Around the globe in 90 minutes: The first WOLEP meeting brought together Lawyers worldwide

Who said Lawyers can’t work with one another? In the aftermath of the first WOLEP meeting held on Friday, June 11, that myth was dispelled, with Lawyers across three continents contributing to a highly energetic and entertaining discussion forum aimed at “taking the pulse” of our new members and of the industry as a whole.

As for our new members, some of them beat the clock to be with us, the participants including Lawyers from Argentina and Mexico, which goes to show the professional interest WOLEP has attracted is indeed high.

Asunción Roberto Curiel Sánchez joined us from Mexico: “We have to admit we live in a globalised world, which is why I find WOLEP and the opportunities it provides a great idea. I have been a Lawyer since 2007. I am based in Mexico, and I am specialised in Commercial and Civil Law and in Administrative Law respectively. Our world changes every day, and I think the modern lawyer needs to be a mediator, but also an advisor. I would like to dedicate more time to negotiations, to mediating. I rest at the disposal of all my WOLEP colleagues.”

His thoughts were echoed by another South American member of WOLEP network, Eduardo César Willer from Corrientes, Argentina: “I have been a Lawyer for 13 years. We advise companies and individuals. For me, WOLEP is a great idea to expand to all corners of the world. I think it provides opportunities for all Lawyers to work jointly and to find new professional opportunities. The beauty of this network is that it makes us colleagues and work partners irrespective of where we are in the world.”

Moving on to Africa, we were delighted to be joined by Kemi Oduntan, a lawyer from Lagos Nigeria, who beat the jet lag in order to attend this first WOLEP conference: “I am currently in London now, on a business trip. I am a Corporate and Commercial Lawyer with over 20 years of experience. I cover Nigeria, West Africa and some parts of the Middle East in business transactions and joint businesses. Obviously, I also cover the UK. I’m pleased to be here and glad to meet everyone, wishing and hoping to collaborate with some of you in doing business in Africa and the Middle East.”

There was also a strong contingent of European Lawyers, from various countries across the continent.

Joining us from Bucharest, Romania, was Elena Ablai, a Partner at Cosma and Associates, with 8 years of experience under her belt: “I recently started working with Expertise France, a public agency which deals with the design and implementation of major technical projects. My areas of expertise are Real Estate, Compliance, Corporate and Medical Law. I believe WOLEP can offer us the great opportunity to collaborate internationally and to grow together. So via WOLEP, we can enhance our professional capacity and offer our clients that something extra which maybe we don’t cover in our area of practice.”

“I think the WOLEP network is a great initiative, that it is the future in our industry and that collaboration is vital for Lawyers. I was attracted by the vision of WOLEP and I look forward to meeting and working with other WOLEP members. We may be speaking different languages, but the WOLEP membership is a common language which brings us together”, said Silvio de Candia, a Corporate and Commercial Lawyer whose Law Firm, based in Málaga, Spain, assists international Clients.

Julien Raum, from Luxembourg, a Corporate Lawyer specialised in Litigation, Consumer Protection and Commercial Law, added: “My main activities focus on Corporate, Financing and New Technologies. Our Firm is already very focused on international work, with our Lawyers speaking 7 languages. It’s very interesting to be a part of the WOLEP project since the beginning, especially in a part of the world where we don’t have that much reach as we would like to. It is a new world for us and it is potentially very interesting. WOLEP fosters collaboration and that is great in my opinion.”          

Elena Georgiana Manole is a Romanian Lawyer currently working in Spain, boasting two offices, in La Rioja and Barcelona: “I am a Consumer / Firm Lawyer and also an Immigration Lawyer. My Firm is based in Northern Spain, but it also has an office in Barcelona. I am glad to have this opportunity, because I find it is a chance for all of us to collaborate with colleagues from other territories.”

There also was an Italian flavour to our first WOLEP meeting, with Giancarlo Pierpaolo Pezzuti joining from Naples: “I am an Italian Lawyer, qualified in the field since 2000. I deal with Criminal Law, Immigration and Asylum, Citizenship, Human Rights, Real Estate and Management of Hereditary Assets. I also teach young Lawyers who want to start in this profession. For the past five years I have been working on a new chapter in my career, dealing with young sport talents, in particular young footballers. I am a sports agent, scouting young talents whom I try to help in their careers. I am ready to cooperate with all of my WOLEP peers. I am sure that WOLEP will work very well, going forward.”

Jan Van der Snickt, a Partner at Belgian law firm Cottyn, based north of Brussels, added a pragmatic touch to the conversation: “We are a mid-sized Law Firm, with about 25 lawyers in-house. We mainly focus on Commercial and Corporate law, but we also have a strong focus on what we call «project business», which can be Real Estate, Development, but also Photovoltaic investments in an international setting. We already assisted some projects in Africa. In this respect, it’s very interesting to get to know colleagues across the globe and to have new contacts in places and countries where, up until now, we did not have any. A substantial part of our business is focused on Central Europe, and we had the pleasure to cooperate with Romanian partners in big Real Estate projects. Cooperation is extremely important in our field. That’s why WOLEP is a great proposition. We look forward to knowing each other more profoundly, to work on real cases and, if possible, to earn some money together.”

“I think this meeting proves that Lawyers see value in joining the WOLEP network and that we are gathering pace in the right direction. We are building a strong community of excellent practitioners of Law, while providing them with the 21st century tech tools that they need”, said Romeo Cosma, the Lawyer who had the initiative of setting up WOLEP.

“This is only the beginning. As WOLEP will grow further, we will host more and more such Zoom meetings, which will enable us to know each other better, to share ideas and thoughts in order to identify opportunities for collaboration. In a couple of weeks, we will roll out our Branding Campaign in relation to our network and to our members. The aim of WOLEP is to grow the prestige of the profession, of the network itself and that of its members.”

Are you a legal eagle with a passion for collaboration? Join forces with other legal professionals and elevate your practice to the next level. Don't wait, sign up now to WOLEP and connect with like-minded lawyers today. Register your account here.