Provisional Regulations on the Work of Lawyers in China came into force in 1982, describing lawyers as State Legal Workers (Gittings and Whitfort 58). These legal workers worked in state-run legal offices because at this time there were no private law firms. State law firms under Article 16 are still the most prominent, and constituted 59 percent of all law firms in China in 1998. These lawyers are guaranteed a salary and retirement benefits. Although these firms are owned by the state, they are responsible for their own profits and loses and do not receive state funding.
Cooperative law firms under Article 17 began to emerge in 1987 and were officially legitimized in the Experimental Program for Cooperative Law Firms issued by the Ministry of Justice in June 1998 (Gittings and Whitfort 58). These firms are not state-owned, but are formed by groups of lawyers who provide the capital to establish the firm. A benefit of the cooperative law firms is that their liability is limited to their assets. In 1997, cooperative law firms constituted roughly 11 percent of all law firms in China.
Partnership law firms under Article 18 began to appear in 1993 after the Ministry of Justice published a Program for Deepening Reforms in the Work of Lawyers (Gittings and Whitfort 58). These firms are similar to those in Hong Kong and other countries, and the assets of the firms are owned by the partners, who are jointly liable for its debts, even if they are greater than the worth of the firm. In 1997, partnership law firms constituted roughly 27 percent of Chinese law firms.
Although individually owned law firms are not explicitly allowed under the Lawyers Law, they are beginning to emerge, and are permitted under local regulations in some areas (Gittings and Whitfort 58). Under Article 25 of the Lawyers Law, lawyers in China can provide such legal services as:
1) act as legal advisers to citizens, legal persons and other ...