This afternoon Hugill & Ip proudly hosted an evening of drinks and meaningful conversation for the South Asian Lawyer Group (SALG). Co-founded by Kajal Aswani, SALG continues to be a vital platform for fostering connection, dialogue, and support among South Asian legal professionals in Hong Kong. The event served not only as a networking opportunity but also as the launchpad for a transformative initiative aimed at reshaping the landscape of the city’s legal profession.

The highlight of the evening was a presentation by Professor Puja Kapai, who introduced the groundbreaking work of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging (DEIJB) Lab at the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law. Professor Kapai unveiled the Lab’s flagship initiative: the SOLEMN programme, which stands for Soaring with Legal Eagles Mentorship Network.

Bridging the Access Gap

The legal profession in Hong Kong has long grappled with a persistent gap in representation. Ethnically diverse law students possess the ambition, capability, and commitment required to excel, yet they frequently navigate a professional environment that was not inherently designed to accommodate them. The issue, as Professor Kapai emphasized, is not a lack of talent, but rather a lack of access.

SOLEMN is the DEIJB Lab’s definitive response to this challenge. As Hong Kong’s first mentorship programme specifically designed for ethnically diverse law students, SOLEMN operates on a fundamental paradigm shift. It rejects the assumption that these students need to be “fixed” or assimilated into mainstream practices. Instead, it recognizes that underrepresentation in the legal field is a structural issue that poses a serious threat to access to justice and the rule of law.

A Deficit-Free Approach to Mentorship

What sets SOLEMN apart from traditional diversity initiatives is its foundation in rigorous research, including Professor Kapai’s extensive studies on the structural barriers within the profession. The programme moves beyond a deficit-based model. Rather than placing a disproportionate emphasis on changing the mentees, SOLEMN celebrates who they already are—their unique educational journeys, cultural contexts, community ties, and the profound potential they hold to enrich industry practice.

Mentors in the SOLEMN programme are asked to serve not merely as advisers, but as sponsors. They are encouraged to advocate for their mentees, open doors, and engage seriously with the structural realities these students face. By fostering these deep, candid relationships, SOLEMN calls upon the legal profession to confront difficult questions regarding inclusion and accountability.

A Reimagined Mentorship Programme

Running from late March to early July 2026, the SOLEMN programme is a transformative mentorship scheme that creates space for focused, candid conversations, rather than polished presentations, to dismantle unspoken assumptions about available pathways to legal practice , expose unwritten rules of recruitment and success in practice while exploring what it means to build professional identities in a context that is ill-designed for historically marginalised groups. Through a series of carefully curated dynamic panel sessions and accompanying mentorship activities, participants explore identity, belonging, purpose, and mobility in the legal field while gaining the clarity on how to chart their professional paths in light of existing structures and pathways.

A Collective Commitment to Change

The evening at Hugill & Ip was more than just a gathering; it was a call to action. By hosting the induction of the SOLEMN programme, Hugill & Ip and SALG have demonstrated a shared commitment to moving beyond goodwill and taking concrete steps toward a more inclusive legal profession.

As the first cohort of SOLEMN mentees embarks on this journey, they do so with the support of a community dedicated to making and measuring progress. The conversations sparked during this event will undoubtedly compound, laying a robust foundation for future generations of ethnically diverse lawyers in Hong Kong.

 

For more information about the SOLEMN programme and the work of the DEIJB Lab, please contact deijblab@hku.hk.