Kevin Chan may downplay the extent of his rise from near-penniless migrant to head of one of the city’s top law firms, but it is quite a journey nonetheless.
As office managing partner for DLA Piper Hong Kong, he currently oversees a high-powered team of partners and support staff, while also maintaining direct involvement in complex dispute-resolution cases for Chinese, Hong Kong and multinational clients.
But all that is a far cry from his early days in Hong Kong in the early 1980s where, as a 10-year-old new arrival, he had not even a rudimentary knowledge of Cantonese or English.
Originally from Shantou on China’s southeast coast, his family decided to leave following a tangle with the local authorities, which seemed sure to limit their future prospects. They had with them just HK$2,300 to make a new start and, after crossing the border, spent the first few nights sleeping in the cramped back room of a relative’s mahjong parlour on Temple Street.
When that became impractical, they moved on. They put down HK$1,050 for the first month’s rent on a small apartment in Sham Shui Po, which was to be home for the next six years. To bring in some money, Chan’s father – a qualified doctor but unable to practise in Hong Kong – found work as a security guard in a restaurant. His two brothers, aged 12 and 15, had to give up any thought of school, instead earning what they could at local workshops making craft items and jewellery.
Chan himself was a bit luckier. He still clearly recalls walking around the district with his mother, a trained nurse, to find a primary school, and taking a test to determine which class he should enter. Getting “zero” in English didn’t help, but an above average mark in written Chinese was enough.
“The first year was very difficult; everything was so new,” he says. “I had been the top student in my class in China, but now I was the worst. I couldn’t even communicate, and some of the boys were always making fun of me.”
To get his English up to the level of a P4 or P5 student, he took extra evening classes most days. And with Cantonese also starting to make sense, he began to make friends and discovered how many classmates had a similar background as recent immigrants from other parts of China. “Looking back, I was quite focused, studied hard, and didn’t want to be seen to fail,” he says. “The obligation thing is natural for me; it’s part of my character.”
All the efforts paid off with a place at the prestigious Queen’s College in Causeway Bay and, once there, everything gradually became a bit easier. Though “not academically brilliant”, Chan found friends through football and, in due course, showed a talent for languages, debating and analytical thinking.
That made law an obvious pick when it came to choosing a degree and he was able to weigh up the relative attractions of becoming a barrister or solicitor through summer placements during his course at the University of Hong Kong.
“I felt that life as a barrister could be quite lonely, staying in your room most of the time, researching a case or preparing for a court hearing, and with an uncertain income,” Chan says. “I was more interested in working with people and interacting with colleagues – and when you join a big firm of solicitors, the pay is quite good.”
By that time, his father had successfully gone into business in the garment industry importing fabrics to China and re-exporting finished goods, so financially things were more comfortable. But, on a point of principle, Chan had no intention of looking to his parents for loans or handouts.
After completing his qualifications, he took a trainee position with a large local firm, before deciding to specialise in litigation and cross-border dispute resolution. Nowadays, this involves working with Chinese enterprises, joint ventures, airlines and banks on non-performing loans.
Chan explains that it is an area where the law and commercial considerations have to “interact”. “The work is intellectually very challenging and I find it fascinating,” he says. “You have to think about the legal arguments and the implications, and remember that clients want practical advice and are relying on your expertise.”
He joined DLA Piper under its previous name in 1997 and was made a partner in near-record time just eight years later, before assuming his present role in 2012. The role came with the understanding that, alongside new management responsibilities, he would continue to have day-to-day involvement running a practice area.
“I had 10 one-to-one sessions with a management consultant to give me the necessary mindset, and that was very helpful,” Chan says. “I have been enjoying my dual roles since. Clients are the most important thing for any professional services organisation, so that’s where the focus should be. In general, I’m quite an easy-going person and have a lot of trust in the people around me, and believe most admin or office issues can be discussed in two or three minutes.”
In other respects, Chan is firmly behind the firm’s initiative to appoint a full-time pro bono counsel for Asia. The aim is to assist bodies such as organisations for domestic helpers, start-ups needing advice on regulations, trademarks or hiring, and perhaps even NGOs helping recent immigrants from China.
“If I did that, it would be to teach and inspire them that Hong Kong is really a place of opportunity, but you mustn’t give up,” Chan says. “To this day, I have a special feeling for Temple Street and still go back there occasionally.”
LAYING DOWN THE LAW
Kevin Chan’s counsel for succeeding in the legal sector.
Find your purpose “When choosing a career, consider the value and meaning of the work, not what you will get paid at the end of the month. It’s also important to see a link between the work in front of you and where it will lead in a few years.”
Continually upgrade “There should be the satisfaction of seeing yourself improve. But for that, you have to prepare, set goals, and know what you want to become.”
Develop your discourse “You have to be fluent in the use of language – Chinese and English. If you’re not sensitive to words and precise arguments, you’re not going to be a good lawyer.”
Break things down “Also essential are analytical skills – to simplify a factual situation and present it in a legal context – and a sense of justice. Otherwise your ability to interpret cases and help the client will be limited.”
Remember the basics “Remember that ultimately the law is about common sense, offering clear advice and judgements, and being fair.”
