After Eurojuris Germany successfully initiated an agreement with a national network of small to medium-sized companies, Eurojuris International has signed a global, European-wide collaboration. Could this be the beginning of a series?
It all started with a phone call. Christian Veh, who works for Eurojuris Germany, received a query from a woman looking for a lawyer able to deal with a Turkish case. This could have been just another day at Eurojuris, where the whole point is to connect lawyers from different countries, but this woman had another kind of background.
“I received a phone call from Mrs Schulz-Heidorf in March 2013,” remembers Christian. “She works for BVMW, a German organisation linked to the broader network IBWF. Both are representing small and medium-sized companies in Germany.” This was the first step towards an agreement signed last month between Eurojuris and IBWF.
Mrs Schulz-Heidorf was quickly granted a demonstration of how Eurojuris works. “She needed a lawyer with skills in Turkish criminal law,” Christian explains, “because one of the member firms of BVMW was having trouble with a partner in Turkey who wasn't paying their bills.” Christian was very quickly able to recommend two Eurojuris members to her. “Both of them were German lawyers of Turkish ascent, they could speak Turkish, and they met the quality standards of our network”.
Satisfied with the turn of events, IBWF sought further cooperation with Eurojuris. Hans Jonkhout, the network's president, went twice to Berlin to meet their leadership and negotiate an agreement, working closely with Mrs Schulz-Heidhorf. “I thought it was a good idea to expand the partnership that Eurojuris Germany was creating with them on a European level”, Hans explains. “The idea is simple: if one of their member firms needs a lawyer anywhere in Europe, they are referred to an EJ member that can be found on their website. It is a first-point referral system.” IBWM being a quarter million strong, there is a lot of potential behind this idea.
An agreement was signed: EJ lawfirms will be listed on the IBWM website, and it will feature the Eurojuris logo as well. EJ firms can also become members of their network for a lower price. “This is only the beginning,” says Hans. “We are looking for more opportunities to cooperate. For example, they organise events where we could be represented or offer a lecturer.”
And it will not stop with one country: “This regards Germany,” says Hans, “but there are similar networks of medium-sized companies in every European country, with a structure gathering them at a European level. So once we get some feedback on this agreement, we will be emulating it in other places and continent-wide”. So you can look forward to seeing such an agreement being forged in your country...
Do you have comments on this type of agreement? Or ideas on how to implement others? Please contact us at journalist@eurojuris.net
