WSG Objectives

Chairs Objectives 2025-2026

My first, natural reaction is to follow in the footsteps of my predecessors, whom I thank for their positive leadership and wisdom. Thanks André, Annie, Herman, Stefan, from which I have learned so much. And thanks Maricarmen and the team for your ongoing support and dedication.

Secondly, I would like to outline some ideas that are not always short-term objectives, but rather principles and guidelines on which we are already working and in which we must persevere in the coming years. We think that they address your concerns and André mentioned most of them:

The first is to enhance and differentiate our offer within the legal market. The main goal (and the main benefit) of our network is to provide our clients with efficient, coordinated, first-rate advice on international legal matters. This is based, in turn, on the quality of the firms in the network (those we recruit and those we retain), which must be among the best in their markets. This is why, as André mentioned, we are creating a membership development committee to assess the commitment, the performance and, why not, the satisfaction of the member firms. Some awards will also be granted to those already excelling in the above network values.

The quality of our service/members should lead us to an increasing market recognition, not only in the media or in social networks, but in front of our own partners and, above all, our clients. In my view, this is the recognition we really need.

To do this, there are some specific tools that we can use and improve:

• During the pandemic, all WSG activities migrated online. This shift resulted in a significant increase in participation in WSG activities, as everyone could attend professionally valuable events that were free and did not require out of office expenses. However, as firms begin to increase expense driven activities for the firm, I want to work with regional councils, members of existing practice groups, and headquarters staff to organize activities that continue to develop in increasing value for firm participation to continue to increase the interest and growth for global, regional, virtual and conference events.
• We will continue to facilitate the participation of new, younger representatives. As pointed out by André, a strong ELG program is instrumental in this sense, but it should not be the only way to encourage succession. This would always depend on each firm, but the organization should encourage and facilitate it.
• Technology is key and the new platform shall enable us to be faster, more efficient and to communicate better. But we must feed it. Our mission as lawyers is to share projects, referrals, secondments, etc. The platforms mission is to make it easier for us.

Finally, I would just like to extend my gratitude to my colleagues on the Board and, of course, to all of you. It is an honor to be the Chair of this great organization.