After making a personal, specialized choice in criminal defense, the next step is to start thinking about Is a professional team required? How to Build a Professional Team It's the issue.

First, conceptually, it’s crucial to clarify the relationship between an individual criminal defense lawyer’s personal brand and that of their team. For a long time, many lawyers have viewed criminal defense as an inherently individual practice, believing that building a strong personal brand can determine everything. Undoubtedly, this perspective makes perfect sense—especially when considering the first three decades after China reintroduced its legal system, when it was indeed more valid than ever. Even today, a highly skilled lawyer can still handle a significant number of cases, such as certain traditional violent crimes, property offenses, official misconduct cases, and other types of individual criminal matters. However, the notion that criminal defense is entirely a solo endeavor, with the individual brand taking absolute priority, falls short of capturing the full picture—and lacks objectivity—in the context of today’s evolving legal landscape.

First, it’s difficult to build sustainable momentum, as business bottlenecks can emerge at any time. Most of the work relies heavily on the individual lawyer’s personal charisma, with other apprentice- or assistant-level lawyers simply following along. As a result, if the key individual encounters issues—whether related to health or reputation—the flow of cases can come to an abrupt halt. Second, the types of cases brought in are often limited and lack diversity, resulting in a scarcity of high-quality opportunities. The strong personal branding inevitably shapes public perception, which in turn highlights both your specialized strengths—and the inherent limitations that come with them—as well as the absence of cross-disciplinary expertise and a shortage of experienced team members. Finally, the effectiveness of case defense may fall short. Since the practice largely depends on the individual lawyer’s brand, both the size of the legal team and the overall experience and expertise of its members remain constrained. Additionally, there’s a noticeable lack of collaboration across different professional fields. This makes it particularly challenging to handle complex, high-stakes cases in areas like economics. Even in more traditional mass-caseload scenarios, the inability to assemble a sufficient number of seasoned lawyers working closely together ultimately undermines the quality of legal representation.

Moreover, by fostering a strong sense of team branding, it becomes possible to build a comprehensive and highly professional criminal defense team, enabling these challenges to be effortlessly addressed in many significant and complex criminal cases. On one hand, the team boasts an elite group of lawyers, each equipped with the expertise to independently handle cases—creating a lasting collective impact. On the other hand, by integrating lawyers specializing in diverse areas of law, the team achieves refined division of labor and mutual reinforcement of strengths. For instance, experts in defending against official misconduct, tax-related offenses, financial crimes, and intellectual property violations come together under one roof, while specialists in client communication, legal writing, and courtroom advocacy each play their unique roles—and much more.

Once I had this idea, I began consciously building a criminal defense team, recruiting talent from diverse fields, and in recent years, we’ve demonstrated distinct strengths in handling some of the most significant and complex criminal cases. For instance, in defending clients involved in organized crime cases—where the number of defendants is often large, the types of crimes span a wide range, case files are overwhelming, and the underlying circumstances are incredibly intricate—it’s especially crucial to leverage the collective power of an exceptional criminal defense team working as a cohesive unit.

Take, for instance, the two organized-crime cases I led my team through—those involving Haixi Prefecture in Qinghai Province and Linfen City in Shanxi Province. Upon accepting the mandates, I immediately reached out to team members from various specialized fields, swiftly assembling a "Dream Team" that spans criminal law, taxation, administration, civil litigation, and more. This elite group comprises seasoned senior partners as well as promising young lawyers who are key players in their respective areas of expertise. During the case proceedings, I served as the central coordinator, overseeing the criminal defense, tax, civil, and administrative teams. Together, we crafted a comprehensive defense strategy and operational guidelines, ensuring that every lawyer worked in perfect harmony and collaborated effectively with one another. Building on each member’s individual responsibilities and thorough review of case materials, the team leveraged its unique strengths: those skilled in drafting meticulously researched and compelling legal documents handled the written analysis; communicators excelled in engaging with investigative agencies and complaint departments; finance and tax experts worked closely with accounting teams to dissect and interpret complex tax-related issues; and specialists in corporate governance promptly assisted clients and regulators in managing crises and resolving legal disputes arising from the businesses involved.

This team configuration has yielded remarkable results. In the Qinghai case, despite all legal representatives and senior executives of the companies involved being detained, the firms managed to maintain basic operations—and even stabilize local markets and livelihoods—thanks to coordinated efforts by their lawyers with regulatory authorities, banks, and other key stakeholders. These efforts also included participating in tax appeals, administrative litigation, and civil lawsuits related to creditor-debtor disputes. As a result, the companies avoided severe penalties such as charges of tax evasion and played a crucial role in defending against allegations of organized crime. Following the court’s verdict, all businesses were successfully returned to their rightful owners. In the Linfen case, shortly after we took on the representation, local law enforcement agencies attempted to take control of the companies under investigation. We immediately responded by filing an administrative lawsuit while simultaneously lodging formal complaints with relevant authorities to challenge this unlawful action. Thanks to our proactive approach, we prevented the illegal seizure of a company valued at billions of yuan. Throughout the defense process, our criminal defense team worked closely with the tax advisory team and each defendant’s individual legal representatives, creating a dynamic, multi-layered collaboration that maximized the effectiveness of our strategy. This highly specialized team structure is undoubtedly setting the stage for the future evolution of criminal defense practices.

Beyond ad-hoc case teams, what matters even more is building strong, structured teams. After I took the lead in establishing the Criminal Practice Department at headquarters in 2006, my first priority was to cultivate a robust internal culture and set up effective systems—fostering an environment of unity, collaboration, and innovation. I placed particular emphasis on nurturing a "big team" mindset across the department, ensuring that small, isolated groups of just two or three people didn’t emerge. Instead, we focused on creating a collaborative, win-win dynamic that encouraged partners to work together seamlessly. At the same time, we maintained rigorous standards when recruiting talent, carefully assembling our team based on a clear talent hierarchy and the principle of complementary strengths. Senior partners took the initiative to mentor, train, and guide younger colleagues through high-profile cases, while other partners actively supported them. Over time, this approach gradually shaped a well-defined talent structure spanning senior, mid-level, and junior roles. Thanks to these efforts, our team-building initiatives have consistently earned recognition from headquarters, boosting our department’s visibility year after year—and attracting an increasing number of high-quality public cases.

Following this, led by the Criminal Affairs Department at headquarters, the team model began to be rolled out nationwide. The initiative encouraged and supported branch offices in establishing their own criminal divisions, eventually leading to the formation of a nationwide, cross-regional Criminal Professional Committee built on the foundation of dozens of existing criminal departments. This committee now coordinates and drives larger-scale, specialized team-building efforts, helping to solidify the group’s brand identity. Over the years, through initiatives such as centralized training, resource sharing, collaborative partnerships, joint case handling, and unified marketing strategies, the Criminal Committee has achieved significant breakthroughs—particularly in areas like talent structure, shared service channels, and overall industry visibility. Notably, the steady influx of renowned criminal defense lawyers has not only bolstered the committee’s individual reputations but also enriched its unique cultural ethos and enhanced its societal recognition. As a result, high-quality cases—and increasingly, public-interest cases—are steadily growing in number, spurring professional development and boosting workloads for young lawyers across various regions. This, in turn, has fostered stronger cooperative networks among local attorneys, making the Criminal Committee a shining example of successful, large-scale, nationwide professional team-building. Recognized and emulated by many leading law firms nationwide, the committee has fundamentally shifted the traditional mindset that once prioritized individual criminal defense brands over collective, team-based expertise.

Echoing the criminal defense teams at larger, established firms, a growing number of specialized law firms have emerged in recent years—firms that focus exclusively on criminal defense. These firms are breaking away from traditional hierarchies by prioritizing flat organizational structures over individual authority, steadily expanding both their lawyer networks and branch offices. At the same time, they’re investing heavily in building strong firm brands and fostering collaborative team dynamics. By organizing internal training programs and participating in external forums, these firms are continuously honing their lawyers’ expertise, boosting their visibility, and cultivating a new generation of elite criminal defense professionals. As a result, they’re not only strengthening their own brand identity but also creating a powerful collective impact within the legal community.

In summary, we might conclude this: While a personal brand in criminal defense is important, it’s not a panacea. Instead, by integrating individual strengths into a cohesive team and leveraging that collective energy to build the team’s overall brand, we can achieve two key outcomes: first, nurturing a sustainable pipeline of young lawyers who will form the next generation of talent; and second, fostering a culture of collaboration where every team member feels motivated and empowered to contribute their unique expertise. This approach will ultimately enable us to deliver unparalleled service to our clients—resulting in far more rewarding outcomes for everyone involved: ourselves, our colleagues, and, most importantly, our valued clients. Now, embarking once again on a new platform, I’m committed to building on our existing team spirit and strengths while exploring innovative ways to create a fresh, dynamic team structure. My goal is to unite individuals who share both a common vision and exceptional professional capabilities—bringing them together under a unified yet non-hierarchical framework. Together, we’ll forge a high-caliber, scalable criminal compliance team poised to excel in this rapidly evolving field.