Deloitte Legal Italy -Società tra Avvocati a r.l.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? We pride ourselves on our continued commitment to our clients. We analyze our clients’ needs to offer pragmatic solutions oriented to improve heir businesses. We care as much about our clients’ long term success as we do about the short-term outcome of a project. Our practice is both service and industry aligned, with teams specializing in Corporate and M&A, Commercial; Law, Employment & Benefits, Foreign Trade & Customs and Tax Controversy. For instance in this peculiar 2020 we are helping clients to move rapidly into the recovery phase of the COVID-19 crisis. We shared with them legal thought leadership pieces and several webinars. These have been useful to assist them through new market realities as: laws relating to state aid and other government support; impact on contracts (dispute resolution, force majeure & MAC clauses); safe returning to the workplace and other employee engagement strategies to promote workplace engagement; how to transform their legal operating model for the “new normal”, etc. A usual answer to this question would be that “we understand our client and his/her needs and listen very carefully” but who doesn´t? Very often, it is much better to listen than to speak and I think this is what any service provider should do and usually does. The difference is that when we as Deloitte do this we can bring a comprehensive offering to our clients as we connect them with other Deloitte´s specialist in M&A, Financial Advisory, Tax, Risk Advisory, and Consulting -among others-- giving a holistic approach to our legal advice. This is what allows us to provide our clients the added value they are looking for in this new reality. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Probably this would be digital law and capital markets. The new global scenario shows technology is driving a fast changing revolution all around the globe. This means that even the most traditional businesses (from the smallest to the largest companies) will need to do a catch up to adjust their business to new technology, marketing channels, distribution problems, expansion issues from a legal and financial perspective. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, getting financing will be a big challenge so capital markets may appear as an alternative together with cryptocurrency. To have advisors that fully understand how to assist them and be a driver and enabler of new solutions will be a key component in the evolution of businesses. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? Last year Deloitte´s offices from sixteen countries from Mexico to Argentina integrated themselves to be able to provide services in a coordinated way around Latin America. This will allow our clients to have a seamless service as well as more competitive fee quotations. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Indeed. Technology is not only changing our clients’ needs but also ours. Clients want to have legal providers that speak the same language. To achieve that we were obliged to design a plan to understand our clients’ challenges and to see how we could offer more efficient and less time-consuming solutions. It is a fact that COVID-19 crisis put all of us to get creative. For example, we are working closely to our clients helping them to implement remote shareholders´ meetings, using worldwide platforms to check the corporate compliance status of all their entities in different countries, helping them to enhance their legal operating model, etc. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? A practical example I could quote could be one that took place this last year when we detected that a client was registering an extremely high provision for different types of judicial cases. After running several processes and checking their legal process, we were able to help them to reorganize the task flow between different areas of the company including the administration of judicial cases. They were duplicating the provision because of a poor litigation management. It is not that the provision they were considering was wrong. Certain delays and miscommunication between internal departments of the company (e.g., legal, accounting and the payment sector) caused interests and fines that wouldn´t have been due is they had recorded the ruling timely and payed the amount arising from those rulings in time. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? The market has and is becoming more competitive. Nevertheless, I think it is not that much stability and strategic direction what they are expecting from their law firms but consistency and a seamless legal service. In three-years´ time, Deloitte Legal will provide not only the commonly known legal practice areas but will become a key player when it comes to legal technology.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal Canada LLP from your competitors? Deloitte Legal Canada LLP is focused on highly specialized practices that rely on assistance from our affiliated professional services: Deloitte LLP. Our competitors, which are mainly traditional law firms, cannot seamlessly provide such services as: Cybersecurity and Privacy Law, working hand-in-hand with Deloitte LLP’s technical cybersecurity and forensic investigations teams; Tax Litigation, working hand-in-hand with Deloitte LLP’s transfer pricing economists, R&D scientists and engineers, as well as other highly specialized tax professionals; Labour and Employment Law, working hand-in-hand with Deloitte LLP’s Human Capital, Global Employer Services and Workplace Investigations teams. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Labour and Employment Law Privacy and Cybersecurity, Digital Law Specialty Regulatory Law practices What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? Along with Deloitte LLP, we offer a one-stop, turnkey service that seamlessly integrates a response to all of our client’s needs. This minimizes the headaches of dealing with multiple firms and offers uniform quality and a coordinated approach to our clients. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Technology will never supplant the power of human interaction. Our clients appreciate speaking to a human who listens and is accountable. However, technology has become the market standard in service delivery: from AI-assisted research tools to automation of non-creative tasks such as due diligence. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Cybersecurity: we not only bring value by assisting with incident response and crisis management, but we also help our clients minimize the risk of further breaches and provide breach-coaching advice in order to be prepared for future incidents. Tax Controversy and Litigation: we take a client-first approach to favourable and early resolution of tax disputes. Employment and Labour Law: We regularly advise clients with respect to their right and obligations in relation to the future of work, both during and post-pandemic. This is not limited to legal advice: along with Deloitte LLP’s Human Capital group, we provide a global approach to the future of HR management and help clients be prepared for their next normal. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? In our experience, clients are looking to simplify their relationships with professional firms generally and prefer a coordinated approach to the services they seek. Deloitte Legal Canada LLP’s unique position as an affiliated law firm within Deloitte sets it apart from traditional law firms: Deloitte’s broad base of services coordinates with the entire C-suite; not only GCs or CLOs. Accordingly, our legal services are delivered as part of a holistic set of solutions sought by our clients.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate deloitte legal in Chile from your competitors? Having a network of more than 1,800 legal professionals present in over 75 countries is our main asset and clearly it differentiate us from our competitors. Our global footprint facilitates seamless client service across borders. Our clients appreciate having a single point of contact to handle all legal issues they may face in different jurisdictions. Serving the Chilean market for more than 90, we understand business in Chile.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate deloitte tax and legal colombia from your competitors? We provide a full range of legal services including corporate and M&A, company law, labour law, public sector, and litigation. We offer multidisciplinary solutions and we can team with our tax colleagues. We have the oldest practice within the Deloitte network in our region. Our lawyers are business-oriented and understand our clients’ industries. We focus on innovative legal solutions to add value to our clients. We team with our colleagues in the Deloitte Legal network offering in-bound solutions for companies investing in the region. Which practices in your member firm do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Labour law because of recent regulatory changes (UGPP). What is the main change you have made in your firm that will benefit clients? We built a local team that is able to provide clients with a full range of corporate, M&A, employment, and commercial legal services. How is technology changing the way you interact with your clients and the services you can provide them? Technology has allowed us to share target publications, eminence articles and thought leadership (including Dbriefs/Webcasts) with our clients, improving both our local and global reach. We have combined technology and legal experience to provide clients with innovative solutions such as developing a Regulatory Compliance Matrix. Can you give us a practical example of how you helped a client add value to their business? We built and implemented a Regulatory Compliance Matrix for a Colombia-based multinational company helping them optimize their operation and better manage their legal risks. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three year's time? Clients are looking for a legal advisor with regional and global capabilities that can also offer a multidisciplinary solution.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate deloitte azerbaijan’s legal practice from your competitors? We care as much about our clients’ long term success as we do for the short term outcome of a project. We speak the language of the boardroom, business language, not just legalese. What matters to us is to win great clients and to make an impact on their businesses. Our services are interdisciplinary, covering all business issues. We have wide-ranging and in-depth experience and understanding of sectors, industries and markets. We possess collective expertise available on a firm-wide basis. Which practices in your member firm do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Our focus is to develop litigation and commercial law services. We also see financial law and corporate law services as a growth area for our firm, given increasing market demand for these services. What is the main change you have made in your firm that will benefit clients? We now offer litigation services in all fields of business law, and can assist our clients with tax and employment matters as well. How is technology changing the way you interact with your clients and the services you can provide them? We see a rising interest of clients in understanding and harnessing the power of state-of-the-art document analysis and document automation tools. While there is no “magic bullet”, significant efficiency gains can be achieved by carefully matching the strengths and weaknesses of the available tools with the concrete task that the client is facing. Can you give us a practical example of how you helped a client add value to their business? We helped a multinational oil company to restructure their business in Azerbaijan in order to comply with local content requirements, as well as optimise their tax, legal and customs obligations. The work included advising on cross-border re-structuring of the company head offices, merging with a local company; assisting with re-establishment in Azerbaijan and transferring employees, assets and liabilities. The business is currently functioning in a way that brings value to all shareholders, is fully compliant with local legislation, and is profitable for both local and foreign shareholders. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three year's time? In three years’ time, we aspire to continue to be equally successful, become an ever greater law firm serving new clients, using a combination of innovative technology and high-end legal expertise to deliver services designed to achieve our clients’ business and legal objectives.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate deloitte legal rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbh from your competitors? We have a great team of lawyers eager to win great clients and to make an impact on our clients’ businesses – people who are not only true experts in their areas of practice, but bold, ambitious, adaptive and proud to be part of Deloitte Legal. Our people strive to assist clients with all the issues they face, and to think and go beyond traditional lawyering. Our adaptive teams have an appreciation of multicultural aspects of business. We view legal issues as business issues, here in Germany and throughout our network, in more than 75 countries around the globe. We are leaders in technology yet understand the importance of personal attention. Our culture is one of embracing new trends. We monitor and predict shifts in the legal market, and play an active role in reshaping our profession as the needs of our clients change. We offer our clients a superior service experience by listening to and working to understand them, not over-lawyering, and maintaining a solution-focused outlook. We know that legal issues are but one of the many facets of the issues our clients face, and that these issues are rarely limited to those of a legal nature. Solutions must be sensible from a legal perspective, but also be designed to meet the client’s business, commercial, financial, tax or technical requirements. We can offer a business perspective on our clients’ legal problems, viewed through the lens of our industry-expertise and in collaboration with other Deloitte member firm professionals. Our teams work closely with relevant specialists from Deloitte but also from our clients’ organizations and third parties, to develop tailor-made solutions. We partner with our clients, adapt to their needs and deliver solutions that are different. We speak the language of the boardroom, not legalese. Which practices in your member firm do you see growing in the next 12 months? what are the drivers behind that? We believe that Corporate/M&A, which has always been one of the core practices of our firm, will continue to grow, with the main drivers being the Global Tax Reset that will be required for many organizations in the light of BEPS guidelines, an increasing pressure on administrative and compliance costs, as well as general evolution of our clients’ businesses. We firmly believe that our fantastic skill-set, interdisciplinary structure (including Consulting) and global reach equip us well to serve clients involved in a multinational restructuring, expansion or M&A project. With ever-increasing regulatory issues, industry expertise will become more important. We are focused on attracting industry specialists to our firm, and have recently welcomed highly-regarded professionals from the energy and resources and financial services industries to our team. Corporate and personal liability of executives is trending in the evolving regulatory environment. Our Business Integrity Services team, with specialists in white collar crime, forensics, data extraction, enterprise risk and more, is an area of growth that is served especially well by the combined capabilities of Deloitte Legal and Deloitte Germany. We offer a unique combination of legal specialist knowledge, technical capabilities and tax issues provided in the context of an interdisciplinary team. We believe that this sets us apart from our competitors. We will also continue to focus on digitalisation and information technology, established specialist areas of our firm where we have excellent capabilities. Compliance will remain a key issue. With our innovative, technology-based approach and excellent people, we firmly believe that this will be a thriving segment as well. What is the main change you have made in your firm that will benefit clients? Definitely our full integration into the Deloitte and Deloitte Legal network, giving us and our clients access to leading-edge technology, uniquely positioning our firm in terms of the quality, scope and reach of our services. How is technology changing the way you interact with your clients and the services you can provide them? Technology has changed the way we interact with our clients, and continues to rapidly evolve in the legal sector. Social media, rapid technology adoption and changing behaviours are driving massive changes both to the channels through which we communicate, and what we say. We are both early adopters and early adapters, embracing trends to leverage new ways of working to benefit our clients. We invest in the development of our people’s digital skills, as well as in technologies that help us add value to our clients’ organizations. We have already invested in data sourcing and mining capabilities, and in future will look to invest in more sophisticated Legal Tech solutions that combine legal expertise and big data with cognitive/artificial intelligence elements. Can you give us a practical example of how you helped a client add value to their business? There are so many. We help a broad range of clients in dealing with diverse challenges: German family-owned undertakings expanding into new markets Multinationals wishing to execute a buy and build strategy through acquisitions and participations across the world Financial services companies dealing with Basel II through combining and unifying their local businesses in one entity by a series of cross-border mergers A German stock listed real estate company “repatriating” assets by changing the legal form of subsidiaries from that of a LuxCo to that of a German corporation Utilities companies in proceedings that will affect the industry, Important players in compliance prevention, but also in dealing with past compliance breaches Non-German groups and their German subsidiaries in dealing with and surmounting financial difficulties Non-German groups and their German subsidiaries in larger headcount reduction projects in Germany. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Clients are looking for and we have the ability to provide strategic direction that is in line with our clients’ own vision, strategy and tactics. In three years’ time, we aspire to continue to be equally successful, become an ever greater firm serving even greater clients, using a combination of innovative technology and high-end legal expertise to deliver services designed to achieve our clients’ business and legal objectives. So that our firm will make an impact that matters for our clients.  

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte from your competitors? Since Deloitte Legal first opened its doors in Kazakhstan and the Caspian Region over 20 years ago, we have been commended on many occasions for the excellent reputation we have built as a legal services provider for clients operating in the energy and resources, commercial and corporate, dispute resolution, and finance and banking sectors. Priding ourselves on our excellent commercial awareness, our advice is always tailored to client needs, and our understanding of the CIS market means we can deliver locally relevant approaches and innovative, practical, business driven solutions. As part of the Deloitte Legal network, we work seamlessly with our international colleagues, and promote an international culture that allows us to provide integrated and multi-jurisdictional advice. We believe that the key is to understand our clients’ needs, so we can partner with them to resolve their most complex and challenging problems, and ultimately delivering the best results. I am proud to say that short-term gains never take priority over client needs and successes, and with that in mind, I am proud to be able to say that we have been with many of our clients since the early days, and cherish the stable and long-term relationships we have built up with them. Our truly integrated one-stop shop approach, and our ability to work closely with other Deloitte member firm service lines, such as transaction services, consulting and advisory to name just a few, differentiates us from other legal services providers. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? I often discuss this very question with colleagues, and we all recognize the importance of developing further and strengthening areas where we already have a robust market reputation, such as M&A legal support; also focusing on existing areas of expertise such as HR audits and corporate outsourcing, which have proven to be invaluable to clients in their cost-saving initiatives. We believe that given the current economic uncertainty and market volatility, the demand for these products can only increase. I truly believe our wide-ranging environmental experience makes us unique in the region, allowing us to develop further and tackle the real environmental concerns many of our clients are currently facing. We will also continue to focus on dispute resolution, primarily in relation to tax disputes and IP rights. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? The constantly changing economic environment has meant we have had to become more adept at reporting important or relevant legislative changes among our clients. Our goal remains to stay abreast of new trends, changes and client demands, and have successfully adapted specific legal products to meet our clients’ changing needs. Last year, when we had to adapt to working remotely, we focused on keeping our clients up to date with legislative changes and helping them understand the potential commercial impact of the pandemic. We launched a series of new and innovative legal alerts, and topical webinars, for which we received very positive feedback. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Our business and innovations in technology are inextricably linked and the demand for technology-enabled business transformation services is growing rapidly. Deloitte, as you know, is a multi-discipline firm, and we have access to strong global and local technology professional networks that often work together to help clients resolve their most critical information and technology challenges. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? I am proud of my team’s many client successes, particularly in the subsoil use sector. For example, we recently developed comprehensive tax and legal structuring for a client’s business that spread across several jurisdictions, also advising on how best to set up its expat hiring process to take into account recent employment law and immigration restrictions. For the same client, we also worked on financing contractual arrangements for the construction of a solar power plant. We also held a series of renewable energy sector workshops covering a whole range of issues, from market entry requirements to project withdrawal. We also discussed the complex legislative requirements, related tax structuring options, construction approaches, best practices and a number of other relevant issues. Given our longstanding and open relationship with the client, we were able to obtain significant feedback that confirmed the value the work we performed brought to the client’s business. Ultimately, after the positive feedback, I think the fact that the client is very willing to engage us for varied projects is the best evidence of its satisfaction with what we do. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Clients need legal advisors who can assist in day-to-day activities as well as corporate life events across many jurisdictions. By being part of the global Deloitte member firm network, Deloitte Legal can provide holistic guidance around strategic business decisions, offering cost-effective support for legal activities. We will continue working in this area further, and in three years’ time aspire to be one of the top international firms providing legal services in Kazakhstan.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal South Africa from your competitors? Deloitte Legal South Africa’s practice areas are specially aligned to Deloitte’s existing multi-disciplinary offerings. Our lawyers work together with other Deloitte professionals in tax, consulting, financial advisory and transactional services to provide clients with integrated and coordinated advice and guidance in respect of their projects and transactions, often on a cross-border or global basis. As Deloitte Legal South Africa is part of the global Deloitte Legal network, our clients benefit from being part of a global network with access to lawyers in a number of jurisdictions. We leverage off this global offering to provide clients with a truly multidisciplinary and cross-border end-to-end service. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? The potential to collaborate with other service lines exists particularly within our M&A and reorganisations/restructurings offerings, which services we often provide in combination with structuring and M&A advice from the firm’s tax and corporate finance professionals. As such, this practice is always a priority for growth in order to bolster our integrated service offering in respect of our clients’ transactions and corporate structures. In addition, Legal Management Consulting and Legal Managed Services are seen as high growth areas in both our global and South African offering, driven particularly by the increased demand on in-house legal departments from other business units in the organization for support on a number of legal issues and the increasing availability and development of digital/technological solutions to streamline the in-house legal function and make it more cost-effective. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? Deloitte Legal South Africa has moved towards transparent pricing models and fixed fee structures (where possible) in order to provide clients with certainty and to keep clients readily informed of any changes which may impact our overall fee. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? It certainly is. This is one of the particular areas where leveraging off global offerings and digital solutions can truly benefit our local clients, as we have access to innovative global collaboration platforms, legal entity management solutions and contract management and drafting solutions, to name a few, which we can offer to our clients for internal use or make use of in services we deliver to the client. We are also as a firm moving towards reporting that is visually interactive and digitally innovative, particularly in the M&A and transaction services space. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Our multi-disciplinary offering has created efficiencies and cost savings for our clients who can now receive financial, tax, legal and transactional services from one professional advisor as one integrated solution and often spanning across a number of jurisdictions, essentially having to deal with only one advisor across the entire lifecycle of a transaction. In addition, our Deloitte Legal lawyers work with our tax colleagues on a regular basis in implementing tax efficient group structures and transactions which have resulted in substantial tax savings to our clients. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? It has become increasingly clear to us that a client’s legal strategy needs to be inextricably tied to their wider corporate strategy. The longer you work with a particular client and build a relationship in which you understand their needs, the better you can advise them from a legal and strategic perspective. In three years’ time, I see that the digital journey we are on will have substantially transformed the services we offer and the way in which these are offered, and I expect continued radical reform in the legal services industry and in clients’ expectation of what we can offer and how.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate deloitte ab from your competitors? Deloitte AB is part of the Deloitte Legal network with over 1,750 legal professionals in more than 75 countries. What differentiates us the most from our competitors is our global reach and our close collaboration with other Deloitte professionals within Tax, Financial Advisory, Consulting, ERS and Audit. As a result, we are able to provide services to small, family-owned business as well as an international group of companies. We strive to provide not only a legal solution, but a complete business solution to the client’s problems. The broad industry knowledge within Deloitte AB help us to work more proactively and close to our clients. Qualified legal advice requires excellent lawyers but also -- and most importantly – an in-depth understanding of our clients’ businesses. We pay ample attention to simplifying matters for our clients. In practice, this means we understand the importance of personal attention and tailor-made solutions, fitting the needs of a diverse group of clients at every given moment. Working with Deloitte AB is easy, because we make it easy. We offer our clients a superior service experience by listening, working to understand them, and maintaining a solution-focused outlook. We collaborate with our clients, adapt to their needs and deliver solutions that exceed their expectations. Which practices in your member firm do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? During the past year we have seen a steady increase in employment law matters, and we expect high volumes also in the coming year. We believe the main driver behind our growth is increased awareness of our employment law services and client satisfaction. M&A and restructurings have always been two of our top-priorities, and due to a closer collaboration with our Financial Advisory department we expect to expand even more. To further strengthen our M&A offer we are currently in the process of recruiting additional M&A professionals. We have a continuous flow of start-ups and corporate law matters, and have also noticed an increasing interest in cross-border mergers, which we now have extensive experience handling for our clients. As the regulatory burden keeps increasing for companies within the financial industry, it is likely that we will also see an increasing demand for industry specialists, for example within AML. What is the main change you have made in your firm that will benefit clients? We have employed more professionals to meet client demands for our services, and we have established a closer collaboration with our Nordic neighbours to simplify and broaden our offer to clients established in more than one of the Nordic countries. How is technology changing the way you interact with your clients and the services you can provide them? We put great effort into monitoring technical developments in the legal sector, and investing in the development of our people’s digital skills as well as in technologies that help us add value to our clients’ organizations. Effective management of client information is essential to reduce the client’s legal costs and burdens, and we are just in the process of implementing a new information management system called “Connect”. Social media is changing the way we communicate. In light of this development, we continuously evaluate that the way we communicate within Deloitte and with our clients, ensuring we maintain our high standards of client confidentiality.. Can you give us a practical example of how you helped a client add value to their business? We regularly help clients understand the financial and legal risks associated with a certain action before we assist with the implementation. In practice this means we evaluate how a group is most efficiently structured, if the client should proceed with a contemplated acquisition, the consequences of an establishment in Sweden in a given industry, or what they need to think about before downsizing staff. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time? In our view, clients are looking for a stable and dependant partner to whom they can turn to whenever they face a legal issue. Strategic direction is becoming increasingly important in sectors where regulatory changes are frequent as the regulatory framework often has a substantial impact on their business model. In three years’ time, the legal environment will be even more complex, and at the same time clients will still ask for simple solutions to their problems. Deloitte is well positioned to deliver great advice to clients using the latest technologies available.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Gómez Rutmann & Asociados from your competitors? We have a presence globally, where our clients need us, with more than 1,750 legal professionals in over 75 countries. In Gómez Rutmann & Asociados we have a wide-ranging experienced in opening processes, liquidation, mergers and acquisitions that require careful consideration of the impact that these operations have, considering the many changes in the Venezuelan laws in different areas. Also, we have experienced of the detailed history of Venezuela exchange trajectory since 2003, when it was first implemented, which constitutes a necessary factor in planning business strategies of our local and international clients. We assist our customers through the development of consultations, review of structures, accounting and tax impact. Which practices in your member firm do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We have deep local knowledge relative to Exchange Regimen Solutions, which is necessary for planning business strategies for local and international clients. We help our clients through the development of consultations and review of structures, and help to evaluate the tax accounting impact of their activities. What is the main change you have made in your firm that will benefit clients? Our teams of professionals are assembled based on each case and each client. We identify the right specialists who can deliver solutions designed to match the specific needs of each business. We strive to continuously enhance the quality of our services, to meet the expectations of our clients. How is technology changing the way you interact with your clients and the services you can provide them? In Deloitte Venezuela, we offer our customers a daily dispatch analysis of updated legal information generated in our country. Each of our associate lawyers, review and study accurately the relevant information to our customers, which is shared through newsletters, website and in our social networks. The new communications platforms, have become the more immediate ways to reach our customers, when we offer the analysis of the legal impact that can have the economic and political decisions implemented by the Venezuelan government. In a globalized world where immediacy of information can arrive by different routes, in Deloitte Venezuela we ensure that our customers get from our media platforms, more timely and accurate information. This interaction has generated a positive reaction from our customers, who have seen a significant change in the immediacy of our communications. Can you give us a practical example of how you helped a client add value to their business? In the challenging Venezuelan legal environment, our services have helped clients navigate complex customs and trade regulations, manage compliance risks and simplify import and export processes that are regulated by the customs law, Liability Customs. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three year's time? In Gómez Rutmann & Asociados, we help our clients become more productive and operationally efficient, utilizing their resources in sensible ways through implementation of solutions based on best industry practices. In the next three years, we will continue to focus on the changing legal needs of our clients, and on offering them multidisciplinary, practical solutions.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Advokatfirma AS from your competitors? Our service capabilities are interdisciplinary, technology-enabled and global. We cover a wide range of business issues and areas of law. In contrast to our competitors, we have other tools in our toolbox, making us more commercial and business oriented than other law firms. We have a presence globally, where our clients need us, with more than 2,400 legal professionals in over 80 countries. We are transformative, yet traditional and pioneering, yet pragmatic. Deloitte Legal has introduced Legal Management Consulting services, where legal professionals work closely with our consulting and risk management experts to provide valuable insight to general counsels on how they best could structure their in-house legal departments. Which practices in your member firm do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? GDPR advice has been growing and we still see a high demand for our excellent services within this field. Our experts within the regulatory framework for financial services, as well as renewable energy is expected to grow in the next 12-months. We will see additional changes, driven by technology. What is the main change you have made in your firm that will benefit clients? As part of the Deloitte Legal network, our culture is to assist our clients regardless of boarders with their legal and business needs. How is technology changing the way you interact with your clients and the services you can provide them? Using new technology, the Deloitte network will continue to amplify initiatives based on up to date legal tech tools. We interact with our clients on a wide variety of technical platforms, including our own global Tax & Legal SharePoint based tool. Can you give us a practical example of how you helped a client add value to their business? The best way to add value for a client is to offer advice that considers legal implications as well as broad business issues and impact. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Clients are always searching for stability and value creation opportunities. We expect to gain significantly more market share in Norway over the next three years.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? With a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries, Deloitte brings together world-class capabilities and a deep local expertise to help its clients succeed wherever they operate. Moreover, being a multi-service-line consulting company, Deloitte is able to offer comprehensive tax and legal solutions, perfectly suiting the clients’ needs. Our multidisciplinary approach helps us provide reliable business solutions to clients from various sectors of economy. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Any practice that adapts to and meets the clients’ needs would grow. However, one may name Legal Tech, support of PPP and infrastructure investments, and IP/IT as the probable growth leaders. Legal Tech and IP/IT are expected o be growing along with the increasing need for renovation and innovation in the economy, for protection and merchandizing of new technology solutions, for optimisation and reliable automation of business processes. The growth of the PPP and infrastructure investments practice is driven by major changes in Russian economyand the development agenda implemented by the Russian Government, which trigger modernisation of infrastructure. Over the past five years, we have seen quite a surge in such projects. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? Since October 2018, Deloitte Legal has grown significantly, strengthening its position in the legal market. We have brought on board recognised lawyers with expertise in various areas, developed new business solutions together with our colleagues from the tax, advisory, and financial practices, re-vamped our client events to provide unique insights into the legislative and regulatory changes. All we have done was with our clients in mind, aiming to deliver value and excellence with our services. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? To meet the clients’ needs, the business should keep up with the times. Nowadays, many companies are looking for the new ways of process optimisation and new technology solutions to automate routine operations and save time. We respond to this by developing and actively promoting our Legal Tech services, aimed to increase efficiency of the legal function, reduce the legal risks through unification and automatic review of documents, automate the legal routines outside the corporate lawyers’ scope, and accelerate the business processes. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? One good example is an ongoing large-scale project for the identification, formalization, and protection of intangible assets (including IP and know-hows) for the leading Russian power-machinery companies. Our expertise and technology allow carrying out the SoW with high efficiency. We add value almost literally – through the capitalisation of newly identified assets, which were created/purchased but remained unaccounted for, as well as through the mitigation of risks arising from the flaws in their legal protection. Another example would be the adaptive approach to the legal support of PPP projects. With a record of several successful projects for a regional government, we realised that the client developed considerable competencies and capacities internally and did not need the traditional full-scope, turn-key service offering anymore. We re-priced our services and adjusted the SoW, avoiding the competition with and duplication of the client’s internal capacities and shifting focus from technical matters to the really important and complex ones, reducing the client’s costs and providing a unique and valuable contribution to its projects. Finally yet importantly, we helped the client to modernise, optimise, and restructure its contract-management system, making it more comprehensive, risk-proof, and easily handled. What is more, we helped increase the efficiency of business processes, both within the legal function and in dealing with its internal customers, reducing the time costs of contract preparation and execution throughout the company. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? The clients always look for stability and strategic guidance from those they can rely upon in the long run, legal service providers included. Our bet is on developing modern competencies while continuing to provide the traditional scope of legal support. In three years, I believe, Deloitte Legal would be a leading service provider in IP/IT sectors and well-established in Legal Tech and PPP support, with outstanding expertise in compliance, dispute resolution, and industry-specific support (automotive, oil and gas, pharma).

What do you see as the main points that differentiate KBVL from your competitors? Our firm employs innovative strategies, which eventually create competitive advantage based mainly on the following three pillars: 1)Provision of seamless services Our customer-centric philosophy combined with our common-shared principles and the use of technology provides for comprehensive, user friendly and seamless legal services. Clients come to us because of our well-earned reputation for outstanding service, delivered promptly. We approach any single issue by seeking innovative solutions to complex problems that require us to draw on our full range of expertise and experience. Our billing approach and how we service our clients' on-going needs reflect our values. No matter how challenging or complex the mandate, we are not satisfied until we have delivered the highest quality and most commercially effective legal advice; 2) Distinctive service offerings The firm remains dedicated to strengthening our practice primarily through internal growth and creative smart way of thinking. We comprise a growing collection of transaction tools and in-depth analysis of the most important market and regulatory developments in M&A regimes across the globe.  We focus on bringing clarity to the increasingly complex world of cross-border M&A , cross-border M&A databases, informative videos, and access to a library of specialist publications covering the key issues in global M&A; 3) Special Alliances/Contacts Relationships We enjoy the loyalty of major corporate clients that have allowed us to be exposed to complex, multidisciplinary, cross-border assignments, which has served not only as a challenge for professional distinction but also as an attraction for recruiting talent at the firm. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? M&A: The expected growth of the Greek economy is likely to trigger significant M&A activity; Corporate restructurings: An important number of distressed assets of strategic importance for all the sectors of the economy (Real Estate, Utilities, Hotels, Industrial Operations) is expected to attract investors’ attention. Compliance: There will be increased demand for compliance services given that there is an increasing trend for regulation of all business activities. Key drivers are expected to be GDPR compliance, new corporate governance regulations and transparency tools (AML, KYC policies). What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We have grown the scope of our legal services of the firm by welcoming new partners, Stathis Bakalis, George Venieris and Michalis Pattakos. Stathis Bakalis is a renowned expert in tax litigation and George Venieris is a highly acknowledged practitioner at the fields of personal tax and estate planning. Michalis Pattakos is an experienced transactional lawyer and is the co-head of our M&A practice group. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Definitely yes, and we aspire to always be ahead of any relevant technological developments, the most important of those being the gradual introduction of artificial intelligence in our practice. More specifically in close cooperation with our global network (Deloitte Legal) we intend to introduce AI in a number of our services in the near future. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? We have played a leading role in the Greek market for compliance with the newly established GDPR regulation. In this respect we have assisted a number of leading domestic as well as multinational companies to implement policies and practices safeguarding compliance with the new legal regime. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? One of our key strategies is to create and reserve long-term client relationships. Notwithstanding the fact that we are a relatively newly established law firm, we have already managed to create solid client relationships across the entire spectrum of industries in Greece and this will be one of the key drivers for our growth plans.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal s.r.o. from your competitors? The main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from its competitors are as follows. Firstly, there is the overall set-up and functioning of the worldwide network of Deloitte entities, which allows us to cooperate extensively to provide clients with more detailed and far-reaching knowledge across many jurisdictions. Secondly, Deloitte Legal is a business and technology-oriented firm thanks to our dedicated professionals, and the ability to use cooperation synergies with other departments (eg tax, transaction advisory, audit, consulting, etc) of Deloitte in Slovakia and abroad.   We believe that this approach is the main differentiation point and enables us to provide clients with a “one-stop-shop” approach and solutions to their problems.    Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Today, we are seeing many changes across technology and environment driven sectors, ie energy and cybersecurity. We believe that these will be the most important trends over the next 12 months. This approach is greatly influenced by the strictness of regulations, and the awareness of problems in these areas.   Today, we see a greater emphasis on environmental issues and on the data that companies process and store, which creates pressure on companies to deal with these issues. One very important aspect of growth of industries in this area in the near future will be the marketability of solutions of companies, and providing solutions which differentiate them on the market.   What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We believe that services provided to our clients can only be as good as are our people, the professionals providing them. Therefore, we have teams of specialized professionals to help clients with their problems in a given area of expertise.   With regard to the fast-evolving environment in the banking and finance sector, we cooperate with our local and international consulting colleagues to provide clients with comprehensive and complex solutions.   In relation to EU funds, we have helped clients finalize their projects via advisory in relation to project costs and overall project support and with setting the optimal conditions for future projects.    Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Technology is a huge driver in the interaction with clients and the scope of services we provide to them. Access to data and data analytics continues to expand rapidly. This enables us to communicate and market our ideas more effectively, with greater emphasis on clients’ needs.   Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? A major Slovak bank faced a difficult task with regard to processing client data and risk evaluation. Deloitte created a methodology and sophisticated interactive tool for risk evaluation. The tool was customized so it could be incorporated into the core banking system, which enabled the bank to fulfil its legal obligations under data protection legislation in a familiar environment, which saved time and resources.   Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Clients are definitely looking for stability from their advisors, and they also expect a business-oriented, practical and efficient approach to their problems. They are looking for advisors that can see the bigger picture of what will be achieved by a given decision, or approach.   Our firm, in cooperation with the Deloitte network, will continue to provide our clients with this approach. In this respect, we will continue to strengthen our professional capabilities and strategies, so our clients always receive the best advice and solutions in time and when they need them.   We proactively monitor changes to local and EU legislation in close cooperation with the Deloitte network to highlight potential obligations clients may encounter in the future with regard to new legislation. Over the next three years, we will develop this approach further, to identify and solve potential issues before they become problems for our clients. 

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal in the Baltics from your competitors? Primarily, Deloitte Legal in the Baltics is an integral part of the global Deloitte Legal Network with over 2400 legal professionals in more than 84 countries. Thus, our Clients benefit from our ability to share international expertise, experience and knowledge across the world and our unique regional coverage of Central Europe and Baltics. Our detailed knowledge of the international practises and national specifics enables to solve our clients’ legal issues more effectively. Innovation and technologies would be another extremely important distinctiveness amongst our competitors. Deloitte Legal enables its’ clients to use most recent legal technologies, e.g. we have introduced a robot for immigration and employment law services.. Also, Deloitte offers an automated processing application Deloitte Legal Entity Management – it is an enabler in the development of a centralized approach to corporate compliance. From Legal Entity Management might benefit companies seeking to ease an administrative burden of corporate compliance, mitigate risks, comply with law and regulations, increase control as well as reduce costs. Our Clients have possibility to use a proprietary web-based technology solution, Dismissal Calculator, that helps businesses calculate the notice period and provide a preliminary estimate of the cost associated with a dismissal. Moreover, Deloitte Legal initiated the launch of the contract automation tool, enabling to draft contracts in quick and effective way. Additionally, we do not just work for our Clients, we work, discuss and solve particular issues together with them. This Client-oriented approach helps us to make decisions together with Clients, guide their business and offer the best solutions for the companies. Most importantly, that we are eager to offer not only full traditional legal services but also multidisciplinary services, engaging our Deloitte colleagues from other functions – tax, business and financial advisory. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? It is likely that regulatory, litigation, mergers & acquisitions (M&A), corporate reorganization practices continue to grow a year ahead. Our highly experienced professionals are well-positioned and ready to serve clients in these fields. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? The core changes we have done within the firm recently: An initiative to integrate law firms across the Baltics. Currently we are in progress of integrating law firms in the Baltic region; Employing the latest legal technological tools, methods and innovations, which gives opportunity to our lawyers to have deep knowledge in specific industries. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Technology plays an extremely significant role in cooperation and effective communication with clients. Deloitte established Legal Technology Center that supports the development of legal technology applications for Deloitte Legal by providing Deloitte Legal practitioners with up-to-date information on what legal tech solutions are available and under development. It enables always to be on track and offer solutions to our clients in the most effective and innovative way. Amongst key Deloitte Legal Technology projects we might highlight Brexit Navigator, My insights, corporate reorganizations, legal due diligence tools, regulatory visualizer, dismissal calculator and others. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? One of the most intensive projects anywhere in Deloitte Central Europe during the last financial year was the highly complex task of enabling– one of the largest banks in the Baltics – to prepare for the introduction in 2018 of the EU-wide GDPR data-protection and privacy legislation. The two-stage project kicked off with a detailed examination of the gaps in preparation for GDPR that existed at the Bank, and an analysis of how well prepared it was to respond to the requirements of the new legislation. In the second stage, our integrated team worked closely with the client on detailing a comprehensive compliance roadmap, comprising end-to-end guidance and detailed recommendations. Drawing on the energy and expertise of more than 20 Deloitte professionals from six countries, the task was successfully completed over a demanding two-month time-frame, well in advance of the 25 May 2018 deadline. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Over the next three years we see ourselves as innovative, cross-border, technology-enabled, multi-disciplinary legal firm. We aim to attract top talent and serve as trusted advisors four our Clients and help them to grow their business in sustainable way. Deloitte Legal to focus on more value for the fees, greater innovation into new service offerings as well as opportunity to deepen relationships with Clients.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate DTT Attorneys-at-law from your competitors? As part of the Deloitte Legal global network that spreads across 81 countries and regions with more than 2200 legal professionals around the world, DTT Attorneys-at-Law (DTT) has more resources than local law firms to offer cross-regional legal services. Our firm also collaborates closely with other Deloitte professionals in Tax, Audit and Assurance, Financial Advisory, Risk Advisory and Consulting, capable to provide a “one-stop service” with comprehensive solution for our clients. In addition, with our knowledge and experience on industries and business transactions, we are able to have a better grasp of the clients’ point of view and understand their needs in order to provide feasible legal solutions to support their business and decision-making. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? With Fintech, securities token offerings (STOs) and other finance-related services becoming more restrictive around the world, we anticipate that the practice of Banking and Finance would be more challenging and widespread in the next 12 months. Furthermore, due to economic substance acts executed in tax havens and the Taiwan investment policy of repatriated offshore funds act announced recently by the government, there could be a substantial growth in the investment, e.g., renewable energy, in Taiwan. As a consequence, the practice of Projects and Energy may experience a significant increase correspondingly What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We have incorporated changes and modified our approach with regard to the fast-evolving environment in the banking and finance sectors. Recently, we have started to offer legal services in the fields of Fintech, internet bank only, start-up related matters. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Technology indeed brings about a whole new transforming era where the companies are facing heightened regulatory scrutiny, increasing workload as well as accelerating technological advancements. To help clients navigate such transformative environment, Deloitte Legal announced the launch of Legal Management Consulting, a new approach that builds on legal and management consultancy, as well as risk advisory services, which roughly consists services of GC Lab, Technology Roadmap, Contracting Technology, Document Review Technology, Legal Risk Management, Sourcing Framework and Legal Managed Services. Being a member firm of the Deloitte Global, DTT is privileged to leverage resources from such network and liaise with other member firms to support our clients across the jurisdictions and markets. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? DTT assisted a client in privatizing a Taiwan emerging stock market company. After the privatization, the company spun off and successfully listed in Hong Kong, with a bigger fundraising platform, hence receiving a better valuation. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Clients certainly desire stability and strategic direction from their law firms, which is precisely why DTT is committed to our clients by treating them as partners and providing them with higher quality services. We fully expect to continue to integrate the global resources of the Deloitte Legal network and increase market share through comprehensive services, including consulting and tax services, over the next three years.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Hermawan Juniarto & Partners from your competitors? We distinguish ourselves from other firms by offering our clients particularly strong resources in many disciplines. Our depth of practice enables us to handle complex matters. Our Partners and lawyers adopt a progressive approach of various legal practices; emphasise the importance of harmonious relationship with clients, also applying practical solutions on business problems the clients are facing. We are widely recognised as one of the leading legal services provider for infrastructure, Public Private Partnership (PPP) and project financing works in Indonesia. We have assisted in major PPP and infrastructure projects such as mass rapid transit, light rail transit, airports, railways, and fiber optic projects on a nationwide scale. In addition to our role as one of the leading PPP and Infrastructure legal service provider in Indonesia, we have extensive qualifications and experience in corporate commercial, capital market, merger and acquisition, banking, restructuring, commercial dispute, and intellectual property services. As the result of several years of experience in dealing with regulatory matters, our lawyers are experienced in dealing with complicated regulatory procedures in Indonesia, liaising with local government officials, as well as being able to communicate effectively. Throughout the years, we have established positive relationships with government officers and agencies that has assisted us to understand the policies or regulations and we believe this will be beneficial to us and our clients. Furthermore, as part of the Deloitte Legal network that comprises more than 2,500 legal professionals in more than 80 countries, we are able to assist clients that require legal services across the world. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We believe most of our legal practices will keep growing and developing in the next 12 months as we are committed to continue rendering high-quality legal services responding to global trends as well as Clients feedback. Being a member of the Deloitte Legal Network has strengthen the possibility of attaining our goal, to be the strongest legal practice in Indonesia, in regards to clientele acquisitions, networks, and business system to serve clients across the world for most legal practices such as infrastructure and project finance, corporate commercial, capital market, merger and acquisition, banking, restructuring, commercial dispute, and intellectual property services. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? Effective from 1 October 2018, Hermawan Juniarto & Partners became a member of the Deloitte Legal Network. This means that we are able to collaborate with other Deloitte professionals in an array of globally integrated services to deliver multinational legal solutions that are tailored and sensitised to the regulatory requirements and geographies of the clients. Our industry knowledge, global footprint, and multidisciplinary service model result in a strategic perspective that enables and empowers our clients to both meet their local responsibilities and thrive in the global marketplace. In addition, we are also able to provide the full-on service to clients, not only regulatory and legal services, but also financial services, tax services, and consulting services, as we are able to provide joint-service with other Deloitte functions. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Yes, we found that the customer service environment is changing driven by the growth and development of technology. Hermawan Juniarto & Partners aims to be the leader in digital technology by creating a new model for a new age, i.e., digital consultancy for its corporate clients. Hermawan Juniarto & Partners transforms itself into the digital journey in ways traditional agency cannot do. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Hermawan Juniarto & Partners aim to make an impact and value-add to client’s business by building long-term, trusting relationships, emphasising on client satisfaction, rely on our experience, as well as to assist clients through their biggest challenges and achieve their business goals and purposes. We advise our clients on complex and high profile projects in Indonesia. Those projects address major challenges faced either by the Government as well as private sectors. Our active infrastructure and project financing practices assist and aims to transform the Indonesian economy and to support its continuous growth. In our practice, we are helping clients by giving advice from legal and commercial perspective based on our extensive experiences in dealing with various and complex legal matters. Hermawan Juniarto & Partners has always been at the forefront of embracing integrity and quality service. Our recent integration as member of the Deloitte Global Legal Network is a testament to our commitment to quality and our long-term vision. Moving forward, the firm has a positive outlook on the Indonesian market and beyond, and we will continue to strive as provider of professional legal practice. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Yes, existing clients and more new clients have placed their trust in us as the firm is well suited to provide strategic advices to clients. As a member of the Deloitte Legal Network, our skilled and experienced lawyers work with other Deloitte professionals in tax, consulting, and financial advisory to guide clients through their projects in a coordinated way around the world. Among its clients are some Fortune Global 500 companies. Hermawan Juniarto & Partners provides only legal services, and it is legally separate and independent from other Deloitte entities. In this respect, our vision is to continue rendering high-quality legal services to clients while keep growing and developing to become the strongest and biggest law firm in Indonesia and even in the Southeast Asia.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate [law firm name] from your competitors? One of the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from our competitors is the fact that we can offer our clients a “one-stop-shop”, for Deloitte Legal is part of a greater structure, that offers professional services in Tax, Financial, Accounting and Transfer Pricing Advisory. In addition, approaches are also provided on a global-scale, which is beneficial for international clients. Therefore, by being part of a greater and organized structure, we have a competitive advantage that allows us to be leaders in the legal services market. Finally, Deloitte Legal has very strong politics regarding integrity, quality, independence and confidentiality. This allows our work to be “guaranteed”, for we are always on the track to innovate and keep giving a high-end service to our clients. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We are currently seeking to help our professionals grow, by optimizing the scopes of our legal team, incorporating different practice areas, increasing our levels of expertise and expanding our services to new clients. We are also willing to invest in our resources and workforce. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? One of the most important changes we´ve been trying to implement is to accelerate processes with our clients. We are conscious of the urgency of most of their cases, and that´s why we are doing our best to prioritize every single task in the least possible time, without sacrificing quality. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Deloitte as a global firm is seriously committed to implement new technologies in order to facilitate our services provision. Currently, we are implementing three main applications: 1. DELA 2. Element 3. Corporate Compliance. Therefore, technology has changed our way of interacting with our clients in a very positive way. In addition, the challenges derived from the pandemic have allowed us to work one hundred percent remotely, and adapt to different platforms for communicating, both within the Team and with our clients. Furthermore, technological resources oriented towards brand´s design and identity, has allowed us to provide creative deliverables, presentations, and interactive products to our clients. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? A practical example of how we have helped a client to add value to their business was a recently registered, successful corporate merger between two leading transport and warehousing companies. The value added was reflected on the following results: The company´s profit was maximized and the equity was strengthen, as the competitive advantages of each of the Companies in the market were combined. Centralizing and unifying the management and administration of the Companies in the governing body of the same legal entity helped reduce costs, increase the efficiency of internal procedures, facilitate administrative controls and improve the results and productivity of the Companies. Simplification of compliance with tax, accounting and reporting obligations was achieved, as well as making administrative management of this type of business more efficient. We advised the merging companies through the employment substitution, complying with all Colombian Labor and Social Security laws in a gradual manner by setting two (2) effective employer substitution dates. Through this, we were able to comply with Colombian regulations, without disregarding the operative needs of both companies, these being firstly, adapting to the new business and marketplace and secondly, finalizing activities for the merged company. Equally as important, we drafted the “Employer Substitution Agreement”, in which we defined all transfer of personnel, labor assets and liabilities conditions, as well as the moment in which the new employer would assume all labor obligations, thus avoiding labor and social security conflicts that could arise from the employer substitution. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? We are aiming to maintain our position and high-end service with our clients in a way to ensure certainty and stability. Trustworthiness is the most important element in our bond with our clients, and this can only be achieved through integrity and commitment in our work. In three years, we see ourselves providing more services to our clients, improving our team´s dynamics and focusing our efforts to build from ground up a finest, organized structure.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate RP&C Abogados – Deloitte Legal Ecuador from your competitors? For RP&C Abogados, member firm of the Deloitte legal network, it is vital to provide valid tools for making decisions based on firsthand information. Our experience and acquired know-how enable us to provide creative solutions to complex and unusual problems through a multidisciplinary team of specialist professionals. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? In my opinion we will see growing practices in mining and labor advisory services, obviously digital law as reforms to laws undertaken recent months kick in due to COVID19 pandemic. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We have assembled a talented team of professionals who possess the technical skills, experience and communication abilities required to ensure that the clients are provided with the best available service. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Technology has changed the way we interact with our clients. We now make strenuous efforts to ensure that information is shared safely. It has also allowed us to share articles of interest, target communications as well as disseminate publications such as Legal News and the Official Gazette to our clients. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? RP&C Abogados – Deloitte Legal Ecuador is different to traditional local law firms since we are a multidisciplinary practice. Our services are analyzed not only from a legal perspective but also from a business outlook. We have professional experts in business administration and accounting, and RPC & Abogados forms part of the Deloitte Legal network, so we can call upon the experience and methodology of the most prestigious and successful firm of the world. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? In a globalized world in which technology advances in leaps and bounds, clients need to have access to firms with international and reliable contacts, firms with their own network. This is what RP&C Abogados offers our clients as part of the global Deloitte Legal network. We also act as a consolidated practice for local companies, enabling clients to benefit from our local and international experience in which we can identify disadvantages, challenges and benefits from a global perspective.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal Guatemala from your competitors? Our standards: They consist of procedures that guarantee to our clients the quality of the services and work performed. In addition, we have technological tools that allow for better and effective communication with our clients. Multidisciplinary Firm: It allows us to provide comprehensive solutions that meet our clients’ needs, from different perspectives, which differentiates us from our competition. Legal services provider: Deloitte Legal, with its network of professionals and presence in more than eighty countries, allows us to share knowledge, expertise, and comprehensive solutions that provide added value to our regional clients and their subsidiaries in our jurisdiction, providing them with quality and efficient service. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? The legal practices that easily adapt to change and are at the forefront in the implementation of technology in their professional services, as well as those with knowledge of the environment in which their clients operate in their respective industries, are the ones that will have the opportunity to grow in the coming months. Understanding the client’s need for quick, efficient responses that provide comprehensive solutions, which will allow them to make decisions both in their jurisdiction and regionally, will be the driver for growth in the legal services market. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We increased the quantity and quality of the services we offer the market, by hiring well-trained professionals who are highly adaptive and flexible in meeting our clients’ needs, while remaining committed to complying with the Firm’s internal policies. This guarantees high-quality, optimal and timely legal services to our clients. Another important change to our practice is the redefinition of our taxonomy of services, giving it the utmost importance, so that it serves as a basis for the comprehensive development of our professional practice. This leaves us prepared for the implementation of new technology, enables more efficient management, and allows us to use our resources in a more versatile way when providing our legal services. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Yes, indeed. In addition to enabling faster and more effective communication, technology also allows us to provide our services more quickly. In the past, some formalities took more time because they involved manual procedures. However, many services are now available online, resulting in a much shorter response time. In addition, we are implementing tools developed by Deloitte on a global scale, through which we can keep our clients up to date by immediately sharing information with them. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Deloitte is known for performing a series of studies at the global level on different industries, through which we can keep our clients informed regarding the latest trends. This also allows us to share positive experiences regarding problem solving or areas of improvement, both from an operational standpoint, as well as a legal perspective. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? The trend in business is to contract legal services on a regional basis, and thus we envision Deloitte Legal Guatemala becoming one of the largest legal services providers in the region. Having a global network of professionals available to our clients, along with our industry-based experience, allows us to guarantee our services and their quality.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate DLI from your competitors? Deloitte Legal has its unique offering combining our strengths in traditional law firm practice areas together with Deloitte’s other service offerings that leverage our resources, experience and global reach to provide a unique integrated, multi-disciplinary service offering to our clients. The global trend towards the use of technology-enabled legal solutions and alternative legal services providers and increasing demand for holistic advisory services are some of the areas which Deloitte Legal is able to successfully leverage and offer. As part of the network of member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, DLI has global capabilities that are locally grounded to offer our clients a unique experience of a traditional law firm combined with ‘new law’ alternative legal service products and offerings such as legal management consulting (LMC), legal managed services, legal entity management, and alternative legal services supported with cutting edge legal technology. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Legal technology: The legal world is transforming as demand for technology-enabled solutions grows. Deloitte and Deloitte Legal have been at the forefront of this change advising our clients on the challenges and opportunities offered by what is seen as the fourth industrial revolution. Merger & Acquisition (M&A): With the ongoing global impact from the pandemic, we have seen an increasing demand in corporate restructuring, legal entity reduction, M&A and employment related work across the region. As we find in-house counsels having to cope with heightened regulatory scrutiny, increasing workloads, accelerating technological advancements and growing demands from internal stakeholders, we believe, taking a lead from our global and regional leaders, that our LMC and related practice areas will continue to grow across the region. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? Previously DLI work as a standalone, providing only legal services to clients. At present, DLI actively engages and works with other Deloitte professionals in tax, risk, finance, consulting and other across multiple jurisdictions to provide clients with a multi-disciplinary integrated service. Clients will benefit from the collaboration with other member firms of Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu Limited, by getting access to the best practices, experienced professionals and timely knowledge to guide clients through their project in a coordinated way around the world. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? As part of the network of member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, DLI is fortunate to have so many resources and specialist at our disposal that can enable us to take lead from our leaders in this space and in other markets e.g., UK, Canada, US, etc. We leverage Deloitte’s extensive experience and knowledge in technology and process optimisation to explore both traditional and new emerging legal needs differently. DLI, as one of the first movers in global market, is bringing its transformative thinking, which has been applied to reshape many other industries to the legal arena. For example, with smart contracting via blockchain technology, transactions can be managed securely with reduced cost benefits. With artificial intelligence, data can be organised ‘smartly’ and analysed in ever greater volumes. With automation, greater degree of efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved. Processing and turnaround time can be shortened tremendously to meet client’s urgent needs thanks to those advanced technologies. DLI is working to keep pace with these future technical trends through continuous Research & Development that can benefit all barristers and solicitors working in the legal profession. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? One of our clients, a major US multinational corporation, asked us to help them in expanding their global operations in Asia across a number of countries. As Asia was a new and relatively unknown market to them, we assisted by gathering our resources and specialist across different disciplines (tax, legal, risk advisory, corporate secretarial compliance and others) and countries to provide end-to-end solutions to the client on every aspect of their set up and roll out of their businesses. Not only this avoided the need for the client to engage a multitude of different independent advisers (none of whom communicate with any other) working with different client teams, but it also meant that we were able to provide a unique Deloitte one-leader one-team offering to the client’s central team and where, working together as one seamless service, we could fully align with different aspects of the client’s business to help them achieve their commercial objectives across multiple jurisdictions and within a very challenging time-frame. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? An emphatic yes: 2020 has been a year of volatility and uncertainty; however, we believe that DLI is well positioned to continue to help clients through this challenging period and to respond to challenges, so that they can recover, come out the other side and thrive. Like our growth in legal across the region, we would hope to continue to grow over the next three years both in terms of critical mass as well as areas of focus and bottom line. There definitely is room for our growth in a legal market like Asia that has been and continues to grow, as the Asia Pacific economy is providing plenty of opportunities across the region. That said, we will not expand for the sake of expansion and instead, as we have done to date, continue to look discerningly at opportunities with cautious optimism and flexibility in our approach to ensure that our commercial, strategic and cultural fit objectives and requirements are met—and this may now involve a longer process given uncertainty and impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic. We are however as always keeping our finger on the pulse, monitoring opportunities across our markets to help position ourselves and to move forward at the right time.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate CTSU from your competitors? Our footprint is one of the main differences. We have a global presence, as part of the Deloitte Legal practice, with more than 2,500 lawyers in more than 80 countries. “With innovation and business knowledge, we add value to our Client’s projects in an integrated and global manner” - this is our main reference for the rendering of legal services. By working globally with different expertise and business teams, our lawyers bring together skilled teams with deep knowledge of different industries, enabling them to propose several diversified and adequate solutions to each client. CTSU´s Lawyers combine legal expertise with industry knowledge, working dynamically and closely  with clients as trusted advisors, promoting teamwork and strong confidence in the solutions presented. CTSU promotes accountability, specialization, research, innovation, quality, efficiency and effectiveness within the scope of the legal services provided to clients, complying with the highest ethics and deontology standards. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Following Covid-19 impact, we assisted to the significant growing of legal areas such as Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate and Digital Law. We expect M&A, specially within health, technologies, logistics, renewable energy, and tourism sectors to continue to grow and to be relevant. And the same applies to Compliance and Regulatory practices. We are of course concerned about the impacts of the war in Europe, further to inflation and energy crisis inflation. In a crisis and/or post crisis environment, areas such as Labour, Restructuring and Recovery, as well as insurance, should also be very active. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We are very much focused in our growth and innovation strategy. We are investing in new technologies, including new and updated software solutions that on the one hand increase internal efficiency and on the other hand change the way legal services are delivered to clients, bringing us closer and working more effectively together. We have continued implementing our growth strategy, namely increasing our teams in several key practice areas, such as M&A, Real Estate, Energy, Infrastructures and Public Law, Digital Law and Restructuring & Recovery. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? We have implemented and have been using software interactive tools for client use, which enable clients in having direct access to the main information and current status of relevant procedures, namely litigation suits, contracts/corporate documentation or corporate secretarial services. This approach enables clients to monitor in real time pending activities and deadlines. We try to adapt the features of our tools to effective needs of clients. We have also adopted contract automation and AI tools and have other tech initiatives in our pipeline to be developed during the current year. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? We may share some examples that evidence the strength of having a global footprint. We are currently assisting a client within a transaction involving five jurisdictions, namely in Europe and South America. We have been able to provide a global proposal to the client, involving all the relevant jurisdictions, where the local Deloitte Legal practices are developing their due diligence processes, under CTSU coordination, in this specific case. The ability to coordinate different jurisdictions with a consistency in the approach, quality and deliverables proves to be a strong add value to the client. We are assisting several global clients within their corporate matters, combining legal services with interactive technological tools which allow the clients to have a global view of their corporate structures and legal obligations.  Again, the approach is global, quality is consistent, and the technological tool improves efficiency and brings strong value to the clients’ business. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Our firm, as part of Deloitte Legal global practice and strategy, can offer clients a wide range of services, technology interactive tools that can be accessed globally as well as broad geographic reach. We are growing organically, consistently recruiting within the best legal talent in Portugal, and solidifying our position as one of the main legal references in Portugal while offering opportunities  for lawyers to achieve their career goals. Our overall goal is to improve the way legal services are delivered and continue to be regarded as a leader in this respect. We will continue to address clients’ needs with efficiency, quality, competence and excellence, always maintaining a close relation with our clients.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? We are able to provide our clients with holistic integrated M&A services that is not limited only to a single stream. We collaborate with other Deloitte professionals in tax, consulting, risk and financial advisory to guide our clients through challenges in a coordinated way around the world. We are truly able to provide one-stop M&A services beyond the legal box. We have a global reach and we are able to assist clients in cross-border deals in a streamlined fashion around the world making it easy and cost-efficient for our clients to manage. Our multi-disciplinary, tech-enabled legal approach allows Deloitte Legal to address legal questions not just in the abstract isolated way but with a holistic understanding of what the client organization is trying to achieve. We expand our knowledge about our clients, the industries they operate in, their regulatory and legislative environments around the world to bring more to the table and provide the best possible legal advise to clients. Our professionals provide tailored and multidisciplinary solutions for demanding projects and complex domestic and cross-border international transactions. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We are seeing and expecting growth especially in our legal M&A team. Our firm is explicitly focusing on expanding and strengthening our legal M&A team. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? I was recruited in fall of 2018 to build develop the legal M&A advisory services at Deloitte Legal in Finland that we are offering to our clients today. We are seeing great results in the market as Deloitte has during the past two years been seen in significant transactions also on the Finnish legal market. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? We do leverage on leading technologies to deliver efficient and transparent support where considered advantageous, e.g. in case of routine work. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? We have successfully negotiated complex multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional deals on behalf of our clients. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? I strongly believe that clients are already expecting stability and strategic direction from their legal representatives. High competence in the regulatory and all legal aspects is a must. Going beyond that by providing our clients with strategic advise, pragmatic solutions, industry knowledge, network and experience is where we start to generate added value to our clients and that is our ultimate goal. In the coming years, our M&A legal team will continue to develop and expand further strengthening the services we are able to provide to our clients. Market demand for integrated multidisciplinary and technology enabled M&A services will grow.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal Guatemala from your competitors? Our standards: They consist of procedures that guarantee to our clients the quality of the services and work performed. In addition, we have technological tools that allow for better and effective communication with our clients. Multidisciplinary Firm: It allows us to provide comprehensive solutions that meet our clients’ needs, from different perspectives, which differentiates us from our competition. Legal services provider: Deloitte Legal, with its network of professionals and presence in more than eighty countries, allows us to share knowledge, expertise, and comprehensive solutions that provide added value to our regional clients and their subsidiaries in our jurisdiction, providing them with quality and efficient service. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? The legal practices that easily adapt to change and are at the forefront in the implementation of technology in their professional services, as well as those with knowledge of the environment in which their clients operate in their respective industries, are the ones that will have the opportunity to grow in the coming months. Understanding the client’s need for quick, efficient responses that provide comprehensive solutions, which will allow them to make decisions both in their jurisdiction and regionally, will be the driver for growth in the legal services market. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We increased the quantity and quality of the services we offer the market, by hiring well-trained professionals who are highly adaptive and flexible in meeting our clients’ needs, while remaining committed to complying with the Firm’s internal policies. This guarantees high-quality, optimal and timely legal services to our clients. Another important change to our practice is the redefinition of our taxonomy of services, giving it the utmost importance, so that it serves as a basis for the comprehensive development of our professional practice. This leaves us prepared for the implementation of new technology, enables more efficient management, and allows us to use our resources in a more versatile way when providing our legal services. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Yes, indeed. In addition to enabling faster and more effective communication, technology also allows us to provide our services more quickly. In the past, some formalities took more time because they involved manual procedures. However, many services are now available online, resulting in a much shorter response time. In addition, we are implementing tools developed by Deloitte on a global scale, through which we can keep our clients up to date by immediately sharing information with them. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Deloitte is known for performing a series of studies at the global level on different industries, through which we can keep our clients informed regarding the latest trends. This also allows us to share positive experiences regarding problem solving or areas of improvement, both from an operational standpoint, as well as a legal perspective. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? The trend in business is to contract legal services on a regional basis, and thus we envision Deloitte Legal becoming one of the largest legal services providers in the region. Having a global network of professionals available to our clients, along with our industry-based experience, allows us to guarantee our services and their quality.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Hadjianastassiou, Ioannides LLC (member of the Deloitte Legal network) from your competitors? We are a distinctly modern law firm which focuses on attaining the optimal combination of human talent and technology to deliver exceptional client service. As the world is changing ever faster, we need out-of-the-box thinkers to help us build the future of our firm. Our multi-disciplinary, tech-enabled legal approach allows us to address legal questions not just in the abstract isolated way but with a holistic understanding of what our clients are trying to achieve. By putting our clients in the hearts of everything we do, we push ourselves to expand our knowledge about our clients, the industries they operate in, and their regulatory and legislative environments around the world so that we can provide perspective that will add value to our clients’ organizations. Global integration, Business Integration and Technology Integration are the main points that differentiate us from our competitors. With over 2,500 legal professionals in more than 75 countries that work together across borders, we have developed a strategic perspective which enables our clients not only to meet their local responsibilities but also to thrive in the global marketplace. We have access to industry specialists and a broad range of professional services spanning strategy, finance, human capital, risk, technology, audit, tax and, of course, legal, to meet our clients’ complex business needs and to provide a one-stop-shop for our clients. We employ technology to pioneer innovative legal solutions. It is part of the Deloitte organization, which has collected several technology-related accolades and has a strong track record in providing technology solutions, both through in-house capabilities and alliances with technology companies. The combination of legal skills with innovative service delivery, solution platforms and intelligent data analysis enable us to provide innovative solutions and unparalleled services to our clients. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Cybersecurity and privacy: With the exponential rise in the use of technology, privacy and cybersecurity risks are greater than ever, requiring companies to create robust frameworks ensuring the proper management and protection of their data. At the same time, new laws (particularly within the EU) are expected to come into force in an effort to catch up with and regulate technological advancements such as AI, crypto-currency and digital markets. Environmental sustainability: Climate change has highlighted the need for urgent action on environmental protection. At the same time, there has been a rising pressure on companies to improve their sustainability-related performances and comply with ever-expanding regulations in ESG (Environment, Social and Corporate Governance). Together, these are fueling demand for ESG-focused legal services. Health (including digital health): This area of law has seen a surge in demand especially, but not exclusively, due to the covid-19 pandemic. With this heightened importance on health and hygiene more people are seeking control of their health information and wish to monitor their health through the use of digital healthcare products and devices (such as wearable devices, health record platforms, patient-physician portals etc). The rapid pace in innovation in digital health brings with it significant regulatory and policy challenges (be it in terms of IP, privacy and cybersecurity, product liability etc.) which lawyers will be expected to navigate more and more in the coming years. Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI is already taking over the way law firms work. The rapid developments in artificial intelligence are expected to reshape the legal profession and a number of practice areas themselves. The benefits of AI in the drafting of contracts, predicting legal outcomes or recommending judicial decisions, increasing productivity and avoiding costly mistakes are real and tangible. Law firms that embrace emerging AI technologies will be able to benefit from higher efficiency enabling them to meet the higher demand for legal services and to offer services at lower cost. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? Business Integration: Our cooperation with the Deloitte Legal international network allows us to have a first seat of view of solutions to issues arising all over the world, draw on know-how from our counterparts in other jurisdictions to maintain our understanding and market awareness up to date and work in multi-jurisdictional transactions as one team to deliver a product of consistent quality. It strengthens our practices and allows the client to benefit from commercially sound, implementable solutions with a one stop shop service both across service lines and across jurisdictions. Regulatory: The increasing complexity of the global regulatory environment challenges clients to find solutions for greater organization, specialization, and sectorial knowledge. Deloitte Legal combines global perspective with local insights to help them develop and execute on those solutions. We have enhanced our human capital and technological capabilities to support our clients in navigating through the modern regulatory minefield. Enhanced security and business continuity: We have successfully renewed our ISO 22301 ‘Business Continuity Management System’ and ISO 27001 ‘Information Security Management System’ certifications. Obtaining the ISO certificates is especially important during times of uncertainty as it ensures we have the right capabilities to proceed with business as usual. The certifications confirm that we are in position to protect and best serve our clients without disruption and with high levels of protection of their confidential and personal data. Data classification: We have introduced a data classification and data management service which protects our clients’ business and personal data. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Technology has become an essential part of our lives and it definitely keeps changing the way we interact with our clients and the services we can provide them. At Deloitte Legal, we have introduced technological tools and stayed apprised of emerging legal technologies so that we can deliver maximum value to our clients. We use an integrated law firm management suite which provides a single source for all our data. We have implemented a document automation solution and we are slowly moving towards a paperless practice. Our contract automation tool allows for the creation and management of contract templates and the easy generation of draft agreements. This eliminates the hassle of finding and populating suitable templates, allowing the in-house lawyers to focus on the productive aspect of a task. We provide matter management and global risk and compliance tools as a means to keeping up to date with constant changes in compliance and regulatory matters. We consolidate all contracts in a centralised repository, helping clients access key documentation quickly and efficiently, while driving insights that are easy to digest to unlock additional value. We have adopted an electronic signing platform to facilitate the online execution of documents which eliminates the hassle of exchanging originals, save time and is an eco-friendly solution. We utilise e-discovery tools that facilitate due diligence exercises and document disclosures in litigation or data analysis. We have in place a data classification and data management service aimed at protecting our clients’ business and personal data. Importantly, all of the above can be achieved from an office-less environment where data and tools are accessed at anytime from anywhere with secure cloud services. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Client-specific seminars and training: We often run seminars/trainings for our clients (for example to banking institutions, systemic and otherwise, governmental authorities (Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property), major service providers)), tailoring the material to their needs. We add value to their business and know-how by updating them on the latest legal and commercial developments affecting their organisation and the industry in general and educate them on how to adapt and conform with such developments. Proactive problem solving: We work closely with our clients to anticipate any potential problems that may arise and how to prevent them. This helps our clients minimise their cost and legal exposure by: Avoiding litigation costs and costs in dispute settlement. Minimising cost of work done in our law firm as against their inhouse departments. Providing them with standardised templates to ensure the needs of the business can be met in a timely manner that minimises risk. Employment law: Our firm has recently enhanced its focus on employee benefits, taking into consideration the recent trends in giving value to our clients’ employees (thus our clients’ businesses as a whole) with less traditional methods. We assist start-ups to receive quick and robust advice in setting up one of the most significant aspects of every operation, human capital. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Clients certainly appreciate stability and strategic direction from their legal advisors. As the legal sector changes and competition increases, clients are looking for commercially and legally viable solutions recommended by their lawyers who understand their strategy and business goals. In three years’ time, we see our firm on a steady road implementing the specific, realistic and attainable goals set today. Growth on multiple levels is the firm’s three-year business plan, in terms of recruiting more and capable staff, expanding and perfecting practice area niche and adopting further legal tech. Our determination to provide exceptional client service involves equipping our clients with reassurance and confidence. Building on our accomplishments, we plan on continuing stronger.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? There are three factors which differentiate Deloitte Legal in the market. First is the Deloitte Legal global network which extends to over 80 countries and entails over 2.000 lawyers and attorneys, who collaborate across countries in serving our clients. Second is our wide-ranging experience in tax, which is interconnected with all legal aspects of business and investment decisions both locally and globally. Lastly it is our collaboration with other Deloitte businesses, which include financial advisory, consulting, risk advisory and audit. Our local Deloitte Legal capabilities coupled global multidisciplinary service allows us to offer clients of all sizes a single point of contact with wide-ranging and in-depth advisory experience and pragmatic solutions which suits their market and strategy. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We will continue to grow in international tax and M&A legal related services. We are also building up new capabilities within EEA, competition and TMT, which suit well given the market dynamics in Iceland and supplement our current offerings within legal M&A. An emphasis on technology law furthermore fits well with increased capabilities within Deloitte’s Consulting tech offerings where subject matter experts are amongst others supporting companies in their digital transformation journey. Those journeys have a wide-range of touch points with various legislative aspects. Another driver behind this approach is the current positive economic outlook which has expedited various investments locally and across borders. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? Broadening our service offerings into EEA, competition and TMT is a significant change which will benefit our clients, both in stand-alone competition related challenges in a small market such as Iceland and coupled with legal M&A services, whereas competition aspects are always interconnected. The other notable change is our emphasis on technology, which Deloitte Legal Globally has invested substantially in recent years. We are looking into implementing a few of these solutions which we believe will benefit our clients in the long-run. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? We definitely see an increased focus from clients on LegalTech solutions, where the objective is to optimize processes, mitigate risk factors and increase efficiency. One tech solution which we are looking into implementing is an artificial intelligence tool which aims to change the way lawyers do legal research. That would definitely provide us with value-adding insights to share with clients and leverage in client cases. We have also created a free fully automated tax and legal newsletter where a robot gathers intel from around 40 public pages on proposed bills, committee motions, new law and court rulings and shares with clients and all those who have signed up. In this age of massive information flow, sometimes easy solutions are the best. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? I want to mention two examples. One being a resent listing of our client at the First North Growth Market here in Iceland where we supported them with a wide range of services leading up to the IPO, being the first gaming company in Iceland to go public with a quadruple oversubscription of shares. Second would be a client of ours in the high-tech manufacturing sector, which for a number of years we have supported with corporate structuring and various other elements in order to align the group up for sale, which recently took place. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Definitely, law firms are expected to bring stability and direction to the table, as well as solutions, where they utilize their expertise and insights on the legislative framework along with their clients’ circumstances and ambitions. Business and law are interconnected as neither essentially thrives without the other. Sound, long-term business decisions are not made in a legal vacuum and lawyers wouldn’t have much to do if there were no entrepreneurs and executives to make those decisions. Deloitte Legal reflects this interplay and we will slowly but steady continue to grow within the fields of corporate law.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? Well, without doubt a great differentiator is the ability to provide bundled solutions together with our Deloitte colleagues in other service lines. This includes solutions involving colleagues such as IT Consultants, Financial Advisors, Risk Advisers, and Tax Experts, among others. Further differentiation comes through our being focused on the most important and relevant topics at the current time. Presently, two such topics are Digitalization and ESG (Environmental Social and Governance). Both topics require major transformational processes to be taken by our clients, which can prove quite daunting for them. However, we offer added support to these clients, making the transformational processes manageable and trouble-free, through our integrated project management capabilities. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Beyond Digitalization and ESG transformational projects, I think that we can expect to see growth across the whole spectrum of traditional legal practice areas. Depending on the economic outlook over the next 12 months, this should include M&A transactions, restructuring, or even insolvencies. One further area of growth is likely to be in Tax Litigation, which is headed by my talented colleague Jirina Prochazkova. Since we have the largest Tax & Legal team on the market, I believe we are unmatched in our ability to cover this area and bring true synergies in our service offerings. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We are doing a great job of supporting our clients in the Digital Legal area. Digital team have a refreshingly entrepreneurial and proactive approach to dealing with the tasks, which are often accompanied with tight deadlines. This allows us to deliver a significant volume of work for our Technology-related clients, including those in Software Development. I would add, too, that client benefits are coming from the increasing efficiencies brought forward in our Tax Litigation team. The ongoing closer collaboration between the Tax & Legal colleagues is certainly something that is bringing added value to our clients. Lastly, in ESG, we really aspire to bring holistic projects to our clients where we cover Project Management, with full scope consultancy, and not just Legal Advisory alone. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Again, the high level of efficiency from the Digital Law team comes to mind. Through their using the latest advancements in Legal Technologies via Planning, Communication, and Collaborative applications, we can see major time and resource savings being gained. This directly benefits our clients allowing us to cover high volume-work over shorter times, and with better accuracy. A further note that I should mention is that taken by one of our colleagues Jan Prochazka, who heads our Banking & Finance team. He is integrating legal services with all the technologies offered by Deloitte. So, for example, if Deloitte is providing a software-related solution to a bank, an integral part of this will be the option of purchasing legal advisory through that solution at any time in future. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? An example that I should mention would be one where, thanks to the elaboration of an ESG Strategy for a client, we were directly involved in increasing their value through implementing that strategy. Almost nobody, nowadays, can ignore the increasing requirements for ESG application as this will be demanded more and more from their clients and customers. Thus, we are helping this client from transforming something which, on first impression, could have been taken to be a burden by their company executives, into something which is a benefit, and brings tangible and measurable savings. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? We are in the perfect position to be a strategic partner for our clients simply due to our wide practical experience across all industries, and with the major international players. With this unique business insight, we can offer proactive solutions, and the best practices taken around the world. Our lawyers, through daily collaboration with other experts, in Tax, Finance, Technology, etc., have a broader business perspective, than those at traditional law firms, which means that they can keep company objectives and goals in mind without only taking a solely narrow legal approach. In three years’ time, I see the firm as being the undisputed second-largest law firm on the Czech market. Additionally, I hope that we will bring a new normal to clients in providing integrated bundled solutions, which traditional law firms will not be able to do without bringing in 3rd party providers.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte svetovanje d.o.o. from your competitors? In my opinion, one of the main differentiators compared to the competitors is that we offer a “one stop shop” for all the professional service needs of our clients – not solely legal. Our lawyers work as part of multi-disciplinary teams together with tax, consulting, risk, and financial advisory colleagues, and sector specialists and can therefore provide integrated advisory services in all areas previously mentioned. Moreover, as part of global group we collaborate with colleagues in an array of globally integrated services to deliver multinational legal solutions. With other words one relationship provides endless connections. This helps to bring a business perspective and ensure all relevant angles are covered. In addition to providing advisory on the so-called traditional areas of law (i.e., corporate, employment law, banking, and finance), we are constantly trying to keep up with trends and improve our services accordingly, thus ensuring the efficiency and recognizability of our office. We have been present in the Slovenian market since 1993 and have since been involved in many successful business stories and are striving to do so also in the future. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? In the next 12 months we are planning on growing especially in the fields of ESG, AI and Digital Law as these areas are increasingly becoming more and more important and interesting for (potential) clients, given the rapid development of technology and science. In my opinion the development of the said areas of law is of greatest importance given the fact that the law is in general struggling to keep up with such rapid development of technology and science. Deloitte already has market-leading experience in providing Digital Law, and sustainability-related, advisory, and our first-mover advantage in these spheres is an edge that we expect to retain and further develop. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We have employed additional highly skilled and talented lawyers to meet a wider range of client needs. In fact, our headcount has more than tripled in recent years, positioning us as a notable medium-sized practice on the market. Our expanded team collaborates closely with the Deloitte professionals across the globe, thus bringing new perspectives to our clients in Slovenia. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Without doubt, the answer to this question is a resounding yes. We have several platforms and technological tools to help us communicate and collaborate with our clients as well as internally. That is of significant relevance especially because many of our clients and other member firms are located all around the world. In practice we use tools to help us with communication with clients, contract lifecycle management offering, incorporating both contract automation and the overall process management, complex translations, tracking our performance, etc. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Recently, we have been mandated for the global restructuring of a client engaged in life sciences. We are adding value to the client in helping them find the optimal global structure for their business, not only from a legal perspective, but also incorporating tax, financial and operational aspects, too. This includes the relocation of their headquarters, as well as the acquisition of a new production plant. By offering such multi-faceted advisory, we add value to the client by taking over the project management requirements between the various teams, and further save them time and money by doing this all under one roof. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Practically speaking, we go beyond offering pure legal advice, we work closely with colleagues from Tax and Financial Advisory, for instance, to review it from various perspectives. Thus, we can offer strategic direction and recommend the best steps to be taken in reaching the business objectives - not only responding to legal questions asked of us. Lastly, my goal remains to same, to serve our clients with dignity, devotion, passion, integrity, and to the highest level of ethical standards. Through doing this, in three years’ time, I’m expecting that Deloitte Legal will become the first choice on the market for AI, Digital Law, Legal Technology, and M&A.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal Albania and Kosovo from your competitors? Clients need and seek more than just plain vanilla advice on their matters these days. They want the total solutions to their business issues that we can provide with bundled services delivered in cooperation with other Deloitte service lines such as Consulting, Tax Advisory, and Financial Advisory. Nobody really has one dimensional business problems anymore, certainly not in these times, although those are the only problems traditional law firms are equipped to handle. When you combine high quality bundled services with our genuine passion for the work, then you have what puts us ahead of our competition. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? In the past 12 months, Albania has experienced a surge in renewable energy investments with both local and foreign investors racing to secure literally a place in the sun. Traditionally, Albania has relied for a major part of its energy consumption on renewables with a lot of small to medium hydro-power plants scattered throughout the country, however now the trend seems to be photovoltaics plants as well as wind farms. A similar pattern is being witnessed also in the Republic of Kosovo with foreign and local investors starting to file the first applications for licenses for photovoltaics and wind farms. The banking and financial market in both countries continued to expand and in the case of Albania, the banking sector is also further consolidated. We are pleased that Deloitte Legal is very engaged in both sectors – by providing assistance to several investors in their efforts to enter and/or consolidate their positions in both markets. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? As said above, a passion for what we do on daily basis and cooperation with Deloitte’s other service lines is what sets us apart. I am proud of what we have achieved so far and am confident of what lies ahead of us. Clients show us their appreciation continuously and this confirms our belief that Deloitte Legal Albania and Kosovo is on the right track. Assembling a remarkable team of excellent lawyers who display that passion on a day-to-day basis to clients is my best achievement, I believe, to benefit our clients. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Together with our colleagues in other Deloitte service lines, we offer digital niche services to our clients that allow them to deal with any challenges, and to further embrace the fourth industrial revolution. As we are part of the international Deloitte Legal network, we gain access to all the technologies and instruments developed in other jurisdictions and can thus offer and apply them on the Albanian and Kosovan markets. Sometimes these are quite unique and sophisticated offerings, unmatched locally, and put us ahead of our competitors in being able to offer such advantageous technologies that have been developed elsewhere (and with quite some significant initial investment). We will continuously update our client offering and delivery to ensure that we are always the law firm of tomorrow that can be experienced, today. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? I return to technology and the products we are offering to clients. Another one of them is a bundled service product devised by our digital law lawyers, together with the Consulting and Risk Advisory professionals of Deloitte, that will help clients go digital in every aspect of their business. I cannot emphasize enough how advantageous our multi-disciplinary approach is to clients, particularly in these times, which brings time, money, and project management savings to the projects we do with them. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Strategic thinking and direction, a focus on creativity and innovation, all combined with passion and the highest ethical standards, should be core drivers for all law firms. We at Deloitte Legal Albania and Kosovo really stand out in our market in that regard. We are getting it right for our clients and intend to continue building on this to retain our position among the top-3 law firms on the market, where we are already positioned. If our track record is of any indication of our future trajectory, our clients can rest assured that we are stable on the market and will be here for whenever they need us in future.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate your practice from your competitors? Apart from the highly skilled and experienced lawyers that we are fortunate to have on our team, who are well known on the Polish market, we are able to provide services to clients that require cross-practice assistance – not only in legal, but also in matters including Tax, Financial Advisory, and Risk Advisory, among others. This holistic approach makes our advice more practical and applicable and is not limited to the legal paradigm alone. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Well, at present, to be honest, it is quite difficult to predict. Maybe I can state that significant changes could lie ahead for us on the market. Despite this, I do believe that Real Estate and M&A will remain strong in the next 12 months, although it’s hard to say if it might continue on that trajectory further. Next, regarding Banking, it would seem to me that there could be a shift from financing to a greater emphasis on restructuring. Then, as in many unstable situations, we might indeed expect a notable growth in litigation and disputes. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? 2021 was a year of great changes for Deloitte Legal. We completely restructured the firm in Poland and have quite a large number of new joiners. Additionally, we established a clearer division between our practices, as well as set up clear and strong leadership for these practices, too. We have an entirely new Labour Law team, as well as other new teams in Real Estate, and Financing. Regarding our Litigation practice, earlier it had been somewhere between Tax and Legal, while now it has been more specifically allocated within Legal itself. Thus, I think it is fair to say that these more clearly defined offerings, and specific expert insight, will offer true benefit to our clients. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Through using new technology to help our clients, we can assist them in the selection and identification of the best technologies available, as well as then establishing them in the practical, as well as legal, set up of these technologies. I do think that this is another unique benefit that Deloitte brings – we have both the legal experts, as well as the technological and IT experts, which can work together in integrated teams. Further, quite simply, we have great experience of the wide range of technologies available, so are able to provide the best recommendations on what is on the market and suitable in each specific business case. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Quite recently, our colleagues were involved in a significant transaction in the manufacturing industry. The client had wanted to remove itself from the regulated market, involving a public bid for the remainder of the shares. Our advisory related to the financial structuring, then legal M&A work, as well as legal financing work. I feel that this had added value to their business since we saved them both time, and money, in having an integrated team of specialists providing these various services, which would have been also quite difficult to co-ordinate if the client had used separate legal, tax, and financial advisory firms. Having all these professional services provided together made co-ordination easier and resulted in an optimal solution for the client. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? I would say that the way Deloitte Legal will try to operate in future is to create specialized multi-disciplinary teams consisting of Risk experts, Tax specialists, Lawyers, Consultants, and other advisory services. We can see that this is what clients are more often expecting - a broader range of services under one mandate. This is incredibly difficult for stand-alone law firms to provide themselves, even if resorting to engaging 3rd parties for the non-legal advisory services. In this regard, we are ahead of the curve when it comes to providing such integrated solutions, and I would expect this trend to continue in the next three years.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? Unlike majority of legal firms, our legal products and services are a result of in-depth analysis that covers much more than just legal aspects. Engaging Deloitte’s legal team on a projects means synergy between highly skilled legal professionals backed by globally recognized Deloitte’s financial, tax, risk and consulting experts. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? In collaboration with various Deloitte’s teams, we are developing our sustainability practice. Unlike other law firms, we are able to use vast knowledge repository within Deloitte and to tackle projects that are for now out of reach to our every day law firm competition. Further, we continue growing our M&A and restructuring teams, constantly deepening industry expertise in these areas. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? One of the biggest changes in the firm that has impacted the quality of our service is introducing diversity to our team, which has made already seamless and outstanding support to our clients more professional and trustworthy. Over the years, our team has grown, introducing legal experts with different backgrounds, experience, and age. This change has made us build a better relationship with our clients, which made our business approach and attitude more open. Our practice of combining established and experienced legal experts with eager youngsters is the perfect set-up for all clients wishing to receive encompassing and business-savvy legal advice while providing the highest level of client service and attention to detail. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Technology is reshaping our lives and we are dedicated to bringing the best of it to our clients. Being a part of the Deloitte Legal global organization gives us the ability to utilize a large number of IT and technology tools to make our work efficient. Our teams cooperate on international scale and we are able to implement changes and offer them to our clients faster than traditional law firms. For example, large scale document-review and due diligence exercises are now both cheaper and faster thanks to IT and technology available to our network. Great emphasis was also put on simplifying and shortening repetitive reporting processes (e.g., monthly VAT reporting forms) so now we have a tool managed by legal and tax professionals enabling clients to submit their compliance reports within a matter of minutes. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? I am proud to say that we excel when working at complex multi-disciplinary projects. Recently, we helped a client to acquire large assets pool from various sellers in a highly regulated industry, within extremely tight timeframe. Large repository of legal and non-legal knowledge and resources within Deloitte (i.e. tax, financial and consulting experts), allowed us to map-out optimal approach and provide appropriate solution(s) to our client within rather narrow frame. Combination of our dedication and precision together with deep understanding of legal and business framework(s) allowed us to provide a meaningful contribution to this project and add value to the client’s business. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? It is our mission to be the technological pioneers, strengthening the traditional legal services at the same time. Keeping the pace with all the innovation and providing stability to clients who innovate at their own pace is our prerogative. We can proudly say that our team provides seamless and outstanding support to any of the clients’ requests. In the next three years, I would love to see our firm explore the not-so-recognized practice areas, keeping in touch with the latest market demands. This will be, of course, with a professional and clear focus, and our exceptionally open and honest relationship with our clients.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal – Lawyers from your competitors? Without a doubt our ability to offer end-to-end compliant business solutions. When conventional law firms speak about offering multidisciplinary advice, they really mean multidisciplinary legal advice. When we say multidisciplinary advice, we offer the real deal since we can liaise, when required, with our counterparts within the relevant Deloitte Business Unit or Service Line, like Risk Advisory for instance. Together, we offer a holistic view which allows us to come to the best workable and legally sound solution for the client. The fact that we ‘cohabit’ with all of our closest non legal advisors greatly facilitates this teamwork and enables us to offer our clients a comprehensive helicopter view of the different issues at hand and propose clear action plans. Clients gain in efficiency and interpretation risks are mitigated, along with the inefficiencies inevitably linked to several separate teams being called upon. When compared to the other Big Four, we have more than 20 years of experience coping with the challenges specific to law firms within the Big Four environment and have attracted a number of truly eminent people to work for our firm. Indeed, of the four, we are the only one to have kept a dedicated legal offering in Belgium. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? I predict growth first of all for our M&A practice thanks also to our increased focus, both Deloitte-wide and specifically within Financial Advisory, on end-to-end M&A. With the current uncertainties due to the war in Ukraine, we also predict a demand to advise on shifts from international to more local production, in line with the reflection on lessening our dependency on international trade. Next to this, climate change challenges and related legal impacts remain a burning platform. All these trends create opportunities for legal advice and, more specifically, for real estate and infrastructure projects, as well as for employment law for restructurings. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? These last two years have demonstrated that it is possible to rapidly change entrenched ways of working, and that we adapt more easily than we thought possible. Indeed, it’s fair to say that the legal profession has changed more from a technological point of view in that short timeframe than it has in the past decade. One of the benefits of this fast-track has been increased reactivity for reasons ranging from the increased acceptation of email versus hard copies and e-signatures to the elimination of travel time thanks to Teams and Zoom meetings. This change has also translated into less formal and expeditious exchanges, which have greatly speeded up correspondence and enhanced the overall management of the matters in question. It is this sense of speed and openness to change that we must now further build on. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? To benefit our clients and capture the benefits of this openness to change, we are now also offering Legal Management Consulting, which drives efficiency in legal departments and contract areas through the introduction of more systematized ways of working, changes to the sourcing model, improved use of data and introduction of legal and contracting technologies. The time gained thereby can then be spent on real business challenges, which can in turn drive further potential cost efficiencies. We then also looked at how we could advise clients wanting to outsource (parts of their) legal work and have outlined three so-called ‘operate’ offerings: the first one concentrates on contract management & document review. The work we perform decreases the cost of contracting, increases the quality of contracts and gives General Counsels additional insights in and greater control over their contracts. The second offering, Legal Entity Management, allows legal departments to outsource their corporate compliance, thereby achieving improved management of complexity and risk, greater control of data and insights into the entity compliance process. The third one is an intelligent staffing solution where we can provide an ideal mix of paralegals, junior lawyers and senior lawyers with a direct access to our ever-growing knowledge database. At the end of 2020, we launched an Ecosystems & Alliances initiative that focuses on start-ups and scale-ups in legal and tax tech. We decided on this initiative because the way we do business is changing, and there are increasing numbers of small and smart specialist firms appearing that we can work with, gain in efficiency from, learn from and/or potentially support. We want to increase our knowledge and understanding, connect with key stakeholders, and become ‘the‘ recognized go to lawyers. We strongly believe in the digital transformation of the legal profession and have started building partnerships with legal tech providers with a view to contributing to the future proofing of the legal profession. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? I would like to highlight a case showcasing our Deloitte in-house multidisciplinary advice: our Deloitte Legal Corporate M&A team, alongside a large multidisciplinary engagement team, provided buy-side due diligence and transactional legal advice to a leading manufacturer of card & board games and digital solutions, when it acquired the United States Playing Card Company, a leader in the production and distribution of premier brands of playing cards. This acquisition signifies a milestone for the manufacturer and strengthens its market leadership within the playing card and board games sector. As a result of the acquisition, the group will increase its turnover to approximately USD 550,000,000 and will obtain market access in all states within the United States. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Our strategy underpins our ambition to (continue to) be a top full-service advisory law firm, benefiting from our close and multi-disciplinary collaboration with Deloitte and Deloitte Legal, both nationally and internationally, and expanding our operate offerings to help unburden clients whilst helping them to gain in efficiency and focus. We will continue to develop our knowledge and penetration of legal and tax ecosystems and keep abreast of changes impacting the legal profession, thereby ensuring we remain a frontrunner in legal innovation.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal Law Firm from your competitors? One of the main points that differentiate our legal practice is that our attorneys have had experience in traditional local and international law firms, and now build upon their expertise by taking a multi-disciplinary approach to clients, in collaboration with our Tax, BPS, Financial Advisory, Risk Advisory and Consulting colleagues, to provide more business-focused, cross-functional solutions to clients. This approach brings us closer to our clients’ business needs and goals. We can offer our clients a multi-disciplinary service and a pragmatic approach, which make use of our cross-functional synergy to ensure high quality, increased efficiency, and effective risk management. Deloitte Legal Law Firm is part of the Deloitte Legal Central Europe South cluster. This allows us to benefit from cross-border cooperation, exchange of technical knowledge and business ideas, and implementation of innovative solutions. Deloitte’s international network adds further value to the services offered to our clients on international transactions and projects. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We have focused on further expanding our work and knowledge on Energy and ESG considering the energy crisis, the new reporting regulations and the demand for businesses to focus on their positive impact on people and the world in general. Our regulatory compliance services will further grow as well because regulated businesses need our help following the rapidly changing and complicated regulatory framework. We hope the local and international economies will stabilize, which will result in more day-to-day legal work for our teams, but until then we expect an increased need of dispute resolution and restructuring assistance. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We managed to develop and sustain diversified legal skills and motivated team to meet the clients’ needs in various legal areas starting from day-to-day corporate, commercial and employment law to more complex projects in the areas of real estate, regulatory, dispute resolution, etc. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Deloitte is constantly investing in the implementation of technological tools to help our professionals in their day-to-day work and to put in place a framework for unlocking internal efficiency with technology. This allows for the more effective time-management and allocation of resources, as well as for an improved and more efficient service delivery process, in order to address the cost sensitivity and expectations of our clients. We have also implemented a host of digital tools for the delivery of enhanced legal services. For many of our practice areas we have special tech tools – some of them are Deloitte technology, and some of them are third-party licensed technology. We also develop tools to facilitate and make more efficient our clients’ business. In addition, our LMC team consistently delivers training on technology to our clients. These legal technology training sessions cover topics such as AI, the cloud, mobile applications, the use of data as an asset, and legal tech generally, in the context of current digital trends, including IT cloud migration, the development of innovative tools (including for the better management and efficiency of any internal legal team and their operations) or using alternative selling channels for business. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? We recently provided an international banking and insurance group with integrated advisory services on a number of regulatory matters. We worked closely with our colleagues from the Risk Advisory team, which advised on various regulatory, procedural, and IT issues. We assisted the client in mitigating the risk related to regulatory requirements, on the one hand, and on the other hand in providing cost-effective financial instruments to their clients. The task was particularly complicated, as there were recent amendments to legislation, and no case law or clear guidance from the regulator on the topic. We had to come up with an innovative approach in the interpretation and application of the new legislation. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? We are aiming at providing legal services in a different way – multidisciplinary, innovative, and technology-enabled. Our proposition is to bring together our multi-disciplinary capabilities and our cross-office synergy into a single offering that is tailor-made to help our clients navigate new chapters in their future. We always strive to address the unmet client demand for comprehensive legal services, tailored to their broader business strategy.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? Align with global strategy – input from Carlo Deloitte Legal is unique organization in the legal services landscape, capable of providing comprehensive, innovative, and high-quality solutions, always focusing on clients' needs, thanks to: Business acumen: we stand out for our ability to understand market dynamics and specific client needs, offering legal services that seamlessly integrate with other areas of Deloitte's expertise, such as tax, consulting, financial advisory, and risk management. Can-do attitude: we boast a "can-do" approach, translating into a positive, solution-oriented mindset that allows us to successfully tackle clients' legal and business challenges. Strive for excellence: we are committed to providing top-quality services, constantly aiming for excellence and keeping our skills (including soft and tech) up to date. Customer centricity: we place the customer at the heart of its activities, offering tailored solutions and dedicated attention to clients' specific needs. Passionate commitment: we are characterized by a strong commitment and passion for delivering legal services, ensuring an optimal experience for clients. Collaboration: we foster a collaborative environment, both internally among our professionals and with clients and other stakeholders, encouraging the sharing of knowledge and expertise. Sense of ownership: we are highly motivated to take responsibility for clients' issues and work diligently to achieve satisfactory results. Agility: we can quickly adapt to changes in the market and clients' needs, thanks to our flexible structure and the wide range of expertise of our professionals. Seeking innovation: we are constantly on the lookout for new solutions and methodologies to improve our services, keeping pace with the evolution of the legal sector and technologies. Digital optimization: we are committed to implementing and utilizing digital tools and solutions to enhance the efficiency and quality of the services offered to clients. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We expect that the Public and Administrative Law practice will have a central role in the upcoming months as the Next Gen EU funds will trigger a consistent flow of infrastructural work across the country. Following the same path, the public sector will require support in managing said work streams, and the private sector will seek advice to navigate this once in a generation opportunity for the modernization of the Italian corporate and public ecosystem. IP, Tech and Data Protection will also be practices that we expect will see important workflows due to the implications of the many digitalization initiatives clients are embarking on. On another note, we think that more innovative offerings such as the Legal Managed Services and Legal Management Consulting will become more “mainstream” in the Italian corporate world, following a trend that we already see in mature legal markets such as the UK. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We have heavily invested and are continuing to invest in training the legal professionals of the future, who know how to stand at the intersection of legal perspective and the business mindset. Clients know that, by turning to us, they will obtain legal advice that already takes into account business needs, whether these are dictated by situations related to the client's corporate culture or market trends related to the specific sector in which the client operates. We started by simplifying the language, teaching our professionals to speak again a comprehensible language, so that their attitudes also change. We want to be true business partners for our clients and we are convinced that in order to do this, we need to bring the approach of our professionals as close as possible to the approach required by the companies today even from their in-house lawyers. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? There is no doubt that technology has enabled law firms to provide more efficient and effective services and to reach a wider audience of clients, and this trend will accelerate in the near future. The increasing use of online communication tools, to take one of the most recent examples, makes it easier for clients to communicate with the professionals best suited to satisfy their needs, regardless of their location or time zone. But technology is also transforming the way firms provide legal services. Until recently, technology made it possible to store a huge amount of data, but still lacked the capacity to analyse it, particularly if data were unstructured. Today, this gap is increasingly closing, enabling lawyers to make more informed decisions and provide better advice to clients, who can consequently act with greater awareness. In addition, more specific legal-technology tools are increasingly simplifying and streamlining operations, for instance by allowing repetitive and low-value-added tasks to be automated. This can free up lawyers' time, enabling them to focus on the most critical and complex legal issues and provide higher quality services to clients. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? A large consumer client was going through a major corporate transformation, which involved the new general counsel to step in and having to restructure the legal function. The Legal Management Consulting team supported the GC in understanding how to play a strategic role within his new organization and how to better structure his team. The second stage, in parallel with the LMC support, was to introduce the LMS team that engaged a flexible senior in-house lawyer who, on one hand, took ownership of some day-by-day activities, and on the other, guided the new-in-seat GC to take the right steps to review the legal services catalogue and the legal operations of the department. This way our client positioned his legal function to become a strategic business driver rather than solely a control function; with clear control and visibility over the costs and a clear vision on how to add value to the organization overall. This way we demonstrated how a well structured and managed legal function can be a business enabler, working side-by-side with the other functions in a more harmonious and coordinated manner. SP + Validation di Ale del Bono Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Clients are indeed looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms. They seek trusted partners who can provide consistent, high-quality services and valuable guidance in navigating the complex legal landscape. As businesses face rapid changes and increasing regulatory challenges, law firms that can offer stability and strategic insights will be better positioned to retain and attract clients. In three years' time, I see the firm continuing to grow and evolve in response to clients' needs and market dynamics. There are several key areas that the firm can focus on to ensure success: Technology adoption: Embracing digital transformation and utilizing advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, and automation tools, will enable the firm to offer more efficient, innovative, and cost-effective solutions. Expanding expertise: The firm should continue to invest in the professional development of its lawyers and staff to ensure they stay up to date with the latest legal developments, industry trends, and client needs. This will allow the firm to provide tailored and specialized advice across a broad range of sectors and practice areas. Client-centric approach: By prioritizing client satisfaction and maintaining open lines of communication, the firm can build strong, long-lasting relationships with clients. This includes understanding clients' business objectives, providing personalized legal strategies, and offering flexible pricing models. Collaboration and innovation: Encouraging a collaborative environment and fostering a culture of innovation will help the firm stay ahead of the curve and adapt to the rapidly changing legal landscape. This includes partnering with clients, other law firms, and technology providers to develop and implement new legal solutions. Global presence: As businesses continue to expand globally, the firm should consider enhancing its international presence by establishing strategic alliances or opening new offices in key markets. This will enable the firm to better serve its clients with cross-border legal issues and tap into new growth opportunities. By focusing on these areas and continuously adapting to the evolving legal market, the firm will be well-positioned at local and global level to build leadership in a deeply transforming legal services market.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal Hungary from your competitors? While conventional law firms tend to develop their own business advisory units to address multi-dimensional business needs, we offer the real deal as we are backed by the strongest and largest powerhouse in the Hungarian business advisory scene. We are used to work side by side with Deloitte’s financial advisory, consulting and tax professionals which allows us to provide integrated services. This holistic approach enables us to offer legal services not just in the traditional areas of law but on a much broader horizon, such as ESG, data privacy, cybersecurity, fintech, AI, digitalization, and other matters involving transformation. We believe that our holistic, tech-enhanced approach makes us different in the market and provides value to clients they cannot obtain at conventional law firms. In addition, as Deloitte Legal Hungary is part of the global Deloitte Legal network, our clients benefit from being part of a global network with access to lawyers in a number of jurisdictions. We leverage off this global offering to provide clients with a truly multidisciplinary and cross-border end-to-end service. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Due to recent economic developments, regulators rapidly expend regulatory requirements, and such changing regulatory environment has a significant impact on the financial sector. We see an ever-increasing need for advice in financial regulatory and compliance matters. Also, in the wake of emerging technologies we believe that venture capital and private equity practice will continue expanding in all ranges of companies, from start-ups, fast growing, mid-market businesses to global companies. Lastly, as in many unstable economical situations, we expect a growth in insolvency, restructuring and dispute resolution mandates. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We have continued implementing our ambitious growth strategy, namely increasing our teams in several key practice areas, such as energy, finance regulatory and tax litigation. We are investing in our people and in technologies so as to enable them to serve clients effectively on a multidisciplinary basis. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Absolutely. As an example, the number of on-line meetings has substantially increased. This allows us to handle matters more efficiently for the benefit of our clients. This is even more true in case of cross-border mandates. In general, we observe a growing role of technology in the legal world. Being part of the Deloitte network and having access to a wide range of IT and technical expertise enables us to not just follow but set these new trends. Out teams are constantly developing tools and offerings tailored specifically for the legal industry. Such tools range from technology-enabled due diligence solutions to services which supports general counsels seeking to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of legal and contracting functions of multinational companies through the use of technology and process improvement and legal departments to outsource their corporate compliance, thereby achieving improved management of complexity and risk, greater control of data and insights into the entity compliance process. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Due to the pandemic, Hungarian legislation provided some help and loosened the legal regulations concerning corporate approvals that were essential to enable the market to perform their legal obligations under the law, and also to perform business, almost, as usual. Our M&A team was on the forefront and while always monitoring the day-to-day changes to Hungarian and European legislation, we not only effectively advised clients on the implementation of changes but could also demonstrate our flexibility and efficiency by supporting clients through the entire lifecycle of a transaction remotely and online, without physical interaction. Such approach benefited our former and new clients and was also highly acclaimed by them. We believe that our ability to react to rapid changes in the market and the novel approach by our professionals towards their work while meeting clients’ high demands and needs in isolation, was best characterized by high client satisfaction. They were still able to successfully complete transactions despite the challenges that the pandemic brought to the business environment. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Solid technical skills are no longer a competitive edge but rather the bare minimum in the legal industry. We strive to become the trusted advisor of our clients, who understands and can address the real challenges that they face. While Deloitte Legal Hungary is still relatively young, results show that we are heading to the right direction. Many of our practice groups became market leaders on their fields. We would like to keep the same dynamic growth which will pave our way to become one of the largest firms in Hungary. We provide all of that in a one-stop-shop firm with a broad business outlook, that shares the ambitions of our clients, with the focus of helping our clients to succeed.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Legal Partners from your competitors? Legal Partners is a full-scope law firm, which provides the complete range of legal services that corporate clients need to successfully operate their business in Bosnia and Herzegovina. What differentiates Legal Partners is its multi-disciplinary approach and the ability to be a one-stop-shop for clients’ wider business support requirements. Being a member of the Deloitte Legal Network, Legal Partners has exceptional experience in tax law, and has access to Deloitte’s experience and services in all fields of professional services, such as financial advisory, business consulting, bookkeeping, risk advisory, etc. Legal Partners has the capabilities to support clients in their day-to-day business operations, but also to provide advice from the first step of a project until its implementation. This means that,together with the wider Deloitte network, we are well-positioned , , to provide more than pure legal services to clients and be a trusted business advisor and partner. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? One of the main areas where we see future growth is in the energy practice. Bosnia and Herzegovina is an electricity net-exporter and has been experiencing significant investments in renewable energy, especially in solar and wind power. The recent energy crisis has only amplified the need for energy stability and accelerated plans for new investments into renewable energy, which this is expected to continue at least in the near and mid-term. In addition, the supply-chain problems in recent years and the return of nearshoring make Bosnia and Herzegovina a very attractive place to invest for European manufacturing companies, especially SMEs, either through acquisitions (M&A deals) or greenfield investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which could lead growth in our M&A and corporate practices. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? In recent years we have really worked on strengthening the cooperation and integration with other offices of the Deloitte Legal Network and other professionals at Deloitte, to be able to truly provide a one-stop-shop service to clients. While we are always looking for a way to improve, we believe that Legal Partners and Deloitte Legal are able to provide the most comprehensive range of services to clients, all in one place. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? There have been great innovations in legal technology in recent years, and we are always looking for ways in which we can use technology to make our work more efficient and to better help our clients. Deloitte Legal is one of the leaders in legal technology and we are fully using the resources that are available to us, especially with regards to legal documents management, document exchange, remote work, etc. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? One great example is a client who we have supported since the incorporation of their company, assisting them in purchasing a nearly defunct mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, restoring production and making new investments into mining which are expected to become operational in the next years, employ persons from the local community and be powered by renewable energy sources. For this client we provided the full package of services – incorporation of company, M&A advising in purchasing the mine and other assets, as well as day-to-day legal support such as regulatory law, employment law, commercial law, tax advising (VAT and direct taxes), while our colleagues at Deloitte also provide bookkeeping services. Another example is a client which was subject to an inspection by the tax authorities, and was ordered to pay an additional tax obligation. Legal Partners drafted the appeal for the client against the decision of the tax authority, which was successful, saving the client around EUR 1 million in additional tax payments. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? We believe that clients are looking for stability and prefer to establish a long-term trusted relationship with their legal advisor. Clients are also looking for a legal advisor that not only knows and presents the law to the client, but who understands the client’s business and actually advises the client on what course of action would be best. Legal Partners has positioned itself to be just that – a trusted partner to our clients and somebody that can make the running of their business in Bosnia and Herzegovina as easy as possible. Due to our approach we are experiencing significant growth, having tripled the number of attorneys-at-law in the firm in the last 12 months, and we are looking to further build our capacities to be able to service our clients even better.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? We are able to provide our clients with holistic integrated M&A services that is not limited only to a single stream. We collaborate with other Deloitte professionals in audit, tax, consulting, risk and financial advisory to guide our clients through challenges in a coordinated way around the world. We are truly able to provide one-stop M&A services beyond the legal box. We have a global reach, and we are able to assist clients in cross-border deals in a streamlined fashion around the world making it easy and cost-efficient for our clients to manage. Our multi-disciplinary, tech-enabled legal approach allows Deloitte Legal to address legal questions not just in the abstract isolated way but with a holistic understanding of what the client organization is trying to achieve. We expand our knowledge about our clients, the industries they operate in, their regulatory and legislative environments around the world to bring more to the table and provide the best possible legal advice to clients. Our professionals provide tailored and multidisciplinary solutions for demanding projects and complex domestic and cross-border international transactions. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We are seeing and expecting growth especially in our legal M&A team. Special focus is on further expanding and strengthening our legal M&A team. What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients? I was recruited in fall of 2018 to build develop the legal M&A advisory services at Deloitte Legal in Finland that we are offering to our clients today. We are seeing great results in the market as Deloitte has during the past five years been seen in significant transactions also on the Finnish legal market. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? We do leverage on leading technologies to deliver efficient and transparent support where considered advantageous, e.g. in case of routine work. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? We have successfully negotiated complex multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional deals on behalf of our clients. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time? I strongly believe that clients are expecting stability and strategic direction from their legal representatives. High competence in the regulatory and all legal aspects is a must. Going beyond that by providing our clients with strategic advice, pragmatic solutions, industry knowledge, network and experience is where we start to generate added value to our clients and that is our ultimate goal. In the coming years, our Legal team will continue to develop and expand further strengthening the services we are able to provide to our clients. Market demand for integrated multidisciplinary and technology enabled M&A services will grow.

Managing Partner Martin Bohuslav explains how Deloitte Legal is leveraging advanced technologies and multidisciplinary collaboration to meet the evolving needs of clients in the Czech Republic.   1. What do you see as the main points that differentiate [law firm name] from your competitors? Well, without doubt a great differentiator is the ability to provide bundled solutions together with our Deloitte colleagues in other service lines. This includes solutions involving colleagues such as IT Consultants, Financial Advisors, Risk Advisers, and Tax Experts, among others. Further differentiation comes through our being focused on the most important and relevant topics at the current time. Presently, two such topics are Digitalization and ESG (Environmental Social and Governance). Both topics require major transformational processes to be taken by our clients, which can prove quite daunting for them. However, we are good at transformations! And we offer added support to these clients, making the transformational processes manageable and trouble-free, through our integrated project management capabilities.   2. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Beyond Digitalization and ESG transformational projects, I think that we can expect to see growth across the whole spectrum of traditional legal practice areas. Depending on the economic outlook over the next 12 months, this should include M&A transactions, restructuring, or even insolvencies – these areas headed by our Partner Petr Suchy. Our crown jewel is Tax Litigation as well, headed by our Partner Jirina Prochazkova. Since we have the largest Tax & Legal team on the market, I believe we are unmatched in our ability to cover this area and bring true synergies in our service offerings. But it is necessary to mention other areas as well. We advised on the succession planning for a prominent family business, creating a robust framework for the transition to the next generation while preserving the family’s wealth – team led by Ludvik Juricka. And we are really good at compliance and business integrity services (incl. forensics) – team led by Jaroslava Kracunova. We are strong at Banking&Finance area with team led by Jan Prochazka.   3. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? The most significant change we've made is our increased focus on integrating AI into our legal processes. This technology allows to handle larger volumes of work with greater accuracy and efficiency, which directly benefits by reducing turnaround times and keeping the high quality of our services. Additionally, our multidisciplinary collaboration within Deloitte ensures that we provide holistic solutions that encompass not only legal advice but also technological, financial, and risk management perspectives.   4. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Yes, and it has been already mentioned in relation to AI. But not only AI matters. Planning, Communication, and Collaborative applications to provide the client with available comfort and control – these are the ways we want to go. However, AI shall have THE IMPACT.   5. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Certainly. Recently, we assisted Ataccama, a leading international software company, in securing a significant investment from Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, valued at billions of Czech Crowns. This investment was one of the most notable in the Czech Republic in recent years and is a testament to our expertise in facilitating complex transactions that enhance our clients' growth and market presence. Additionally, we supported the advisory group Partners in obtaining a banking license. This involved navigating the intricate regulatory landscape and ensuring compliance with all necessary requirements. This achievement not only enabled Partners to expand their service offerings but also marked a significant transformation in their business model. Another example is our involvement with the sale of S&K LABEL and S&K TOOLS to private equity funds. Our legal guidance throughout the transaction ensured a smooth process, aligning the interests of (international) buyers and sellers, which ultimately added substantial value to both parties involved.   6. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? We are in the perfect position to be a strategic partner for our clients simply due to our wide practical experience across all industries, and with the major international players. We are good at transformations! And the clients need to transform in many areas nowadays. We are here to help them. With this unique business insight, we can offer proactive solutions, and the best practices taken around the world. Our lawyers, through daily collaboration with other experts, in Tax, Finance, Technology, etc., have a broader business perspective, than those at traditional law firms, which means that they can keep company objectives and goals in mind without only taking a solely narrow legal approach. In three years’ time, we remain a TOP Law Firm on the Czech market, harvesting the technological and organisational advantage of being part of the Deloitte family. Additionally, we will continue bringing a new normal to clients in providing integrated bundled solutions, which traditional law firms will not be able to do without bringing in 3rd party providers.    

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? Deloitte Legal is uniquely positioned in the legal market thanks to a combination of distinctive assets and a deeply integrated approach. We draw on insight-driven intelligence from across the Deloitte network, enabling us to offer legal advice that is both industry-informed and forward-looking. Our professionals combine legal expertise with deep sector knowledge, allowing us to align solutions with clients’ strategic objectives. Our global coverage ensures consistent, high-quality service delivery regardless of jurisdiction, while our strong connections across the C-suite enable us to translate legal needs into actionable business outcomes. Crucially, our approach is not simply about offering legal advice – it's about delivering business solutions. We have specialists dedicated to managing change and transformation, helping clients implement complex regulatory and organizational shifts efficiently. Being part of Deloitte gives us a unique edge: our legal services are inherently cross-functional, technology-enabled, and built around real-world business needs. These differentiators allow us to consistently exceed expectations by delivering enduring value.   Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Several practices are set for significant growth in the coming year: Public and Administrative Law: The rollout of Next Gen EU funds is generating sustained demand for legal guidance in infrastructure, procurement, and regulatory matters. The new public procurement code and updated environmental rules are accelerating this trend, making legal expertise essential for both public entities and private players. IP, Tech, and Data Protection: As clients pursue large-scale digitalisation, we see increasing demand in these areas – particularly related to AI implementation, data governance, and compliance. The growing regulatory complexity around data protection also reinforces the need for trusted legal advisors. Capital Markets: We are expanding our capital markets capability to support clients through the evolving regulatory landscape, including the introduction of the new Listing Act and upcoming reforms. This reflects a broader ambition to provide full-spectrum transactional support. Legal Managed Services & Legal Management Consulting: These innovative offerings are gaining traction in Italy, following established trends in the UK and other mature markets. Clients increasingly value flexible, tech-enabled legal solutions and strategic consulting to elevate their in-house legal functions.   What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients? The most transformative shift we’ve made is adopting a solution-centered model that places clients’ business needs at the core of everything we do. Rather than focusing solely on legal risks or constraints, we begin by unpacking the underlying drivers of the issue and designing sustainable responses that align with broader business objectives. This is enabled by Deloitte’s multidisciplinary platform: we integrate legal services with technology, tax, financial advisory, and risk management to deliver comprehensive, actionable outcomes. We also deploy proven methodologies, tools, and frameworks that accelerate delivery and increase efficiency. The result is a legal service that goes beyond compliance – it becomes a key enabler of our clients’ strategy and performance.   Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Absolutely. Technology – and GenAI in particular – is reshaping how we serve clients. By unlocking unstructured legal data, we help organisations anticipate risks, streamline decision-making, and increase productivity. This allows our teams to focus on strategic, value-adding work while delivering faster, more cost-effective service. But with new capabilities come new responsibilities. We apply Deloitte’s Trustworthy AI Framework to ensure responsible AI deployment – balancing innovation with ethical, legal, and regulatory safeguards. We address data integrity, supply chain risk, and governance at every step. Clients are seeking more for less – greater efficiency, faster results, lower risk. GenAI helps us deliver on all three fronts, enabling smarter collaboration and deeper insights at scale.   Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? We supported a major consumer client during a transformative restructuring of its legal function. Our Legal Management Consulting team worked closely with the newly appointed General Counsel to redesign the legal operating model and align it with business priorities. To support immediate needs, we deployed a senior Legal Managed Services professional to act as an embedded advisor, handling operational matters while co-developing a new legal services strategy. This dual-track model enabled the GC to reposition legal as a proactive, strategic partner to the business – resulting in stronger internal alignment, increased service efficiency, and measurable cost reduction.   Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Yes – clients increasingly expect their legal advisors to provide not only technical guidance but also long-term stability and strategic foresight. In three years, I see Deloitte Legal continuing to lead the market transformation by: Deepening our use of emerging technologies such as AI, automation, and data analytics; Investing in talent and professional development to stay ahead of legal and industry shifts; Expanding our global reach to support multinational clients with integrated solutions; Fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and cross-functional agility. Our goal is clear: to shape the future of legal services – not just adapt to it. We want to be the partner clients turn to for clarity, consistency, and business-oriented legal advice in a rapidly evolving world.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? Deloitte Legal provides clients with a distinctive experience and high-quality service through seamless collaboration across various service lines, including tax, business advisory, and accounting, ensuring comprehensive client solutions. Unlike traditional law firms that may only provide legal advice, Deloitte Legal goes beyond by integrating insights and expertise from other service lines such as Business Advisory, Tax, and Consulting. This holistic view enables us to deliver the most workable and legally sound solutions for our clients. Our close collaboration with non-legal advisors greatly facilitates teamwork and enhances efficiency, mitigating interpretation risks and eliminating the inefficiencies associated with separate teams. Clients benefit from a comprehensive helicopter view of the different issues at hand, allowing us to propose clear action plans that address their needs effectively. We are committed to providing end-to-end compliant business solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients.   Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? In the next 12 months we anticipate to see a significant growth in several legal practices: M&A, energy, labour law and regulatory sectors. While the general demand in M&A slowed, we can see that M&A is driven by large companies sitting on enormous demand and midsize and smaller companies becoming targets (particularly in technology, AI and energy transition). Companies are increasingly looking to acquire technology and digital-first companies to stay competitive and innovative. The energy sector is experiencing growth due to the need for sustainable energy solutions and related regulations. As the world shifts towards greener energy sources, legal practices in this area are becoming more crucial to navigate the complex regulatory landscape. Labour and employment practices are growing due to the need to adapt legal regulations to hybrid work model and constant regulations’ updates due to workforce changes (flexibility, diversity and mobility). These factors are driving the need for legal expertise in navigating the evolving labour landscape.   What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? One of the most significant changes we have implemented at Deloitte Legal is the integration of advanced technology solutions to enhance our client services. By adopting cutting-edge legal tech tools, we have streamlined our processes, improved efficiency, and increased accuracy in our work. This transformation allows us to provide faster legal advice, ultimately benefiting our clients by saving them time and reducing costs. These technological advancements enhance our internal operations and provide value to our clients. Innovation helps us stay updated and address the changing needs of our clients in a digital environment.   Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Absolutely, technology is transforming the way we interact with our clients and the services we provide. For instance, we have implemented advanced document management systems that reduce the time spent on verification of large number of documents during due diligence processes, allowing our legal professionals to focus on other assignments. Additionally, these kinds of systems feature smart extraction of key terms and data points, allowing our legal professionals to quickly identify and focus on critical information. This enhancement boosts our operations and ensures faster, more accurate, and cost-effective legal services.   Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? According to my observations, the legal real estate market is currently polarizing. Large law firms are evaluating their position, while many boutiques Polish firms are emerging, indicating market maturity. In real estate, value-added often comes from lawyers' experience and ability to address business issues within a business advisory context. At our legal real estate team, we offer comprehensive legal advice while also facilitating connections between investors and developers or clients seeking to buy or sell property. We are dedicated to ensuring that all parties involved find favorable opportunities. Deloitte Legal stands out due to its strong capabilities, experience with major clients, and diverse service lines, offering holistic advice to our Clients.   Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? At Deloitte Legal, we understand the importance of providing consistent and reliable legal services while also guiding our clients through strategic decisions that can impact their long-term success. In three years’time, I see Deloitte Legal continuing to be a leader in the legal industry by fostering collaboration between different service lines within the firm and embracing innovative technology which shall be one of the most important drivers in the legal industry. Deloitte Legal also blends legal and business advisory skills to offer clients effective solutions for today’s complex business landscape. This combination is currently one of the top trends on the market. Our multidisciplinary approach, global reach, and focus on innovation make us a strategic partner.

Managing Partner Ingrid Y. Chen at DTT Attorneys-at-Law explains how the firm is adapting to clients’ changing needs.     What do you see as the main points that differentiate DTT Attorneys-at-Law from your competitors? As part of the Deloitte Legal global network that spreads across 80+ countries and regions with 2200+ legal professionals around the world, DTT Attorneys-at-Law (Deloitte Legal Taiwan) has more resources than local law firms to offer cross-regional legal services. Our firm also collaborates closely with other Deloitte professionals not only in multinational Legal teams, but also various business units such as Tax, Audit & Assurance, and Strategy Risk and Transactions, capable to provide a “one-stop service” with comprehensive solutions for our clients. In addition, with our knowledge and experience on industries and business transactions, we are able to have a better conception of the clients’ commercial point of view and needs in order to provide practical legal solutions to support their business and decision-making (as a journey partner). Leveraging our capabilities above, we are able to swiftly respond to evolving legal and regulatory developments.  For instance, in response to the adoption of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), we assist Taiwan listed companies in conducting human rights due diligence to enhance their compliance with the latest international regulatory frameworks.   Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We expect to see growing in the mergers and acquisitions for the next 12 months initiated by U.S. tariff policies and global supply chain sustainability trends.  Taiwanese companies are positioning themselves by both domestic and outbound investments to pursue strategic restructuring and resilient strength.  To consolidate the small and medium enterprises, Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs promulgated an amendment to Taiwan Business Mergers and Acquisitions Act in May 2025 to create tax incentives for encouraging establishment of industrial holding companies, so as to support corporate diversification, promote resource integration, and mitigate operational risks. Taiwan’s high-tech sector shall continue to accelerate its expansion and growth, driven mainly by the supply chain of TSMC and the advocates of artificial intelligence application.  Offshore wind farms and green energy infrastructures in Southwest Taiwan shall continue to thrive in response to the government's commitment to renewable energy development.  These sectors would require comprehensive collaboration with international technology partnerships and know-hows on top of inbound investment and cross-border joint ventures, highlighting another significant episode for Taiwan M&A market.   What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? To provide comprehensive solutions to our clients along their business journeys, we have team hired experienced and reputable litigators to expand our services of dispute resolutions, covering traditional civil and criminal litigations, constitutional and administrative proceedings, mediation and arbitration, to alternative strategy planning.  This strengthens our one-stop service to ensure our capability and diversity to fulfill evolving needs of our clients.   Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? In view of the technology transformation especially inspired by GenAI, we aim to provide our clients bespoke advice with faster and accurate support, and proactively invest in developing LegalTech tools such as Legal Bot to enable clients to adapt and react to the changing businesses.   Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? In post-COVID time, clients are seeking to rebalance for sustainable growth and resilience, and divesting assets that no longer fit the trends.  We have assisted the Taiwan listed company, Accton Technology, to foster its strategic alliance with a PRC partner, Digital China Group, via share swap and joint venture, so as to expand their market presence and create synergy.  With our assistance in negotiations for the transaction, the client better positioned its contractual arrangement thereunder; its market price almost doubled in a year after the closing.   Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Clients are looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms, and DTT Attorneys-at-Law is committed to leverage and integrate our global resources of Deloitte Legal network, as well as include AI enabled tools, so as to provide high quality professional services to our clients in multiple sectors, differentiating ourselves from local and traditional law firms in Taiwan.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Reff & Associates SCA from your competitors? We are different from our competitors in several ways: For the last 5 years we have consistently been the fastest growing law firm in the Romanian market; With more than 70 lawyers, we are one of the top 5 largest firms in Romania, which allows us to achieve high levels of specialisation per each area of practice, gives us resources to invest in developing our people and permits us to handle in the same time multiple complex projects without making any compromise on quality. We are global, yet grounded. Being part of Deloitte Legal (over 2,500 lawyers in 85 countries) and the broader “Deloitte family”, we not only have access to legal international best practices but we are distinctive in our ability to combine legal expertise with financial, tax and accounting expertise, handling multidisciplinary projects at a uniquely superior level, to the benefit of our clients. Given the consistent cooperation with other professionals in Deloitte, our lawyers have tax, financial or accounting knowledge superior to other law firms, allowing them to better understand the business needs and issues of the clients and come up with innovative solutions. This combination is appreciated by the clients as being particularly powerful in areas like M&A, Tax Controversy, NPL and finance transactions. While we are a mature and leading legal practice in all areas of business law, we are also at the forefront of transformation of the legal profession. For example, we have launched a new service offering, Legal Management Consulting (LMC), a service dedicated to helping General Counsels overcome the challenges that legal departments are facing today. In developing this approach, we brought together leading experts in law, operating model transformation, business and technology to focus on how business could modernize the way legal needs are addressed. As of now, we are the only law firm delivering such services in Romania. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We contemplate growth across all practice areas of the firm, with Corporate M&A and Litigations as key drivers, followed by Real Estate, Banking and Competition Law. In addition to our long standing track record in transaction work which is fueled by the economic environment, we see a growth in demand for legal risk management services in various areas of practice (e.g., white collar crime, GDPR, personal liability of top management, tax evasion and money laundering risks). Companies are navigating an increasingly risky legal environment, triggering both risks of material fines as well as reputational risks, and we are ideally positioned to assist in these areas given the ability to combine our legal expertise with the broader risk management capabilities in Deloitte. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? There are four pillars on which we focus to the ultimate benefit of our clients: attracting, developing and retaining top talents, dedication of our senior people to addressing our clients’ demands, incorporation of technology in our day to day work so that we can deliver more effectively to our clients and working closely with the global Deloitte Legal network to serve our clients across geographies and put international best practices at work for the benefit our clients. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? We are embracing technology in various ways, from implementing contract automation tools to embedding A.I. and robotics in the way we deliver our work to the clients. Our approach is not limited to only embracing technology, but also tried-and-tested ways of improving processes, which allows us not only to deliver our legal services in a more effective way to our clients, but also help legal departments improve efficiencies and increase the value they deliver back to their business. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Reff & Associates assisted a real estate fund recently in the acquisition of a portfolio, which, at EUR113 mln deal value, is one the largest executed in Romania in 2019. The project was not only highly complex, involving multiple teams (real estate and banking), but also a cross-border project and had to be executed under extremely tight deadlines. Besides the complexity of the transaction per se, has tested our strength, endurance and capacity to work under harsh time constraints which proved once again our ability to deliver at the highest standards. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? We have been growing fast for the last six years and are now one of the largest five law firms in Romania (by headcount). We have a strong foundation based on well-structured service lines, a broad client portfolio and a strong reputation. We see growth continuing on a platform which was never stronger: the well-structured service lines, the client portfolio and reputation, the close integration with Deloitte fiscal, risk, financial advisory and consulting practices, and the global network. We see ourselves as a progressive firm responding to present-day talent aspirations and to market expectations that law is part of integrated business solutions. In three years’ time, we should be not one of the largest in the country but also a leader of innovation in the legal profession, driving efficiency and profitability through automation of processes and leveraging multidisciplinary and global integration as part of Deloitte Legal.