The Law Society of Hong Kong is a professional association for solicitors in Hong Kong vested with statutory powers to regulate the professional conduct of solicitors, trainee solicitors and foreign lawyers. It was incorporated in 1907 as a company limited by guarantee.
The Law Society speaks for the solicitors’ profession in Hong Kong and ensures our voice are accurately and purposefully communicated to relevant parties
The Law Society is dedicated to providing relevant and effective support to our members including professional training and legal practice updates.
The Law Society is committed to facilitating the attainment and maintenance of the highest professional standards by our members in the interest of the community
The Law Society reaches out and maintains a wide local and global network for knowledge exchange, experience sharing and collaboration between our members and different sectors of both the local and international communities.
The Law Society strives to raise general public legal awareness, facilitate public access to legal services and promote a culture of giving back to the community among our members.
| 1. | Entrants should be members of the Law Society, student members, trainee solicitors, registered foreign lawyers, local law firms or foreign law firms. For student awards, applicants must be (a) students of Law, and (b) student members of the Law Society note(1) or have submitted application for Student Membership separately to the Law Society’s Registration Section at the time of applying for the Award. If the application for Student Membership is subsequently not approved, the application for Award will automatically be rejected. Applicants should allow sufficient time for the application of Student Membership to avoid disappointment. |
| 2. | The pro bono and community work (the "Work") should be performed from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 (the "Recognition Period"). |
| 3. | The Work recognised under this Programme should not be remunerative or involve any financial reward. In this connection, reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses e.g. travelling expenses, will not disqualify any Work from being considered for an Award. Souvenirs of insignificant commercial value are also acceptable. |
| 4. | The Work performed should not be directly or indirectly related to political or religious activities. The prime concern is the nature of the Work, and if the Work is not intended to indoctrinate the beneficiaries or engage the volunteers in political or religious movements, the political or religious background of the organiser alone will not disqualify the Work. The Committee shall have discretion to make ruling in relation to any work which ruling shall be final and binding on all participants. |
| 5. | Work rendered in election campaigns is not eligible for an Award or consideration for the purpose of this Programme as the beneficiaries are the candidates and not the general public. |
| 6. | The accreditation hours include the actual hours of service offered to the beneficiaries, as well as the hours spent on preparation and follow-up actions. |
| 7. | Travelling or attending a meeting for the purpose of Work can be included in the calculation of hours where appropriate; but it will be determined at the discretion of the Committee. The hours spent on travelling or attending a meeting should not exceed the actual hours of services. Any hours spent on travelling or attending a meeting for the purpose of Work conducted outside Hong Kong will not be calculated. |
| 8. | While the Work performed recognised under the Programme include both pro bono and community work; when an Award is expressed to be in relation to pro bono work, the proportion of the accreditation hours of pro bono work should be not less than 90% of the total service hours while there is no required minimum in terms of community work. When an Award is expressed to be in relation to community work, the proportion of the accreditation hours of work that is beneficial to the community at large should be not less than 90% of the total service hours while there is no required minimum in terms of work that is of benefit to the legal profession or which is law related. |
Note(1) : Any law student at any institution prescribed from time to time by the Council of The Law Society of Hong Kong may apply for admission to the Society as a Student Member, please refer to Law Society website for details.
| 1. |
All individual applicants/law firms shall submit their personal particulars, records of pro bono and community work, personal photos/company logos and supporting documents via the online application platform. For student awards applicants, please submit your application here. |
| 2. |
Only online application will be accepted. No hard copy of application and/or supporting documents will be received. |
| 3. |
Individual applicants /law firms can access the online application platform through their login accounts. |
| 4. |
If you have lost your login ID and/or password, please retrieve your existing login details at https://www.hklawsoc.org.hk/en/Support-Members/Forgot-LoginID. For other enquiries regarding login, please contact us at 2846 0500 or via https://www.hklawsoc.org.hk/en/Contact-Us The Law Society will handle your request or enquiry as soon as possible. |
| 5. |
Please be reminded to click “Submit” in the online application platform to submit your application. |
| 6. |
The extended application deadline via the online application platform is Monday, 6 November 2023. You may edit the information saved/submitted anytime before the application deadline. For student awards, no changes can be made once the application form is submitted. |
| 7. |
Please note that your last entry submitted on or before the application deadline will be treated as final and will be used for your application for the Programme. All previous submissions before the final entry will be overwritten. |
| 8. |
Upon successful online submission, an acknowledgement email will be sent to the email address you provided in the application. |
| 9. |
If you want to withdraw your application, please send an email to award@hklawsoc.org.hk |
| 10. |
An event programme including short profiles of all awardees/awarded law firms will be produced and distributed at the Award Ceremony and its electronic version will be uploaded to the Law Society’s website. |
| 11. | Awardees/awarded law firms' profiles may be featured under the Programme webpage and/or the Law Society’s social media platforms. |
| 12. | The Award Ceremony will be photographed and videotaped for the Law Society’s record and promotion of future events. By participating in this event, you and your accompanying person(s) (where applicable) consent to be photographed and videotaped, and give permission to the Law Society to use your images for internal records, educational and marketing purposes, and in promotional materials including but not limited to the Law Society’s website, Law Society’s weekly Circulars, Annual Report, Hong Kong Lawyer and social media platforms. In the case where your minor child/children take(s) part in the event, you give permission to the Law Society to use your child/children’s images for the aforesaid purposes. |
| 13. | By submitting your application, you have consented to the Law Society’s use of your personal data in the aforesaid manner. |
| 14. | If you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact our staff of Member Services Department at 2846 8804 or award@hklawsoc.org.hk |
Entrants are eligible for the Professional Volunteer Service Accreditation (PVSA) Programme jointly organised by Hong Kong Council of Volunteering (HKCOV), Agency for Volunteer Service (AVS) and the Law Society, if his/her total service hours of Work meet the below criteria.
Silver Award - Having performed work of not less than 50 hours
Gold Award - Having performed work of not less than 100 hours
Leadership Award - Having performed work of not less than 150 hours
The necessary information of the entrants will be passed to HKCOV and AVS for the purpose of processing the application for the PVSA Programme.
