IBA Conference Auckland

1
IBA Conference Auckland

• Global Law Firms
• 25 October 2004
• WIM DEJONGHE
• Allen Overy LLP - Managing Partner Belgium

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THE STRATEGIC CASE FOR MERGER

• The local firms perspective
• A case study

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Articulating the firms strategic plan starting
point the firms position

• client needs
• competition
• market position
• recruitment and retention position
• know how
• technology
• partners and their (shared) ambitions

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Loeff Claeys Verbeke (Belgium) in 1998

• Client needs
• home market becomes Europe (not longer Belgium)
  
• increasing financing needs (ICM work)

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Loeff Claeys Verbeke (Belgium) in 1998 (2)

• Competition
• increasingly international (also for Belgian Law)
• increasingly focussed (international niche
  firms)

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Loeff Claeys Verbeke (Belgium) in 1998 (3)

• Market position
• strong market position through rapid growth, but
• too much a collection of independent offices
• lack of focus
• therefore insufficiently equipped to face market
  challenges
• lack of absolute top work
• weakness in some key areas

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Loeff Claeys Verbeke (Belgium) in 1998 (4)

• Recruitment position
• recruitment issue lack of international career
  opportunities
• retention lack of clear strategy
• ? high rotation of people - recruitment quality
  issue

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Loeff Claeys Verbeke (Belgium) in 1998 (5)

• Technology and know how
• amounts (time) invested increases if ambition to
  stay at top

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Loeff Claeys Verbeke (Belgium) in 1998 (6)

• Partners and their (shared) ambitions
• common vision on where to compete 4 options
• fiercely independent
• merge with Anglo-Saxon firm
• join MDP
• build pan-European firm

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? A two-pronged track
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? try to define common vision on how to
compete / shared values

• Relationship - driven
• Shared clients among
• partners
• Client service team
• approach

• Mutual support
• Commitment to
• partnership
• Shared firm economics

True partnership
Client service
Values - trust - guidance - cohesion - ...
Values - trust - guidance - cohesion - ...
Practice structure

• Attract, develop and
• retain the best people
• Apprenticeship model
• Focus on personal
• growth

People pro- cesses

• Flexible and loose
• Multiple dimensions
• Horizontal integration
• and information flows

Governance structure

• Firm-wide boards and
• committees
• Members are firm
• leaders

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Loeff Claeys Verbeke (Belgium) in 1998 (8)

• Conclusion
• external assistance to help in process of
  defining strategy
• merger may be an option
• other options maybe as good or even better
• BUT
• NOT defining a strategy is NOT an option

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IBA Conference Auckland
Global Law Firms 25 October 2004 WIM
DEJONGHE Allen Overy LLP - Managing Partner
Belgium