By hand-picking from our international panel of preferred firms, we offer access to the finest legal minds with the flexibility to respond to the needs of each assignment. It is an approach our international clients like.
For many law firms, meeting the increasingly international requirements of their clients has meant opening offices in major countries around the world or forming exclusive relationships with existing players on the promise of the referral of work both ways.
However, in keeping with our reputation as an innovator and our goal to always exceed client expectations, we have chosen to think differently and make clients’ needs the driver of our approach to international work.
The result gives our clients access to the finest independent legal advisors through a panel of carefully selected preferred firms. It also enables our clients to select the most appropriate local advisors for a particular transaction.
We can project manage the entire transaction and deliver a single bill as required, but clients also have the option to appoint their own advisors in particular countries and can even choose to manage particular elements of a transaction directly if required.
The approach is supported by a powerful on-line tool that allows our lawyers to quickly find the most appropriate expert with the track record and transaction history to match your brief.
Building trust
In addition, we have recognised that, as well as identifying the right lawyer, building trust between firms is crucial to delivering a strong team. It is not possible to create strong relationships, or understand the key players in the legal market of other countries, if firms talk only when there is an immediate client need.
So we invest heavily in our relationships with the preferred firms.
Over 120 of our partners are directly involved as jurisdiction partners. Backed up by a central team, they are responsible for a particular country and maintain regular contact with their counterparts in the different firms. Most already have connections to the country concerned and are building extensive knowledge of the capabilities of each firm within the legal area they are responsible for.
There is also a programme of lawyer exchanges, regular communication and events around the world that bring together lawyers at all levels from the preferred firms. Recently, for example, 35 lawyers from preferred firms spent a week in London attending seminars and meeting their counterparts. Our associates in return also visit our preferred firms during the year. We also recently held a Managing Partners conference at which over 50 Managing and Senior Partners from independent law firms networked with each other and discussed issues of strategic importance to their firms.
In addition, as well as a strong presence in Brussels, our offices in Singapore and Paris help provide local contacts. Not only does this ensure regular interaction, but it also strengthens the ability to project manage cross-border transactions effectively.
The best of both worlds
Many of our clients claim our approach delivers the best of both worlds; with two or more firms in 55 countries around the world, it provides international reach that matches or betters that of any ‘global’ firm, combined with the quality and flexibility to ensure the best legal advice in each location. Clients also get the seamless service they are looking for, backed up by strong relationships across the team.
A winning formula
This success and many others led Chambers Europe 2007 to comment that the preferred firms set up “has proved to be a winning formula”, with clients reporting "guaranteed best of class in each jurisdiction, the flexibility to introduce your own preferred firm to the equation or even manage a particular firm yourself should the deal necessitate it."
Certainly the volume of international work that we are now involved in has risen dramatically. In the eighteen months since the new approach was introduced, well over a quarter of the firm’s work has involved an international element, significantly up from previous years.
If you have any questions about our international strategy and how our approach might help you, please contact John Taylor (john.taylor@blplaw.com) or Quentin Vaile (quentin.vaile@blplaw.com).
