International Network of Law Firms WE CONNECTING ARE THE WORLD OF BUSINESS.
INDEX
INDEX 1 2 WELCOME 10 IN-HOUSE LAWYER 3 4 OUR BACKGROUND CONFERENCES, 11 12 MEETINGS AND PRACTICE GROUPS 5 6 OUR OBJECTIVES 7 8 OUR VALUES 13 14 MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS EXCHANGES AND AWARDS 9 OUR MEMBERSHIP 15 16 THE BENEFITS 17 18 BECOMING A MEMEBER
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2 WELCOME CONSULEGIS is a premium international network of independent, high quality law firms working for clients doing cross border or global transactions, including multi-nationals with subsidiaries doing business in several countries and enhancing client referrals and networking opportunities. As the commercial world is changing drastically, because of modern means of travel, technology, and communication, CONSULEGIS member firms, meeting our membership criteria, work closely together to act as gateways for those from abroad seeking local opportunities and also by advising domestic clients competing in the global environment. All member firms are subject to a strin gent assessment process before being approved as a member of CONSULEGIS. We take great care in ensuring all our member firms have a proven quality reputation, demonstrate integrity and independence and adhere to the highest standards of professional conduct. My personal mission is to assist and support all our members to help them continue to provide the best possible service to their clients, generate new business for their practice and gain regular opportunities to meet with their global peers to discuss and exchange commercial ideas. We do not want to be the biggest network; but the best one! Kind regards Anke Brauns
3 OUR BACKGROUND HOW DID CONSULEGIS START? Established in 1990 in Hamburg, Germany, CONSULEGIS aimed to enable lawyers to have access to the courts in other cities, at a time when lawyers could not practice outside their own jurisdictions. WHAT DOES CONSULEGIS DO? We aim to arm our members with the ability to refer clients to trusted colleagues in all corners of the commercial world. Our independent member firms advise quickly and cost effectively, and when appropriate, work with other law firms across the world, whom they know and trust with legal resources throughout the world, emphasizing the importance of professionalism, mutual trust and friendship. WHAT IS CONSULEGIS MISSION? Our ongoing mission is to continue being a premium international network of independent high quality law firms, working for clients on cross-border or global transactions, including multi-nationals with subsidiaries in several countries. We regularly attract new members and facilitate the generation of ongoing, client referrals to help our members continue to thrive in an increasingly competitive market place. CONSULEGIS is committed to increasing the capacity of members to help generate new business and client referrals across the internationally spread network. There is a market recognized need for fully operational, multijurisdiction teams of legal prfessionals and we encourage members to promote this by
4 including the CONSULEGIS network and its benefits when preparing proposals either for new or existing clients. We aim to expand the geographic reach of the network to, ultimately provide a truly global legal network of trusted experts. WHERE DOES CONSULEGIS OPERATE? The network started with approximately a dozen local members and now includes member firms in more than 45 countries and over 150 cities around the world. In the last 25 years, we have expanded into all of Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, North and South America, Australia, Asia, Japan, the Pacific Rim, the Middle East and Africa. WHAT ARE CONSULEGIS STRENGTHS? Rather than looking and aiming at a uniform member and professional profile, CONSULEGIS is proud to have a multitude of different legal practice models and business concepts combining local knowledge with international experience within its reputable and experienced membership and throughout the world. This diversity is considered to be one of our unique strength, as opposed to the multinational law firms and networks, who are obliged to work within a uniform concept. Multinational law firms quite often lack the necessary local access. Our member firms have considerable successful years of business experience and are therefore best ideally to comply with local and regional requirements.
5 OUR OBJECTIVES
6 MAIN OBJECTIVE Increase the capacity of members to continue generating new business opportunities and client referrals. GROWTH TARGET The objective is to achieve strategic and systematic growth by fostering the necessary dynamism within the membership to help generate new business maximizing the network s wide geographic reach, subject to compliance with uniform quality and professional conduct standards. KEY TO SUCCESS Dynamic member engagement and networking opportunities to further build the CONSULEGIS brand. Relevant content on all communications channels including our website and member newsletters. Individual opportunities to interact. Expanded and enhanced geographic reach. Need for operational, multi-jurisdiction teams to deliver support to help member firms to stay ahead of competitors on a global platform.
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8 OUR VALUES GLOBAL CONSULEGIS is an international network of professional independent law firms and inhouse lawyers. The network comprises over 1,700 lawyers across more than 45 countries and 150 cities around the world. PERSONAL Mutual trust and friendship are two of the network s key attributes. CONSULEGIS prides itself on the close relations that member firms have with one another. PROFESSIONAL CONSULEGIS members are assessed before entry on the basis of proven reputation, integrity and independence alongside adherence to the highest standards of professional conduct. CONSULEGIS is a professional organization managed by a full-time Managing Director with a head office in Munich/Germany.
9 OUR MEMBERSHIP CONSULEGIS invites both high calibre law firms and in-house lawyers with proven reputations and qualifications in their local jurisdictions. Members are internationally focused and serve clients interests and needs across multiple jurisdictions providing the most innovative and successful legal solutions. Success in the global economy requires expertise and an in-depth knowledge of local conditions. CONSULEGIS members are carefully vetted and have to be committed to the CONSULEGIS Code of Conduct, Quality Standards and Referral Agreement in order to safeguard the quality of service across the network. CONSULEGIS is not exclusive and members are of course at liberty to refer their clients to any law firm of their choosing. In addition, as member firms have no formal association with each other, there is little likelihood of any conflict of interest. All member firms are on the website, app or online version of the membership directory. This means that our resources, located in more than 45 countries and over 150 cities globally, are just a phone call or email away.
10 IN-HOUSE LAWYER In-house lawyer members are welcomed. They are legal professionals working for large commercial companies or heading legal departments in global corporations: their membership is purely ad personam. Our CONSULEGIS in-house lawyers promote business contacts between their company and the CONSULEGIS members and member firms and exchange legal knowledge and information regarding their sector and client requirements.
11 CONFERENCES, MEETINGS AND PRACTICE GROUPS. Regular conferences and meetings play an important role in ensuring that CONSULEGIS remains a cohesive network where members can build both personal and business relationships. Our bi-annual international conferences and regional meetings encourage dynamic participation as members support and promote individual projects, exchange ideas, establish business contacts and generate ideas. In 2015, we also implemented pre-meetings, which encourage active involvement attracting members and clients in the region of each conference. Sitting alongside our conferences are specialist groups relating to specific areas of interest within CONSULEGIS, where ideas and knowledge can be discussed and exchanged. The groups, which usually meet twice a year, are an opportunity to exchange legal knowhow, promote regional expertise, strengthen relationships and generate new business opportunities. CONSULEGIS members are expected to actively join all network activities.
Our groups include the following: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Within our Business Development Workshops, we discuss and implement initiatives relating to the following topics: How to generate international referrals. How to develop the member business. How to strengthen the CONSULEGIS and member firm brand and awareness both internally and externally. SPECIALIST GROUPS See website www.consulegis.com REGIONAL GROUPS Asia Europe Latin & North America YOUNG LAWYERS GROUP This group encourages the exchange of young lawyers amongst member firms all over the world. Furthermore, we support communication with universities and other institutions.
13 MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Our marketing tools are of the highest professional level, promoting the network and stimulating communication, both internally and externally. Via the CONSULEGIS intranet, our members are able to promote and demonstrate their international capabilities by using our substantial marketing materials. We aim to develop and maintain a strong, highly respected internal and external brand, and do so through the following marketing initiatives: Website/App our regularly updated website features both individual and complete member firm profiles alongside more detailed personal profiles. Newsletters we publish more than 10 newsletters a year, alongside international legal news and articles. All news and newsletter reports are displayed on both the firm and personal profiles. Social Media offers a platform which assists in distributing our news, newsletters and events. Search Engine Optimization we invest in SEO to gain better ranking results, ensuring a constant flow of new visitors to the CONSULEGIS website. Member Directory features a double page for every firm s main and branch offices, including a photo of their location, a description/details of the firm s history/practice areas and their CONSULEGIS contacts. Legal Training/Webinar we aim to have our members featured in webinars, presented live and available for streaming, to interested parties.
14 EXCHANGES AND AWARDS We endorse the following exchanges, awards and groups: International Exchange Programme the opportunity for individuals to work in a hosting member firm in order to experience legal and cultural differences and similarities up close, facilitating a better understanding of other working cultures and improving linguistic abilities. Dr. Thomas Marx Award open to lawyers aged 35 years and under, aims to foster scientific work between young lawyers within the CONSULEGIS network.
15 THE BENEFITS Member Benefits. Members benefit from international business referrals and the ability to offer quality legal services in principle business areas around the world. Specific benefits include: The opportunity to gain new work and referrals. Create and develop business opportunities. Direct contact to in-house lawyers. The opportunity to network with carefully selected and trusted global partners. Raising international profile and serviceportfolio and leverage the membership as a marketing tool. Building personal relationships with likeminded law firms and in-house lawyers. Advantage of being internationally connected at a high professional level. Benefit from the reputation and standing of other members devoted to providing high quality legal services to their clients with an interest in cross-border or global transactions. A wide range of practice areas, helping members to better serve their clients, because legal, accountancy and tax systems differ from country to country. Shared knowledge and management. Increase participation of young lawyers. Opportunity to have solicitors participate in an exchange program.
16 Benefits for Clients. By dealing with a CONSULEGIS member firm, clients and in-house lawyers benefit from the following value added components: Access to an international range of high quality professional services. Access to a global service with the essential benefit of local knowledge. High quality and cost effective services. A path through local bureaucratic, linguistic and cultural barriers. Innovative ways of approaching legal matters and business models. Less time spent in briefing and managing professional advisers. A wide range of business contacts. The common expertise and close cooperation between the member firms allows us not only to effectively refer to clients while they do business abroad, but also to participate in common projects that require harmonious co-operation and management throughout several jurisdictions.
17 BECOMING A MEMBER We encourage applications both from independent lawyers and law firms and in-house lawyers. Applicant firms are generally of a medium to large size (according to local standards) and have established a working policy based on quality, reliability and strong ethical values. You can find further information about CONSULEGIS, including an overview of current member firms, in-house lawyers and advisers, on our website at www.consulegis.com. Please contact: CONSULEGIS Bräuhausstrasse 4 D-80331 Munich Tel. +49 (0)89 30 70 50 20 E-mail: consulegis@consulegis.com The CONSULEGIS App is available at the itunes Store and GooglePlay. We re also on: LinkedIn, Twitter, Xing, Facebook, YouTube.
18 APPENDIX: How to become a member: STEP 1 Send information to the CONSULEGIS office indicating your interest and the reason(s) you want to become a member. You should include information about your firm or legal department. STEP 2 CONSULEGIS will acknowledge receipt of the email/letter and confirm details of the admittance procedure, background information and the membership criteria. STEP 3 You will be asked to formally apply for membership and to complete a confidential questionnaire which provides information for the CONSULEGIS Advisory Board to consider. This information is only used for the purpose of assessing your application for CONSULEGIS membership. The questionnaire will form the basis of the decision making process when the Advisory Board votes on whether you or your firm should become a CONSULEGIS member. If you have been referred to us by another CONSULEGIS member, we will also take a reference from them. If we already have a member firm in the same jurisdiction, we will inform the member firm about the application and will officially ask for feedback. STEP 4 An important element in this procedure is a visit to one of the bi-annual conferences. This will enable you to carry out your own due diligence as part of your decision making process. As a prospective member, you will have the opportunity to present yourself and your firm in a 5 10 minute introductory speech or presentation. You may also want to capture the benefits that you believe you or your firm will bring to the CONSULEGIS network and in return, why you believe that you or your firm will benefit from membership. STEP 5 The Advisory Board will decide on your admittance as member. The Board has to approve the application by a unanimous vote. Normally, there are three Board meetings per year. The Board is not obliged to give reasons for a negative decision although they may choose to do so. STEP 6 New members will be officially presented to the network during one of the bi-annual conferences.
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