Tiantong & Partners: Transforming Litigation Practice in China

Jiang Yong founded Tiantong & Partners in 2002, seeking to radically improve the level of litigation-related services in China. By 2015, Tiantong was the premier Chinese litigation firm with the highest per lawyer revenues. The firm focused exclusively on high-stakes litigation, particularly Supreme Court appeals, and enjoyed a 90 percent win rate. Building off its success, Tiantong also began offering Internet apps. Yong was betting that the tiny 23-lawyer firm would transform litigation in China. In 2014, Tiantong developed an application called Tiantong Litigation Circle on the WeChat platform with the goal of connecting lawyers across the legal profession. Within the first year, the program recorded 150,000 followers, one million shares, and 10 million page visits. The firm figured that more than half of all practicing lawyers in China were followers. By the end of the year, Tiantong had also released the first professional reading app for lawyers. In May 2015, Tiantong released an Internet tool to support case research, accessible to anyone who needed to find precedents. The firm faced significant opportunities in both businesses. Yong needed to decide whether to continue making efforts in both directions or whether to prioritize one over the other.