Conference Report

International Law Firms (ILF) just recently concluded a successful and fruitful conference in Milan last May 10-12, 2019. This conference was attended by 22 members from 21 different law firms and from 18 different states.

The conference started with a dinner last May 10th in a beautiful restaurant in Milan called Ceresio 7. Everyone had an aperitivo on the roof top terrace next to a swimming pool with a very nice view of Milan. This was followed by a delicious dinner served by waiters that stayed throughout the whole dinner who provided excellent service.

The meeting started the following day at 9:30 am. Everyone was welcomed by a welcome speech by the host company, Banor Sim, which is a securities brokerage company in Milan, via Dante 15. Then each participant had time to introduce him/herself and his/her law firm. The attendants were:

• Giovanni Galoppi from the law firm Galoppi & Partners - Rome Italy
  
• Vadim Tsvetkov from the law firm Ost Legal – Moscow Russia 
  
• Karlheinz  Merkel from the law firm Merkel Rechtsanwalte – Hof Bavaria Germany 
  
• Bruno  Gouallou from the law firm  LLC et Associes –  Paris France
  
• Richard Schmidt from the law firm Smartlegal Schmidt and Partners – Budapest Hungary 
  
• Pekka Suominen and Tony Huopalainen from the law firm Asianajotomisto Mercatoria Oy– Helsinki Finland 
  
• Raphael Gassmann from the law firm Merleker Partner – Berlin Germany
  
• Richard B. Heinfrom the Hein law firm  – Sant Louis Missouri USA
  
• Veronica Donella from the law firm Studio legale Donella – Verona Italy
  
• Virginie De Groote from the law firm DP Advocaten – Antwerpen Belgium
  
• George Tsakonas from the law firm George Tsakonas & associates – Athens Greece
  
• Fred Langelaar from the law firm Langelaar Klinkhamer Advocaten – Rotterdam The Netherlands
  
• Joanna Bogdanska from the law firm KW Kruk and partners – Warsaw Poland
  
• Josef Aujezdsky  from the law firm Masek, Koci, Aujesdsky attorneys at law – Prague The Czech Republic
  
• Lutz Kaiser from the law firm Lutz Kaiser – Karlsruhe Germany
  
• Edward Miller from the law firm Croft Solicitors – London UK
  
• Alexandra Bessone Cardoso – from the law firm ABC – Lisbon Portugal
  
• Christiana Theophilou – from the law firm A. Chr. Theophilou LLC- Limassol Cyprus
  
• Katrika Mirda from the law firm Katrika Hermawan & Partners – Jakarta  Indonesia
  
• Zoe Pons from the law firm Astrid Dorfmeister – Barcelona Spain 
  
• Joseph Li from the law firm Joseph Li & Co. Solicitors and Notaries– Hongkong

Each participant took the time needed to explain the type of work that he/she carries out and how his/her office is organized. It was a great opportunity for everyone to understand each other's competencies and working areas. The coffee break also turned in to get to know activity. Everyone took advantage of this time to get to know each other and exchange business cards

At 12, a speech about Cybercrime was virtually facilitated by mr. Fratallone. This would've been great if not for the IT problems encountered at that time.This was then followed by a sumptuous lunch served with specialties from Milan

At 2pm, the meeting started again with a virtual presentation from Jaimee Hall from Lagal Back Office. His lecture is entitled "Make More Money Through Enhanced Productivity". It was a very interesting and engaging since everyone had to do some exercises and had to think about how they organize their work and how to improve their profits.

After Jamiee Hall presentation, our member from Hungary Richard Schmidt made a presentation about he updates on the GDPR status, with “GDPR in Action Takeaways from the First Penalties” including decisions that have been delivered recently on the subject, so very interesting and the presentation was really excellent.

Last but not least Lutz Kaiser, the ILF Chairman, presented his Chairman’s Report. Everyone thanked him for his commitment towards ILF and his generosity and efforts to make ILF a good organization.

The day wrapped up with a small and friendly discussion on new ideas to improve the association and plans for the 2019 ILF Annual Conference in Mumbai on in November.

The meeting ended at 5:30pm circa

Due to the weather condition, the scheduled tour started an hour late but after the rain subsided, the participants started their walking tour in Milan's new architectural area. The guide was very skilled, he explained the history of Milan in the hotel while waiting for the rain to stop. At the end of the tour, the guide accompanied all to Ratanà, were half of the ourcolleagues were waiting  already sitting at the table. Everyone had a wonderful dinner. Although the desire to stay longer was evident, some had to say their goodbyes. Those who remained went for drinks and disco to experience Milan's night life.

It was a wonderful weekend with nice and lovely colleagues from all over the world. It provided an opportunity to strengthen the bonds and to build a common future. I hope everyone enjoyed it.

A special thanks to Lutz and Mich who helped me a lot and without them the meeting would not have been possible…

Veronica