On March 6^th, 2016, the First Women’s Congress of the Legal Industry of the Shanghai Xuhui District was convened in the Xuhui District Government House. Shanghai’s first women’s federation is a community organization – the Xuhui District Women’s Federation of the Legal Industry (hereinafter the “Federation”), also named Ladies Home founded by female lawyers of Xuhui District.

Feng Xu, the Chairperson of the Municipal Women’s Federation, Xie Wang, the Deputy Director of the Municipal Bureau of Justice, Tianping Zhou, the Vice Chairperson of the Shanghai Bar Association, and Fang Guo, a Member of the Standing Committee and a Director of the Organizational Department of Xuhui District, attended the Congress and inaugurated the Federation. Three lawyers from Watson & Band – Fang Tan, Jun Yang and Fangfang Gui – were elected into the Federation’s First Executive Committee, with Ms. Tan serving as the Federation’s Chairperson.

The Congress enacted the Measures for the Election of Members of the First Executive Committee of the Women’s Federation of the Legal Industry of Xuhui District and the Measures for the Election of the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the First Executive Committee of the Women’s Federation of the Legal Industry of Xuhui District. Based on these Measures, 33 Members of the Federation’s Executive Committee were elected by means of secret ballot, contested elections. Fang Tan, Jun Yang and Fangfang Gui were all elected Members. Afterwards, the 33 Members elected Ms. Tan as the Federation’s Chairperson. Ms. Tan’s election as Chairperson was welcomed because she has been active in marital and family affairs for more than a decade and because she has dedicated herself to protecting women’s rights.

According to statistics, currently 1,067 female lawyers practice in Xuhui District, accounting for 47.4% of the total number of lawyers practicing in the district. The Members of the Executive Committee include female lawyers with impeccable educational credentials (including PhD degrees and overseas study experience) as well as expertise in various fields. They have indeed held up “half the sky” for the Xuhui District legal industry. As Ms. Tan stated when she delivered a speech on behalf of the Executive Committee, “We are aware of the glorious mission we set out to accomplish as well as the great responsibility we shoulder…we lawyers are born to uphold justice and we female lawyers are here to build new aspirations for our shared Chinese Dream…[w]e will fulfill our duties and cooperate with absolute sincerity to explore and innovate while providing top-class legal services…[w]e will lead all female lawyers of the Xuhui District to struggle for and serve women, children and families with all our hearts, to unite all female lawyers for participation in the development of Xuhui District, and to create a beautiful blueprint for the career development of female lawyers in the legal industry.