Zen & The Art of Legal Networking : Lawyers & Attorneys in an International Legal Network for Relationships & Referrals

During our Annual Conference, I had the opportunity to present on the topic that's near and dear to my heart - social media. An informal survey of the room revealed that about fifteen attorneys were regularly using social media (I defined "regularly" as logging in once a week and connecting with someone in their network in some way). That still left the majority uninvolved, so I endeavored to convince them why social media might matter to them.

I began with some statistics on social media usage from the AmLaw 100 and 200 firms, adding the caveat that I understand that social media differs from region to region and that it isn't commonly used in business in many countries. However, I still felt the topic had broad applicability because many firms around the world have American clients and I believe that social media will soon become important for businesses around the world.  

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On Saturday, we had another session that was of interest to the delegates - a presentation on Effective Benefit Programs. The presenter was Stanley Jeremiah, the Vice President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific HR Management at Convergys.  Stanley is also a chartered insurer with UK professional qualification, a fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute, and a council member of the Singapore Insurance Institute.  His talk focused on one small area of firm management, benefits, and he gave a general overview since benefits are country-specific.  

One of the characteristics of a benefits program is that it's a more subtle form of compensation than remuneration, because it's not often communicated to employees in terms of cost.  As a result, it's less comparable to benefits packages at other firms and isn't well-leveraged as a differentiating factor when recruiting talent.  Because benefits aren't given this importance, employees often don't know what benefits they have and as a result, are not as appreciative as they could be, because they don't understand the value.  Stanley said that if firms can use benefits packages effectively, they could become something that has a higher perceived value than the actual cost.  

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Although generally I would make every effort to offer posts from our ILN conferences as they happen, in this case I am forced to write them after the fact.  Because of the political turmoil in Bangkok, we had to make the decision four weeks before our Annual Meeting to move the conference to Singapore, so I was knee deep in last minute decisions and more on-site planning and execution as a result than is normally the case.  So without further ado, I bring you some of the highlights from the ILN's 22nd Annual Meeting in Singapore! 

In the first days of our visit, we had the pleasure of visiting Maxwell Chambers, the home of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, where we met their head of business development, Ms. Rachel Foxton, and their CEO, Mr. Ming Naing Oo.  We saw several of their hearing rooms and learned more about the benefits of arbitration in Singapore during our Saturday morning session.  

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Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network.

For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Ivars Grunte of Grunte & Cers in Latvia.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
We are a mid-sized, full service business and litigation firm, established in 1992.

Who would be your typical client?
I would say - full spectrum. Our clients range from multinational companies and banks to local entrepreneurs; we have advised the Latvian State and foreign individuals, represented beginners in professional sports and Stanley Cup champions as well.

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
That we are a law firm with a solid reputation and our lawyers are flexible and open-minded, innovative and passionate for their work.

What has been your most challenging case? Why?
The merger of two large Finnish and Swedish retail business chains, due to the huge volume, complexity and common teamwork of three Baltic law firms. By the way, the clients were referred to us by the ILN's Finnish member!

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
I am still very proud to represent the lawyers of my country as a Head of the Latvian Delegation in CCBE. And personally, when my eldest daughter finally switched from mass media to law and started to practice as a trainee in the largest Danish law firm in Copenhagen.  

What do you do when you're not practicing law?
Golf with friends takes some time, but I am still managing to take skiing holidays with my family, to organize barbecue parties in my garden, and to have long walks with my dogs. A little hunting as well.

What would surprise people most about you?
That after playing football quite professionally, I was a pretty good goalie for 4 consecutive years on a team that played in the Latvian premiere handball league.

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
Hmm...I will never forget the first ILN meeting we attended - it was in Rome a long time ago (1993?) and of course, the 20th anniversary meeting in NYC. Just unforgettable!

What career would you have chosen if you weren't a lawyer?
A career of a professional football or hockey player. I realized that after playing well, or even not so well, you could improve as a coach later on! I still have a feeling that many teams do not have the best coaches!

If a movie were made out of your life, who would you want to play you?
Shia LaBeouf and "The Greatest Game Ever Played" is the reason.

How would you like to be remembered?
As fair and honest as a lawyer could be and with a wide smile.

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Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network.

For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Andrew Kaufman of Fladgate LLP in England.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
My practice comprises advising German (and other foreign) companies on their business interests in the UK.

Who would be your typical client?
My typical client is a substantial German family-owned business (Mittelstand).

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
I would like clients and potential clients to know that I am an excellent communicator, have a great deal of common sense and experience, and try not to bother them with the technical aspects of the law.  

What has been your most challenging case? Why?
My most challenging case was to prove that a Greek-Cypriot restaurant owner in London used undue influence to steal valuable jewelry and fur coats from an old lady who was dying of cancer. I was acting for her stepdaughter and beneficiary under her will.

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
My proudest moment was when the Greek restaurateur effectively collapsed in court and ten minutes later, the case was won!

What do you do when you're not practicing law?
When I don't practice law, I watch football and opera (not at the same time) and play with Ella, my two-year-old granddaughter.

What would surprise people most about you?
I think people would be surprised to learn that I stood in the same part of the stadium (if it can be called such) at Watford FC as did Sir Elton John in the 1960s (and have continued to do so, although I now have a posh seat!). 

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
I think my most memorable ILN experience was dancing to the Beatles tribute band at Madame Tussaud's during the London conference.  

What career would you have chosen if you weren't a lawyer?
If I had not been a lawyer, I would have been a (bad) football reporter.

If a movie were made out of your life, who would you want to play you?
I would like Jean-Louis Trintignant (but when he was young!) to play me (the male lead in Un homme et une femme). He got to kiss Anouk Aimée! 

How would you like to be remembered?
I would like to be remembered as a good husband, father, grandfather and trusted adviser.

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MGD Enterprises, a consulting company I follow on Facebook presents a business question or piece of advice daily.  Today's comment was "Fact for Friday...Is access to social media critical to employee satisfaction? A global survey of workplace attitudes & behaviors by Clearswift shows that 21% of young adults say they would turn down a job if it didn't allow them access to social network sites or their person[al] email. What is the situation where you work?"

The first commenter said "That will be the same 21% that will complain about their raise because their lack of focus will lead to their lack of production."  Those of you who know me well or follow this blog will know how I feel about that - to me, social media is not about wasting time and being unproductive.  Which is why I responded to him that "I'd include myself in that 21%, but social media makes me more effective because I use it for my job - I network with people in my field through Twitter and publicize my firms and their accomplishments, and use LinkedIn and Facebook for the same reasons. I think when you have people abusing social media, it's a human resources issues, not a tools issue. The same people who will waste time on social media would be on the phone making personal calls if they were restricted from it."

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