Paul Li's philosophy is simple: Honesty is the best policy.

The Asia head of Simmons & Simmons said it is extremely important to be transparent and open with people who work with you, because it is essential to develop trust. As a leader one must be consistent, so colleagues will know what to expect when things happen. "That helps build a basic bond."

As for motivation, all partners at Simmons & Simmons have a role to play in cultivating young lawyers. "The way we think works best is one where partners have personal stories to tell about why they became lawyers, what is it that excites them and why we think Simmons & Simmons is a great place to work," he said.

"If I work at a piece of a client's work with another lawyer, and I share similar experiences about working with a similar client before, or working for the same client in another context, it makes the whole experience more real, as it is about the history of the relationship of the firm with the particular client or how the law has developed on this particular point over the years. To give it a slightly sharper point of interest is how you get people interested in doing what we are doing."

Li said that it is also important for lawyers to have a balanced life. Li has a daughter who is about to go to college, and feels very lucky that she always makes fun of him. "She helps bring me back down to earth, because (as) lawyers in large law firms, we are in a sort of bubble. We are surrounded by like-minded people. It is very helpful to have someone who every now and then will bring you down to earth, telling you that you are not important at all, and ask you to do this or do that."

Li said that although many Simmons & Simmons clients are very demanding, they are also very understanding. "So if you say to them 'I'm sorry that I can't get this back to you tonight because I have to take my daughter to something', most of the time, they would say that is absolutely fine."

A lot of the pressure builds up because sometimes lawyers are embarrassed to tell clients that they may have something even more important to do. If you explained to them that the most important thing for you is your family, most clients would understand.

Li said that for all youngsters, whether they want to be a lawyer in the future or not, it is important to be good and as helpful as possible to everyone that you work with, and not to be too status-driven.

"One example I can give is that when I was working at Simmons & Simmons in London, there were a number of times when I made mistakes and the only people who could help me fix this mistake would be someone in the post room or someone in the print room. It is very dangerous to think one is more important than these people. Because of the way I was brought up and taught to treat people, when I was in trouble they were more than happy to help me. You need to be fundamentally a decent person to everyone."

"If you want to be a lawyer, the most important thing to do is to try and work out if the company and the people you meet here are the kind of people you would like to work with, as every law firm, every business has its own character," Li said.

"Other things including the firm's brand name ultimately don't matter. What really enables you to become the best lawyer that you could possibly be is to work with like-minded people, people that you get along with. If I didn't like the people I worked with, I might have learned less, I would have developed less quickly."

sophiehe@chinadailyhk.com

Paul Li, partner and head of Asia at Simmons & Simmons, believes the best junior lawyers do not consider any task to be beneath them, and are willing to roll up their sleeves and tackle all challenges with a positive attitude. Roy Liu /China Daily

(HK Edition 02/22/2016 page8)