Competing in a post-Covid environment: strategy and business development for small and medium law firms

Dragan Dameski is one of the founders of Debarliev, Dameski & Kelesoska Attorneys at law (DDK). He is the head of the direct foreign investments department of the company. His experience is mostly in the filed of corporate, M&A, direct foreign investments, capital markets, infrastructure and energy. Dragan Dameski graduated Faculty of Law in Skopje, R.Macedonia in 1999, and completed his LL.M. in Business Law at the Skopje University. Driven from the business aspects of the legal work he also, completed Executive MBA at University of Sheffield. In 2003 Dragan Dameski was admitted to the Macedonian BAR Association. Since 2007 he is also a member of the International Bar Association (IBA).

Mikko is the founding partner of AURORALAW Attorneys Ltd in Helsinki, admitted to the Finnish Bar and also a member of the Finnish Bar Association expertise group for employment and labour law. He regularly advises domestic and international employers with Finnish operations on employment and HR related issues such as co-operation negotiations, employment terminations and termination agreements, collective redundancies, workplace conflicts as well as occupational health & safety issues. He has also experience from employment and directorship related internal investigations. He is also highly profiled and trusted advisor to directors, senior executives and CEO´s in variety of sophisticated high stakes issues and disputes usually consulting them on the terms and conditions of directorship, incentive programs, stock options, director liability, termination agreements and restrictive covenants. Mikko acts as counsel for companies, shareholders and directors in litigation and arbitration proceedings especially related to employment, directorship and shareholder agreements as well as related preliminary injunctions. On his freetime you can find him ourdoors in Finnish Lapland, recovering from his daily runs in Finnish sauna (and ice swimming) or sometimes surfing waves in some warm destination. www.auroralaw.fi

Katherine Hutchinson is a strategic partner to the lawyers and advisors of Bennett Jones LLP, a leading Canadian business law firm, helping identify and pursue opportunities for lead generation and brand awareness in key international markets. She builds relationships and raises the firm's profile through creative and compelling events, visits to international cities, targeted sponsorships, and managing participation in global conferences and conventions. She is the Chair of the IBA Law Firm Management Committee's Business Development and Marketing Subcommittee.

Norman Clark is one of the founders and currently the managing principal of Walker Clark. He has advised law firms and other legal services organizations in more than 70 countries on strategy, governance, business development, and sustainable profitability, with a special emphasis on the challenges facing law firms in emerging and fast-changing legal markets. Norm is a retired member of the Pennsylvania bar. Before becoming a full-time consultant to the legal profession 27 years ago, Norm served the legal profession in a variety of roles, such as trial lawyer, trial judge, law professor, legal advisor to senior government officials, and senior manager of an 800-lawyer international legal services organization. He is a past chair of the Law Firm Management Committee of the International Bar Association, past co-chair of the ABA Cross-Border Practice Management Committee, and a prolific author and frequent speaker at legal conferences worldwide. He currently is a member of the Advisory Boards of the IBA Law Firm Management Committee and the IBA Poverty and Social Development Committee, and a member of the IBA Latin American Regional Forum and the Asia-Pacific Regional Forum, as well as a member of the American Bar Association Section of International Law, where he serves on several committees related to the international practice of law. He also is a member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. His major publications include: Good Governance in Law Firms (2014); Sustainable Profitability in a Disrupted Legal Market (2019); Outsourcing of Core Legal Functions (2020); and Eradicating Poverty Through Social Development: A Practical Guide for Lawyers (2021); as well as two novels, Into the Endless Mountains (2019), and Under Hays Woods (2021).

MP of the top tier Bulgarian Law Firm, specialises in FDI, M&A, Banking, Public Affairs. Described as “a great strategic thinker”, highly regarded as a “top name in the region“ (Chambers Global 2016-2020). The only Bulgarian lawyer listed in Who’s Who Legal for M&A and Governance 2010-2020 and Private Client 2015-2020. Active member of the International Bar Association since 1989, being Co-Chair of its European Forum. Founder and Co-Chair of South East Europe Legal Group – the leading regional service provider in SEE for the last 15 years and of Balkan legal Forum. Honorary General Consul for Malta in Bulgaria since 2000.