Internship Day 1

It may seem like a hasty generalization, but on the whole, the average citizen in China is unfamiliar with the law. It is not so much an issue of the disparity of education, as it is really a matter of the role that Law plays in China itself. I do not know how reliable observations are towards research, but from phone calls and conversations, I believe that the average Chinese finds that going to court with a case is a troublesome idea. They want guaranteed success; they do not want to lose in court (as Attorney Yu had explained to me). I think when they do end up going to court with a case, it’s a matter of getting compensation (whether it is worker’s compensation or something like assault by a spouse). Many of the individuals do not know exactly what they should be doing in the proper proceedings, and in this case, lawyers are truly the experts. They know a bit of everything, and as a lawyer, they may handle specific cases more often, but they really dabble in a bit of every type of law.

On average, cases that go up to the highest courts are very limited. In the Jiansu Province alone, there is on average only 100 cases per year, which is actually really little. In general, as Attorney Yu had so kindly explained to me, people try to privately resolve these cases.

I think Attorney Yu made a really good observation as he explained to me how Law works in China. It is not that Law does not exist. No, Law definitely exists. It is something that functions as a matter of stability and consistency for the people. However, Law is very different regionally. It is geographically influenced, by culture and by the conditions of that province or even city’s individual environment. This is the best way to serve the very culturally-diverse China, and is a reason for which Law is in fact not very strictly followed.
As I eavesdrop on conversations on the phone/conversations in the lawyers’ offices, lawyers most definitely have their client’s best interests at heart. It is much more a matter of gently explaining to the average individual about how Law necessarily works, and what they must do in order to get the best benefit from the situation.

Today was my first day of internship, and while there is literally nothing for me to do, Attorney Yu has treated me really kindly, caring for me as he would a student. He stated that in general, there is nothing for interns to do in the first few months; that my primary responsibility is getting to know the turf/environment, and to get familiar with my fellow “coworkers” (I use that term loosely, as I am not really working). I feel like I need to do something, but I think this is partially how the system works in China. We learn by observation. Granted, this is literally the second day that they have restarted work again since the lunar New Year, so there isn’t much to do, but once things start up again, they will take me to court with them to observe how things run in China. I spent most of my time familiarizing myself with the lawyers here, and was chatting with Attorney Wang at one point, who was also very kind to explain a bit of how the Chinese legal system works. I think in general, there are a lot of unspoken rules or unspoken “facts” about their bureaucratic/legal system, and it is nice that they take the time to explain it to me. I feel that they have really taken me under their wing, and thankfully, the working environment here isn’t as tense as I would have suspected. It is fairly lighthearted, and not nearly as hierarchical as I would have thought. It’s not too strict, and people just chat with one another. I think I’ll have a lot of free time while I’m here, but this could be a good thing. Maybe I’ll eventually work up the courage to design a website for this firm while I’m here, that is, if they’ll let me. I should get planning/thinking.

Ah yes, before I entirely forget, I arrived 15 minutes early today, just to be a good intern and to leave a good impression. However, for the longest time Attorney Yu did not arrive (my boss). I was thinking, “Wow, bosses really are in charge, if they can arrive whenever they want,” but then he arrived at 9:15 in crutches, so that was the reason for his tardiness. The poor man was in a wheelchair apparently over the lunar New Year break, but he was very kind and made sure to take me around to meet everyone in spite of the condition of his legs.