Li Tiantian:“I’m the Best Lawyer in China”

• Author: China Law Digest compiled news

Tiantian Li is forty-five years old and used to be a nurse. After finishing a law degree from Xinjiang University through self-taught examinations, Li practiced in Xinjiang’s First Law Firm. Then, from July 2006 to February 2011, Li practiced at several other law firms including Shanghai Beifang, a Shanghai Fair and Justice Law Firm, and Shanghai Patience & Carol.

Tiantian Li says, “I’m the best lawyer in China,” since “the best lawyer isn’t one who never breaks the law, but one who dares to do things lawfully.” She continues“I despise 95% of the lawyers in China—maybe even more than this percentage. It’s not because they have done anything illegal, but because they dare to do things lawfully.”

In China, to become one of the best lawyers in the eyes of Tiantian Li, one must naturally pay the price. In the beginning of 2008, she was evicted from her law office for helping Yang Lijuan safeguard her rights. Netizens attacked her and Li was forced to leave the law firm the first time. In 2009, she was evicted from the law office a second time for writing a blog article regarding the Yang Jia case. She was likewise subjected to forced absences after the crackdown of Jasmine Revolution call in China, during which time the third law office asked her to leave.

At the beginning of this year, in order to stop the explosion of the Jasmine Revolution in China, a large number of human rights lawyers suddenly went missing. Li was the only female lawyer among them. Because she had explicitly mentioned she was planning to go to the People’s Square in Shanghgai on the night of February 19, she was suspected of assembling a mob to disturb public order. She was taken from her home by Shanghai police...