The Client
The client is an independent German law firm with a strong focus on Central Eastern Europe (CEE). Its Warsaw office in Poland offers a small, but well-positioned, full service capability.
The Problem
The visibility, presence and credibility of the respective service offered by the Polish office (a key CEE market with growth potential) did not necessarily correspond to the image and reputation of the firm in Germany; strengthening the service offering in Warsaw was, therefore, crucial. The Polish market and strengthening the Warsaw office was the main priority on the firm’s CEE strategic agenda.
Our Approach
We started identifying the firm’s market positioning in Poland and made an assessment of the gap that existed between where the firm stood at that time in Warsaw and what needed to be in place. Together with the financial-economic performance indicators of the Warsaw office and general market information, this information and the analysis served as input for a strategic “value proposition” that was being used to identify, and select and onboard lateral hires.
The key deliverables of this engagement were threefold, namely:

• identifying the range of strategic sourcing/onboarding options necessary for the firm to succeed in Warsaw;
• a clear and compelling value proposition to offer potentially interested lateral hires (preferably partner + teams) and/or acquisition targets that would be required, in order to attract them to the firm; and
• an adequate strategic sourcing of the Warsaw office so that the identified shortcomings and strategic priorities are adequately addressed and a sustainable Warsaw office is created.

Our Solution
After thorough research and analysis, we identified a team of partners and lawyers in Warsaw that had both international experience as well as a local footprint in the Polish market. We facilitated the meetings between our client and the potential new team, performed due diligence on both and together with both parties started working on the joint value proposition of the new Warsaw firm. This process took about 3-4 months. The result was that our client’s Warsaw office gained: (i) a team of lawyers that are ranked top in the Polish market; and (ii) a consistent revenue growth among key clients in its core practice areas.