What industry does a law firm belong to? Service industry? Still consulting?

The paid legal service industry is generally defined as an intermediary organization, a non-state organ or institution, and an independent entity responsible for its own profits and losses. However, the work of its lawyers is quite special, involving professional legal affairs, often dealing with the public security law, and different from the general service industry. Legal advice is only a small part of its services.

The provisions of the Lawyers Law are attached for reference:

Article 2 The term "lawyer" as mentioned in this Law refers to a practitioner who has obtained a lawyer's practice certificate according to law, accepted entrustment or assignment, and provided legal services to clients.

Article 14 A law firm is a lawyer's practice institution.

Article 28 A lawyer may engage in the following businesses:

(a) to accept the entrustment of natural persons, legal persons or other organizations as legal advisers;

(two) to accept the entrustment of the parties in civil cases and administrative cases, to act as agents and to participate in litigation;

(3) Accepting the entrustment of criminal suspects in criminal cases, providing them with legal advice, representing appeals and accusations, applying for bail for arrested criminal suspects, accepting the entrustment of criminal suspects and defendants or the designation of people's courts, acting as defenders, accepting the entrustment of private prosecutors in private prosecution cases, victims in public prosecution cases or their close relatives, and representing them in litigation;

(four) to accept the entrustment and represent the complaints of various litigation cases;

(five) to accept the entrustment and participate in mediation and arbitration activities;

(6) Accepting entrustment to provide non-litigation legal services;

(seven) to answer questions about the law and write litigation documents and other documents related to legal affairs.