DAB Urges Govt To Help For 'hard Hit' Law Firms

Lawyers working at small and medium sized firms have been mired in an “unprecedented plight” as court cases were seriously affected by the coronavirus outbreak, the DAB said on Friday.

The party said a majority of the 900 law firms in Hong Kong are small and medium sized, and they have been hit the hardest, as courts have been closed on and off since the end of January to prevent the spread of the virus.

It said some firms saw a significant drop in their income and some staff were asked to take no pay leave.

Party lawmaker, Holden Chow, who is a solicitor himself, called on the government to help the law firms.

He said the Legal Aid Department should pay the lawyers money it owed them as soon as possible.

He also hoped the government could waive lawyers’ licence fee to alleviate their financial burden.

The lawmaker added that courts could handle more cases with the help of modern technology, so that lawyers would have more work to do.