Twenty-five years have passed in the blink of an eye, which is too short compared to the long river of history. However, compared to the establishment of the Chinese lawyer system, twenty-five years of light and shadow do not seem so short. It has only been over forty years since the establishment of the new China lawyer system. In these forty years, the identity of Chinese lawyers has undergone three major changes: from the initial positioning of "state legal workers" to the transformation of "practitioners providing legal services to society", and now to the adjustment of "practitioners providing legal services to clients". This change is related to the corresponding political system, economic development, and international environment, and also reflects the state's change in understanding of the legal profession and the new expectations for the mission of the legal profession in legislation. In these forty years, there have been too many stories about the lawyer system and the lawyer profession, among which the establishment of partnership law firms is undoubtedly a major transformation of the Chinese lawyer system. Guangxi Tongwang Law Firm is a product of this major institutional change, and today it is its 25th birthday. In these twenty-five years of ups and downs, there are too many Tongwang stories worth writing and remembering. As a Tongwang person, I would like to take this festive day to express those stories about myself and Tongwang.

I. Why Did I Change My Allegiance to Join Tongwang - "A Century of Tongwang" is Touching

Before joining Tongwang, I had more than 6 years of experience as a lawyer, and I had also served as the head of a law firm and had relatively good business capabilities. Choosing to leave the original platform was not due to a business crisis or personnel conflicts. Leaving was more like an adventurous attempt to choose to stay away from the comfort zone. Especially choosing to join Tongwang Liuzhou Office, which was in a relatively special period - during a turbulent period when major personnel changes occurred in Liuzhou Office. I will never forget the topic mentioned to Guang Ge when I had a face-to-face discussion in Director Qian Feng's office: Why did you choose Tongwang instead of other law firms? This choice is related to personal business and income in a small way, and to personal career prospects in a big way. The choice is closely related to personal vision, pattern, experience and knowledge. Lawyers have different survival states, and law firms operate in various ways. Perhaps there is no optimal option for all choices. During this period, many colleagues and friends invited me to join them for common development, but I deeply know that building a good platform requires not only a group of like-minded people, but also scientific long-term planning and all kinds of hardships. Tongwang has experienced vicissitudes of life and still developed steadily in the twenty-five years of ups and downs, which is closely related to Tongwang's heritage, Tongwang culture, and Tongwang spirit. Choosing Tongwang, what deeply touches the soul is Tongwang's cultivation of talents and the law firm's positioning of "A Century of Tongwang". As a partnership law firm, most law firms will change or even disappear with the withdrawal, aging or changes of partners, and few people will plan the development of the law firm with the goal of "A Century". Or even if there is, it is constrained by many objective factors and lacks the strength to do so. It is no exaggeration to say that the overall view of "A Century of Tongwang" established by Tongwang's leader is moving.

As mentioned earlier, Tongwang's unique law firm system has created a unique Tongwang brand. However, Tongwang's model is not perfect. The law firm's business approval, personnel recruitment, funding withdrawal, and personnel structure all give such a private autonomous entity the flavor of an internal system and present the characteristics of a "bureaucratic system". Just as Guang Ge said to all the new partners who joined Tongwang during the face-to-face interview: Before loving Tongwang, it is best to understand Tongwang's "bad" and not only see Tongwang's good, otherwise after a long time of getting along, just like a blind date - only seeing the other party's advantages and ignoring the shortcomings, you will break up unhappily when you really get along.

I remember that Secretary De Ren, the secretary of the Liuzhou Office branch, said as the person in charge of personnel recruitment in the Liuzhou Office during the interview: You can become a partner when you join Tongwang. However, in fact, for me, whether or not to become a partner may not be the direct reason for me to join Tongwang. However, in a law firm with "bureaucratic" characteristics like Tongwang, perhaps becoming a partner is more likely to have the role identity and sense of belonging of the owner. Especially as a person who was not cultivated by the law firm but came from another law firm, where is my position in a unit when other colleagues know very little about me? It is precisely because of this that some young colleagues have said: Large firms are all about seniority, can you get your turn based on seniority? You might as well do it yourself.

From the original independent luxury office to the current cramped and narrow cubicle; from the original familiar colleagues' interpersonal circle to the current unfamiliar group... In a blink of an eye, two years have passed, and the issue of partner status has not been resolved. Especially after the new office space of Liuzhou Office was relocated, where is my position? Dragging a pile of office documents to the front desk but embarrassingly not knowing where to go, I can't say that this situation has no impact on me. I deeply remember what I said at the new employee welcome ceremony at the 2018 annual meeting: No matter how big the stage is, if you don't perform, you will always be an audience, and no matter how good the platform is, if you don't participate, you will always be an outsider. Since joining Tongwang, compared to my previous business situation, I have not brought more business and income to the team, and I feel ashamed for making very little contribution. Therefore, all the situations are reasonable. One person can walk fast, but a group of people can walk far. Integrating into the team and daring to take responsibility is the key. In order to better integrate myself into the team, Director Shan Rong took the initiative to appoint me as the leader in the air volleyball competition organized by the Liuzhou Lawyers Association. After many trainings in the early stage, everyone worked together to enter the top four again after many years. Although they did not win the championship, they showed the spirit and style of Tongwang and laid a solid foundation for the subsequent competitions.