The International Litigation, ADR and Contracts practice group, to give its full title, is one of the network’s most established practice groups, whose management was taken over by Thierry Clerc in 2015 . A former president of Eurojuris, Thierry is well known in the network’s world-wide family.
Co-chair, Christian Schlemmer of German firm Caemmerer Lenz, describes Thierry as the heart and soul of the group. “He is the driving force behind ensuring interesting programmes and events, regularly updated online content, and finding ways to boost participation.”
Christian became involved six years’ ago, when Thierry invited him to become co-chair, and since then they have shared the leadership and organisation of the group. Christian taking the lead on last year’s group event in Frankfurt, while Thierry has planned the next event in October, to be held in Paris.
The group has been meeting online during the pandemic, most recently in May, when the changes to German supply chain law and enforcement of judgements in the UK following Brexit were under the spotlight.
Added Christian: “As well as guest members, there is a dedicated caucus who are regulars at every event, which gives a real foundation for relationship-building. The stronger the relationships, the more you profit.”
The benefit comes, as Christian explains, in being able to speak to someone whenever you need to: “If I have a question, I know I can just pick up the phone and get a fast response. For example, in my firm we represent a lot of mid-sized companies in the production and automotive sectors.
“Being part of the group means that if we need a lawyer to help on an export issue, for example, we just look at the list and know who to call. And lawyers representing clients who are sub suppliers for German automotive or production sectors, know to ask us for representation.”
Sharing experiences can also provide both interesting and valuable insights for group members adds Christian: “We are all national lawyers, so knowledge transfer is limited between group members, but the sessions can give you a different perspective on problems, such as labour law, and suggest solutions that you might adopt or adapt. Or it may guide you in dealing with an issue in another jurisdiction, for example, one presentation about Dubai highlighted that a woman’s testimony could be overturned by a man’s, which could be invaluable in identifying appropriate witnesses.”
Caemmerer Lenz has been involved in Eurojuris since the 1990 s and Christian has been a busy and active participant of the network since he joined the firm 20 years’ ago. He says his favourite event is always the Thursday night early-bird event before the formal kick off for Congress. “It’s like a family reunion that you may have at Christmas. Seeing all these old friends makes the most perfect meeting.”
And Christian is looking forward to seeing everyone in person again, after being restricted to Zoom meetings during the last year, although online events will continue to be part of the programme. “For the future we are looking to have a mix of online and in-person events, as online can be good route to deliver presentations, and at in-person events we can make best use of that quality time together to engage and interact.”
Read more about the group, previous events and a list of current members: Practice Group Page
