immediately begin handling the full gamut of legal matters so that word of mouth allowed me to gain the trust of many new clients throughout the community within weeks of my arrival on the west coast. By filling these needs efficiently, the growth for GLC continued and was so explosive that, while my first “storefront” office was no more than 500 square feet, I needed to expand to a larger office of more than a twice the size within a year. But even then, with the number of my employees growing from five to more than 20, I could not resist acquiring a spacious 10,000 square foot second floor office in a building across the street in 2013 to make room for the future growth of GLC. Located in the most prosperous business centre of Richmond, with a move-in date of July 2016, GuoLaw was on its way to becoming one of the largest Chinese law firms in Canada. Life was good until the grand theft of April 2016 changed everything. But no matter the struggle, life goes on and, as a legal professional, I remain fully committed first and foremost to supporting my community and furtheringworthy causes by contributing my legal expertise and volunteering as a counsel for many local and national organisations. Do you have a philosophy or creed that you work by? While my philosophy is to serve, serve, serve, my creed is best summarised according to the teachings of the political activist, social critic and moral philosopher Mencius (372–289 BC), as follows: Human nature is righteous and humane – and has an innate tendency towards goodness – pending that human nature is nurtured in a positive environment. Conversely, bad environments tend to corrupt the human will. between Canada and China, because the moment I set up shop in the business center of the thriving South Vancouver suburb of Richmond – in the heart of one of the most concentrated Chinese diasporas in the world – clients began flocking to my modest storefront office. What are the practicalities of SinoCanadian Investments that you had to consider? Canada is a Common Law nation and the legislation which governs corporate investment in Canada comes under by the Corporations Act. However, as a result of our ChineseCanadian clients’ lack of familiarity with local business laws and culture, the sectors of investment I ended up focusing on most tended to follow the most pressing investment concerns and interests of my clients – namely their risk comfort thresholds and their desire to make safe investments which were secure. Consequently, investments in real estate were on top the list. However, their investment desires also varied across the board: i.e. investments in commodities. And thanks to the practical experience I gained in Saskatchewan, I was able to MY LEGAL LIFE - JASON POWER 34 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | APR 2022 Hong Guo is the founder and director of Guo Law Corporation. She has gained extensive experience in working with the Sino-Canadian business community, predominantly on commercial transactions in mining, energy, IT, natural resources and real estate. Her achievements in advancing Sino-Canadian business relations were recognised in 2002 by the People's Republic of China. Guo Law Corporation is based in Richmond, Canada. The firm’s staff comprise both native Mandarin and native English speakers, enabling the team to communicate effectively and precisely with all of their client group. Their services focus primarily on corporate and commercial transactions, particularly M&A and investment. In its vision statement, Guo Law Corporation states that it aspires to “become the region’s most reputable Sino-Canadian focused corporate law firm”. Hong Guo Director, Guo Law Corporation 6061 No. 3 Rd #200, Richmond, BC V6Y 2B2, Canada Tel: +1 778-297-6560 E: hong@guolaw.ca www.guolaw.ca Coming from a metropolis of more than 12 million people, my first thought on arriving in Regina was: “Where are all the people?”
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