references
Jordi Farrés (Master DIN 06) Corporate Lawyer at Pérez Llorca
“Continuing to attract and motivate talent, being able to understand and adapt to the needs of our clients and, above all, investing in the professional management of law firms. It has been understood that lawyers, in addition to advisers, should also be managers (of its have changed and selection processes have become much more sophisticated, forcing firms to see management as being strategic and differentiating. Josep Camí (AGT 06), executive director–Transaction Tax at Ernst & Young Abogados, comments that recent years have been difficult as some firms have had to adapt to the new economic situation, and it seems that certain changes experienced in the sector will be permanent: “For example, one of the most important changes concerns professional fees, having generalised alternative billing models with an hourly ‘rate’. In parallel, the budget reduction for company advisers has been accompanied by the growth and professionalisation of internal legal advisers, only outsourcing those services requiring very specialised knowledge or that can not be covered due to their size or nature. Therefore, now more than ever, external advisory work should be more focused on providing customer value, complementing the internal advising business vision with its specific capabilities”. troversy. “It would require a consensus among the various players and specific regulation to avoid conflict,” says Rafa Matas. On the other hand, Eugenia Jover (Lic&MD 00), senior associate at Deloitte Abogados, explains that Deloitte is a professional service firm that offers auditing, tax and legal advisory, consulting, financial and risk management services, among others: “Law firms belonging to multidisciplinary organisations like Deloitte Abogados are showing significant growth, in my opinion, for several reasons: (i) a global presence (not based on a ‘best friends’ systems, but through top-level law firms of their own network); (ii) multidisciplinary approach offering clients complete advisory services; and (iii) a more entrepreneurial management of the firm itself, where correct sizing of teams, seeking out efficiency and application of new technologies are key elements”. But Josep M. Ortadó (Lic&MD 99, Intensive Management for Lawyers ESADE 11) at M&O Abogados is adamantly against audit firms providing legal or tax advice to clients that they audit as their understanding clearly affects the independence of professionals. “That's why we are also against law firms offering auditing services,” he says. a lawyer's commercial and business-generating profile has become more important”.
Jorge Adell Managing Partner at Baker & Mckenzie
“Thinking about our team, challenges are met thanks to ongoing training, our noteworthy technical excellence, and providing customers with innovative solutions and the global support that many of them need, in a pragmatic and simple way. Increased regulatory complexity for companies that want to pay for value-added services and seek innovative relationship models that can, at the same time, offer insurance for its executives”.
Raimon Tagliavini (Lic&MD 01) Barcelona office
“A mature and competitive sector like the legal sector increasingly innovative services and to be able to anticipate and respond to the changing and complex needs of its clients. To achieve this goal, the ability to attract and retain the best talent has become a key element in the success of managing firms”.
Service diversification
With the growth of professional service firms with legal divisions, whether law firms should provide auditing services is an issue that has always generated debate and con-
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