Thank you for your part in another successful WLG | at large. We enjoyed seeing new and familiar faces, and hope you found the sessions beneficial.
Highlights from each of the week's sessions are below. Please note that WLG | at large recorded content is intended exclusively for members of WLG and is not to be shared outside of our member firms.
The staff team is looking forward to a wonderful year in 2024. Many groups, committees, and forums have begun selecting meeting dates, and programs are being solidified, making this an ideal opportunity to update your profile. Ensure that your information is up-to-date, you have signed up for offerings relevant to your practice and interest areas, and you have uploaded a photo.
WLG | at large Recap
Meet & Greets:
The program included two sessions, providing ideal timing for the Americas and EMEA in one, and EMEA and Asia-Pacific in the other. With over twenty attendees at each Meet & Greet, many meaningful connections were made. Thank you to our board representatives and seasoned members who joined and shared their WLG experiences.
Guardians of Data: AI, Employment, and Confidentiality
[View Recording & Key Takeaways]
The prominence of AI is undisputed and unavoidable. Some countries are more advanced in their use of AI not only in business operations but also in the employment sphere. Moderator Suganthi Singam, Shearn Delamore & Co. (Malaysia), and panelists Jonathan Chamberlain, Gowling WLG (England); Krishna Jhala, Al Tamimi & Company (UAE); Alejandro Negro Sala, Cuatrecasas (Spain); and Nicholas Pascoe, MinterEllison (Australia) dove into the use of AI in employment, how it interrelates with data privacy rights and confidentiality obligations, and the legal framework in which it operates. While there isn't legislation related to the use of AI in employment, panelists' countries rely on existing data protection laws to protect employees' privacy rights.
– Panelists highlight the use of AI at a firm level for tasks such as document drafting, transcription, and due diligence. While firms aren't seeing a reduction in workforce, they see a redeployment of lawyers to more valuable tasks. Some clients mandate that AI not be used for their work.
– Regarding privacy rights and the legal obligation to obtain consent from employees to use AI, members reported varied types of legislation.
Organizations must address and mitigate biases in AI algorithms in employment decisions to ensure fairness and prevent discrimination. Quality is critical, and human oversight is required.
– When using AI or other technology to monitor employees' activity, transparency and policies are key: organizations need to define what they are tracking and for what business purposes they are tracking.
Due Diligence A to Z: Navigating the Spectrum of Practice Areas in M&A Deals
[View Recording & Key Takeaways]
In this session, attendees used a deal recognized by Latin Lawyer as M&A Deal of the Year in 2022 as a case study to dissect the intricacies of the due diligence process in cross-border M&A transactions. Moderator Joe DeLisle, Miller & Martin (Georgia, USA), and panelists Nicolas Dulce, Bruchou & Funes de Rioja (Argentina); Juan Manuel Mercant, Guyer & Regules (Uruguay); and Gaël Chuffart, CMS Belgium lead the discussion, which emphasized the challenges of scoping due diligence, assembling a cross-border team that includes subject matter experts across practice areas, and addressing subjective aspects—such as risk assessment and client concerns—in the acquisition process. Stay tuned for a series of future sessions that will cover specific practice areas.
– Addressing regulatory and antitrust approvals early will help avoid surprises during the transaction—work with local antitrust specialists to assess the local business climate to allow clients to make informed decisions at the outset.
– Employment lawyers depend on crucial information to supply fee codes for M&A transactions. Early knowledge of deal type, employee count, and sector is vital to prevent delays in finalizing the deal.
– Teamwork is crucial for achieving a smooth and successful cross-border transaction. Best practices include clear communication within the team, fostering relationships and cohesiveness among legal team members and the client, and using a diversified communication approach.
Speed Networking
With two opportunities to join, attendees from the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions met during one session, and those from the Americas and Asia-Pacific were able to connect during another. In one-hour windows, attendees met with three colleagues to explore business development opportunities and make meaningful connections. WLG leveraged a new technology, aiding in the smooth operation and flow of the sessions and creating a seamless experience for attendees. Please share any topics for future networking sessions with the staff team!
The T-Shaped Lawyer
[View Recording & Key Takeaways]
The legal landscape paradigm shift requires lawyers—T-shaped lawyers—to have deep legal expertise and a robust foundation in relevant interdisciplinary subjects. This expanded knowledge responds to contemporary client expectations, which demand that legal counsel be well-versed in the law and equipped to navigate the dynamic digital transformations affecting diverse industries. This session covered the evolution of the legal industry, the T-shaped model, legal operations, technology trends, and practical steps for skill development.
– T-shaped skills include legal project management, process improvement/mapping, workflow, document automation, artificial intelligence and how large language models work, continuous improvement methodologies like Lean Six Sigma, data analysis, and change management when optimizing processes.
– Develop a personalized "T-shaped" model by identifying relevant skills for your clients and practice, leveraging the internet for online courses and discussions, and considering how this skill set can effectively address various client scenarios. Focus on developing a broad understanding rather than in-depth expertise.
– Training now involves understanding the intricate technology and its complex processes and even looking at the backend logic, reshaping the role of junior lawyers to include proficiency in these evolving technologies, marking a significant departure from traditional legal training methods.
Check out the presentation deck and recording for more background, practical steps, and recommended books and courses. Thank you to Ken Porter, MinterEllison's Director of Automation & Client Solutions, for sharing your insights on this topic.
Member Firm Leaders
Attending firm leaders had a discussion on their firms' top successes and mistakes from 2023 and looked forward to key priorities in 2024.
– Key achievements of 2023 included organizational and technology consolidation across offices to increase efficiencies and collaboration, institutionalizing knowledge and processes to avoid key-person risk, firm leadership succession planning, industry-specific training for firm partners and senior lawyers, and proactively generating work from any outbound referral activity for WLG member firms.
– Firms experienced a variety of challenges this year. Leaders noted problems in solving issues related to managing economic downturns and structural succession problems, handling physical space in a hybrid workplace, and implementing the tools in which firms have invested in a timely manner.
– As we move into a new year, firm leaders are focused on the five key challenges for law firms as identified by the 2024 Citi-Hildebrandt Report:
– achieving growth in challenging geopolitical environments,
– attracting and retaining talent,
– adapting to flexible work models,
– keeping up with rapid developments in artificial intelligence, and
– managing cost inflation and pricing pressure.
Other priorities for next year are focusing on revenue sourcing and controlling costs, launching new practices and industries, and ensuring internal collaboration among partners and other firm leadership.
Impact Financing
[View Recording & Key Takeaways]
Companies worldwide are at the early stages of embracing sustainability, while financiers are still navigating the learning curve of sustainable finance principles. Moderator Bruno Ferreira, PLMJ (Portugal), along with panelists Vinita Sinha, International Finance Corporation; Nandita Ganapathy, Kaizenvest; and Hufriz Wadia, AZB & Partners (India), provided insights on identifying quantifiable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), establishing both short- and long-term sustainability goals, integrating mechanisms to measure and implement sustainable practices, and promoting transparency in reporting within the financial industry. Here are a few key takeaways.
– Measuring social impact is challenging due to qualitative factors and a need for standardized metrics/benchmarks across sectors, geographies, and companies. Companies set their own impact goals and metrics to track over time.
– The number of impact investment deals and companies pursuing ESG has grown significantly in recent years, though many are still early-stage. Knowledge and ecosystems around impact criteria/standards have improved, but legal practitioners need expertise on technical ESG requirements to structure/negotiate deals. Greenwashing and lack of clear ESG standards pose legal risks that must be addressed in documentation through provisions like mandatory redemption clauses for non-compliance.
– Innovation will be essential to mobilize the financing needed to meet climate/sustainability goals through new financing structures/products.