Cuts in operating expenses and salaries, postponement of hiring and investments in IT, among others, were some of the measures adopted by many of the large offices in the United States to face the crisis caused by the pandemic, explained the Brazilian Cristina Carvalho, managing partner of the Arent office Fox, who is based in Washington, and who, since January last year, has absorbed the operations of Boston’s Posternak Blankstein & Lund. The comment was part of the webinar “New challenges in the administration of law firms” promoted this Thursday, 09, by ABPI – Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property, with the participation of ABPI’s president, Luiz Edgard Montaury Pimenta, and the counselor of Antonella Carminatti.
Since last March, Arent Fox has been preparing to face the pandemic. In addition to the closing of the headquarters in Washington and the four units in other states in mid-March, which resulted in the remote work of the entire team since then, the office has equipped the administrative area with laptops, increased the Internet bandwidth and hired a second server to meet new demands. On another front, banking lawyers immersed themselves in the study of new government regulations on covid-19, started to conduct webinars and write legal articles on the subject.
When dealing with the topic of governance, the managing partner detailed the system for evaluating and promoting the firm’s lawyers. He also highlighted the socially responsible actions taken by Arent Fox, such as internal committees that address gender diversity and racial minorities. “Customers also think this is important and large American companies are keen to hire offices that embrace diversity,” he concluded.
To watch the full webinar, access the ABPI Channel on Youtube.
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