As Interlaw enters its third decade, it is one of the most established and universally respected of the premier law firm associations, with sixty-six member firms comprising 5,500+ attorneys in more than 120 major cities around the world. European Lawyer, in its annual listing of prominent law firm networks, consistently ranks Interlaw among the world’s top seven associations of independent law firms based on size, longevity, and reputation for quality of service. IFLR never fails to include Interlaw in its annual IBA Newsletter roundup of top networks, and the most recent issue of Latin Lawyer salutes Interlaw for its prominence in Latin America.   Overall revenue generated from referral activities is at an all-time high, and this past year Interlaw has reinvented its image with an updated website, energized special business teams, and outreach visits with Interlaw clients.  

Interlaw Meetings of 2005

This year our regional meetings focused on the two top member-requested value-adds—introductions to global clients and professional development.  “Experience Asia,” hosted by Hunt & Hunt (Australia) featured a full day conference of clients and potential clients.  Some forty senior-level decision-making corporate counsels and executives participated in discussions with Interlawyers about doing business in Asia.  As a direct outcome of that meeting, two Interlaw firms captured new clients.   

"Meeting at the Crossroads - Lessons in Legal Profitability" hosted by Arias, Fabrega & Fabrega Abogados (Panama) brought a new level of interaction for Interlawyers at a regional meeting.  Teams of Interlawyers competed in a simulation of managing a law firm’s revenue and expenses, illustrating how recruitment, retention, and other factors in the business of practicing law must be strategically managed.

Finally, "Managing Your People - in Law Firms" hosted by Morton Fraser LLP (Scotland),  earned rave reviews in the Europe/Middle East/Africa region for the depth of expertise and direct relevance of the presentations. 

All in all, each meeting in its own way, delivered on Interlaw’s commitment to providing added-value to our members.  Each created forums for strengthening long term relationships among members, and also offered law firm management skill-building tips and direct introductions to clients and referral sources.  The Annual Global Meeting scheduled for October 23-27 hosted by Capín, Calderon, Ramirez Y Gutierrez-Azpe, S.C. (Mexico) with the theme, ”Leadership Development" promises to be a tremendous conclusion to an eventful 2005.

European Growth

We have focused recently on identifying new members in Europe and China, and I am delighted to report that an excellent law firm presented at the Edinburgh meeting. Noble & Scheidecker (Luxembourg) is one of the top ten law firms in Luxembourg.  Marie-Béatrice Noble and Katia Scheidecker, the two founding partners of the firm, attended Interlaw’s Regional Meeting of Europe/ Middle East/ Africa to introduce their firm and earned unanimous approval from the Board of Directors and the membership in attendance.   In addition to the regional meeting plenary sessions, Marie-Béatrice attended the Women Lawyers of Interlaw meeting and Katia Scheidecker participated in the European IP IT meeting.  There will be a full profile of the firm in the next issue of The Interlawyer, but I want to publicly thank Janson Baugniet's Flip Petillion and SJ Berwin’s Stephen Maffey for visiting with Noble & Scheidecker and nominating the firm for Interlaw membership.  Our search continues to identify new members in key cities in Europe.

          Legal Landscape

As strong as Interlaw is today, to maintain its leadership position, it is essential to critically review the current legal landscape.  We are forward-thinking and plotting a strategy that emphasizes membership stability and relationship building, while successfully competing for appropriate new members.

When Interlaw was first established over twenty years ago, the vast majority of member firms operated from a single location and relied upon Interlaw to give their business a wider geographic reach both nationally and internationally.  Many Interlaw members now operate from more than one location both within their own country and internationally.  And globally, independent firms are merging with firms that have long-standing relationships in competing networks.   Finding new members that share our core values, but without alliance or geographical conflicts is becoming increasingly more challenging. 

Mergers with Conflicting Offices

From time to time, an Interlaw member firm in good standing merges with a larger firm that has existing offices in cities that compete with current Interlaw members.  Mendelsohn (Montreal) has recently merged with a large Canadian firm with offices in both Montreal and beyond. Unfortunately, the additional office competes with a current Interlaw member firm. Over the years, we have developed personal and professional relationships with the lawyers and professionals of Mendelsohn, but regrettably, because of this conflict, the Board has accepted the firm’s resignation from Interlaw.  We wish our friends well; they will be missed.

Tapping the Brain Trust of Interlaw Leadership

Mergers, competing networks, offices in multiple cities and the long-term financial sustainability of Interlaw amidst these challenges are issues of concern to Interlawyers and need to be addressed.  Who better to think about Interlaw’s future within this new paradigm than veteran leaders of the organization? Several former Interlaw Chairs in attendance at the Regional Meeting of Europe/Middle East/Africa this past month in Edinburgh agreed to arrive early to meet and offer their individual and collective experience, perspectives and insights. Garry Boyce (Hunt & Hunt), Steve Weinberg (Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman LLP), Bruce Wood (Morton Fraser LLP), and Jerry Metcalf (Thompson & Knight LLP) joined me in robust discussions which produced some innovative ideas and plenty of reason to be optimistic about Interlaw’s future.   This meeting was an excellent first step and I invite members to engage in discussions with members of the Board of Directors as we take steps to keep Interlaw relevant to our members and their clients.