During his early years in the civil service he attended the University of London Law School, from which he graduated in 1983.

[5] On 5 and 6 June 2009, Lam met with Fu Don-cheng (傅棟成), Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister.

Lam decided to leave politics upon the expiry of his term of office on 30 June 2012;[5] He became the official with lowest opinion poll since HK SAR Government was established in 1997.

In July 2007 during a Legislative Council meeting, Lam was criticized by the pan-democrats for pocketing millions of dollars in government salary, while making no progress in constitutional development.

[8] In 2011, his alleged "manipulation" of political development – in particular, the so-called "replacement mechanism" for filling vacancies in the Legislative Council caused by resignations, led to objections to his promotion to Chief Secretary, including a protest march of more than a thousand people, led by the Civil Human Rights Front.