Chairman's Corner
Greetings to All:
It is time again for the most important LAW event of the year - the Annual General Meeting - this year in Washington D.C. Our hosts, Cohen Mohr LLP, staff and other planning team members have put together an AGM that will hopefully go down in the books as the best attended, best planned, and most memorable annual general meeting in LAW's history.
When packing to travel to Washington D.C., you need to be sure to include all of the following in your luggage:
- Thoughtful list of all of the ways that being a member of LAW has had a positive effect on your firm;
- Notes of "success stories" in which your firm has interacted with other LAW members over the past year; and
- Examples of how your firm has used its membership in LAW to help market its practice, serve its clients, and improve its competitive position and reputation in your local market.
Other meeting preparations should include:
- Visiting the LAW Website ( www.lawyersworldwide.com ) to review and update all of the information on your Member Firm Page. [Mark up a printed copy of your page with all of the needed changes, and give the markup to a member of our staff at the meeting who can make the changes for you.]
- Visit the LAW Website (again), and enter all referrals that your firm has made or received since the last update in our Referral Database.
As you head to the airport, make sure that you are bringing a positive attitude and a sense of anticipation and adventure. You will be seeing and re-connecting with old friends whom you have come to know from prior meetings and whom you may only get to see face-to-face once a year. But you will also see many "new faces." Some will belong to new members, applicants and observers representing firms that joined LAW since the last AGM in Zurich/Lucerne or that are considering membership at this time. Other "new faces" will belong to new and additional delegates from long-standing member firms. Challenge yourself to meet these "new faces" and get to know more about them and the firms that they represent during your stay in Washington D.C. There will be lots of opportunities to mingle and network. Come prepared to take advantage of these opportunities.
Finally, make sure that you carry with you at all times your sense of humor and your sense of collegiality. These are important ingredients for all LAW meetings, but they are especially important at AGMs.
If you have packed and prepared yourself as suggested above, then it's time to head to the airport and start your journey to Washington D.C. I know that you will have an enjoyable, productive and fun time at this year's meeting.
I look forward to seeing each one of you in Washington, DC.
Sincerely,
Christopher C. McCracken
Chairman, Lawyers Associated Worldwide