From divorce battles to labor disputes, real-time legal advice is drawing huge audiences and reshaping how China’s young lawyers grow both their careers and their client bases.
“My husband bought a house before we married. Do I have any claim to it?” “Can I get custody of my daughter if I don’t have a steady income?”
As soon as Wen Xiu starts her daily livestream, the questions come flooding in, each one a quick crisis from someone seeking answers she can deliver in real time.
Offscreen, hundreds more watch in silence. Some pepper the chat with questions; others simply listen. For three hours, 32-year-old Wen works through the emotional fallout of other people’s lives with measured calm — explaining legal risks, mapping options, pointing out the traps they never saw coming.
Across China, an increasing number of lawyers are moving their practice online, turning platforms such as Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, and Xiaohongshu, known globally as RedNote, into real-time legal clinics.
With demand surging for quick, low-cost legal guidance, and a growing pool of young lawyers competing for clients, legal content has become one of the most active categories on Chinese social media, drawing billions of views and a steady stream of inquiries.
Wen, a Shanghai lawyer who now focuses on family affairs cases, feels the squeeze. “Young lawyers like me don’t have the same resources or client networks as senior ones,” she tells Sixth Tone. “Social media opens a new channel,...
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