We are very pleased with the development of Legalink’s expansion in the past years. We have had very good acquisitions in our region, Latin America, and important moves worldwide in strategic jurisdictions(...)
What is new with your firm?
We have been working from home for over a year and it has worked out well. We keep staff morale high with lifestyle presentations, exercise classes, and happy hours including food vouchers. Our lawyers continue learning on a wide front, as we arrange presentations on business development, time management and new legislation, to name a few topics. The partners meet monthly to discuss a variety of subjects, ranging from reimagining our office space to legal design – our discussions become quite lively! In short, we are continuing to innovate, and I am happy to say that our performance in 2020 (and so far in 2021) outpaced our performance before the pandemic.
Which practice areas are the most in demand in your firm?
Not surprisingly, with the COVID-caused impact on the Brazilian economy, our Restructuring and Insolvency team has been extremely busy. Our Labor and Tax partners have seen an increase in client demand. Corporate and M&A work has also picked up since the last quarter of 2020. With the new Data Protection and Public Procurement laws, we have seen a definite increase in data protection work and are expecting an uptick in our Infrastructure area.
Can you share an example of cross-border work with another Legalink member?
We advised the German engineering group Keller in several corporate M&A transactions in Brazil from 2013 until last year, when Keller sold its operations in the country. It was a referral from Rittershaus and what started as a good cooperation between our firms became a long lasting and very pleasant relationship with the client. We clearly understood that we were perceived by the client as an extension of Rittershaus for Brazilian legal matters, like a global firm would have been, with the advantage of a much more individualized and personal treatment to the client.
What are your views on Legalink expansion?
We are very pleased with the development of Legalink’s expansion in the past years. We have had very good acquisitions in our region, Latin America, and important moves worldwide in strategic jurisdictions, such as Gibraltar, with the joining of Hassans, and Qatar, with the joining of Lex LLC, which makes our network much more attractive to our clients and also to new members to the network. We know that some jurisdictions are challenging, like Canada or the Nordic countries, but are confident that we will acquire good members also in those countries.
As regards to Legalink, are you happy about your firm’s membership? What can we do better?
We are very happy to be a part of Legalink. I would like to be able to see fellow members again at physical events, which has always been an important aspect of this network but while travel is still limited and even after it is resumed, I think a helpful development would be more group-specific (whether by region or practice area) meetings and initiatives.
What is your favourite thing to do in your spare time?
Spending time with the family, going to our beautiful beaches to enjoy our favorable climate, reading and trying to keep up with the changes which are happening at an incredible pace.