Work as a legal intern in China comes with its challenges and its rewards. The language barrier is tough in general and when it comes to a profession like the law, the barrier seems to become even more rigid. I knew that working as an intern in the law profession in a country different from the US would be difficult because the laws and customs are different, but the challenge to learn about those differences between the two countries is also a great opportunity to step outside one’s comfort zone and gain life experience in the field of domestic and even international norms, laws, and customs.
I am a rising 2L in the US, so aside from my legal studies, I have not had much exposure to any sort of real legal work, until now. For the past week, I have been reviewing contracts for my boss. The extent of my exposure to contracts has mostly been of those I have signed before or read about in my casebook. But lets be honest, unless you’re an aspiring lawyer or a practicing one, reading the entire contract before signing one is not something most lay people get excited about, and I was no exception to this before law school. But now, contracts are the center of my life, and they can be arduous, complicated, and tedious. I have spent days drafting, reviewing, and making corrections on just one single document. It’s simply amazing how complex a document can be when it represents the complete protection for a client and their business, as well as the lawyer, third parties, the environment, and even government and its officials. Nonetheless, in this short amount of time, I have learned so much about the difficulties of contract formation and have had the wonderful opportunity to walk a few days in the office life of a lawyer.
However, traveling and meeting clients is so much more fun! This week, I had the opportunity to travel to XinXing to meet some new clients. The drive was three hours but the views were wonderful and having the chance to leave Shenzhen and explore was priceless. The area was a county and is smaller than a city, differing from the US terminology. We met and attended meetings over formal business meals, which had a wonderful display of dishes including stewed chicken, steamed taro root, pumpkin and corn, baked fish, escargot, wok fried noodles, and bean soup. I had the chance to meet with the chief of the court in the county as well as the judge who was in charge of the case. We then attended a dinner meeting, but beforehand, one of the clients brought us to a 6th generation Buddhist Temple that was more than 1,000 years old. It was rather late and so no Monks were present for us to enter the Temple but the building was awe inspiring and the grounds were surrounded by a Bodhi tree & Lotus plants in bloom. Absolutely wonderful!
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