest and ensured the firm’s stability and long-term growth.

While the external director system balanced the interests of partners, issues arose as Director Shi Huanzhang remained relatively detached from management.

Consequently, the “rotating chairperson system” was introduced, where a chairperson, elected by all partners, would handle meetings, receptions, and daily affairs. Initially, the rotating chairperson changed every six months, later every year. Additionally, AllBright established five committees for business, finance, administration and personnel, regulations, and fairness coordination.

However, Director Shi later highlighted problems with the rotating chairperson system, such as conflicts of time and energy for part-time chairpersons, frequent major discussions, and inefficient partner meetings. Senior partner Shen Guoquan pointed out that this “rule by people” approach hindered the firm’s stability and long-term development.

Ultimately, AllBright decided to reform its management model by adopting a modern corporate management approach. All partners anonymously voted to elect a management committee and a supervisory committee, each with a two-year term. After the management committee was established, partner meetings significantly decreased, and work efficiency improved. This new model allowed the firm’s director and legal representative to focus on development while committee members managed their respective areas.

Distribution Mechanism: Exploring a Hybrid Model

AllBright’s unique operations include its core partner income distribution system. Since its inception, there has been ongoing debate over adopting a corporate or commission-based distribution model. AllBright was formed by merging three law firms, encompassing both litigation and non-litigation services, leading to significant differences in opinions on the distribution mechanism.

In almost every brainstorming session, partners proposed signing a “lifetime grand contract” to unify all clients and business under a corporate distribution model, but consensus was never reached. As a result, AllBright decided to focus on growing its business and set aside the dispute.

As business grew, AllBright gradually developed a model combining flat management by the firm over partners and vertical management by senior partners over their respective teams. In terms of distribution, the firm provided only principled guidance and standardized management, while specific distribution and risk control were handled by each team’s senior partner. This “hybrid” distribution model greatly stimulated the vitality and enthusiasm of AllBright’s members.

Branch Model: Striving for Integration

Entering the 21st century, the legal services market expanded rapidly. Whether AllBright should develop nationwide became a challenging issue. In 2000, AllBright decided to establish its first branch office in Hangzhou. Despite initial rejection by the partners’ meeting, the Hangzhou branch officially opened in November 2000 with self-raised funds from the proposer, achieving nearly ten million yuan in revenue within three years.

The success of the Hangzhou branch eliminated the partners’ hesitation about cross-provincial expansion. AllBright’s branch model was subsequently replicated across the country. In 2007, AllBright established a management headquarters to coordinate between the head office and branches, promoting a nationwide integration strategy.

AllBright’s branch model features three characteristics: clear legal relationships with all branches as subsidiaries sharing the AllBright brand, strategic planning for cooperative development rather than a mere flow platform, and respect for branch autonomy while standardizing brand management and service.

Guided by this model, AllBright rapidly established branches across provinces and internationally, including in Hong Kong and London, furthering its goal of becoming a “world-class law firm.”

AllBright’s Expansion into Hong Kong

Over a decade ago, AllBright began expanding into Hong Kong, becoming one of the few mainland law firms to do so. In 2013, AllBright set up an office in Hong Kong and established a joint operation with Stevenson, Wong & Co. In 2023, AllBright (Hong Kong) LLP was officially established, continuing the partnership with Stevenson, Wong & Co. to provide local legal services.

AllBright Hong Kong is led by lawyer Lawrence Lau, who has extensive experience in capital markets, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Leveraging Hong Kong’s position as a financial center and commercial hub, AllBright Hong Kong aims to offer efficient, one-stop legal services to clients.

AllBright’s Global Network

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Shanghai, AllBright is Shanghai’s largest comprehensive partnership law firm, with offices nationwide and overseas. AllBright has established a strategic partnership with the international law firm Bird & Bird LLP, supporting clients in expanding their global businesses.

Continuously optimizing its business structure, AllBright has 20 specialized committees covering areas like securities and capital markets, banking and finance, corporate and mergers and acquisitions, litigation and arbitration, real estate and construction, and intellectual property.

Today, after 20 years of development, AllBright has become a successful legal service institution. Its members maintain a spirit of exploration, inclusiveness, innovation, and crisis awareness, achieving today’s remarkable success. The grand opening of AllBright (Hong Kong) LLP marks a further step towards the goal of becoming a “world-class law firm.”