Previous Page
mARCH 2012 www.lawyer-monthly.com Legal Network 49
able to get a 24-hour turnaround on matters that existed outside of their jurisdiction. One example of this was a client of my old firm, a major international insurance firm that was opening an office in China. There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the etiquette and legalities related to the Chinese aspect of the project, but after just an hour’s conversation with one of our member firms in Beijing, we were able to advise the client effectively on what they needed to know, and I really don’t think that any multi-national firm can exceed this kind of service. As the business world becomes increasingly smaller, this kind of cross-border capability is vitally important.
Q Q
Do you think that as competition between law firms
increases, the
popularity of legal networks will rise?
Bob: That is an interesting question. I think that firms who understand the value of alliances will utilise them more effectively; they will consistently look to ensure that they are doing all they can do to make the most of their alliance membership, whether this is branding in the marketplace, attracting new clients or marketing themselves to existing clients with an international capability. As clients gain more experience with member firms from quality alliances, the popularity will increase at the client level.
would you say you have seen a particular rise in memberships from certain countries or regions?
Bob: Yes, and somewhat predictably the increase comes from areas where economies are growing. For example, we are currently expanding our legal presence in Brazil. In addition, Eastern
European countries such as Romania and Slovakia are experiencing increased foreign investment making these areas of increased membership, as are some of the former Soviet countries such as Armenia, Belarus and the Ukraine which are becoming more popular as oil and gas reserves are found there. They are regions that we may not have focused on much before, but as investment in these countries increases we see a rise in members enquiring if we have a firm there.
Q
Has the rise of social media aided the development of networks at all?
Joe: Yes, social media sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter really help to amplify a firm’s message, since we re-broadcast the news they send us out to a wider audience through these channels. Identifying themselves as a TAGLaw member on a site such as LinkedIn also enhances our members’ ability to form connections there, since it makes them part of a community on that site that both members and prospective clients will search for. As Bob stated earlier, one of the main values of working within an alliance is that you become comfortable working with people, and social media sites have added to this by helping to bring everybody closer.
Q
Following on from that point, in the UK recently there was some research showing that law firms are not using social media as much as they should. Is this the case in the US do you feel?
Joe: Law firms are probably not using it as much as they should, but it is becoming a very important tool for communication among members and clients.
We suspect that these types of sites will A Worldwide Alliance of Independent Law Firms
eventually become as common in business as using the telephone or a computer is today. It will become a natural part of how people communicate and how they do business.
Bob: It is worth mentioning something that one of TAGLaw’s member firms in Canada said recently, that before they became a TAGLaw member four years ago, they saw themselves as a local firm, but now they see themselves as international lawyers. They said that it has changed the whole attitude of the firm’s lawyers and that they feel they are much more effective in representing their clients now that they have the multi-national capacity that the alliance has given them. This is a wonderful statement which acts as clear and understandable proof of what an alliance can do. LM
Q Contact:
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Bob Sattin
Joe Farrell