Dr Barbara Mayer: Lawyers develop best if given freedom

Interview with...

Barbara Mayer image

Responsibility and independence at an early stage is a great way to retain talent and also sets you apart from the competition, says Friedrich Graf von Westphalen’s managing partner

How would you define your firm’s culture? How important is that culture to you? Every individual in our firm trainees, assistants, associates, and partners – shows a high degree of responsibility and independence; we define management as a coordination and service point for our partners; our leadership works bottom up instead of top down; we …

Louis de Gabriele: Add more value to your advice

Interview with...

Be less emotional and more rational, although at times it is just as rewarding to be emotional, the Camilleri Preziosi partner tells his younger self

What has been your greatest achievement, in a professional and personal capacity? The greatest professional achievement in my career is having started from a small two-man show and to build, together with Henri Mizzi, Camilleri Preziosi into the top-tier, highly-respected law firm it is today. From a purely personal perspective it’s having been a first …

Lifting the lid on trade secrets

Innovation

John van der Luit-Drummond talks to Greenberg Traurig shareholder Jordan Grotzinger on the inspiration for and challenges of creating the Trade Secret Law Evolution Podcast, and why lawyers should avoid being ‘internet noise’

Jordan, you’re a trial lawyer focusing on trade secret law, consumer class action defence, financial services, and entertainment litigation. Why, out of all those areas of practice, did you choose trade secret law as the subject for a podcast? Because trade secrets drive some of the most innovative businesses. Innovation and the evolution of products …

Spotlight on: Sheppard Mullin’s power moves

Spotlight on

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton’s energy, infrastructure, and project finance team has risen from Tier 4 to Tier 2 in The Legal 500’s United States ‘Energy: Renewable/Alternative Power’ rankings between 2017 and 2019. Here, US editor (content), Helen Donegan, speaks with the team about its dramatic rise in the rankings, as well as the firm’s lateral hires and diversity and inclusion efforts

Helen Donegan: Please provide a brief overview of your practice. Sheppard Mullin: Jointly led by Chicago-based partner Katherine Gillespie and San Diego-based partner Tony Toranto, Sheppard Mullin’s multidisciplinary energy team includes more than 50 lawyers nationwide. We advise on tax equity financing, project development, regulatory matters, power purchase and sales contracts, and corporate and M&A …

Being trans in law

The Bar

Old Square Chambers’ Robin Moira White looks back at her journey to coming out as transgender and offers advice to other lawyers fearful of being their true selves

Anyone who has taken a rollercoaster ride will know that gut-wrenching moment as you go over the first drop and your internal organs become weightless. It’s the closest way I can describe that feeling in the summer of 2011 when I went up chambers’ front steps for the first time as my true, female self. …