Harvard Law School World Class Alumni Newsletter Features Sok Xing & Hwang Managing Director
In its World Class Alumni Newsletter released in July 2024, Harvard Law School features Mr. Sok Lor, Managing Director of Sok Xing & Hwang, in its alumni profiles, what he was exposed to during the LL.M program, and how the education and experiences shaped and transformed his journey and thoughts after.
The feature article is available at this link: https://hls.harvard.edu/graduate-program/world-class/world-class-july-2024/#transformative, with the text copied and pasted below:
As noted in a 2015 interview with Harvard Law Today, Lor Sok saw a career in law as a way “to make changes in society, especially in a low-income country that [had] recently emerged from a long period of conflict.” Before coming to HLS, he had served for more than a decade as chief legal officer, then executive director, of the Foundation of Cambodia’s independent, quasi-judicial Arbitration Council, which was established in 2003 to facilitate resolution of collective labor disputes. “There was a demand for improvement in the quality of public services, and in the neutrality, predictability and transparency of dispute resolution services; as in any developing country, this is a persistent challenge that needs ongoing efforts.”
Inspired to attend Harvard by fellow Cambodians who had studied at HKS, Lor credits his LL.M. studies with steering him in the direction in which he could make the most impact. He found the values and principles inherent in the U.S. Constitution, including the balance of powers, particularly enlightening and enjoyed courses on the history of U.S. tax policy and on problem-solving approaches in different countries. Studying law and economics also had a profound impact. “It has shaped the way that I view situations, and how public problems should be solved — using law as a tool but bearing in mind the surrounding context, the circumstances of a country.”
What Lor found most transformative about the LL.M. program was the way in which it broadened his horizons. “More than just the substance of the law, we were immersed in its guiding principles. It offered a very rich framework to look at issues, from multidisciplinary perspectives,” he says. “This is something that I have carried with me in looking at the situation in Cambodia, and in how I practice law and run my law firm.”
A year after earning his LL.M., Lor co-founded Sok Xing & Hwang, a law practice — unique in Cambodia — that combines an emphasis on private sector transactions with a focus on public policy. Today, the firm has 18 lawyers and a network of partnering offices in Myanmar and Vietnam. “We were interested in the creation of opportunities that have an effect on the rest of the economy, through our modest participation in providing legal services,” he explains. The firm primarily works with businesses and non-profits on private transactions, including mergers and acquisitions and legal compliance. According to Lor, legal compliance is increasingly important for Cambodia, due to stronger regulation by the country’s trade partners and the growing emphasis on human rights and labor rights across the supply chain. The firm also maintains a public policy and development impact practice focusing on labor market governance and policy. “Cambodia wants to accelerate the transformation from an informal economy to a formal economy, and things like labor market and tax policy come into play. We provide consulting advice to the government, international organizations and development agencies, and other clients.”
For the past several years, Lor has also been a vice president of the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations, the peak employer organization in Cambodia, and a member of Cambodia’s Committee on Law, Tax and Governance, a government initiative that brings together private sector businesspeople and their government counterparts. “We share advice and views on what the challenges are, and what should be changed, to remove barriers to a favorable climate for investment and doing business,” he explains.
Over the last decade, he says, a lot has changed. Cambodia has many new laws and has become more dynamic in the way it introduces laws to address public issues. Though fundamental laws like the civil and criminal codes have remained the same, some other laws, such as investment laws, have evolved constantly and quickly. While the new laws have increased regulations, Lor believes they have created more opportunity for good economic actors in Cambodia.
Lor sees his firm as having a part to play in facilitating strategic investments from foreign countries to support manufacturing and other businesses. Cambodia’s economy is labor-intensive, with traditional sectors like apparel, footwear, and agricultural products, and the country wants to transition to a more-skills-based and knowledge-based economy, developing industries like electronics and automobile assembly. “Cambodia is always in need of capital,” he notes. “It is really important to create opportunities, especially for young people. If the environment for jobs and the transfer of skills is created, it will have ripple effects on overall conditions in the country, and the overall well-being of the people.”