LexDellmeier Strategy and Team-Day Meeting at Lake Starnberg

On 7 August 2020, all attorneys, paralegals and trainees at LexDellmeier met at the picturesque Lake Starnberg in Bernried (approx. 25 km from Munich) to hold its annual Strategy and Team-Day Meeting. Although the main aim of the meet-up was to discuss three key topics:  digitalisation, client needs during Covid-19 and Brexit, it was also a great opportunity for the team members to finally gather all together (of course, with social distancing measures in place!) after a very long break caused by COVID-19. Some of the LexDellmeier team had been working non-stop from home for the past four to five months. Working web-based or via Teams or Zoom from the home offices has had some advantages (like no commuting time etc.). However, it is always really good to have in-person meetings at least once in a while. Even though home office is still done by some employees, others prefer to come to the office and meet up with colleagues in person – to discuss legal issues or to have a personal chat or just a coffee together. We have hygiene and social-distancing policies in place at the firm and we believe to have found a good balance between working from home and being on site at the office headquarter. Like all our colleagues and clients around the world – work is continuing – just the circumstances are somewhat different during these challenging times.

Teamwork, cooperation and participation – these words may sound clichée in the business world, but, LexDellmeier understands that their importance cannot be underestimated. Accordingly, the firm regularly organises Strategy Meetings, during which it summarises its most important achievements and set goals for the future. These gatherings also give all team members the chance to give their feedback and suggest ideas for improvement, and as such are a key contribution to LexDellmeier’s success.

This year’s Strategy Team-Da Meeting took place in Bernried, which is a small town located at Lake Starnberg in southern Bavaria.  Sitting in a conference room overlooking the water, surrounded by stunning nature, the team was more motivated than ever to discuss LexDellmeier’s strategic plan for the upcoming months. The first key topic was digitalisation. Since 2018 LexDellmeier has been “going green” with the aim to become fully paperless in the near future. Fact is though, that the German courts are hardly paperless at all yet – this is planned to be implemented as of the year 2020. Therefore, it was crucial to evaluate how our internal electronic docketing system has been performing so far and what still needs to be improved and to update everyone on the digitalization status of German courts, the German Patent and Trademark Office etc. The second main point on the agenda concerned LexDellmeier’s clients. In particular, the team discussed what the firm can do to better understand clients’ needs and fulfil their expectations and take into consideration the special circumstances of Covid-19. As the third key topic LexDellmeier debated Brexit. This part of the conversation focused on what steps the firm must take to adopt to the new reality of the UK leaving the EU regarding EU Trademarks and EU Designs as well as International Registrations designating the EU as of 1 January 2021. As you can see, the day was full of intense discussions and follow-up work to do by various team members.

After the official part, LexDellmeier went for lunch outside to a restaurant nearby. This gathering felt very unique as it was the first time since the beginning of COVID-19 that all team members could meet in one place and simply spend some time together in a relaxing and very airy atmosphere. It was great to see everyone happy and in good health! Apart from enjoying great food and catching up with each other, the team of LexDellmeier made sure to make the most out of being in place as beautiful and peaceful as Lake Starnberg. Some visited Buchheim’s Museum of Phantasy, which has an exceptional collection of Expressionist art and admired traditional Bavarian architecture when walking around Bernried. Overall, it is fair to say that the trip to Starnberg was not only beneficial from the firm’s strategic point of view, but, more importantly, it also allowed team members to bond and enjoy a summer day together. If you are curious how this beautiful place looked like, make sure to visit our Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/lexdellmeier/.