35 Years of Leadership: Hans Wille, WLG President 1993–1995

Hans Wille
Formerly of CMS von Erlach Partners and WLG President 1993–1995

How did you first get involved with WLG, and what led you to take on a leadership position?

In the early 90s, I had a common client with Peter Merlin of Gardner, Carton & Douglas (now Faegre Drinker) in Chicago. He introduced me to WLG, whereupon our firm became the member firm for Switzerland. A few years later, I accepted the nomination to become WLG president and was elected at the Tokyo meeting. I took the position not only because I was asked, but also because I believed that WLG was the right organization for national and regional business law firms like ours to cope with the increasing challenges of globalization.

What do you believe was the network's most significant accomplishment during your term as president?

I don‘t think there was one particular accomplishment during my term. My focus was on giving WLG the structure, management, and organization that was required to go beyond the point of a small referral network essentially based on personal relationships of individual lawyers towards a global organization of international law firms. E.g. I gave a more active role to the Board of Directors of WLG who held physical or telephone meetings between the WLG conferences to discuss political and strategic issues.

While serving as president, what did you learn about the value of the WLG network?

In my experience, one of the big values of the WLG is, that in cross-border transactions it provides quick and uncomplicated access to qualified lawyers around the world.

As we reflect upon our growth during our 35th anniversary, tell us about the changes you've seen in the network during the years you have been involved.

The most important change I saw during the more than twenty years I was involved was the continuous growth of the organization, quantitatively and qualitatively. As mentioned, when our firm joined WLG, it was a small referral network of, I believe, less than twenty member firms. I remember that at my first conference, the delegates sat around the table in a conference room at what is now CMS Derks Star Busmann in the Netherlands.