Voice of Experience: Jun Wei, Managing Partner, Hogan Lovells, Beijing

Welcome to The Glass Hammer’s Spotlight on Asia Week. We’ll be featuring profiles of successful business women working in Asia all week long!

By Michelle Hendelman, Editor-in-Chief

Jun Wei, Managing Partner, Hogan Lovells is a stunning example of someone who has overcome adversity early in her life to become a successful lawyer, role model, and champion of women’s advancement in law.

When Wei was young, she was fortunate enough to live a privileged life as the daughter of parents who worked for the central government. But this came to a sudden end when the Cultural Revolution took place in China and Wei’s family was kicked out of Beijing. At this time, she was separated from both of her parents for a couple of years while her father went into custody and her mother was sentenced to work on a remote countryside.

With her unwavering optimism, Wei was able to find the silver lining for herself in all of the struggle and hardship her family endured. Wei explained, “The good part is that after the Cultural Revolution ended, China started to open its doors.” She continued, “I was one of the few fortunate young people, and only one of two females, who could attend the graduate school of Beijing University Law School. My classmates were all men who were at least ten to fifteen years older than me.”

At the undergraduate law school level, the female representation was much higher at 25-30 percent. Wei explained that unlike the United States, law school in China is both undergraduate and graduate school. The first law degree you earn is LLB and the second degree is LLM. When the Cultural Revolution ended, both schools opened at the same time and Wei was admitted at the graduate level.

Career Path

After graduating from law school, Wei chose not to begin working with a private practice right away, Instead, she joined the government to work for the National People’s Congress, but she did not feel like she would be able to make as much of an impact there as she hoped. Wei said, “I had a lot of ideas for how to reform the country and put the ideas of the National People’s Congress into national law, but so many of these ideas were not accepted at the time. Because of this, I did not feel like there was a future for me here so I looked for the next opportunity.”

Wei found the opportunity she was looking for soon thereafter when she came to the United States to attend Harvard University. “I did not think I would stay in the US,” said Wei, “But the Tiananmen Square protests were happening in China and I knew I could not return.” She continued, “I decided to stay in the United States and found a job at a small law firm.”

In 1990, Wei started practicing law for a private firm in the United States, where she stayed until the late nineties. Wei stated, “I was the first person from my class to make partner in 1997. When I started at Hogan Hudson, I came in as a partner and quickly became the managing partner of the new Beijing office.” She continued, “In three years, I became a co-managing partner of the new Shanghai office. And the following year after that, I was a co-managing partner again of the Hong Kong office.”

Shortly after Wei helped to open the Hong Kong office of Hogan Hudson, the firm merged with another international law firm, Lovells, creating Hogan Lovells in 2010. Wei continued her high level of involvement with her firm when she joined the board shortly after the merger between the two firms. In addition to the three firms Wei helped establish in Asia, Hogan Lovells also has offices in Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Indonesia. “As a member of the board, I represent our Asian offices, as well as our offices located in the Middle East,” said Wei.

On Personal and Professional Achievements

Wei is very humble about what she has achieved so far in her professional career. She expressed gratitude for the opportunities she was given in life despite undergoing an incredible amount of hardship as a child and for the emphasis her parents placed on the importance of education.

“Many other people who had a similar background as me might not have had the same opportunity to study on their own after the Cultural Revolution. But, the one thing my parents always emphasized is that studying is the most important thing in your life.” She continued, “Regardless of where we ended up, we always took our books with us. This way, when the opportunity to return to school presented itself as China opened the universities, I was prepared.”

China is still experiencing a lot of dynamic change within their legal system, and Wei is very proud to be actively involved in driving the advancement and progress of the law. “I love witnessing the change,” said Wei, “But I really love being part of the change and putting in the effort to influence change by doing good work for my clients.”

Wei is excited about the work that she is involved in globally for Hogan Lovells right now. “I feel like we are in the right place at the right time with the right people to take advantage of many opportunities,” said Wei. “Very few firms can compete with our global reach and global knowledge. I am passionate about the work we do and very proud to be a part of it.”

Advice for Women in Law

“Traditionally, the legal profession is dominated by males,” said Wei, “But I see more and more females starting private practices and law firms. In fact, I think both in China and the United States there are more females than males enrolled in law school.” Wei is excited to see this trend and offered come valuable advice for young female lawyers entering the field.

She encourages young women entering the legal field to strive for a better work/life balance. Wei explained, “It is difficult for young women lawyers to balance work and family when the nature of legal work requires a lot of your time. Creating more flexible work arrangements is one of the things we have to think about collectively for the legal profession in general, not just for young women.”

Wei also thinks that it is extremely important for young women lawyers to be themselves and resist conforming in male-dominated work environments. She recalled, “When I was first starting to practice law, I tried to mimic my male colleagues by dressing how they dressed and talking like them.” Wei continued, “One day, a client of mine who was a very successful business woman told me that no matter how much I tried to act like a man, I would always be a woman. She urged me to be proud of my identity.”

This advice really enlightened Wei and stuck with her throughout her career. She always encourages the young female lawyers at her firm to view themselves as equals to their male colleagues. “We work just as hard and are just as smart,” said Wei.

At Hogan Lovells, Wei is very involved with the Global Diversity Plan. This is an initiative within the firm that focuses on creating a more diverse company culture. She said, “Creating a diverse workplace results in happier people,” said Wei. “We spend over half of our life in the office with colleagues and clients. If we are not happy and comfortable in our work environment, we won’t be as effective at our jobs.”

Outside of the Office

When Wei is not busy working on major global deals, she spends a lot of her spare time working on creative projects. She is an avid painter and loves to design her own clothing. “Maybe in my next life I will be a designer,” Wei joked.