Hong Kong Bar Association dismisses calls for solicitors to gain senior counsel status
SCMP · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong's Bar Association has dismissed as "premature and largely academic" the Law Society's calls for solicitors to gain senior counsel status and expanded rights to represent clients in higher-level courts. The professional body for barristers argued the current arrangements work well, citing data showing solicitor advocates rarely exercise their existing higher rights of audience.
Key Points
- The Law Society, the governing body for Hong Kong's solicitors, is lobbying lawmakers for its members to obtain senior counsel status during the latest omnibus legislative review
- The Bar Association counters that only about 100 solicitor advocates currently hold higher rights of audience, and most have not exercised this privilege in recent years
- A review of judgments from 2024 to 2025 found solicitor advocates appeared as lead or sole counsel in fewer than 15 cases in open court
- Barristers attribute the low usage to market fragmentation into mostly small and medium-sized firms and reluctance to instruct competing solicitors
- Hong Kong follows the English common law model where solicitors and barristers are governed by separate professional bodies with distinct responsibilities
Why It Matters
The dispute highlights structural tensions within Hong Kong's two-tier legal profession as the city updates its laws. Any expansion of senior counsel eligibility could reshape courtroom practices and alter the professional balance between solicitors and barristers in the common law jurisdiction.
The dispute highlights structural tensions within Hong Kong's two-tier legal profession as the city updates its laws. Any expansion of senior counsel eligibility could reshape courtroom practices and alter the professional balance between solicitors and barristers in the common law jurisdiction.