Twenty years of working alongside businesses in Vietnam have shaped Indochine Counsel's approach to legal practice: understanding business objectives to provide legal solutions grounded in commercial realities. As the firm marks its 20th anniversary, its accumulated experience, client relationships and successive generations of lawyers provide the foundation for continued growth and stronger capabilities in the years ahead.
Founded in 2006, as Vietnam was preparing to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), Indochine Counsel set out to establish a Vietnamese law firm combining a thorough understanding of the domestic market with international professional standards. Since then, the firm's journey has evolved alongside changes in Vietnam's investment and business landscape and the increasingly diverse needs of corporate clients.
Throughout this journey, Indochine Counsel has remained guided by its philosophy, "Think Business, Practising Law", which places legal matters within the broader context of clients' business operations and objectives. This philosophy also informs how Dang The Duc, Founder and Managing Partner of Indochine Counsel, reflects on the foundation the firm has built with its lawyers, clients and partners over the past two decades.
In an interview with Vietcetera marking the firm's 20th anniversary, he discusses the decisions that have shaped Indochine Counsel, how the firm maintains the quality of its legal advice across generations of lawyers, and its direction for the next phase of development.
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1. What led you to pursue a career in commercial law and eventually establish Indochine Counsel in 2006?
I entered the legal profession at a time when investment and business advisory services in Vietnam were still taking shape. During my years at Investconsult, working with foreign investors and gaining firsthand insight into business needs helped me realise that, to provide meaningful advice, lawyers must understand what their clients are trying to achieve and the practical challenges they face.
By 2006, as Vietnam was preparing to join the WTO, I saw growing demand for Vietnamese law firms capable of combining local market knowledge with working practices that met the expectations of international clients. That was one of the motivations behind establishing Indochine Counsel.
From the beginning, we wanted to create a firm where lawyers could work together, grow professionally and share responsibility for the quality of their advice. This ambition was closely tied to building an organisation capable of sustaining its development over time.
2. Looking back over 20 years, what would you consider the most important foundation Indochine Counsel has built?
It is the trust we have earned through our work and the people who have helped build that trust. Every matter requires lawyers to understand the issues accurately, work with care and take responsibility for their legal advice. When these principles are upheld consistently, they gradually become part of the firm's way of working.
I also see the value of these two decades in the professional growth of successive generations of lawyers. When those who were once mentored can independently handle matters, lead transactions and train their colleagues, individual experience becomes an institutional capability.
For that reason, the significance of our 20th anniversary lies in what we can continue to build upon: the experience we have accumulated, the relationships we have nurtured and a team capable of taking Indochine Counsel further.
3. How is the philosophy "Think Business, Practising Law" reflected in Indochine Counsel's approach to working with businesses?
We begin by understanding our clients' business objectives. Are they entering a new market, undertaking a transaction or addressing challenges in their day-to-day operations? The same legal issue can call for different approaches depending on the business context and priorities involved.
From there, our lawyers analyse the applicable laws and regulations, identify the legal constraints that must be observed and explain the available options for clients to consider. Legal advice should help businesses understand the implications of each option and make informed decisions.
To me, "Think Business, Practising Law" means understanding business in order to practise law more effectively. That understanding must always go hand in hand with independent legal judgment, integrity and professional standards.
4. In your view, what makes legal advice genuinely valuable in practice?
Legal advice must be legally sound while helping clients identify their next steps. Businesses need to understand how a proposed course of action can be implemented, what conditions must be met and what risks need to be considered.
For example, a proposed approach may comply with legal requirements but may not align with the client's timeline or available resources. Lawyers need to clarify these factors, assess the materiality of the risks involved and discuss feasible alternatives within the legal framework.
The practical value of legal advice lies in enabling clients to make better-informed decisions. Lawyers are responsible for clearly explaining the legal basis and limitations of their advice, while business decisions ultimately rest with the client.
5. As businesses' legal needs evolve, how should Indochine Counsel develop its capabilities?
As businesses expand, the issues they face often span multiple areas of law. A mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transaction, for example, may raise questions involving investment, taxation, employment and intellectual property. For technology companies, additional considerations may involve data and the operation of their business models.
This requires lawyers to develop deep expertise in their respective practice areas while also collaborating with colleagues to gain a comprehensive understanding of each client's situation. For a multidisciplinary law firm such as Indochine Counsel, these two capabilities must develop together.
The next stage of our journey requires us to continue strengthening our technical expertise, organising our work more efficiently and keeping our knowledge up to date with changes in the business environment. This is how we intend to build the capabilities needed to address our clients' increasingly complex requirements.
6. What turns a legal advisory relationship into a long-term partnership with a client?
Trust is built through the way lawyers handle each matter: responding on time, paying attention to detail, maintaining independence and communicating candidly about potential risks. Some advice may be difficult for clients to hear, but lawyers still have a responsibility to communicate it clearly when it is necessary for informed decision-making.
Over the course of a long-term relationship, lawyers develop a deeper understanding of how a business operates and what its priorities are. This knowledge allows legal advice to become more closely aligned with the client's circumstances. However, familiarity with a client should never diminish the need to carefully assess each new matter.
At Indochine Counsel, we deeply value the relationships we have built over the past 20 years. Continuing to earn our clients' trust is also a responsibility our team carries into the next chapter.
7. As businesses prepare for their next stage of growth, how can legal counsel support them from a corporate governance perspective?
Decisions involving investment, capital raising or business expansion raise questions about decision-making authority, accountability and risk management mechanisms. Addressing these issues early can help businesses prepare more effectively for implementation.
From a legal advisory perspective, lawyers can help businesses clarify their governance structures, delegation of authority and compliance requirements in ways that are appropriate to their operations. These arrangements should be designed to function in day-to-day business activities and support sound decision-making.
I believe this is also part of understanding business: recognising how a specific legal issue relates to the way a company organises and develops its operations over the long term.
8. What role does developing the next generation of lawyers play in Indochine Counsel's future?
For a law firm to achieve sustainable growth, it needs people who can carry its work forward while continuing to raise the organisation's standards. Professional training must therefore go hand in hand with opportunities for younger lawyers to handle matters directly, develop their professional judgment and gradually assume greater responsibilities.
Legal knowledge, drafting skills and working methods can be taught. The ability to identify material issues and exercise sound judgment in difficult situations requires experience, supported by discussion and guidance from more experienced colleagues.
Seeing successive generations of lawyers mature professionally, take the lead on matters and support their colleagues is particularly meaningful to me. This continuity allows what Indochine Counsel has built over the past 20 years to be preserved, strengthened and developed by each new generation.
9. How will technology and AI change the practice of law, and what principles must lawyers continue to uphold?
Technology and AI can support certain tasks, such as legal research, information synthesis and preliminary document review. Lawyers need to understand the capabilities and limitations of these tools to use them appropriately, while verifying their outputs and safeguarding client confidentiality.
In complex matters, the value of a lawyer also lies in understanding the context, evaluating information and forming well-founded judgments. Technology can support the legal process, but responsibility for legal advice remains with the legal professional.
For Indochine Counsel, innovation in working practices must serve the objective of improving the quality and efficiency of our legal services. Technology delivers value when it is applied alongside professional expertise and appropriate oversight.
10. Building on the foundation established over the past 20 years, how do you envision Indochine Counsel's next stage of development?
We want Indochine Counsel to grow stronger, building on the quality of our legal advice and the capabilities of our team. As clients enter new markets or face more complex business challenges, the firm must be equipped to support them at a level that matches their evolving needs.
This requires us to deepen our expertise, strengthen collaboration across practice areas and create opportunities for the next generation of lawyers to take on greater responsibilities. The experience of senior lawyers must be passed on, while making room for fresh perspectives and new ways of working.
Twenty years have given us a foundation from which to enter this next phase with a clearer sense of direction. The philosophy of "Think Business, Practising Law" will continue to guide Indochine Counsel's development: understanding our clients' businesses in depth, upholding professional standards and strengthening our capabilities to meet the challenges ahead.
About Indochine CounselEstablished in 2006, Indochine Counsel is a Vietnamese commercial law firm providing legal services across multiple practice areas to international investors and domestic businesses. Guided by its philosophy, "Think Business, Practising Law", the firm combines its understanding of Vietnamese law and the local business environment to deliver legal solutions aligned with clients' objectives throughout their investment, operations and growth.
This article is part of Indochine Counsel's 20th anniversary campaign, in collaboration with Vietcetera.