22 - 25 November 2001

MINUTES of the GENERAL MEETING

held on 24th November 2001 in Bonn, Germany

Present and Apologies See list annexed

1. Introduction

1.1 The Chairman, John Clarke, opened the Meeting and welcomed the Members and guests (from Barcelona and  Sevilla  in Spain and from Brno in the Czech Republic) present. He thanked Richard Eimer on behalf of the Members and the Board, for the effort and the organisational work especially with a view to the preceding Sports Law Congress taking place over 2 days in the Beethovenhalle, Bonn.

1.2 John Clarke reminded all those present that Avrio Advocati’s enlargement means that it is increasingly important for Members to get to know each other. Additionally, there is a need to exchanging information via the network’s Working Groups and to organise meetings outside General Assemblies.

1.3 He reminded Members that the Secretary General and her Contact Office were a resource for the organisation which more Members / Working Groups should make use of to facilitate communication, administration and marketing possibilities. Both Board and Members agreed to further maintain this position.

2. May 2001 General Meeting

The Minutes of the Vienna 18/19 May 2001 General Meeting were approved.

3. Retirement and Election of Directors

Two Board members had retired, namely Patric Sankey-Barker (Eng, Thomas Eggar Church Adams) and Jean-Marie Tissot (F, Emo Hebert&Associés). After thanking them for their work and individual input towards the organisation’s development, the Chairman reported that one candidate had been nominated, namely Marie-Noëlle Campergue. Sean Callaghan was also nominated, and the meeting unanimously agreed to appoint Marie-Noëlle Campergue and Sean Callaghan to the Board.

The Board now consists of:

Marie-Noëlle Campergue  (F, Emo Hebert & Associés)

Sean Callaghan   (Eng, TMK Solicitors)

John Clarke   (Sco, Pagan Business Law)

Richard Eimer   (D, Eimer Heuschmid & Mehle)

Johan Vanden Eynde (B, Vanden Eynde & Partners)

Neil Hart    (Eng, Thomas Eggar Church Adams)

Juha Manner  (Fin, Brander& Manner)

Stephan Reimer   (D, Bonn & Kollegen)

Luis Paulo Relogio   (P, Relogio Simoes Rocha)

4. Budget and Financial Matters

The Treasurer, Richard Eimer, presented the Budget for 2002 with reference to the proposal set out in the General Meeting papers, which were distributed on [5 November] 2001. RE explained the proposals to the Members, and the Budget was unanimously approved.

5. Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif  -  AISBL

The Chairman referred to Johan Vanden Eynde’s introduction of the AISBL at the General Assembly, Vienna in May 2001, where the proposal to incorporate the AISBL had been introduced to Members. The Board had approved the proposal in principle (bearing in mind the ‘Rules for any conflict of interest’).

It was explained that the formal approval of the AISBL, and the moving of the EEIG structure to the AISBL, could not take place at this meeting for two reasons:

5.1 not all Members were present or represented; and

5.2 it had just come to light that a further change to the AISBL statutes was required to make them compliant with the Bar Rules in France.

It was agreed, however, that it should be remitted to the Board to approve the terms of the final adjustments to the draft statutes in the very near future. Thereafter, the AISBL would be registered (hopefully in early January 2002), with members of the Board being the first members of the AISBL. 

6. Questions to the Secretary

Catherine Pinnekamp referred to the summary report of her activities that had been distributed to Members before the General Meeting. The Secretary then talked to that report, giving a brief overview of  the past 10 months and the follow up after the last General Meeting in Vienna. The services which the Secretary at the Contact Office provided to Members were also discussed.

The Secretary had encountered some difficulties in obtaining information from Members and that led to discussions of

» facilitating internal communication by delegation of information to assistants;

» support of PR events (e.g. Sports Law Congress), support by all Members of  the network in certain speciality areas;

» importance of specifically requested feedback to the Contact Office;

so encouraging internal work development and strengthening existing structures, such as the Working Groups. It was pointed out that this two-way communication is essential in progressing future initiatives of the network and the service carried on by the Contact Office/Secretary.

7. New Members – Potential Members

7.1 The Chairman reminded the Meeting that, in terms of the EEIG statutes, new Members to the network have to be accepted unanimously.

7.2 The firm of Studio Legale Pentericci Jesi-Ancona, Italy (represented by Francesca and Marcello Pentericci) were unanimously approved as Members.

7.3 The firm of Juan Ramon Iturriagagoitia of Brussels was not unanimously approved, JVE objecting. JVE explained to the meeting his reasons for so objecting. It was agreed to carry this application forward until the organisation’s change of legal structure to AISBL.

7.4 Barcelona, Spain:

Ignacio Valls-Jové of Bufete Valls Jové introduced his office in Barcelona. He referred to the long family history of their offices and their regional work across Spain. The office has four partners with a specific emphasis on employment, commercial (property) and tax law.

7.5 Sevilla, Spain:

Jesus Bores Lazo of Bores, Corradini & Puech (Estudio Juridico) introduced the structure of their offices in Sevilla and Brussels. He pointed out the objectives of his firm to create a network of contacts across Europe and to operate solely from Sevilla.  This firm also operates as consultants with a more ‘Anglo-Saxon’ structure than other ‘typical continental law firms’.

7.6 Brno, Czech Republic:

Milan Kyjovsky of Kyjovsky, Blazek & Partner introduced their legal offices, with working languages in English, German and Russian. He has been a member of the Czech Bar Association in the Disciplinary Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. Milan Kyjovsky is founder of the firm (1990).

8. Law Firm Management

John Clarke gave a short presentation of what was meant by management of law firms in the ‘Anglo-Saxon world’, and a copy of his paper is annexed. His purpose in introducing this topic was that it should be a topic that had relevance to all Members, irrespective of size and jurisdiction. His hope was that Members would benefit from an exchange of ideas, and that hopefully some Members could avoid at least some of the mistakes already made by others.

These ideas were generally discussed, and it was agreed that a space be found for these topics at future General Meetings. Marketing might be the area for the first detailed discussion.

9. Closure of Meeting

John Clarke thanked all Members present. He referred to the enlargement and the more professional approach necessary for conducting General Meetings successfully. He concluded however that this should not affect the social events during General Assemblies, and asked Members to welcome new and prospective Members of the network at those social events.

The new Avrio Advocati Flag was handed over by Richard Eimer and the network’s new Brochure and Administrative Material were distributed.

Next Meetings

May 17 – 20, 2002: Oslo, Norway

November 22 – 25, 2002: Lisbon, Portugal

May 2003 (dates to be confirmed): Edinburgh, Scotland