Interculturally of Counsel Podcast

Today's guest is Kilian Bälz. Kilian is based in Berlin and Cairo and is a partner with the firm Amereller Legal Consultants, a business law firm with 60 lawyers in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Kilian is a business lawyer who specializes in advising on transactions and disputes across the MENA region. He studied law and Middle Eastern studies at the universities of Freiburg, Berlin, Damascus, Cairo (AUC) and London (SOAS). He has lived and worked in the region for many years. During our interview, Kilian shares with us his belief that the difference in corporate governance in the Middle East is the true challenge for people from other countries when doing business there. He observes that many companies in the Middle East are family-owned, so negotiations tend to take place through agents and have a different dynamic. It is not unusual that the decision maker is not present during the negotiation process. He also points out that personal interactions are more important in the Middle East than the formal written communication often common in Western Europe. Kilian also mentions that as most of these countries are relatively small, their business people are very sophisticated and used to working with people around the world and often more adaptable than those coming from larger, economically dominant countries. At the end of our discussion, Kilian gives us some tips to consider when working with colleagues or clients in the Middle East. You can contact Kilian via email at: kb@amereller.com.

Episode 14 - Italy - Interview with Francesco Portolano by Culturalxing

Today I am happy to welcome Francesco Portolano as my guest. Francesco is based in Milan, Italy and is a name partner with the firm Portolano Cavallo, a leading boutique firm specializing in the digital, media and technology sectors. Portolano Cavallo also is expanding into the life sciences field. Francesco’s work focuses on mergers and acquisitions, and his expertise comes from many years advising international clients in the media sector. Francesco studied law in Italy and began practicing for an international firm in Rome. He then spent 3 years in Chicago, IL where he worked at a firm and studied for an LLM at the University of Chicago . His time in the US taught him a very pragmatic, solution-oriented approach to legal problems. He returned to Italy and started his firm 16 years ago. During our interview, Francesco shares his observations about how the ever-changing technology field challenges lawyers to come up with creative solutions to legal problems, as the legal framework often cannot keep pace with the changes in the industry. He also talks about how Portolano Cavallo works hard to adapt their methods of giving advice to fit the needs of digitally focused clients. Francesco also shares with us his insights into the value that studying or working abroad brings to becoming a better local lawyer; by learning to understand the legal system and customs of another place, a lawyer becomes more adept at advising both international and local clients in the home jurisdiction. At the end of our discussion, Francesco gives us some tips to consider when working with Italian colleagues or clients. You can contact Francesco via email at: fportolano@portolano.it.

Today’s guest on the podcast is Catherine Way. Cathy works in a field related to the law, but she is not a legal professional. Cathy is a Senior Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting at the University of Granada. She teaches translation students at the Bachelor and Masters levels, and her focus is on teaching legal translation. Cathy began her career as an interpreter; she is a native English speaker and studied French and Spanish. Over her career, she has been involved in translating and interpreting for people from many different countries. She not only teaches but is engaged in finding new and better ways to train translators for their real world jobs. She has engaged in projects teaming law students with translation students to look at how one ends up with the most reliably useful translations. During our interview, Cathy shares her observations about the most challenging parts of being a good legal translator: the laws are always changing, the large amount of background research required, and the need to convince legal professionals of the expertise of well-trained translators. She also shares many insights into how translators are educated giving listeners a much better insight into how a professional translator works. At the end of our discussion, Cathy gives us some tips to consider when working on the translation of a legal text. Cathy can be reached by email at cway@ugr.es.

Today’s guest on the podcast is Mehmet Gülerman. Mehmet is a principle in his firm, Gülerman Law Office, based in Ankara, Turkey. His work focuses primarily on commercial law; he advises companies on business issues and represents them in commercial litigation. Mehmet also is a certified mediator. He studied law in Turkey and completed an LLM program on European law in the Netherlands. During our interview, Mehmet shares his observations about the influences of eastern and western cultures on Turkey’s culture, how the lack of a social consensus in Turkey impacts citizens’ views of rules/laws and their application, and the challenges that non-Turkish clients face when first doing business in the country. He also talks about the introduction of mediation in Turkey. While a mediation law has been in effect since 2013, cultural hurdles remain to convincing the local population to consider mediation for dispute resolution. At the end of our discussion, Mehmet gives us some tips about working and interacting with clients and colleagues from Turkey. Mehmet can be reached by email at mehmetgulerman@gmail.com.

Today’s guest on the podcast is Jan Holmius. Jan is a partner at a law firm based in Stockholm, Sweden. His work focuses primarily on mergers and acquisitions. He acts for private equity clients as well as corporations and other significant participants in the market. Jan has extensive experience with both cross-border transactions as well as domestic deals, and the matters he works on typically involve acquisitions, divestments, spin-offs, investments, mergers and other types of transactions bringing about structural change. Jan studied law in Sweden and in the US, and he had the opportunity to spend time working in both the US and Russia. During our interview, Jan shares his observations about how the Swedish style of consensus building can be challenging to clients and colleagues from other cultures during negotiations. He also gives insights into how the flatter structures in Swedish companies affect decision-making. At the end of our discussion, Jan gives us some tips about working and interacting with clients and colleagues from Sweden. If you are interested in contacting Jan, please send an email to me at info@culturalxing.com and I will forward the message to him.

Today’s guest on the podcast is James S. DeGraw. Jim is a partner at the law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP. He practices corporate and technology law, a dynamic and constantly changing field. Jim studied law in the US and began his career in the Boston office of Ropes & Gray. Around 2007, he moved to Tokyo to open Ropes & Gray’s first foreign office. During the 5 years he stayed in Tokyo, Jim worked on matters that took him to many parts of Asia, including Hong Kong, the PRC, and Korea. This experience taught him the importance of having good relationships with colleagues in other parts of the world who can help understand, separate and manage the variety of issues coming up in a global legal practice – business issues, cultural issues and legal issues After his time in Asia, Jim returned to the US and began working in the San Francisco office of Ropes & Gray. Jim regularly leads projects for US-based and international clients where technology, data or other IP assets are the key drivers. In addition to technology-driven mergers and acquisitions, Jim’s transactional work includes working with clients to structure complex and strategic technology relationships, such as cross-border joint ventures, multi-faceted business licensing transactions and tactical business process outsourcing relationships. During our interview, Jim shares his observations about how various legal systems in the world regulate data protection and security. These differences can have a major impact on how businesses operate outside of their home country. He also shares with us recent regulatory developments in China and Europe and discusses their possible impact. At the end of our discussion, Jim gives us some tips about working and interacting with clients and colleagues from the US.

Today’s guest on the podcast is Pedro Marinho Nunes. Pedro is a partner in the law firm of Sergio Bermudes Advogados based in São Paolo, Brazil. After studying law in Brazil, Pedro began his career at Sergio Bermudes, which is a leading litigation firm in Brazil. He then went to the US for an LLM and remained for several years working at a law firm, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, and then at the World Bank. Pedro came back to Brazil where he spent many years working in various capacities as a lawyer in the financial industry at Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Banco Itaú BBA. He returned to law firm practice in 2013 and advises many Brazilian clients and international clients with investments in Brazil. During our interview, Pedro shares his observations about the differences between legal education in the US and Brazil, how the amount of law firm associate exposure to clients varies and how different views about time affect communication with clients. At the end of our discussion, Pedro gives us some tips about working and interacting with clients and colleagues from Brazil.

Today I am happy to welcome my guest, Diana Sanclemente. Diana is a partner in the law firm of Sanclemente Fernandez Abogados S.A. based in Bogota, Colombia. Sanclemente Fernandez is a full service firm, and Diana’s practice includes assisting oil companies, mining companies and multinational corporations from the pharmaceutical industry with their investments and businesses in Colombia. Diana’s practice has her working with clients from Canada, the US, the Middle East and Europe. Diana studied law in both Colombia and the US, and she speaks Spanish, English and German. Her experiences with clients from around the world have given her great insights into framing legal advice to suit the background of the individual. At the end of our discussion, she gives us tips about doing business in Colombia.

Today I am happy to welcome Peter Solmssen to the podcast. Peter spent the first 17 years of his legal career at the US law firms of Ballard Spahr and then Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he led the German Practice Group. He then moved to the General Electric Company where he was the General Counsel of GE Plastics and then Vice President and General Counsel of GE Healthcare, based in London. In 2007, Peter moved to Germany to join the Managing Board of Siemens as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. Peter’s roles at GE and Siemens involved working across the globe with teams of people across many time zones and cultures. During our conversation, he points out the importance of really listening to what is being said as sometimes there are truly “no words” or even comparable legal constructs that address the issue at the heart of the client or colleague’s concern. When asked about the role that culture plays in compliance, he shares some very unique observations about changing the frame of discussions regarding compliance in order to change the compliance culture in an organization. At the end of our discussion, Peter also gives us his tips for how lawyers can work more successfully across cultures.

Today’s guest is Claudia Cabral Lluberes from the Dominican Republic. Claudia has studied and worked in the US, and this experience gives her a unique ability to explain some of the interesting interplay between the civil law system in the Dominican Republic and the slow encroachment of the common law system from the US. At the end of our conversation, Claudia gives us a few tips to keep in mind when working with clients or colleagues from the Dominican Republic.

Today’s guest, Joan Kessler, is a shareholder in Kessler & Kessler, a business law boutique firm located in Century City, CA. Joan is an experienced lawyer, mediator and arbitrator with a background in intercultural communication and jury consultancy. She has written many articles on the jury selection process, and early in her practice recognized the importance of intercultural communication skills for legal practitioners in all aspects of their work. At the end of our discussion, Joan gives us her tips for lawyers and mediators about how to adapt their practice to take intercultural issues into account.

My next guest on the Interculturally of Counsel Podcast is Casper Lawson. Casper is a seasoned corporate lawyer from London, England. During our interview, Casper tells us about the unique experience he had playing a very active role in two law firm mergers in Frankfurt and Tokyo. These mergers gave him special insight into the people challenges that arise when combining lawyers from two or more cultures. At the end of the interview, Casper offers listeners 3 tips to consider when working with people from England.

Today’s guest is Peter Oberlechner. Peter is a partner at Wolf Theiss, a leading European law firm in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Peter is based in Vienna from where he leads Wolf Theiss’ Real Estate practice group. His expertise in Real Estate transactions comes from many years of practice working on very complex real estate projects throughout Eastern Europe.

My second guest on the Interculturally of Counsel Podcast is Angell Xi. Angell is an experienced lawyer from Shanghai, China with an expertise in Compliance & Regulatory Risk. During our interview, Angell shares her experiences advising non-Chinese clients in China and overseeing lawyers in other parts of Asia. At the end of our discussion, she shares tips about working with the Chinese.

My first guest on the Interculturally of Counsel Podcast is Hannes Meckel. Hannes leads a global team of lawyers in his role as the General Counsel of the Global Growth Organization at General Electric. During our interview, Hannes shares his insights into how he has learned to reach out and work with team members from other cultures. He gives us some examples of the adaptive behaviors he has learned to use to respond to the cultural differences that exist within his team and in his working environment. At the end of our discussion, Hannes also gives us some tips about working with clients who come from his home culture of Germany.