Friday 18 April 2008

Building international networks


I am going on a Law Society trade mission/networking event to LA in June. So far there are only about 5 Solicitors booked to go, of which 2-3 are IP lawyers! I am surprised there are so few going, and also surprised that such a large proportion are IP lawyers. I thought I would write this blog to let smaller practitioners know about this trip in case any of you are interested to go too. It seems an excellent opportunity to learn about the Californian legal market and establish contacts with the legal profession in the state. I am particularly interested as I have a number of relatives living in LA, so building connections with firms over there will be useful to me from a personal point of view. I am particularly hoping to identify LA small firms that will also be attending INTA. Charlotte Ford at the Law Society has suggested I put her in touch with someone at INTA so that she can try to identify such firms. Does anyone have any ideas who would be the most suitable person to put her in touch with?

2 comments:

  1. This is easy - go to the Attendee Portal and search for the Californian firms. There are pages of them of course.
    However you can search the Membership Directory by City and then refine by other factors to create a manageable target list. Also why not ask for introductions from your relatives - anything that elevates your contact from a broadcast blast will get it a greater chance of attention.

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  2. I doubt you'll get any direct assistance from INTA: the organisation is much better at processing its own initiatives than dealing with one-off enquiries that are not part of its programme and for which there is no obvious precedent -- possibly because the organisation is anxious to be even-handed and doesn't want to do anything that might be seen as furthering the interests of one set of members or associate members over another. Shireen, do let us know how you fare.

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