One of the key steps for advancing the “One Country, Two Systems” has been the development of the Greater Bay Area. The total population in the Greater Bay Area is over 86 million and the GDP stood at RMB 12.6 trillion in 2021. Among a population of more than 1.4 billion in China, the size of the middle-income group reaches 400 million this year. Demands for legal services in the Greater Bay Area has been growing with strengthening of the Rule of Law, update and upgrading of laws, innovations and technological advancements etc.. Mr. Nick Chan will share his insights on students’ future as a lawyer living in the Greater Bay Area, and how Hong Kong and other parts of the Greater Bay Area are well placed to meet the changing needs of clients with their unique advantages.

Topics covered in the talk include:

• Growing demands for legal services in the Greater Bay Area
• Role of lawyers in common law and civil law legal jurisdictions
• “One Country, Two Systems” and three legal systems
• Unique advantages of Hong Kong and other parts of the Greater Bay Area in helping to resolve disputes and facilitating more deals
• FinTech, Metaverse, Internet+
• Hong Kong lawyers’ prospect as GBA admitted lawyers in the Mainland
• Capacity building for young lawyers

About the Speaker:
Nick Chan, MH, JP, a lawyer and lawmaker with computer science background, is a Partner of Squire Patton Boggs, one of the most global law firms in the world with 40+ offices in 25 countries.  He serves on the Council of CUHK, and serves on the law school board of HKU and CityU. He served as Chairman of eBRAM International Online Dispute Resolution Centre, Council Member of the Law Society of Hong Kong, and as member of the Legal Aid Services Council. He is the Director leading the operations of AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre which operates under the auspices of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization, an international governmental organization with 47 countries as member states. He was involved in advocating for the Greater Bay Area exams for Hong Kong lawyers to get qualified to practice in the Greater Bay Area.  He taught LawTech, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at CityU and taught international and cross-border M&A at Peking University.  Nick is an elected serving member of the National People’s Congress.

The Law Society of Hong Kong has awarded this seminar 1 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) point.