On August 14, 2026, King&Capital law Firm hosted a closed-door seminar on the defense of official misconduct cases. The keynote speakers were Attorney Yan Huainan, Senior Partner at King&Capital law Firm and Deputy Director of the King&Capital Research Center for Corporate Crime Defense and Prevention; Attorney Li Jianping, Partner at King&Capital law Firm and Researcher at the King&Capital Research and Defense Center for Official Misconduct; and Attorney Dai Yanghuan, Partner at Beijing Gaopeng Law Firm.
The seminar attracted over 100 registrants, including fellow attorneys and executives from listed companies across more than ten provinces, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Hebei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Ningxia, Fujian, and Liaoning. The venue was packed to capacity, and the atmosphere was lively. Drawing on practical experience and insights from their respective practice areas, participants engaged in in-depth exchanges and intellectual discussions during the seminar, fully demonstrating the legal professionals’ keen interest in and professional enthusiasm for the topic.
At the start of the seminar, the moderator, Attorney Yan Huainan—a senior partner at King&Capital law Firm—began with a video introduction. From the three dimensions of procedural justice, protection of rights, and application of the law, he provided a concise overview of the role and functional boundaries of attorneys in cases involving official misconduct, quickly focusing the audience’s attention on the core issues of defense in such cases and establishing a clear problem-oriented approach and tone for the day’s discussions.
Xu Ying, Director of the King&Capital Research Center for Corporate Crime Defense and Prevention and Senior Partner at King&Capital law Firm, pointed out that defense in official misconduct cases currently faces numerous practical challenges. Factors such as the closed nature of investigative procedures and delays in the timing of lawyer involvement place significant pressure on attorneys’ work. However, she also emphasized that the more challenging the circumstances, the more essential it is to address practical difficulties through professional expertise. Attorney Xu Ying called on three departments—King&Capital law Firm’s First Criminal Division, the Research Center for Defense and Prevention of Business-Related Crimes, and the King&Capital Criminal Defense Research Center—to maintain a sustained focus on this field and to further deepen their research based on existing findings.
The first keynote speaker, Attorney Dai Yanghuan, a partner at Beijing Gaopeng Law Firm, delivered a three-hour presentation titled “Clarifying the Case Handling Process of the Supervisory Commission and Expanding Specialized Legal Services for Official Misconduct Cases.” Drawing on his past experience as a supervisory official, as well as his work on case investigations and inspection tours with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, he discussed the organizational structure of the Supervisory Commission, its jurisdictional mechanisms, and its case-handling procedures. In addition, he highlighted nine commonly used interrogation techniques and communication strategies employed by the Supervisory Commission. Using his own 20-step operational process for personal risk prevention and control as an example, he shared how to provide specialized legal services to individuals involved in cases, demonstrating to attendees how to expand into new business opportunities.
At the start of the afternoon session, Attorney Tian Wenchang, Honorary Director of King&Capital law Firm and Advisor to the Criminal Law Committee of the All-China Lawyers Association, delivered opening remarks for the seminar. Drawing on his decades of experience in criminal defense practice, Attorney Tian Wenchang provided an in-depth analysis of the practical scope and methodologies for defending clients in official duty-related crimes. He pointed out that while the Commission’s case handling is characterized by a wide range of investigative methods and rigorous internal procedures—and defense attorneys do face practical challenges such as information asymmetry and limited opportunities for intervention—this does not mean lawyers are powerless in official duty crime cases. He argued that when handling such cases, lawyers must approach the case files with a professional mindset, conducting a thorough and meticulous review to identify logical flaws in factual determinations or contradictory details. He also encouraged his colleagues in attendance to maintain professional resolve in the face of the practical difficulties of defending in official duty crime cases, and to use solid desk research and rigorous legal reasoning to find opportunities for defense within what may seem like a closed investigative process.
Attorney Li Jianping, a partner at King&Capital law Firm and a researcher at the King&Capital Research and Defense Center for Official Misconduct, delivered a presentation titled “Know Thyself and Know Thy Enemy: A Lawyer’s Investigative Mindset.” Drawing on his 18 years of experience in investigating and handling official misconduct cases at the procuratorate and the Commission for Discipline Inspection, he shared six core skills for review and investigation: recording, investigating, reading, interviewing, calculating, and writing. During the three-hour session, Attorney Li Jianping began by examining the underlying logic of the Commission for Discipline Inspection’s case handling. He then analyzed, one by one, the specific applications of these six skills in practical defense work. Through numerous examples, he provided an in-depth explanation of how to comprehensively apply investigative-style thinking, offering attendees highly actionable defense strategies.
Finally, Attorney Yan Huainan, Senior Partner at King&Capital law Firm and Deputy Director of the King&Capital Research Center for Corporate Crime Defense and Prevention, used the “Judicial Interpretation (II) on Embezzlement and Bribery,” which took effect on May 1 of this year, as a starting point. Drawing on his academic background as a Ph.D. in Supervision Law and his experience working at the Commission for Supervision, he provided a detailed explanation of the rules governing the integration of disciplinary and legal provisions for state-owned enterprise personnel given their multiple identities. He pointed out that under the framework of the new regulations, personnel in state-owned enterprises face the overlapping regulatory requirements of four distinct identities—Party member, public official, corporate manager, and ordinary citizen—requiring a more cautious approach to determining the boundaries of application for different legal rules. Attorney Yan Huainan also used specific case studies to outline the distinguishing criteria for key criminal charges and common criminal risk points, and engaged in an active question-and-answer session with attendees.
The three speakers approached the topic from the “perspective of the Supervisory Commission,” the “perspective of a lawyer,” and the “perspective of judicial interpretations,” respectively. By complementing one another through the three distinct lenses of “observation,” “debate,” and “application,” they shared insights on practical issues in the defense of official misconduct cases. The three presentations formed a coherent, integrated whole, collectively constituting a complete practical framework for the defense of official misconduct cases and providing a reference path for the expansion of legal services in this field.
