The Tale Of Law Offices

The Tale Of Law Offices

By Quang Chung

At Nghiem and Chinh Law Partnership in HCM City. The legal service market is expected to recover rapidly this year.

In late 2009, the director of a famous law office in HCM City described the company’s performance as “rather decent.” This assessment was an improvement from that in mid-2009, when this lawyer lamented the rising number of clients who canceled legal consultation contracts worth hundreds of millions of dong due to the adverse impacts of the global economic storm.

Back then, as the economy was in tatters, many law offices allowed their clients to postpone the payment of legal consultation fees. Le Thanh Kinh, head of Le Nguyen Law Office, admits that in late 2008 and early 2009, “the crisis sparked many disputes which need settling, but law offices earned less as they had to share the burden with clients.” However, the market for legal services picked up in the last few months of 2009, Kinh says.

Lawyer Bui Quang Nghiem fromNghiem and Chinh Law Partnership concurs, saying that his company had to adjust its expenditures in view of the adverse circumstances. According to Nghiem, legal consultation services were on the wane, but litigation flourished in 2009. “In general, the company developed although difficulties remain,” Kinh says.

Some law offices say they handled more realty disputes in 2009 than in 2008. “Wrangles simmered between two developers or between a customer and a developer. Many have approached us for advice on these cases,” Kinh says.

Notably, some cases revolved around realty projects which were not implemented. A Korean investor contributed millions of dollars to high-rise projects in Hanoi and HCM City, but these endeavors did not materalize. Many Koreans were swindled by their compatriots. “This is one of the emerging problems in 2009,” JNT Law Co. (Korea) remarks.

Another issue related to legal disputes in this period of integration is the limited recognition given to a Vietnamese arbitrator’s verdicts. LeNguyen Law Office offered legal consultation to over 10 clients regarding this matter in 2009. Kinh says that some verdicts had to be carried out in Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia and the U.K., but the compensations were not significant, hovering around tens of thousands of dollars. “In many cases, the legal service fees exceeded the benefits reaped from winning lawsuits,” Kinh says. Moreover, language barriers have prevented several countries from signing the New York 1958 Convention. The procedure for implementing a verdict in countries such as Russia is extremely onerous.

As the economy has shown signs of recovery in the last few months of 2009, lawyers believe that the market for legal consultation services will quickly bounce back in 2010. Given Vietnam’s increasing integration into the global economy, the stagnation in the market for legal consultation services is likely to be temporary. Nghiem says that what truly matters is the need for Vietnamese lawyers to enhance their competence and command of foreign languages to compete with their foreign counterparts, whether in Vietnam or overseas.