- DEREK BENTON Director of International Operations, Lexis-Nexis Martindale-Hubbell, London
Lawyers Network Differently as the World Grows Flatter - PETER J. BESHAR EVP and General Counsel, Marsh & McLennan Companies, New York City
Living Through a Corporate Crisis and Preparing for What Might Come Next - JEFFREY CARR General Counsel, FMC Technologies, Houston
Building a Better Legal Service Delivery System - BRUNO COVA, Partner, Paul Hastings, Milan
Reflections on Moving Inside to Outside, and European Counsel Must Improve Compliance - E. LEIGH DANCE, President, ELD International, Inc., New York and Rome
Introduction and European Counsel Must Improve Compliance - JAN EIJSBOUTS, former General Counsel, Akzo Nobel, Amsterdam
Foreword - ROSS FISHMAN, CEO, Fishman Marketing, Highland Park, Illinois
Focus: The Benefits of a Narrow Scope in the Face of Global Opportunity - TIM S. GLASSETT, Former General Counsel, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Beverly Hills, CA
Building and Motivating a High-Performing Global Legal Team - ANN LEE GIBSON, Ann Lee Gibson Consulting, West Plains, Missouri
Feels Like 1990 All Over Again: Law Firm Economic Cycles - FADI HAMMADEH, General Counsel, Dubai Properties Group, Dubai
The Regulatory Pendulum Worldwide: Where are we Headed? - ALAN JENKINS, Chairman, Eversheds LLP, London
Understanding the Importance of Culture in Managing a Global Law Firm - PETER KALIS, Chairman and Global Managing Partner, K&L Gates LLP, New York City
The Signature Legal Challenge of the 21st Century - DESPINA KARTSON, Chief Marketing Officer, Latham & Watkins LLP, New York City
The Role of Law Firm Values in Successful Global Expansion - BRUCE MacEWEN, Founder, “Adam Smith Esq.,”, New York City
Re-thinking Your Global Strategy: Geography, Talent and Management - CHRIS MARSHALL, Pro Bono & Community Manager, Reed Smith and Chair, Board of Trustees, Advocates for International Development, London
International Pro Bono – Broadening our Geographical Reach - DEBORAH MCMURRAY, CEO and Strategy Architect, Content Pilot LLC, Dallas
LAW FIRM 4.0: Considerations for the Global Law Firm in 2020 - MARY MULLALLY, Head of Networks, Practical Law Company, London
How Corporate Counsel in the UK and Europe are Changing, and the Key Elements of Success - MICHAEL O’NEILL, SVP and General Counsel, Lenovo Corporation, Washington D.C.
Fit for Global: Operating Tenets for the General Counsel - JOLENE OVERBECK, Chief Marketing Officer, DLA Piper, New York City
Moving the Global Law Firm Through a Challenging Economy: Focus on Strategy - NORM RUBENSTEIN, Partner, Zeughauser Group, Washington D.C.
The Key to Credible International Branding - THOMAS J. SABATINO, Jr., Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Schering-Plough Corporation, New Jersey
Musical Chairs: How Today’s General Counsel Earns a Seat at the Top Executive Table - HELENA SAMAHA, General Counsel EMEA, AlixPartners, Paris
Transcending Legal Expertise to Get to the Heart of Serving Global Clients - ADAM SMITH, General Counsel, EADS Defence & Security, Munich
Laws are Local: How Can Corporate Legal Services Become More Global? - JOHN H. STOUT, Partner, Fredrikson & Byron, Minneapolis
The Fulfilled International Lawyer: Advice for a Successful Career - DAVID SYED, Senior Partner - Europe, Orrick, Paris
Changing Supply & Demand for Global Legal Services: The Multi-polar Dynamic - MARY K YOUNG, Partner, Zeughauser Group, Washington D.C.
Moving the Global Law Firm Through a Challenging Economy: Focus on Strategy
Why Bright Ideas Offers Critical Thinking on Global Legal Strategy
Challenges in the global legal arena are both universal and completely specific to the organization. There are many and they change constantly, and every organization must execute its strategy differently as a result. You simply cannot take an off-the-shelf strategy for law firm expansion globally, or a manual for ‘delivering corporate legal services in Zambia’ and expect to apply it with any success.
While we are seeing massive changes in global financial markets, there is no turning back the globalization of business, and the legal services that support it. These changes will bring new approaches and new models. But rather than ‘wait and see’, the key is to look out to the horizon to plan the way forward for your organization.
While the challenges you face to succeed globally should focus on action, they must start with critical thinking. That is the premise behind the Bright Ideas book. I invited big thinkers in global legal services from around the world to address the topics near and dear to them. Their bright ideas should help you find your way forward.
E. Leigh Dance, Editor of Bright Ideas: Insights from Legal Luminaries Worldwide
Global Law Firm and Corporate Law Department Challenges
Global law firms face strategic challenges related to size, scope, locations, practices and services they offer, technology to support their global infrastructure, legal talent with diverse cultural backgrounds, broad practice qualifications, pricing, local and global competition, global client relationship management, quality control, client and internal reporting and communications, building a global identity -- and that’s just a start.
Global corporate law departments face strategic challenges related to the range of laws and regulations where their companies operate, increasing complexity and geographic breadth of transactions, ethics and compliance landmines from one country to another, motivating and managing global in-house legal teams, using technology to improve productivity, budgeting and metrics on a global scale, driving greater value from law firms, selecting advisors in remote locations worldwide, handling investigations and other potential crises remotely-- and that’s just a start.
Start with Foundational Best Practices
You must start by clarifying where you are now and where you want to be,
then look at foundational best practices,
and then tailor your strategy and implementation to your organization and its specifics, including:
- your current management dynamics,
- your competition within product lines and geography,
- your historic and current offering,
- your recent financial performance and/or problems, and
- your short and mid-term priorities.
Foundational best practices come from gathering information and insights from others around you, and this book provides that sort of resource. Engage in conversations on key issues with your peers and read with both a critical and open mind. Don’t be overly swayed by the noise of the day.
The development, implementation and adjustment of the strategic plan then requires involvement of a number of business disciplines and the full commitment of the leadership of the firm.
Profits from Bright Ideas book sales will go to Advocates for International Development, an international pro bono organization. www.A4ID.org