Expanding our global reach requires desire and determination to think big
Articles
From the President’s Desk
Expanding our global reach requires desire and determination to think big
Now in our 32nd year, Primerus continues to be in a growth mode, as evidenced by our expansion across the African continent over the past 12 months.
We now have member firms in Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, literally covering the African landscape from B to Z. Their presence in the Primerus community represents a significant step in our global development, broadening our reach and expanding individual opportunities to create potentially important business relationships.
We also can proudly proclaim to have members in more than 50 countries, including nations that have a tenuous relationship with free world principles. Still, despite our governmental and societal differences, we somehow find common ground in the world of commerce, a place where rule and reason prevail thanks to the legal profession.
When we formed Primerus, our original focus was to highlight the important role that lawyers play in upholding the rule of law and in peacefully resolving conflict. We had other goals in mind as well, principally to restore honor and dignity to the legal profession, and to help rebuild the public’s trust in lawyers and the judicial system.
At the time, those were mighty tall tasks, which at first glance seemed insurmountable especially when we were faced with an army of naysayers bent on poking holes in the legal profession.
But slowly and methodically, we grew, branching out from a one-city and one-state entity to become a national force, eventually earning a form of “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” recognition from The Wall Street Journal that helped put us on the map.
Our early efforts also spawned the trademarked phrase, “Good People Who Happen to Be Good Lawyers,” a message cemented by a belief in the Six Pillars. Those principles have served as our guideposts, setting us apart from the competition and helping countless clients find the right lawyer, with the right skills, in the right location, and at the right cost.
We have done so through an alliance of independent boutique law firms that are entrepreneurial and highly skilled in nature, each placing great value on the art of relationship building with clients and Primerus colleagues.
The chance to be involved in client interaction has long been a hallmark of Primerus, and is most readily seen in our longstanding partnership with the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).
The ACC, of course, is the largest global network of its kind that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel who work for corporations, associations, and other organizations. Our close working relationship with it is such that we regularly appear at ACC meetings with a sponsorship booth that allows us the privilege of telling its members our story and the value of belonging to Primerus.
Throughout our history, we have made a conscious effort to think big when focusing on what we hope to accomplish on a national and global scale.
Thinking big, of course, requires attention to detail while building the infrastructure to support an organization spanning the globe. To that end, we have invested heavily in our technological capabilities and marketing programs, constantly updating and upgrading our website to better paint a picture of each member firm.
In effect, we have combined more than 160 websites into one, creating a central destination where internet users can access important content on each law firm in the global Primerus community. At the new version of Primerus.com, visitors can learn the latest about each member firm, highlighted by attorney bios and photos, specific practice areas, and video presentations on legal topics of interest, all features meant to enhance the browsing experience.
The repurposing of the website was a key part of our continuing efforts to promote the Primerus brand, which also has been given a boost over the past two years by upgrades to our Weekly newsletter and Paradigm magazine publications. There, we have been in a storytelling mode, expanding the breadth and reach of our digital publications, highlighting the exceptional work of individual attorneys and member firms on a host of legal and community service fronts.
As our membership has grown, so has our Primerus workforce, a trend that will continue in the weeks ahead as we welcome two new recruiting executives to our staff. Their job will be to expand the Primerus footprint even farther, taking it to every major city in the U.S. and around the world. We also envision taking the Primerus brand to mid-sized cities, while opening our membership to firms in the consumer law sphere where specialists practice in the family law, criminal law, bankruptcy law, and immigration law fields.
Such an expansion has the potential to make Primerus a true household name, readily recognizable by those searching for lawyers and law firms that represent the finest and most trusted providers of legal services in all corners of the world.
Best regards,
Jack Buchanan, President