Just like our clients, as lawyers we are constantly under pressure to be more efficient. “Realization”, “utilization”, “profitability” are words that are becoming more common even in smaller firms.
And then there is networking. Where is the efficiency there?
I have recently attended the International Bar Association meeting in Copenhagen, just after the regional EMEA meeting of Ally Law wonderfully hosted by our member firm Fram. It is hard to describe the IBA to someone who has never been there: imagine 6,000 lawyers from every corner of the planet registered to the event (plus approximately another 6,000 unregistered lawyers) constantly meeting each other from breakfast to night at receptions, 1 to 1 meetings or at the IBA lectures.
The event is crazy and fun in equal parts. The city is buzzing with lawyers’ interactions, with every conversation trying to convey information in a memorable way. The quantitative aspect is mind boggling: with some preparatory work, you are able to introduce yourself to hundreds of lawyers in a week. I have never given out so many business cards!
I was frankly surprised by the financial effort devoted by some firms to their IBA events. Many firms come to the IBA with an army of people (I have counted 26 delegates from a large Japanese firm!) and host lavish receptions. One Danish firm invited me to a plane ride over the beautiful city of Copenhagen!
Such efforts seemed to be in contrast with an apparent inefficiency of the IBA (but note that mine is the view of an IBA rookie, so I may be missing something). For example, when navigating an IBA party I met an M&A lawyer from the Philippines next to a maritime attorney based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lovely people for sure… but how likely is it that we will refer legal work to each other any time soon?
Networking is terribly expensive, but if the most profitable law firms in the world devote so many resources to it, it must make sense and bring in more work.
The idea that networking pays off is a fundamental principle of Ally Law, too, clearly demonstrated by the value of referrals in 2025 being close to USD 8 million. Yet there are striking differences between the IBA and any Ally meeting.
Making connections at the IBA is a little like speed dating in a stadium. By contrast, going to an Ally Law meeting is – as Kerem Pelister nicely put it – like going to a high school reunion. Even if you do not know the people, it takes an instant to realize that everyone at Ally is like yourself: an independent, agile player in a highly competitive market trying to figure out how to tackle the enormous changes that our profession is undergoing. And, thanks to the principle of exclusivity, you will not find any direct competitors at Ally meetings.
At the risk of sounding trite, let me reiterate that Ally Law is a true community of professionals. The level of soul searching, creativity and innovation of our member firms is unparalleled. At the EMEA regional meeting of Ally Law in Copenhagen we talked about AI (of course! Even our mouths are tired of constantly pronouncing the letters “AI” “AI” “AI”) in connection with pricing and professional motivation, we tested ourselves on cross border sensitivities, we talked about marketing, as well as the recent trend of corporate investors in law firms.
Every conversation leaves you with a new idea, a tip, something you desperately want to explain to your partners at home as soon as you are back in the office. I am telling you, we have some smart people in the room at Ally meetings! Interacting with them becomes a pleasure, not just a networking exercise. Networking is efficient and useful – as some of the Ally Law delegates need to remind their partners who did not go to an Ally event – but within Ally Law it becomes fun, thus even more efficient.
Ally Law member firms surely do not have the marketing budgets of bigger firms. Yet they have a notable superpower: they are agile. “They can course correct. They see possibility”, as our executive director Wendy Horn beautifully said.
It can be easy to be overwhelmed by how powerful certain firms are. Their networking budgets allow them to shout at the top of their lungs in the big stadium. But remember that our agility is our secret weapon in this time of radical change.
