The latest edition of the conference took place towards the end of last year, in Bulgaria, and some of our colleagues who attended shared their own experiences.

Within the JGV team, we have colleagues who have evolved alongside the firm and have participated in our internal conferences year after year, noting an evolution in their careers and personal growth, accumulating valuable experiences and insights.

“These meetings are opportunities for us, lawyers at JGV, to discuss how the strategies discussed at previous meetings manifest in practice, whether they need further refinement, or, conversely, whether our approaches to issues are validated by national courts. At the last Connecting Legal Minds Conference, we were pleased to find that the High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled favorably on a very important issue in our cases for our client.

These discussions and meetings are always very practical and concrete; our colleagues plead in courts across the country, so inevitably, we learn from each other, which is a great advantage in a competitive market like that of law,” says Andrea Kovacs, Managing Associate.

“From a professional standpoint, topics that interest us all are addressed, new strategies are presented, subjects and solutions to the professional challenges we face are analyzed. And from a professional networking perspective, we have the opportunity to meet in a more relaxed, friendlier environment, which fosters the exchange of ideas and contributes to better collaboration.

After each meeting, we feel better prepared and more united, aspects that promote the professional development of each of us,” explains Ioana Culachi, Managing Associate.

“For me, the Connecting Legal Minds Conferences I have attended over the years at JGV have had a dual role: a professional role – to get to know new colleagues from the regional offices, to create new connections, and to strengthen relationships with my department colleagues, but also a personal role – to discover new places, being passionate about travel.

In the legal profession, there is often an overlap between different areas of practice because, most of the time, our clients need legal assistance for a variety of different issues. For this reason, I have always appreciated the fact that, in such meetings, I have been able to exchange experiences and opinions with my colleagues who specialize in other areas of law, and thus, together we have managed to find solutions to problems that seemed impossible to “solve”,” says Aurelia Ciobanu, Managing Associate.

“For me, it was the first event of its kind that I attended, and I really enjoyed it. I noticed among my colleagues in the neighboring department that they have adopted a new approach to how they will legally address the cases they will face in the future. It was interesting to witness the presentation of a new strategy, with specific details,” says Cristian Carleciuc, Associate JGV.

“As a newcomer to the team, the Connecting Legal Minds Conference was a good opportunity for me to meet most of my colleagues, both from the office in Bucharest and from the other offices across the country. I appreciated the way the firm’s partners are involved in team formation and the fact that all lawyers had the opportunity to share their achievements,” says Diana Cebanu, Business Support Officer.

“Meetings outside the professional environment and the office are essential for camaraderie and for a good atmosphere at the office. That’s the reason why you want to come back the next day. I wouldn’t like to see unhappy people around me and I do everything in my power in this regard. Events like these confirm or refute the choice and cohesion of the team and make us recalibrate our expectations and attitude towards people, depending on their evolution,” says Cătălin Vlad, Partner.

“We have been organizing this event constantly for 17 years, and the purpose of these meetings has gradually evolved. We wanted to detach ourselves from the formality of the office and the daily routine, to get to know each other better, to socialize more, and to create strong interpersonal relationships. I believe you can’t have a functional team without such informal, relaxed interaction.

As the team has grown and as territorial offices have emerged, the objectives pursued by organizing these meetings have evolved. Of course, the socializing and networking component remained extremely important. Many colleagues, who are from different territorial offices, have the opportunity to meet and interact directly only during these meetings. However, as the activity has become increasingly complex, the need for professional development is becoming more pronounced.

These sessions play an extremely important role in standardizing the experience of the lawyers in the team, in the improvement of each of us, and last but not least, in the rapid integration of new colleagues,” says Ionuț Jercan, Managing Partner.