Your claim is in China. Your Chinese isn't.

People have used my name to solicit payments. Three checks settle it. My PRC licence number is 11101202411865284 and is verifiable on the Ministry of Justice public register of lawyers — look it up rather than taking it from this page. Legal fees are paid only to the Yingke Law Firm corporate account, against a signed engagement and an official invoice; never to a personal account. And I will never ask you to transfer money over WeChat or SMS.

Yingke Law Firm, Beijing. In China a lawyer takes instructions through their firm: the engagement contract names the firm, fees go to the firm, and the firm carries professional liability. I am the lawyer on your matter and your single point of contact in English. Where something needs a specialist — a niche tax question, a court in a province I do not cover — I bring in a colleague from the Yingke network and stay responsible for coordinating it.

Ask me directly and I will tell you plainly, including when the answer is no. I was admitted in 2024, so I will not claim decades of precedent I do not have. What I do have is Chinese qualification, English as a working language, and a firm behind me — and I would rather decline a matter than take one I cannot run properly. If your matter needs more seniority than I can offer, I will say so and point you to someone who can.

Usually yes, and most of my overseas clients never travel. It depends on a power of attorney that has been through the right authentication chain in your country — since 7 November 2023 that is an apostille for public documents from Convention states, and consular legalisation otherwise. I appear in person where a hearing requires it. The document chain is the part that takes the longest, so it is worth starting early.

The first consultation is free and without obligation: you describe the situation, I tell you whether there is something worth pursuing. After that, fees depend on the matter — fixed fees for defined work, hourly where scope is open, and in monetary recovery claims a success element is permitted under PRC fee rules within the statutory cap. You get a written quote before anything starts. Inheritance and family matters cannot be taken on a contingency basis under those same rules.

I work with clients across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, and schedule calls early or late to meet your hours. Beijing is UTC+8. Between calls, email is usually faster than trying to find a shared window.

It varies too much for a single answer, and anyone who gives you one without hearing the facts is guessing. As rough orders of magnitude: an inheritance handled through a notary office is measured in months and one that goes to court considerably longer; labour arbitration has statutory time limits but enforcement adds to them; a commercial claim with asset preservation moves faster at the start and slower at the end. I give you a realistic estimate once I have seen the documents.