An iconic film for those who grew up in the 80s. Rob Lowe rowing in Oxford while breaking some girl´s hearts and trying to compete with Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze for the number one gallant position in the Hollywood of that era. In my case, there was no epic rowing competition in the river Thames but a very inspiring and, why not, glamorous gathering of more than 300 lawyers from my firm Gunnercooke.

The Gunnercooke symposium is our annual conference which always takes place in some of Oxford´s most emblematic sites such as Keeble College, The Said Business School and the Natural Science Museum, where we hosted our Black Tie gala. The symposium is a great opportunity to remove the dust from our tuxedos, catch up with our colleagues, some of them coming from far places like Germany, Switzerland and the US, and to review our firm’s performance and goals. More than talking about financial results, what we do is to talk about our values and culture. If we get these two things right, clients and money will follow.

It was interesting to see how much our German office has grown and also to see that the newly set up Swiss office has now 5 lawyers operating from that country. However, nothing can compare to the home feeling that I experienced while spending some time with my Brazilian colleagues from the London office. Spain and Brazil, as far as they are geographically from each other, have a lot of things in common, being one of them a great joy for life.   

Holding our annual conference at the middle of September is a great idea since it is now widely agreed that the year does not start in January but in September, when kids go back to School and the summer holidays have left us relaxed, with a willingness to thrive in personal, business and creative matters.

After three days in one of the European cradles of education, embarked with bit of sadness and nostalgia because I may not see some of my colleagues until the following year, my thoughts moved to the real new year and the things I learnt during the conference. For instance, I was specially marked by the suggestion from one of the co-founders of the firm, Darryl Cooke, that we should consider our clients as guests. Not clients, but guests. In the same way that a 5 star Hotel would call its customers “guests” he invited us to do the same with our existing and future clients.

I liked the idea, which I believe originates from a Disney executive. By changing to guests, a closer relationship with the client emerges. A relationship where caring becomes a priority. One where you take your guest on a journey from the day one, when the client comes to you with a problem or a need for advice, to the last day, when the (now called) guest leaves the door of your firm with a satisfactory smile.

This could be one of my new year´s resolutions and a North Star to follow in the 12 months that I have got ahead of me. Next time you require some legal advice relating to a Spanish matter, please leave your oars on the side, be my guest and let me roar the boat to your desired destination. I do not have Rob Lowe’s perfectly chiseled jaw, but I will do my best to take you to the finish line in a trip as comfortable as possible.