Status
The HKCCA is a voluntary, private members association, registered under Hong Kong's Societies Ordinance. Under current regulations, employed solicitors have the right to engage in some, but not all, of the activities that solicitors in private practice are entitled to engage in. For example, its members are not automatically granted rights of audience or legal privilege. However, many members of the HKCCA also hold lawyers' practising certificates, which do grant those rights. At present, the HKCCA does not have a code of conduct for its members. Nevertheless, the HKCCA does have a long-term objective of producing such a code.
Membership
The organisation has approximately 350 members - and is growing by around 100 per year. Membership is open to all persons based in Hong Kong, providing their main role is to offer legal advice to their employer, as opposed to private clients. Private practice lawyers are not permitted to join the HKCCA. Corporate counsels who are based in other Asian countries but maintain strong links with the territory are welcome to join the HKCCA, and to attend its events free of charge.
Governance
The HKCCA is headed by a ten-member executive committee, elected for a two-year term. Its current president is the association's founder, Ralph Ybema. In addition to his part-time role as president of the HKCCA, Mr Ybema also sits on the board of directors of the Hong Kong-listed CSMC Technologies Corporation of China.
Benefits of membership
The organisation offers members a lively programme of networking and social opportunities, including junk boat trips, evenings at the races and cocktail parties. In addition, the HKCCA offers more than 20 educational seminars per year. These events will typically cover a specific area of legal practice. Each year, the association holds a half-day conference, attended by a high-profile guest speaker. In 2005, the keynote speaker was the former CEO of Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd, Nicholas Sallnow-Smith. In 2006, the Hong Kong's secretary of justice, Mr Wong Yan Lung, gave the keynote speech.
International links
The HKCCA has formal links with The Australian Corporate Lawyers Association, the Corporate Lawyers Association of New Zealand and the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association. It also works on an ad hoc basis with the US-based Association for Corporate Counsel (ACC). Close ties are maintained with the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association, as well as other regional corporate counsel organisations.
Presidential agenda
objectives is to increase the organisation's membership. "We want our association to be accessible for all corporate counsel operating in Hong Kong - including those who work for companies that do not have large training budgets for their lawyers," he says. To achieve this objective, the price of membership of the HKCCA has been deliberately low - just HK$500 (US$65). This is because many HKCCA members must fund their membership directly. "At present, many Hong Kong companies will only pay for their lawyers to join one professional organisation - and members must join the Hong Kong Law Society to maintain their practising certificates," Mr Ybema explains.
Besides an active education and social programme, Mr Ybema is keen to raise the profile of in-house lawyers working in Hong Kong. For example, The Law Society of Kong was recently tasked to propose a new practice note for employed solicitors. The HKCCA approached the Law Society, and offered to co-opt two of its members - who were also members of the Law Society - to the group. "They accepted our proposal, and the HKCCA is now working formally with the Law Society on this matter," says Mr Ybema.
Internationally, Mr Ybema intends to further develop the HKCCA's links, mainly in relation to other commonwealth countries. "In particular, we expect to develop closer links with corporate counsel associations in Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and, hopefully, the UK," he says.
In addition to its work with other corporate counsels' associations, the HKCCA is working in partnership with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to promote the territory. "We believe that Hong Kong continues to play an important role in investment into China, especially in relation to its legal system," he says. "Hong Kong has an excellent intellectual property right protection regime, a competitive tax rate and offers flexible investment structures. Although Chinese law firms will never tell you this, it is actually very easy to run inward investments into China out of Hong Kong."
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