London Office Hosts Inaugural European Associate & Counsel Seminar

Winston’s London- and Paris-based associates and counsel came together on December 4 for the firm’s inaugural European Associate & Counsel Seminar. The event, hosted in the firm’s London office, consisted of engaging professional development programs during the day followed by a British-themed cocktail hour and dinner in the evening.

Sara Susnjar, Associates Committee representative for the firm’s Europe offices, spearheaded the seminar as a way to provide training to and help foster relationships among our London and Paris associates.

“This has never been done before in Europe,” said Sara. “The purpose of the seminar was twofold: to provide valuable legal and business development training and to reinforce the foundation for additional collaboration opportunities between two of the biggest European offices.”

The 24 attendees spent some time introducing themselves and their respective  practices, after which Business Development Manager Ed Bannell conducted an interactive workshop on networking, business development, and relationship building.

“It’s important for the associates and counsel in these offices to develop connections with each other that will open doors to future cross-selling opportunities,” notes Alexandra Wooster, Director of Administration for Europe and an organizer of the event.

Attendees continued to interact over lunch, which was followed by a case study presented by Bibi Sarraf-Yazdi, Paul L’huillier, and Sara Susnjar demonstrating the similarities and differences between UK, French, and U.S. bribery and anticorruption laws. The firm’s Chief Operating Officer Scot Farrell delivered a presentation on law firm economics, which included an analysis of the firm’s cost and revenue structure and highlighted what Europe associates and counsel contribute in that business model. The seminar portion of the program concluded with a privacy and data security overview, particularly relevant given the recent changes in Europe data transfer protection laws.

London office partners and staff had the opportunity to mingle with the associates and counsel during a cocktail hour, after which the seminar attendees had dinner at Harry’s Bar.

Plans are already in the works for the next annual European Associate & Counsel Seminar, to be hosted in Paris next year. Feedback from attendees was highly positive. One of the Paris associates at the seminar noted that, “The atmosphere was great throughout the entire day and continued to be just as enjoyable in the evening. Meeting the London team was really interesting and gave us the opportunity to share our experiences as young attorneys. The different sessions gave us practical insight on how to network in a more efficient manner and strengthen the relationships with existing clients. The session about the profitability of law firms was very eye-opening as many of us had no prior knowledge of all the elements at play.” She summed up the day by saying “it was a good mix of business and pleasure and a valuable tool to facilitate exchanges between the two offices.”