Controversial solicitor is no Lam to the slaughter

Law Society president Ambrose Lam San-keung has found himself at the centre of controversy for his endorsement of Beijing's white paper on "one country, two systems", but this is not the first time his remarks have drawn fire.

Lam, a solicitor since 1988, succeeded Dieter Yih Lai-tak as the Law Society's chief in May last year, two years after he was elected vice-president of the body that oversees some 9,000 members.

Less than a month into his term as president, he was criticised by university deans for proposing a common qualifying examination for solicitors to replace tests provided by the city's three law schools.

And four months later he faced far greater criticism after he joined the chorus condemning Occupy Central, saying its civil disobedience plan was without legal grounds and that the notion of "peaceful violence" was just "beautiful rhetoric".

"I am angry that many people are disrupting the social order and the rule of law by abusing the name of justice," Lam said.

Those remarks caused a split within the Law Society, as human rights lawyer Mark Daly, who sits on the constitutional committee of the city's largest lawyers' group, said the committee had not yet taken a stance on the issue and the remarks by Lam (pictured) took him by surprise.