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on september 11, a wuhan netizen revealed that a well-known local law firm was sealed by local police for unknown reasons and its door was sealed.

internet photos show that the law firm that was sealed off was hubei sanxing law firm. the seal showed that the unit that sealed off the law firm was the yujiashan police station of the wuhan public security bureau, and the date of the sealing was september 10.

a local lawyer in wuhan told reporters that the law firm cooperated with an informal legal service consulting company and had a high complaint rate.

the reporter then called the yujiashan police station of the wuhan public security bureau. the police station staff confirmed that hubei sanxing law firm had been sealed off. the staff said that the law firm had indeed committed a crime and was suspected of fraud. the public security agency is currently handling the case, and the specific details of the case are not convenient to disclose.

staff from the hubei provincial department of justice told the media that they were aware of the closure of the law firm, but they did not know the specific details of how it was closed.

on september 11, the wuhan lawyers association issued an investigation statement saying that "relevant personnel of hubei sanxing information consulting co., ltd. who worked at the location were suspected of committing crimes."

information on the official website of the hubei provincial department of justice shows that hubei sanxing law firm was established in january 2018. it is an individual organization with a total of 12 lawyers, and the person in charge is mr. lai.

on september 11, mr. lai told reporters that the law firm was sealed by the police on the evening of september 10. the case is under investigation, and the police did not inform him of the specific details of the case. currently, the lawyers of the law firm are working from home, "once the case is investigated, the order of the law firm will return to normal."

there are rumors that the law firm was closed down because it participated in a "debt settlement" case but failed, and the parties asked for a refund but it was not returned.

in response, mr. lai said: "i don't know the details of the case. the police didn't tell me. we are now working with the competent department to understand the situation, and will inform you of the accurate information after understanding it."

the media noticed that hubei sanxing law firm once used a signboard with "sanxing consulting" and "youmi law" written below it. starting this year, bar associations in many places have publicly issued a document prohibiting law firms from cooperating with legal consulting service companies in legal business.

in fact, in 1986, the ministry of justice formulated the "interim provisions on several issues regarding legal service institutions", which mentioned that there are two types of "legal service institutions", namely "lawyer work institutions" and "legal consulting institutions established by qualified legal research and legal teaching units". the former is a "legal advisory office" or "law firm" responsible for all lawyer business; the latter is a "legal consulting office" that can only answer inquiries about legal issues and is not allowed to use the name of a lawyer.

in july 1989, the ministry of justice and the state administration for industry and commerce jointly issued the "several provisions of the ministry of justice and the state administration for industry and commerce on strengthening the management of legal consulting service agencies", which clearly stated that the establishment of a legal consulting service agency must first be approved by the judicial administrative authority and then apply for registration with the industrial and commercial administrative authority, and also stipulated the establishment conditions and business scope.

at the beginning of the 21st century, as the country launched the reform of the administrative approval system and further standardized administrative power and administrative behavior, the state council issued the "decision on the third batch of cancellation and adjustment of administrative approval items" in may 2004, which included "review of the establishment of social legal consulting service institutions". this means that the establishment of legal consulting companies has canceled the pre-approval and is no longer subject to supervision by the judicial administrative department.

since then, to set up a legal consulting company, one only needs to apply for a business license from the market supervision department to provide legal consulting services to the public. various legal service companies with names such as "legal consulting company" and "legal affairs center" have also emerged.

in recent years, the "zero threshold and weak supervision" of legal consulting companies has also led to industry chaos such as "low-price attraction, excessive promises, and layers of routines."

since 2019, deputies to the national people's congress and members of the chinese people's political consultative conference in guangdong, sichuan, henan and other places have made suggestions to the judicial and market regulatory departments, calling for strengthening the supervision of legal consulting companies. most of the suggestions focused on establishing access permits and strengthening supervision.

on may 16, 2024, the ministry of justice issued a notice announcing that it will jointly conduct a special investigation on legal consulting service agencies with the state administration for market regulation, and stated that it will study and standardize the relevant legal policies and measures of legal consulting service agencies on the basis of in-depth research and full listening to opinions, and create a good environment for legal services.