THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) AND RISK MANAGEMENT (RME) IN THE HONG KONG LEGAL PROFESSION

Every legal professional practicing as a lawyer in Hong Kong has a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement, Risk Management Education (RME) requirement, or both.

According to the Law Society of Hong Kong, “Continuing professional development (“CPD”) is the systematic maintenance, improvement, and broadening of relevant knowledge and skills to enable a professional to successfully carry out his professional duties and responsibilities throughout his career.  Further, according to the Law Society of Hong Kong, “Risk Management is increasingly recognized to be a critical leadership skill and a key element in practice management. However, few people in legal practitioner roles have specific training in these skills. The Mandatory Risk Management Education Program looks at addressing this disparity.”

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses are important for several reasons.  First, they allow you to develop new skills.  From learning about a recent update in the law to brushing up on your professional skills, with CPD courses you are always able to stay on top of new developments in the law and in legal skills.  Second, CPD courses allow you to keep up to date with the legal profession in Hong Kong.  When laws change in your practice area, it’s important to know about the new laws and how to apply them.  Third, CPD courses allow you to take stock in your “old ways” and learn if there is another way or a new technique in your legal practice.

CPD courses in Hong Kong typically take the form of courses regarding specific practice areas such as Corporate Law, Litigation, Arbitration, Intellectual Property, and other transactional and contentious practices.  Additionally, CPD courses cover many of the professional skills required in the legal profession. For example, how to communicate effectively in the legal practice, how to market yourself in a business development setting, how to write effectively using effective legal writing techniques, and understanding financial statements and how to read financial statements.

Risk Management (RME) courses are important for several reasons.  First, they bring awareness to risk itself.  Many professionals, including lawyers, do not think about risk to their profession or themselves and the impact of that risk. RME courses bring awareness to the risk, the first step in eliminating risk.  Second, RME courses improve lawyers’ abilities to respond to risk effectively.  Every lawyer and staff member are responsible for risk and risk management.  Therefore, training lawyers and staff through RME courses in Hong Kong is very important.

RME courses cover topics that may lead to a risk for a solicitor or registered foreign lawyer.  RME courses could include topics such as cybersecurity, professional legal privilege, insider dealing and how to handle policies internally around that area, among other topics.  Popular RME courses in Hong Kong include preventing sexual harassment in the workplace, anti-money laundering compliance and policies in the law firm and preventing discrimination.

Legal Beagle is Hong Kong’s leading provider of online CPD and online RME courses.  Instead of attending RME courses and CPD courses in an external venue, spending precious billable hour revenue to attend free CPD or free RME courses or even paid CPD or RME courses, take Hong Kong CPD and Hong Kong RME courses from the comfort of your home or office, and even from a taxi or bus on your mobile device!

We are a proud disrupter in the online CPD and online RME space in Hong Kong, offering the lowest prices of all providers in addition to high-quality training.  We believe CPD and RME courses in Hong Kong should be affordable, accessible and convenient to all lawyers, whether you work in a large law firm or are a solo practitioner.

Original content posted on https://legalbeagle.com.hk/blog/2019/10/03/the-importance-of-continuing-professional-development-cpd-and-risk-management-rme-in-the-hong-kong-legal-profession/