Our latest referral success story starts in Chicago, with the ILN’s 2014 Annual Meeting. As part of our business sessions, our host firm, Arnstein & Lehr, had invited long-time client, Steve Felkowitz, the CEO of Atico International USA, Inc. to participate as the moderator for Bill Daley.

We welcomed Mr. Felkowitz to join us for the opening night’s reception and dinner, which gave him the opportunity to meet a number of ILN members, including Beirne Maynard & Parsons‘ Martin Beirne from Texas. Arnstein & Lehr’s Jeff Shapiro and Whitney Cruz are the national counsel for all product liability litigation in the US involving any of the Atico entities, and Mr. Shapiro was enthusiastic about connecting Mr. Felkowitz with his friends and colleagues in the ILN.

When Atico International USA needed a referral for a lawsuit venued in El Paso, both Mr. Felkowitz and his national counsel knew exactly who to call – Beirne Maynard & Parsons. The case is a product liability lawsuit involving a fan allegedly manufactured by New Atico Int’l Limited Taiwan Branch. The fan is alleged to have been defective, and to have caused a house fire, which resulted in the death of two minor children, and burn injuries to a minor child and an adult. The case is ongoing, and being handled by top ranked litigation firm, Beirne Maynard & Parsons.

Continue Reading ILN Member Finds Referral Success with Client Introduction at ILN Annual Meeting

On this Two for Tuesdays, we’re gearing up for next week’s European Regional Meeting in Oslo! Our conferences always get me thinking about best practices for networking, so that my attorneys can make the most out of their conference attendance (and you can too!). 

It’s easy to think of networking as something that happens only AT a conference or event, but if you’ve been reading along here at Zen, you know that it’s something that really occurs before, during and after. Since we’ve still got over a week until the conference kicks off, let’s focus today on two tips for networking before a conference. 

Tip One: Review & Reach Out

While not all organizers do this, many of them will make an attendee list available prior to the conference or event taking place. If you really want to make the most out of your conference networking, study this list as soon as you get it.  

You’re looking for companies, firms, geographic locations, specialties and more that may have some strategic crossover for you.  For the sake of simplicity, we’ll use the ILN conferences as our example here for networking opportunities. Let’s say that your firm has done a few referrals with a firm in London, and that firm will have a representative at the conference. Put a star next to their name in your attendee list. 

Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Start Your Networking BEFORE a Conference

 

   

 

 Member of the International Lawyers Network

The ILN is proud to announce our latest "Firm of the Month" – MATTKE – RECHTSANWÄLTE of Frankfurt, Germany!

In an economic and legal environment that is becoming increasingly complex, Mattke focuses their legal consultancy services and the representation of their clients on issues of labor law and the pertinent areas of commercial law.

It is in particular labor law, which is constantly subject to change in Germany and Europe alike, which obligates companies to ensure that they have qualified consultants available. The scope within which a company’s management is free to implement reorganization and restructuring measures at its discretion is lastingly influenced by the network of relations formed by individual personal rights and collective labor law – to cite but two examples, the binding effect of collective agreements and the co-determination rights enjoyed at the corporate level and by works councils alike narrow that discretionary range down.’

With their profile in labor law and commercial law, they also advise members of the executive board, managing directors and executives who are in the process of making changes to their professional situation.

As members of the International Lawyers Network (ILN), the firm also assists their clients with their cross-border, international activities.

Full descriptions of Mattke’s services, expertise, and lawyer profiles are available on their ILN profile.

Lindsay Griffiths
Director of Global Relationship Management
International Lawyers Network

Lindsay Griffiths

 

Learn More

 

Main Contacts: 

Dr. Andreas Mattke

Dr. Andreas Mattke

Email: info@mattke.biz
Telephone: +49 (0) 69 714496­‐0

Practice Groups:
Labor & Employment Law, including Litigation

Dr. Armin Lange

Dr. Armin Lange

Email: info@mattke.biz
Telephone: +49 (0) 69 714496­‐0

Practice Groups:
Labor & Employment Law, including Litigation

 
Alan Griffiths

“Mattke is a strong member of the ILN’s German Group. They are talented labor specialists, who have been a solid addition to the ILN”

Alan Griffiths
Executive Director
International Lawyers Network

+001.201.594.9985

www.ilntoday.com

 

For this month’s installment of our General Counsel Corner, we are pleased to welcome Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Director of Internal Operations for Jacam Chemical Company, Jayson Macyda.  

Mr. Macyda is not only a lawyer for Jacam, but also a general business manager. Because of his dual function, he is keenly aware of how legal decisions impact business operations, and vice versa. Jacam Chemical Company is a division of Canadian Energy Services, and provides chemical solutions to the oil and gas industry worldwide. 

In his role with them, Mr. Macyda assists in managing their North American and overseas legal operations, focusing on transactions and litigation matters regarding a number of different areas of law.  He is also responsible for the general business management overseeing the operations of Jacam’s IT, HR, safety & Department of Transportation, health & environment, and public relations and marketing divisions. 

This expertise, along with his diverse educational and employment background, means he has interacted with hundreds, if not thousands, of lawyers – so Mr. Macyda can quickly identify those who will be able to assist him in managing Jacam’s legal and business affairs.

Continue Reading General Counsel Corner: Clients Want a Partner

September and October are two of my favorite months, not the least of which is because it gives me motivation, motivation for a fresh start as if I’m starting a new school year again. 

As I’m thinking about fresh start today, I’m bringing you a Two for Tuesdays that focuses on a marketing refresh!

Tip One: Refresh Your Social Media Profiles

It happens quickly – once you’ve made the time investment to open and populate your social media profiles, you are apt to forget about them as you get busy. Even if you’re using them on a daily or weekly basis. 

Let this tip encourage you to take a quick look at them and do a refresh.

  • LinkedIn: First, make sure you’ve turned your profile notifications off, or your connections will suspect that you’re looking for a new job. Then, look through your profile. Is your photo up to date? Are your job title and headline as current (and descriptive) as they could be? Have you started working more in one practice area over another, and need to have your experience reflect that? Are your recommendations years old, and you need to reach out to some new clients? Take a look at anything that might look out of date or incorrect and use this time to correct it. 

    Check any LinkedIn groups and pages that you manage as well to ensure that all information is current, and that any discussions you’ve pinned to the top level are recent ones. 

Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Marketing Refresh

As I was thinking about client service this morning, I wondered to myself whether there was anything left to discuss that hasn’t already been said. Of course, there’s an old adage that roughly says something about there being no new ideas, just new people discussing them, but even here at Zen, we’ve already talked about things like: 

And more. 

So instead, I started to think about issuing a challenge – to ask yourselves

How did I make a client happy today?"

Of course, there’s the obvious answer that doing their legal work, solving a problem, addressing a challenge, getting a big win, etc. all would make a client happy. 

Continue Reading Client Service: How did you Make a Client Happy TODAY?

It’s another Two for Tuesdays, and we’re finally into September! It doesn’t feel that way here in New Jersey, where it’s almost 90 degrees and very high humidity – this might not be so bad if I hadn’t lost my furnace in a flood almost four weeks ago, resulting in NO air conditioning. The new furnace is being installed tomorrow and Thursday, but in the meantime, we are melting over here!

So let’s try to stay cool by talking about Twitter. I saw two posts come through my RSS reader talking about new things on Twitter, so today’s Two for Tuesdays will be two new things to check out over there!

Tip One: Take a look at Twitter’s Analytics

Analytics may not interest you that much, but they should.  People often make the mistake of thinking that the number of followers or connections is the measure of how successful you are on social media – but that’s not the case. 

Engagement and interaction with those followers IS, as well as being able to amplify what you’re sharing. Analytics can help you to dig a little deeper, so that you can identify which of the platforms is working most successfully for you, and therefore, where you should be investing your time (and where it may make sense for you to invest a little less time). 

Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Twitter Edition!

This morning, Nancy Myrland wrote an excellent blog post on one of the most important questions you should be asking your clients, both new clients and long-term clients: 

What can I do to keep you as a client for the long haul?"

Nancy must be reading my mind again, because I have "client service" down as the subject to focus on for today’s post.  Her post got me thinking about the counter-question to this one, which is "What would make you leave?" 

Clearly, finding out the reasons that a client would stay with you and your firm long term is essential – you want to be doing the things that make your clients happy, and what better way to find out what those are than to ask them? 

But I’d argue that almost as important is finding out what might make a client leave. 

 

Continue Reading Client Service: What would make you leave?

For today’s Two for Tuesdays, I want to look at two tips for following up after a networking event.  Finding the right event, with the right audience, and then meeting the right people are all essential parts to successful networking.  But it doesn’t matter if you meet a handful of great people at an event if you never speak to them again – the key is in the follow up. 

Tip One: Ask a Question

This tip comes from a great post on Life Hacker that suggests just that – follow up meeting a new person by asking them a question (which you’ve jotted down on their business card).  The reason is two-fold: 

  • First, it shows that you were really concentrating on what they were saying – as long as the question is relevant to them. It sets you apart as a good listener, and shows that you value building the relationship, and not just the number of contacts you have. It’s important to make sure that the question is a genuine one, and not just an excuse to keep talking, or it will likely have the opposite impact on your new relationship. 
     
  • Secondly, it keeps the conversation going.  Even when you send up a follow up email, unless there is a reason for the person to respond, they probably won’t. But if you ask a thoughtful question, there’s a reason for them to keep speaking with you, and the conversation can go from there. It may even become substantial enough to warrant a follow up meeting. 

Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Networking Follow-Up

In less than a week, it will be September 1st. I like to think of September as a brand new start, much like the school year used to be. It’s a chance to begin again and look at your goals and plans with a fresh set of eyes. 

I want you to consider these last four months of 2014 as the "end zone" for your business development efforts this year. Yes, business development is an ongoing effort, and it doesn’t end simply because the calendar year wraps up.  But I’ve found that when I have ongoing projects, giving myself firm deadlines to complete them motivates me far more than having some abstract end date. 

There will likely be three groups of you reading this post – those who started the year with business development plans and goals, who split them up throughout the year and made progress on them; those of you who had those plans, but who may have only made some inroads here and there; and those of you who had no plans or goals set at all. But no matter where you are, think of September as your do-over month, and the opportunity to plan for the remainder of the year. 

Continue Reading The End Zone of Business Development