How to be Buddy Brilliant at BD and LinkedIn with Yuankai Lin - Episode 50

What happens when you combine legal expertise, LinkedIn creativity, and a Golden Retriever with serious charisma? In this milestone 50th episode, host Lara Quie chats with Yuankai Lin, Partner at RPC Premier Law in Singapore—and his four-legged co-star Buddy, the self-appointed Chief Happiness Officer.

From navigating a legal career across prestigious firms to transforming business development through a unique personal brand on LinkedIn, Yuankai shares a refreshingly candid and inspiring journey. Discover how authenticity, creativity, and a bit of canine charm can build not only visibility but real-world legal opportunities.

Whether you're a senior associate eyeing partnership, a junior lawyer exploring business development, or a seasoned practitioner curious about the power of personal branding—this episode is your guide to standing out in a saturated legal market.

What you will learn: 

·         The 4 A’s Corporate Counsel Value Most: Learn why Affability often beats Ability when it comes to winning client trust.

·         The Power of LinkedIn for Lawyers: Yuankai’s tips on how to build a memorable and meaningful online presence—no hard sell needed.

·         Buddy the Golden Retriever as a Branding Masterclass: How using light-hearted, story-driven posts made legal content more relatable—and led to real client referrals.

·         From Private Practice to Partnership: Yuankai’s transition journey, the pandemic pivot, and the lessons learned from building a book of business in isolation.

·         Content with Personality Wins: Why your LinkedIn posts should reflect not just your expertise, but your human side—and how to find your voice.

·         Advice for Aspiring Partners: How to think like a partner before becoming one, and how to start marketing yourself meaningfully without pressure.

·         Internal Networking Matters Too: Why your LinkedIn activity can raise your visibility inside the firm just as much as outside it.

·         Personal Branding Isn’t Just for Influencers: Practical strategies for professionals to position themselves as approachable, memorable, and in-demand.

We hope that you will enjoy listening to this episode. 

Please share it with your fellow lawyers and rate and review it to help others find it. 

Lara Q Associates
A boutique business and executive coaching consultancy

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Episode 50 – How to be Buddy Brilliant at BD and LinkedIn with Yuankai Lin

Lara Quie: Hello and welcome to the Legal Genie Podcast where we delve into the careers and lives of movers and shakers in the legal industry. Today I'm joined by two good friends from Singapore, firstly, Yuankai Lin, who is a partner at RPC Premier Law, a joint venture between UK based RPC and Singapore firm Premier Law, LLC.

My second guest is his fun-loving fairy sidekick Buddy, the golden retriever, who is also the self-appointed Chief Happiness Officer at RPC, and you may have seen him recently on LinkedIn. Yuankai specializes in commercial and technology disputes and international arbitration, and in recent times, his practice has expanded to include cybersecurity, blockchain, technology, and crypto assets.

His practice is truly global and spans multiple jurisdictions, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the United States, just to name a few. I can't wait to get into a whole host of topics today, such as Yuankai's career journey, and of course his partnership with Buddy on LinkedIn, which he uses for personal branding and also business development.

So, welcome to the show, Yuankai and Buddy. Hi Buddy. 

Yuankai Lin: Thank. Thank you, Lara. Great to be here on this podcast. Looking forward to a really great chat. Can't really promise that Buddy will be there in the same position when we end this chat, but we shall do our best. 

Lara Quie: For those of you listening on audio only Buddy is sitting in the background.

He's got his wonderful neckerchief on showing his ambassadorship and he's looking very, very pleased with himself because I think he's hoping for some more treats. He was bribed earlier. 

Yuankai Lin: Yeah, he's, he's had quite a few treats today, but I think to keep him on for a little longer, he's actually looking for a lot more.

Lara Quie: Let's start at the beginning, Yuankai. Tell us a little bit about your childhood and where you grew up. 

Yuankai Lin: Sure. I'm born and raised in Singapore. My parents were from Malaysia.

My grandmother was from China, and my parents moved over to Singapore for work and they decided to set up a family here. I have an older sister; she's six years older than I am. We remain very close. We are still a very close knit family. We see each other every week, which, which isn't too difficult given the size of Singapore.

 I live around a 10 minute drive from my parents and possibly 20 minutes from my sister. My whole schooling life has been in Singapore. In my university days, I studied law in the National University of Singapore (NUS). And then, I did a one year exchange program in Toronto, which, is probably the longest time I've been overseas in, in my, in my whole life.

And that was quite an experience. I went to Toronto not having seen snow my entire life. And then I left Toronto not wanting to see snow ever again. 

I've had dogs for as long as I've lived and as long as I can remember, so unsurprisingly, I am a dog lover, as my LinkedIn followers can probably guess.

 Buddy's actually my third golden retriever. I, we have, I've had two Golden Retrievers, before this and before my three Golden Retrievers, we had a Boxer and a standard size Poodle. And even before that, we have had German Shepherds and, and Shelties and, and other dogs as well. 

Lara Quie: Sounds like you've always gone for the larger breed despite the fact that Singapore's a small place.

Yuankai Lin: Oh, we've, we've had the luxury of, having very understanding parents. And so, I am more comfortable with, with larger breeds, although I love all dogs, you know, all sizes and breeds. 

Lara Quie: So tell me a bit about why you chose law and to study that at NUS. Is there anyone in your family or any influence?

Yuankai Lin: I think that the typical answer from Singapore students sometimes is really that they study law because they didn't know what else to do. My answer's a bit different. If I didn't study law, I wouldn't know what else I would do. because, to me, law came as a calling. I do not know why.

But I suppose that's why it's a calling because you, you feel naturally drawn to it. I can't put my finger down on it. I do have some relatives who were lawyers and I did watch certain TV dramas about, about lawyers, you know, in Hong Kong or in the US or in the UK and perhaps all of these added up to have some subconscious influence on me. 

But I knew as early as secondary school, which is, I suppose, high school that I wanted to be a lawyer and I really hoped to be able to study locally because it was a lot more affordable. So you asked me why I chose to do it in, in National University of Singapore.

It, it was really because of cross considerations and the ability to still remain close to my family. but naturally if I didn't, get into a university in Singapore, I would have quite possibly gone overseas to, to do my law degree. 

Lara Quie: Yeah, quite a few Singaporeans, like to go overseas for a bit, but it is interesting that you stayed in Singapore.

So tell me a bit about your training and how you managed to get a training contract and what that process is like in Singapore. 

Yuankai Lin: The process is very, very different now from when I last went through it, because when I was still a student, there was only one university in Singapore that offered law as an undergrad course now you have two universities and so it's a lot more competitive. It used to be the case that perhaps in your second or your third year of your law school, you would actually do a few internships and. If you liked the law firm and if the law firm liked you, they would typically give you an offer not really on the spot, but perhaps a few months or half a year down the road before you even completed your, your law degree.

So I interned in Drew & Napier, one of the big four law firms in Singapore, particularly renowned for its dispute resolution offering. And I interned there, I think for four weeks, if I'm not wrong, after my second year of study in law. And I, I liked the people there. I wasn't sure if they liked me back.

So while I was on exchange in Canada, I did get a call from the recruitment committee to just say, would you like to have a chat with our recruitment partner? You know, while I was in, in Toronto. and during that call, they did say that if I were to apply, you know, they would be able to assure me a spot at that point in time.

So, that's how I got my training contract. It was thankfully a very painless process because I was quite fortunate to find a team who would soon to be my colleagues who liked me, and I really liked them as well. 

Lara Quie: Yeah, that sounds like the dream. Such a painless process and as you say, very, very different to the process today.

And I know that there've been some recent changes for young lawyers making the training process much longer than before. And also I think smaller firms have been somewhat aggrieved by the fact that there's a longer period of training and also more cost to them as well. 

Yuankai Lin: I think the jury is still out as to whether just because a training period is longer means that you would have a more fruitful experience because it could be six months or one year or two years, but it, it depends on what fills that period of time.

Because you could have a two year training contract and on paper it sounds like they have plenty of opportunities to learn. But if you don't fill it up with enriching meaningful experiences for your trainee. that trainee could possibly learn more in three or six months in a more structured more fulfilling program in another firm.

So, I, I, I, I'm, I'm still on the fence as to whether a one year training contract is the ideal period of time, but I'm not, I'm, I'm keeping an open mind to this. 

Lara Quie: So after a couple of years at Drew, you then moved on to an international firm, Bird & Bird. Tell me about that. 

Yuankai Lin: Yes, so I, I moved to Bird and Bird and I spent a good seven and a half years there.

So that's a good chunk of my, of my career. I think it's almost half of my career was spent in Bird and Bird, Singapore, so I picked up a lot of new skill sets and, and focused areas there. I'm very, very thankful for my time in Bird & Bird. I really enjoyed the firm, both in Singapore and elsewhere. The people were lovely, treated me very, very well.

I, to be frank, I never thought I would stay in practice for this long because as a student and as a trainee, as a young lawyer, you think that. practice is hard and you are, you hear nightmare stories about how lawyers burn out, and they don't last long in practice. I would say that it's largely because of the people that I've met in my career in Drew & Napier and Bird and Bird and now in RPC, that really have kept me going through mentorship guidance and, and really lots of tolerance on their part.

 And I would say that my time in, Bird & Bird really shaped the foundation along with Drew and Napier for sure. You know, for what, for the years that, that there are to come. So in, in Bird and Bird, I, I did the usual general commercial disputes that I did in Drew and Napier. And then I drew some experience from TMT mandates because Bird and Bird is traditionally strong in IP and TMT matters.

So the experience that I've drawn from, from Bird and Bird continues to follow, follow with me, and, and that's an offering that I still market to, to prospective clients and current clients. 

Lara Quie: Yeah, certainly they are very, very strong on the technology side and you will have been exposed to their client base. So what about your progression after seven years at Bird and Bird and you joined RPC. Can you tell us a bit about what that move entailed? 

Yuankai Lin: Some of my colleagues from Bird and Bird and I, we, we joined RPC in 2020. So we joined at, at different stages and, and I joined RPC in February of 2020.

And if I recall correctly, it was just one week before the first lockdown in Singapore during the Covid pandemic. So naturally, it was not the most ideal transition into a new firm. Not to mention that I wasn't a partner in Bird & Bird. I was actually a Counsel and I joined RPC as a partner. So the first few years of partnership in RPC was actually disrupted by the pandemic where I stayed at home most of the time.

And I had to receive guidance on how to be a partner, how to market yourself really quite remotely and not having opportunities to actually go out to meet people and to basically push my own brand out there at the time when I actually felt was the most critical to do. So that was, that was actually quite a challenge.

But thankfully things have returned and, and the firm has been very supportive in really making up for lost time, so to speak. So, in Bird and Bird I picked up TMT expertise. And in in RPC we've been involved in a number of banking and finance disputes. So RPCs banking litigation team actually adopts a conflict free model.

Where we are free to act against the major banks and financial institutions. So if I am not wrong, I think RPC, it's the only international firm in Singapore that can actually take up mandates against these very big players. So that's the niche market that we are trying to occupy.

And so, because of that, that part of the market has been keeping me busy for perhaps the past one or two years. and so along the way you just pick up many different skills sets and experiences. So it's like keeping, keeping the same quiver, but you are putting in different arrows in your, in your inventory, you know, for, for whatever challenge that might come later on.

Lara Quie: Yeah, I love that analogy. I can totally imagine how difficult it must have been. There were very early days of the pandemic when you must have been interviewing and the whole process was happening and suddenly it comes to fruition. And then the pandemic is full scale on, you know, with the lockdown.

And in Singapore in particular, it was just so strict. And I can imagine the frustration you must have felt because you were there as a brand new partner, raring to go. All these ideas, so many, plans to meet with people face-to-face, talk about business development and all of those things. And of course, feeling the pressure of this new role where you are supposed to originate work and bring in new matters for your firm.

So tell me a little bit more about, that feeling and actually what you did remotely that enabled you to start building some outreach. 

Yuankai Lin: Yeah, so I was quite fortunate in that RPC, they understood the situation. There was no pressure on me to really scale from zero to a hundred in a very short period of time.

And thankfully I did have an existing stable of clients who continued to give me work or had existing cases that I ported over from my previous firm. So it wasn't the case that I was stuck at, you know, zero gear and, and just stopped there for the pandemic. I was quite fortunate that during the pandemic there was still a good pipeline of work.

I think it could have been better, it can always be better. But certainly marketing, trying to put your name out there was a challenge. I did consider holding webinars and, you know, virtual networking sessions, but I found that it was quite, it was quite difficult to organize because it sounded innovative on paper.

It's still, and it is because you are doing the best that you can given the circumstances. But I always found it was a regular pattern of a few people dominating the conversation within a Zoom or Teams room. And the rest of the participants would have their cameras off and you don't even know what they're actually doing.

They are there, they're there in name, literally in name, but you actually don't know anyone. And you don't get to have that meaningful conversation that you would have if all of you were in the same room, in in the same physical space. So I, that's when I started looking at LinkedIn. Quite ashamed to say that after 10 years of practice, that was the time I actually looked at [00:14:00] LinkedIn to see how I could put my name out there virtually without the need of having to meet anyone in person. 

So I think during that period of time, everyone had the same thought and everyone started dabbling with LinkedIn. And so I went online to see what other people were doing and I felt that there was a lot of useful information and knowledge out there on LinkedIn.

But it was typically in a, especially for, for, for updates or posts that were prepared for lawyers, they were drafted in a very matter of fact or very serious manner. So it presented two problems for me if I had to go down this path. The first is that I, I know myself and I need to have fun preparing these posts.

Otherwise, I would never continue doing this, I would give up quite quickly because I would be bored. If I got bored at preparing this post. How would I feel about other people reading it? And second, and perhaps more importantly, it's that I wanted my post to actually resonate and be more memorable with the audience so that it could stand out from what everyone else was posting.

And at that same time, I needed it to be presented in a very tasteful manner. Not be attention seeking for the sake of attention seeking. So that I, I suppose I did experiment with a few approaches but I didn't really feel that comfortable with any approach. Initial approaches with LinkedIn. And I think, you know, I was sort of stuck for a good one year to 18 months.

Lara Quie: What about your partnership with Buddy then? So when did you start to think about how you can bring him in and use graphics in particular? So photos of Buddy and the humour that you've brought to the platform? 

So 

Yuankai Lin: if I'm not wrong, Buddy's involvement came at the time of the crypto crash in 2022. So I wanted to post as part of my technology practice information and knowledge about cryptocurrency and the underlying blockchain technology.

And I wanted to do it in a way that was accessible to everybody and not just to the people in the industry, because everyone at that time was just curious about what is going on? What is cryptocurrency? Should I invest? How does it actually work? What, what are pros and cons of cryptocurrency, so on and so forth, but.

As you can expect the talking points around these topics are very, very technical, so I figured if I drafted my posts in a very technical way, I would just lose the audience maybe 25% of halfway down, halfway through my posts. So I was thinking of a way to package it. And I was inspired by a, a children's book, and I think it must have been my nephew's or my niece's storybook, where the main character was, was a dog.

And the story focused on the dog's adventure. And there were various teachable moments for the dog and on, on the way to the conclusion of the story and at the conclusion of the story. That would be an overarching moral. To their story. So leaving aside the fact that this approach works for children, it gave me an idea, why don't I use Buddy as a main character in my next post? And I will create some adventure or some mishap that he will get into.

And I used this story as a launchpad and I used it to explain cryptocurrency and what it was. So if I recall correctly, I made Buddy an investor who was burned by this crypto crash, and I used Buddy's plight to get certain emotional investments from the audience. And I used Buddy to weave. I, I used Buddy as a, a, a muse or, or the main character to explain certain concepts of cryptocurrency and what went wrong in the crypto crash.

It was very, very well received. I, I really didn't expect that reception because until that point in time, I always had this idea that people probably would appreciate a more serious or matter effect post. So the reception was really, really quite unexpected. A lot. Got lots of good feedback. And I must say, I, I don't think I've looked back ever since.

So Buddy since then has been my main character, my muse in a lot of the posts that I do on LinkedIn. I've used Buddy to explain talking points on quite a number of topics. I think it's cryptocurrency, blockchain methods relating to litigation, arbitration, employment, mental health.

And, and sometimes I just use Buddy to give a light-hearted, you know, humorous quote just to keep the mood light. And I realized that people like to see Buddy more than me on the platform. So I figured I would just give people what they want.

Lara Quie: I certainly enjoy your posts on LinkedIn, Yuankai, you know, you and Buddy obviously. I think the main ingredient though is the fact that you do put out very good content. So a lot of your posts do have legal content, legal issues, and as you say, you are able to explain things in a very simple way using Buddy as your protagonist and then with a nice photo of him usually enjoying himself. And I think that mixture is exactly what people are looking for. As you say, it's how to stand out on such a platform. It's a very, very noisy platform. All sorts of voices. All sorts of tones. But having Buddy's photo, his persona as it were to engage.

But at the same time, convey quite serious content in a light-hearted way, is that very unique blend. And I think that's what attracted people to your posts, but also, you know, a lot is to do with your personality yourself, how you come through. The words that you write about Buddy, his personality, his joyfulness, your partnership that you have together, the way that he describes you, "the human", you're often putting your foot down, making him leave fun, fantastic places that he wants to enjoy or spoiling his fun in so many ways. So it's really very amusing to [00:20:00] read on such a platform. 

Yuankai Lin: Yeah, I, I think you know, some people will disagree with me on this because they think that we need to keep LinkedIn professional and, you know, maybe there's things that I do with Buddy should be reserved for a different platform like, like Facebook.

But I do think, and, and this is a view that's echoed by other people as well, that what on LinkedIn you showcase yourself not just as a professional but as a human being. And that it is how you forge both professional and personal connections with people who you don't actually know. You may not have met this person, this person, and you might be separated by a number of oceans, but if you can somehow use that content to reach out to people and, and forge that connection, you know, you create opportunities that in-person networking cannot even accomplish. 

So, for example, I actually got an opportunity referred to me by someone from a, a law firm outside of Singapore. And I've never met this person before. Not in person, not even on a call. And it was quite a good opportunity, which materialized for me in the end.

This person's name was really familiar, but I, I just couldn't place him because I just assumed that I had met him somewhere in Singapore or in one of the conferences overseas, but I just couldn't figure out where. So I checked the LinkedIn Messaging app and it turns out that we had a very long LinkedIn conversation, maybe one and a half years ago ' cause he owns a Golden Retriever as well. So he saw my post s with Buddy, reached out and we started chatting about our dogs. And it was a very, very good conversation and I do think that it was that personal connection that we made that, you know, caused him to think of me when this opportunity arose.

Lara Quie: That's fantastic. I think any lawyer listening to this podcast, that is just golden. I think so many people ask us all the time, don't they? Why do you spend so much time on LinkedIn? What value does it bring you? But when you hear that there are tangible business development opportunities that come directly as a result of your posting, that is what we are always on about. The fact that you can build so much of a relationship virtually through LinkedIn and whether you've had an interaction like you did with your shared love of dogs and Golden Retrievers in particular. But it's about, you know, showcasing your personality, but also being front of mind for that person, as you say, who's overseas. And you know, with him engaging on LinkedIn and seeing your profile and Buddy and that reminder, but then him thinking, I need someone in Singapore.

Oh, Yuankai and Buddy, they're in Singapore, aren't they? I'll reach out to him and see what he can do. And I think it's very much the idea that you build trust. You know, people do business with others who they know, like, and trust. And LinkedIn is such a soft sell way. It's such a great way of showcasing your personality, your expertise, showing up every day. And I think because you are able to show such authenticity and your true personality through your posts, you know, it's very hard to keep up a pretence on, three or four days of a week, right? So I think that people do feel that they get to know you quite well from the tone of your posts, from the tone of your comments that you make on other people's posts and all of that level of engagement. And then when they reach out through the direct messages, you can really start to build great relationships there, which obviously it's great to then take offline into the real world.

But that's not always possible. But it really is a way to scale up your personal brand in a big way. So I know that recently you've been on a number of panels and have been invited to speak, and I would imagine that that is also as a direct result of your LinkedIn presence. 

Yuankai Lin: Yes, I think so. I think it's not just putting yourself out there to build connections, but it's also putting yourself out there to tell the world that you do want opportunities because I think a lot of lawyers, you know, you, you probably know that they are there, but they're not visible. So you just assume, oh, they must be very busy.

So they will not be interested in certain opportunities certain opportunities to speak. So by posting a lot, you know, you are top of mind, but people also know that you are keen to assist with the marketing, be more involved in the community, things like that. So I would, I can safely say that if I wasn't active on LinkedIn, no one would think about me to be on their panel.

and what you said earlier about how people would very much like to do business with people that they like, that is absolutely true. So I read an article on the four A's of how lawyers are assessed by corporate counsel. And they did a survey of corporate counsel where they asked corporate counsel to rank the factors they would consider in, in engaging lawyers.

So in first place was actually Affability. So whether you're approachable, friendly, easy to communicate with because clients need to feel comfortable discussing their case and their concerns with you, or they need to feel comfortable calling you at 3:00 AM when a serious problem has arisen. The second one was availability, but that is, that is quite an important thing.

The third is affordability. So unless the price difference is quite big, the clients would tend to choose to go with someone who's a bit more expensive, but they think they can get along with. And the fourth and last place surprising to me was actually ability. Because they believe that ability is something that is a given.

So based on that ranking, we can see there are many able lawyers out there who are very, very good technically. So you must have something more than that to actually draw clients to you. And the way that many lawyers market themselves, they focus a lot on ability. So post on substantive legal updates, post on your latest legal directory rankings on the awards post, on the latest panel that you are speaking on.

These are very, very important. You can't do without them. But I don't think it's enough, especially not in this very crowded marketplace that you have referred to earlier. 

Lara Quie: That's spot on. I have read research into those four traits, as you say, and I've always thought that the affability factor is definitely the number one.

And when it comes to research into rainmakers and what makes them special, ultimately, it is a given that every lawyer knows how to do the law. I mean, that's their job, right? I mean, when we go to the mechanics and we ask them to fix our car, we assume that they know what they're doing. And the same is true for lawyers.

So that affability factor, is definitely a really high priority for in-house counsel. They want to know, is this somebody who I feel comfortable with, who is engaging, who I want to spend time with, who I want to give my matters to, who I like working with, who is a nice person, but I think they also pay great attention to how lawyers treat their team members.

So how do you work with your associates? Are you a team player or are you just there for the glory and you know, very, very light touch? And I think that those who roll up their sleeves really want to understand the issues at hand. So they are good listeners. They ask good questions and they genuinely care.

So I think it is about the empathy and those who are affable generally have high EQ. They are empathetic people and you are somebody in disputes. And when it comes to disputes, they tend to be highly emotional areas. Something has gone wrong. It's often as a result of a lack of communication. So something has arisen because one party wasn't able to explain, you know, why they did something or what has gone wrong, et cetera.

And so quite often you need to be that person who's the intermediary to actually uncover what has happened. So that affability, in terms of engaging with your client, what has gone wrong? How do you translate that? How do you reach a resolution? Then you talk about the availability.

And I think you know, the fact that you are on LinkedIn. Approachable and available. As you say, this is such an important thing. So many lawyers are afraid to be there, and they say, well, I look like I don't have any work. It's like, well, we are not asking you to be on LinkedIn 24 hours a day. Actually, what you will find once you become, let's call it a professional user, is that what you do is you literally just dip in and out whenever you have a pocket of time, and we're always standing in a queue somewhere, or we are taking a taxi somewhere, or we are on the underground or something happens to us where we might have 10 minutes of dead time, as it were. And for me, certainly those are the moments when I get my mobile phone out and I go, right now's my time to go on LinkedIn. You know, where can I comment? What can I post? As you know, I commute into London and in the morning, I just spend, you know, 10, 20 minutes on my phone having a look what's going on, and I write my post then and there, and that's it.[00:29:00] 

And then later in the day, every time I have pockets of time, I will then dip in and out, so that availability. Then you talk about the affordability. Again, this is something very, very interesting because many in-house counsels will say it isn't about the price folks actually, obviously there are firms that are extortion expensive, but it's ultimately, it's about that relationship and it's about the full offering. You know, what value are you bringing to the table? So have you got the affability, the availability, and the ability, and are you affordable? And I think most businesses have their idea of what's affordable, but so long as you fall within that you can basically, you know, deliver value and you can name your price for that because they see the value.

So I think that those insights are really valuable and you certainly are somebody who embodies all four of those characteristics. And so when it came to, you know, being a partner, what advice have you got for younger lawyers in terms of, if, let's say they are a senior associate wanting now to position themselves, what advice have you got for them in their journey towards partnership?

Yuankai Lin: I think if, if you are a senior associate looking to be a partner in your present firm or another firm, you need to think about what you can offer to that firm. One problem that senior associates have is really that because they have been doing the work that their present partner has been giving to them.

So their work experience is almost a carbon copy of whatever their present boss is doing. So assuming the firm doesn't actually need someone who does exact same work as what you are doing as your boss, you will need to find your own niche or your unique selling point.

That's the first option. The second option is to get out there, start meeting people, start marketing such that the pool of clients or contacts that you're meeting is more or less mutually exclusive from who your superior can actually offer to the firm or who your firm already has in their book of business.

And this is not something that you will figure out immediately. It's really an ongoing journey where your progress will not be in a straight line. It's going to be lots of ups and downs. So do not be disheartened if you know you are ghosted by a potential client. People don't want to meet with you or give you the short shrift because you are senior associate.

I think for that, the problem is on them and not on you. You, you will need to get your build up that thick skin and prepare for failure. And what better time to do it than when you're a senior associate and no one is really expecting you to be originating work and supposed to when you become a partner and you're thrown into the deep end and they expect you to go from zero to a hundred immediately.

So I, I think senior associates need to start acting like partners taking ownership of their own career. Take it that you already have, you are already building a book of business. And go out there, prepare to [00:32:00] fail without the necessary pressures of failing. That's the best part. And, and so you can set yourself up for just basically exploring what kind of partner do you want to be?

Lara Quie: Those are nuggets of wisdom. Absolutely. I totally agree with you there. I think it's never too early to start developing that mindset, and as you say, take ownership of your career. But yes, try to spot those areas where there aren't overlaps. Who might you have met in your, time at school or at university, or who are friends of your parents who may have a business, or perhaps you've got international friends, especially those of you who studied abroad, you know, what are they up to?

But also don't forget that all of you are moving up in parallel. So although you're a senior associate now, your friends who are other senior associates in other firms or in businesses will also be moving up. And so by the time you all reach a certain seniority, everyone will be senior too. And so I think a lot of people forget their friendship [00:33:00] circle, there are so many opportunities there, but it's all about asking the right questions. And also, as you say, putting yourself out there. So actually telling people, Hey, you know, I'm a lawyer. My area of expertise is dispute resolution. So If you hear of any disputes I'd love to help, and you just sort of need to spread the word, because even in family gatherings and things like that, people will ask, oh, you know, what are you up to these days?

And you might just say, oh, I'm a lawyer. No. Go into more detail. Tell them what you do, why it's exciting, how you love to help people. Give examples of how you help. And then say to them, " I'm really looking forward to building my own book of business. It'll be really great if you could help me find some opportunities".

And of course, aunties and uncles love it, don't they? I mean, in Singapore in particular, you know, Yuankai, they will start asking all their friends and they'll say, " oh yeah, my nephew, he's in this firm and he does disputes, and can you help? Anything going on that you could give him?"[00:34:00] 

So, I think that we need to really start saying what we do, be proud of it. Try and look for those opportunities, and then of course, start on LinkedIn so they can start to build their network on LinkedIn. But tell me a little bit more about your LinkedIn experience how you've managed to curate your following and your relationships and the biggest benefits of being on the platform. 

Yuankai Lin: I think it's still an ongoing journey as far as my experience with LinkedIn goes because the algorithm changes very often. So what might work for LinkedIn maybe one year ago, may not be that relevant now.

So in terms of posts, still plenty of hits and misses. I'm still experimenting, but that goes towards how you should not be afraid to try new things. As far as connections being built. it helps both internally, externally, because for internally the firm has been very supportive of me using Buddy to market, you know, on behalf of myself and also for the [00:35:00] firm.

So that bandana that you see that purple bandana that you see around his neck, I didn't purchase it. It was actually a gift from RP C's senior partner at one of our partners conferences maybe two or three years ago. And so it was a gift for, for Buddy. I didn't get any present, but Buddy somehow got a present.

And, and so that was, that was a clear sign to me that the firm really liked that I was doing this. But also it connects me to my colleagues who I sometimes see maybe once a year, if I'm lucky. And so we get a conversation going on because lots of opportunities can be made within the firm as well as outside of the firm.

So that keeps me top of mind as well. And it connects me to, to colleagues that I would probably not have spoken to when I go back to London to visit the London office anytime as well. The second opportunity is for external connections. So aside from people who message you on LinkedIn to just have a chat about future opportunities or present opportunities.

You also [00:36:00] get some recognition in real life. So you can go to a conference and the ice is already broken because if you go to a legal conference for example, chances are people know you and the conversation doesn't start off cold, it start off, starts off a bit warm or even hot, especially if the person is also a fellow dog owner.

So there's already from the offset, you already know, look, we can talk about dogs and we can talk about pets. We don't have to go through the whole very, very polite introductory topics that that everyone who who's meeting each other cold would have to go through. And to me, that's already a very good way to make networking very enjoyable.

So If a lot of people don't like in-person networking, so I would think that using LinkedIn may help you soften the awkwardness or the difficulty and in-person networking because you're softening the ground for yourself. People come to you wanting to chat with you about your dog and, and because of that you will have conversations that you enjoy as well.

You leave the networking session not [00:37:00] feeling awkward or, you know, thinking about things that you could have said better or wondering about, you know, what other topic can, can I talk about? Because the usual suspect of introductory topics gets boring especially after you repeat it, you know, 20 or 30 times over in a single night.

So that's, that's the main benefit that I have. It's really that. We are getting recognized or rather, Buddy is getting recognized. And, and networking becomes a little bit easier for me when it comes to in person and when I'm walking Buddy outside on the weekend. Sometimes people recognize him. I have had a number of occasions where this person would come up to me and say, "is that Buddy?"

We will have a chat and you know, this person is a follower, he or she's in-house counsel somewhere. We'll just have a chat about the dog, you know, in a very casual setting. But I find that that is the connections that you make unintended unexpectedly, you know, are the most beautiful ones because [00:38:00] if not for LinkedIn, you would never have had this interaction in the first place.

Lara Quie: That's so true. I love that. He is your icebreaker. Absolutely very recognizable, as you say, whenever you're walking him in Singapore. But I think I'd like to focus on the fact that you mentioned how powerful LinkedIn is actually for your internal RPC network to connect with your colleagues.

And I think that that is something that people often overlook. Because especially in your position where you are in an overseas office of an international firm, and visibility is really, really important because when you're not in the mothership, as it were, you know, in the, in the main London office where everyone knows each other, the partnership is very close you can feel a little bit out on a limb.

However, I think where you are able to leverage such great exposure and then you have this icebreaker where everyone knows you as Yuankai with Buddy, and then they can reach [00:39:00] out to you and they see what you are up to, et cetera. They would also be more likely to reach out to you with any Singapore matters that they have.

And certainly even if it's not just for your own practice, but for your other internal colleagues, they might still come to you as that first point of contact. And I think that's really important because especially let's say as a senior associate, if you were somebody aiming to get partnership in a firm, having some way of raising your visibility so that people in your firm, especially other partners in your firm know who you are, know what you do. That is really valuable because when it comes to those promotions, they'll all know who you are. They'll say, "oh yes, that person in Singapore, I've actually definitely seen him. Doesn't he have that dog?" And then everyone will go, "yeah, yeah, yeah, that's Yuankai. Yeah, he's somebody that you have to look out for." This is, I think, very, very powerful. And I think that a lot of junior lawyers can [00:40:00] start to think about maybe they have a hobby or an interest or a passion, whether that's for pro bono work or maybe they might like turtles or maybe they might like football or, you know, some passion.

I think all of us are looking for something that is unique about someone and what we really enjoy seeing is a bit of passion about something, especially when you are a lawyer, which is, you know, it is very traditional, it's quite mundane in a lot of ways. Where you can show your real personality, that is where others can connect with you and they can see something that you share in common.

And you mentioned the work that you got earlier, that was through the fact that you both have Golden Retrievers. And I think that other dog lovers you mentioned before, how many other dog lovers like to engage with you. And so yeah, it's finding those things about you that you can put out there that people are going to focus on, connect with, gel with [00:41:00] and think, you know what? I bet this is a really nice person. I'd love to work with them. Let's find ways of doing something together. So, let us round up this conversation. What about a last piece of advice for younger lawyers? 

Yuankai Lin: I think you mentioned just now about how some lawyers don't want to use LinkedIn because it. It makes them feel embarrassed that people think they don't have enough work. But I do think that there are enough young lawyers out there who are very interested to use LinkedIn, but they are too scared or maybe a bit hesitant to take the first step.

So I would say that everyone had to take a first step at some point in time. Be authentic. Be yourself. I'm not telling anyone to go get a dog after this podcast and start posting pictures of those, even though people communicate remotely through screens, I think that the audience can tell if someone is being attention seeking for the sake of being attention seeking or if someone is not being authentic.

Somehow the internet audience can sense it. [00:42:00] So you need to find your own path but be true to yourself. Do something that you really enjoy. Think about what you can offer to LinkedIn as a platform. Think about what you can offer to your firm, to your current boss. Think about the gaps in the current lineup of your firm and where you think you can plug into those gaps.

I think there are opportunities out there because every firm always has a gap in their service offering, which is why firms are always hiring new people. But if you could be the in-house replacement, a homegrown talent for that firm, you know, why not put a bet on yourself? And gamble on the fact that you are able to do this, and then work backwards and think how are you going to work towards that goal, whether it's LinkedIn, you know, putting yourself out there to meet people getting educated on a whole new area of law, getting ready to pivot.

You know, if you don't think about these things, you, you are just gonna be thrown to the deep end when you're expected to originate work. And so, you know, I would say that the best time to start was yesterday, but now the second best time to start is actually right now. 

Lara Quie: Well said. Absolutely agree. Brilliant, brilliant advice. And it's been fantastic talking to you, Yuankai, and obviously seeing Buddy in the background. So, probably a silly question, but where can people reach out to you? 

Yuankai Lin: Well, you can find me on LinkedIn. I'm the lawyer with the dog. If you see a picture of a Golden Retriever chances are that came from my profile. Drop me a message.

Or if you don't really like to use LinkedIn, you could Google my name RPC and you can, find my profile there.  

Lara Quie: Thank you so much for your time today, Yuankai, it's been a pleasure speaking to you. 

Yuankai Lin: Thank you, Lara.