Job fair SUCCESS13: Focusing on “Generation Y”
From left: Mag. Sebastian Kutsche (Konzipient), MMag. Heidrun Preidt (Associate), Mag. Filip Boras (Konzipient)
From left: MMag. Thomas Obersteiner (Konzipient), MMag. Marta Zuliamis (Konzipientin), Dr. Stefan Größ (Partner Real Estate), Dr. Franz Josef Arztmann (Associate)
Never change a winning concept: As in the two preceding years, Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche was – once more – main partner at this year's job fair SUCCESS. In the course of the fair that took place in the “Juridicum” of the Vienna University on March 20, 2013, our law firm was even represented on multiple occasions – at the opening speech as well as the speech delivered by Hiring Partner Dr. Stefan Riegler who addressed the contemporary issue “Generation Y” and, subsequently, in the form of the podium discussion and a simulated job interview. And last but not least, there was our stand, which was, as always, well-received.
Hiring Partner
Dr. Stefan Riegler
Around 50 interested young legal talent listened to Dr. Stefan Riegler's speech, in which he gave an overview of all Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche offers to the new, highly qualified and demanding generation of legal professionals. “We know your needs. In our law firm, you will work in an international environment where we will promote and challenge you and where we, at the same time, will always keep a close eye to what matters to you personally. This includes individual development programs as well as flexible working models that will enable you to balance your job and family life. As soon as you start with us, you will also start working with clients, and we will offer you an extraordinary atmosphere, characterized by openness and respect.” In addition, he illustrated what, vice versa, the law firm expects from the newcomers. He emphasized that in addition to legal knowledge, the essential features were team spirit, rhetorical skills, an entrepreneurial mindset and the will to constantly familiarize oneself with new facts. Of course, a solid knowledge of foreign languages and intercultural awareness were also expected by the young legal talent.
During the podium discussion, the audience was given the opportunity to ask the Vienna-based Hiring Partner their individual questions. Says Dr. Stefan Riegler: “It was a great experience to see how our guests actively took part in the discussion and introduced interesting questions.”
In addition, the young legal talent also had the opportunity to meet with our attorneys personally and at eye level at our stand. Quite a few inquired about our law firm's Career Mentorship Program that is complementing their legal studies as well as the possibility of getting a first insight into our international law firm within the scope of an internship. “We are very delighted that we were once again given the opportunity of being main partner this year because this is a great way of making many interesting contacts,” says Dr. Stefan Riegler.
Please see our
hiring brochure for more details about the opportunities to join our law firm.
Putting complex legal issues in a nutshell
Legal Writing Seminar: Prof. Lawrence McEnerney teaches Baker & McKenzie lawyers
Individual text analysis: Prof. Lawrence McEnerney (left) and Dr. Franz Arztmann (right)
Professor Lawrence McEnerney, Director of the University of Chicago Writing Program, and Baker & McKenzie have worked together for many years. On November 14, 2012, the legal writing expert led a workshop in the Vienna office of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche.
Professor McEnerney explained what is crucial for preparing legal documents in English in a readable and comprehensive manner, adapted to the needs of the different target groups. He emphasized that the challenge of legal writing was to prepare clear, generally intelligible, valuable texts without losing the precision tied to legal language.
In the morning, Lawrence McEnerney made ten beginners familiar with the basics of legal writing. In the afternoon, eight Baker lawyers from the Vienna office, who had already completed the introductory workshop in the past, analyzed their own documents, written in English, with the professor.
“Professor McEnerney took his time to patiently analyze my English letters to clients. I will be able to put his advice into practice one-to-one and, thus, further improve the quality of my English documents,” summarizes Dr. Franz-Josef Arztmann, a public law associate, after the workshop.
The popular legal writing workshop will take place in our Vienna office again next year.
Sports and more sports
“Vienna Energy Business Run” and “Vienna Night Run 2012”
(left to right): Monika Busch (assistant), Lukas Jarolim (intern), Dr. Georg Diwok (partner), Mag. Andreas Frössel (Konzipient), Christian Inmann (intern), Renate Speckmayer (library), Petra Tunkel (assistant)
(left to right): Mag. Andreas Frössel (Konzipient) and Dr. Georg Diwok (partner)
In September, some of our colleagues joined in for sports activities even twice – firstly, on the occasion of the Vienna Energy Business Run and, secondly, within the scope of the Vienna Night Run.
By now, Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche participating in the Business Run has established itself as a tradition. On September 6, 2012, about a dozen of our Vienna colleagues donned their running shoes and mastered the running track through the Prater meadows together with about 21,000 other runners from corporations and small and mid-size enterprises. Nada Pauer, to date an intern of our law firm, ranked first in the women’s category. She mastered the distance of 4.2 kilometers in only 14 minutes and 2.5 seconds. “Of course, this was a good enough reason for us to celebrate after the run and to toast our top runner”, says 25 year-old David Winkel, a long-term intern of our law firm, who has organized the Business Run for his Baker colleagues for quite some years. The Baker team ended the evening on a cozy note with sausages and cold drinks.
About three weeks later, on September 29, 2012, our running enthusiasts gathered again for the next competition. On 7.45 pm, the starting signal for the Vienna Night Run was given to approx. 17,000 runners and Nordic walkers at the Vienna Rathausplatz. The weather gods smiled down on the runners. “We were lucky because the wind dropped exactly at that moment and we could start the run in time,“ reports David Winkel. “It was a great track, taking us along numerous sights, such as Parliament and the Spanish Riding School (Hofreitschule).” After five kilometers, our running team arrived at the finish line and everybody agreed: We we’ll be in on it again next time!
What do Corporate Compliance and the art of heavenly cookery have in common?
Workshop “Internal Investigations” on September 28, 2012
Caroline Kindl (left) and Simone Liebmann-Slatin of Baker & McKenzie introducing their audience to the world of compliance.
The participants discussing an exciting practical case.
The students taking the opportunity to network during a break.
The participants demonstrating their cooking skills in the culinary studio.
A Baker & McKenzie cake – baked by our workshop participants.
Imagine being the head of a company’s legal department: Through the whistleblowing hotline you learn of an employee’s violation of compliance rules. What steps will you take? Dealing with this question was the exciting task of the participants to the Baker & McKenzie workshop “Internal Investigations”. Our law firm had invited selected law students to our offices to introduce them to the world of Corporate Compliance and to give them first-hand information on and insights in the everyday work of lawyers.
Vivid group work
After Hiring Partner Dr. Stefan Riegler had welcomed the young legal talent, they gathered in small groups and enjoyed a buffet in a relaxed atmosphere – a good way for the team members to get to know each other before solving the practical case together. After this introduction, the official part of the workshop began. Employment lawyer Simone Liebmann-Slatin and tax consultant Caroline Kindl of our Vienna office explained to the students the meaning of internal investigations, their purpose and the eight steps to be taken into consideration in terms of an internal investigation. Then, the participants slipped into the role of the head of a legal department and tried to find solutions in the case of corruption allegations against an employee. “It was wonderful to see our guests vividly working together and then discussing the results with us,” said the two workshop leaders. “We deliberately decided not to give a classic talk on the topic, but wanted to give the participants the opportunity to ask questions, get involved and get in contact with us and the other students throughout the workshop.” The workshop leaders also highlighted the limits of internal investigations and explained how to successfully conclude such investigations. The participants really enjoyed the workshop. “The two speakers are clearly experts in their area of expertise and very competent, and they communicated the content comprehensively and in a practically relevant context,“ was one feedback given by participants.
Up-and-coming lawyers become master chefs
The law firm’s agenda for the second part of the workshop day was just as special: We visited a culinary studio. For about four hours, the participants demonstrated their cooking skills. They competed with each other in small teams, with each team preparing one course of the four-course meal. Moreover, the students’ taste buds were tested in a quiz in which the young legal talent had to distinguish different types of oil. “The evening’s program was just what I expected and perfectly matched this kind of event,” was another participant’s opinion.
The workshop “Internal Investigations” followed by a cooking contest is the first event of this kind organized by Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche for young legal talent. “The positive feedback shows that we made the right choice with this innovative program and motivates us to offer similar workshops in the future,” Simone Liebmann-Slatin and Caroline Kindl conclude.
Do you want to dive into the world of "Internal Investigations", too? Click on the following presentation.
Hello Vienna – Summer Camp 2012
During the guided city tour “Living in Vienna” (in front of the Parliament)
During the tour “The Third Man”, our mentees explored Vienna’s underworld
Networking in a relaxed atmosphere in a traditional Heurigen
The external coach Gerald Ziegler shared with the mentees the secrets of “appreciative communication”
“Wien, Wien, nur du allein sollst stets die Stadt meiner Träume sein…“ (“Vienna, Vienna, only you shall always be the city of my dreams…”), the composer Rudolf Sieczyński raves in his song. We invited our German and Austrian mentees to this city of dreams for this year’s summer camp. For one weekend, our CMP participants had the opportunity to get to know each other, establish contacts with the experienced lawyers of our Vienna office at Schottenring, work on practically relevant case studies with them, improve their soft skills, and dive into the atmosphere of the culturally interesting Austrian capital.
Workshop “Internal Investigations”
The workshop began on Saturday, July 14. In the morning, all mentees met at the Vienna offices of our law firm where they were welcomed by Hiring Partner Dr. Stefan Riegler. The next item on the agenda was a workshop on “internal investigations”. Compliance expert and former public prosecutor Georg Krakow and employment law partner Dr. Philipp Maier explained to the participants what it takes to bring internal investigations to a successful end. After this informatory day, we invited our up-and-coming lawyers to a traditional Heurigen restaurant in the evening. At the end of a lovely summer day, the young legal talent and many lawyers of our Vienna office enjoyed a delicious buffet during a cozy get-together. “This was a great chance to exchange views with experienced colleagues, long-known CMP-colleagues, but also new mentees who joined the team in spring – in a nutshell: to do some networking”, says Christian Steger, who has been a mentee since December 2010. Those who were still not tired after the Heurige, could enjoy Vienna’s nightlife in a bar or a club.
“Appreciative Communication” Training
The next day began just as exciting: After a joint breakfast, the external coach Gerald Ziegler shared with the participants the secrets of “appreciative communication”. “He communicated this matter, which was new to many of us, in a descriptive way and explained all there is to know about verbal and non-verbal communication”, Christian Steger reflects this workshop enthusiastically. How can gestures and facial expressions influence daily communication? How is one’s own communication perceived by different recipients? Our mentees got to the bottom of these questions in small groups.
A tour under the motto “Living in Vienna”
After a joint luncheon, the mentees explored Vienna’s highlights: About half of our mentees took part in the guided city tour under the motto “Living in Vienna: coffee house, carriages, sausages & co.”. On our way through Vienna’s city center, an established city guide answered questions such as: How and when was the first Sacher cake created and who owns the original recipe? Why are “Vienna sausages” (“Wiener Würstchen”) called “frankfurter” (“Franfurter Würstchen”) in Vienna of all places? Does the Fiaker actually originate in Vienna? And why are there so many coffe houses in Vienna? On the tour, our mentees not only visited culinary scenes as Hofzuckerbäckerei Demel but also cultural sights as the Parliament and Spanish Riding School (Hofreitschule). “Even as a Viennese, I got to look at ‘my’ city in an entirely different light and learned many interesting facts about the coffee house culture,” says Antonia Cermak, who has been a mentee with the Austrian CMP since summer 2011.
Following the traces of “The Third Man”
Alternatively, our CMP participants could dive into Vienna’s mystified underground city during the tour “The Third Man”, in which some of our Vienna-based lawyers participated, as well. Equipped with a helmet and a headlamp, we descended into Vienna’s underworld to follow the traces of Orson Welles alias Harry Lime, the famous penicillin smuggler. Christian Steger describes his impressions: “We visited many filming locations and learned a lot about the history of Vienna’s canal system, which was the pioneering canal system in Europe as early as in the 18th century. It was exciting for us to explore this system ourselves, and one could really dive into the atmosphere of the movie ‘The Third Man’".
In the late afternoon, both groups met in a well-known Viennese beach bar to enjoy a farewell drink together – just when the clouds gave way to the sun. This was the perfect end to a weekend on which our mentees learned a lot, gathered many impressions and established contacts.
The future is now!
Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche sponsored the future conference win²
From June 1 through 3, 2012 it was win² time again: For the seventh time, the future conference win² for young leaders was held in Esterházy castle / Eisenstadt, which is located about 50 kilometers outside Vienna. Participants had the opportunity to challenge existing systems, discuss values and have a look at society, politics and the economy of the future.
Just like last year, Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche sponsored this future conference, which was attended by 120 top students and young professionals of all fields of study from the entire German-speaking region, who jointly worked out various future topics in working groups. It is anything but a coincidence that our law firm has sponsored the event as the conference’s mission statement of taking active control of one’s future, perfectly matches our law firm’s spirit.
In the scope of the Baker Lounge, the participants had the chance of getting information about our law firm. Our commitment was extremely well received, our Lounge was literally overrun. Just like our new give-aways: The fruity “gummi bear paragraphs” were a highlight as well. During the gala dinner on the first day of the conference, many high potentials used their chance to exchange views with our lawyers and to establish contacts for their careers.
Inspiring discussions in our Baker Lounge:
Picture: Eraldo Peti, e-caterva
Ice cream, a quiz and “Internal Investigations”
Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann presented their new workshop “Internal Investigations” at the Juridicum of the University of Vienna
What could be more refreshing than ice cream when it’s hot outside? On June 21, 2012, we took the summerlike temperatures as a reason for giving out free ice cream at the Juridicum of the University of Vienna – in the course of a quiz. All students who correctly answered three questions about our Vienna office “earned” their ice cream. The questions were asked by our Konzipienten, Johannes Fuhrmann, Alexandra Klausner and Gregor Klammer as well as our intern Marianna Feiertag, who all showed up at the campus in our new “I ♥ …” campaign t-shirts. Our promotion was very well received by the law students, many of them currently under stress from exams.
Workshop “Internal Investigations”
In addition, we used the opportunity to highlight our workshop “Internal Investigations”, which is scheduled for fall 2012.
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When? September 28, 2012
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Where? Our Vienna office
Our workshop is designed to provide new stimuli to up-and-coming legal talent. We will offer the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes of our international law firm, the “European Law Firm of the Year 2012”, and illustrate the daily work of our lawyers. In the scope of a real-life case study, the students will learn what it takes to bring internal investigations to a successful end. In addition, they will have the chance of getting information on career options and opportunities. Later, we will finish the day with an outstanding cooking event – with culinary delicacies, interesting discussions and many more inspirations.
Would you like to participate in the workshop? Apply to
until September 21, 2012.
We look forward to meeting you!
Everybody who was able to correctly answer the questions about our Vienna office got a free ice cream.
Summer Internship 2012
Baker & McKenzie welcomes its new summer interns!
On June 20, 2012, we welcomed this year’s summer interns who will commence their internship in July. This was an excellent opportunity for the up-and-coming legal professionals to get to know the premises of our Vienna office and our lawyers even before commencing their internship.
After the welcoming speech, Mag. Bernd Pichlmayer, Konzipient working in the Corporate/M&A group, introduced the future colleagues to the world of Baker & McKenzie, told them some key data about the firm and explained the firm’s philosophy to them. Then, Hiring Partner Dr. Stefan Riegler invited the interns to enjoy the buffet and encouraged them to start asking questions. Our new interns used this chance and they exchanged views on various topics with our lawyers and Konzipienten in a relaxed atmosphere. Their feedback on the event was positive without exception: All of them were very surprised about the family-like atmosphere and are looking forward to working for us in the next weeks.
Our new summer interns:
left to right: Niki Wiesberger (Litigation), Mirjam Hönisch (Litigation), Lukas Jarolim (Compliance and Capital Markets), Jessica Gürth (Tax), Georg Harer (Corporate), Lisa Jobst (Employment) and David Eisendle (Tax)
The art of speaking in public
Vienna law student wins second Baker & McKenzie Debate Club competition
At the end of April 2012, the Baker & McKenzie Debate Club entered its second round. In organizing this competition, Baker & McKenzie, together with the Vienna Debate Club (Debattierklub Wien), wishes to foster the discourse culture among up-and-coming legal talent studying commercial law or law in general. Following an introductory event on April 27 at Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche, the participants arrived at Vienna University of Economics and Business the next morning.
The law firm’s jury was made up of DDr. Alexander Petsche, Imke Gerdes, Dr. Philipp Maier and the winner of the first Baker & McKenzie Debate Club, Antonia Cermak. Their role was to identify the best discourser among the 16 speakers selected Andreas Herrmann mastered the two preliminary rounds as well as the final with bravado and emerged as the overall winner.
“I have never before participated in a debate challenge and was completely taken by surprise by this great outcome,“ rejoices the 23-year old law student of Vienna University of Economics and Business. He had performed together with another participant in a team of two and convinced the jury in all three rounds – the debate on whether the jury system should be abolished in Austria, whether academics should be exempted from the consumer protection act's sphere of applicability to the final round focusing on the protection of copyrights. “In all three rounds, I was very lucky with the team partners I had,” the Vienna-born winner thanks his fellow speakers, because in addition to the speaker’s discourse and argumentative skills and strategies, the jury also assessed the team’s interaction and the speaker's ability to act in a team.
Next year, Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche will once again organize a debate club together the Vienna Debate Club. For more information, please feel free to contact
.
(from left) Ing. Jakob Reiter, Chairman of the Vienna Debate Club,, Dr. Philipp Maier, Imke Gerdes (both Baker & McKenzie), winner Andreas Herrmann and DDr. Alexander Petsche (Baker & McKenzie)
(from left) Ing. Jakob Reiter, Chairman of the Vienna Debate Club, the jury team of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche: the winner of the first Baker & McKenzie Debate Club Antonia Cermak, Dr. Philipp Maier, Imke Gerdes and DDr. Alexander Petsche
Debating – Everybody Join In
The Vienna Debate Club has made it its mission to bring debating to schools. In this project, Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche participates as partner and representative of the legal profession.
The Club’s most recent event took place on May 8, 2012: More than 100 students from schools in and around Vienna followed the Vienna Debate Club’s invitation to Vienna University of Economics and Business to learn how to debate. The Club’s event series "Get involved – the Debate Club“ (Misch dich ein – der Debattierclub) has meanwhile entered its second year. Guest of honor was Mag.a Barbara Prammer, President of the National Assembly, who gave a passionate speech on democracy and justice, topics that were later discussed with the students.
But the Debate Club wants more. Its aim is to bring debating to the attention of all students and teachers in Austria. For this purpose, the Club has shot a teaching video on debating.
DDr. Alexander Petsche
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The shooting involved interviews with prominent personalities from society, media, politics and economy on the significance of debating. As a representative of the legal profession, Baker & McKenzie’s DDr. Alexander Petsche was interviewed as well, answering questions like: “Why should we learn how to debate?” or “Why do lawyers in particular need good communication skills?”
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The documentary will soon be available for download from the Debate Club’s website at (
http://www.debattierklubwien.at) as well as on YouTube (
http://www.youtube.com/user/debattierklubwien).
SUCCESS 12 was a huge success
Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche was main partner of the job and career fair SUCCESS
The name says it all: This year’s job and career fair SUCCESS took place on March 21 in the “Juridicum” of Vienna University, and was a huge success not least for Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche. As in 2011, our law firm not only presented itself at an innovative stand but also took part in many events tailored to attract a large audience.
Hiring Partner Dr. Stefan Riegler of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche, together with the dean of Vienna University, Univ.-Prof. DDr. Heinz Mayer, and Mag. Alexander Nagel, marketing manager of UNIPORT, opened the fair at 10 a.m. In the presentation “Wir setzten Akzente in der Nachwuchsarbeit” (“We put emphasis on promoting young talent”) about our law firm, which started at 12 a.m., the Hiring Partner illustrated to interested students how their career with our company could develop. He offered insights into the working environment of a corporate attorney at Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche. From our Career Mentorship Programme for up-and-coming legal professionals in training to the various training modules for our associates, e.g. Inhouse University, European Associate Meetings and Associate Training Programme (ATP) in one of our offices worldwide – no matter in which stage of their career applicants are, we offer development programs suitable for everyone.
Simulated live job interview
Stefan Riegler discussed these aspects with Alexander Nagel during the panel discussion and simulated a live job interview with one of the participants afterwards. As in the previous year, this event attracted a large audience. Tomorrow’s attorneys were thus given the chance to find out what is important to us when it comes to the selection procedure.
Moreover, as in 2011, our stand was not only well-frequented but also well-staffed. Many of our attorneys patiently answered the questions of the young legal talents, and gave them an insight into the Baker world. Nobody left our stand empty-handed: We provided our visitors with our new Recruiting Box, in which we present and summarize our career highlights including personal impressions of our partners and associates.
We already look forward to SUCCESS 13!
(from left): Dr. Franz Josef Arztmann (Associate), Dr. Georg Diwok (Head of Banking & Finance Practice Group), Mag. Nadina Eugster (Konzipientin (trainee lawyer)) and Mag. Bernd Pichlmayer (Konzipient)
Dr. Caroline Kindl (Associate) and Martin Schwertmann (Mentee)
(from left): Mag. Bernd Pichlmayer (Konzipient) wearing the T-shirt designed for our new campaign, and Dr. Philipp Maier (Associate)
Simulated live job interview on the fair stage: Hiring Partner Dr. Stefan Riegler (left) and Mmag. Andrei-Mircea Popovici
Award ceremony for “Career’s Best Recruiters” Certificates
Minister of Scientific Affairs Töchterle honors Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche
On January 30, 2012, the “Career’s Best Recruiters” Certificates were awarded in the scope of a festive ceremony at the Federal Ministry for Scientific and Research Affairs. Federal Minister Karlheinz Töchterle honored those employers with a superb performance turnout in the employer branding study “Career’s Best Recruiters 2011/2012”. Hiring Partner Dr. Stefan Riegler of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsches accepted the Certificate for the top position in the category legal advice. It is the second time that the employer branding efforts of a total of 500 Austrian companies have been examined in the scope of this study.
“Recruiting has always been very important to us", emphasized Dr. Stefan Riegler, adding: “We take this Certificate as an affirmation to move forward on the path we have chosen. In addition, the award provides us with various suggestions on how to improve our projects that are geared at young legal talent. What we view as particularly valuable is the feedback provided by the applicants themselves – that is the target group we wish to reach out to.”
“Career’s Best Recruiters” is conducted annually by the Vienna-based communication agency GPK Event- und Kommunikationsmanagement GmbH. The recruiting study rates the perception of various companies and institutions by graduates of universities, universities of applied sciences and technical colleges.
A Certificate for the top position in the category legal advice: Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche (from left): Minister of Scientific Affairs Karlheinz Töchterle, Claudia Mahrer (Assistant Recruiting), Dr. Stefan Riegler (Hiring Partner), both Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche, Vienna, and Markus Gruber, initiator of the study “Career’s Best Recruiters“ and publisher of CAREER GUIDE and CAREER.
The winners in the “Career’s Best Recruiters 2011/2012” study during the festive ceremony at the Federal Ministry of Scientific and Research Affairs on January 30, 2012.
Fluency Punch in Baker’s Vienna office on November 17, 2011
For many of us, the advent season is the best time of the year. This was reason enough for us to invite all colleagues of our Vienna office to a seasonal drink. On November 17, 2011, our attorneys,
Konzipienten, mentees, trainees and back-office staff met at the end of the day for a nice glass of Christmas punch and hot sweet chestnuts.
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“It was a great opportunity to meet and talk to colleagues from all the different service areas in our office” says Andreas Froessel who joined the labor law practice group as a Konzipient in mid August 2011. Only weeks after becoming a mentee in summer 2011, the 24-year-old joined Baker & McKenzie Diwok Herrmann Petsche. “I was very lucky to be able
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to become a
Konzipient so quickly” comments the labor law specialist, who had discovered his passion for this area of law already during his studies at the university. Baker's Vienna office happened to have a vacancy exactly at the moment when he finished his studies. On the occasion of the seasonal get-together, he was reunited with many of his colleagues from mentee-times. "We had already met at this year's Summer Camp in Zurich, where we spent a great time together. It was nice to be able to meet and talk again here in such a nice atmosphere."
The law firm had not only invited its mentees to the event but also all trainee lawyers who had had a placement with the law firm in 2011. All of them had the opportunity to talk to the attorneys of the Vienna office and to further extend their network of experienced advisors.
The positive feedback of the invitees showed: The Fluency Punch was a great success for everybody involved.
(left to right): Mag. Agata Wolinska (
Konzipientin/Litigation), Mag. Bernd Pichlmayer (
Konzipient/Corporate), Mag. Nadina Eugster (
Konzipientin/Corporate), Ing. Jakob Reiter (former trainee IT/IP and umpire of the Vienna debate club), Mag. Isabella Schnöpf (
Konzipientin/IT/IP), Mag. Johannes Fuhrmann (
Konzipient)
(left to right): Mag. Andreas Froessel (
Konzipient/ Labor Law), Martin Schwertmann and Mag. Thomas Mollnhuber (both mentees of the Career Mentorship Programme)
(left to right): Mag. Andreas Traugott (Partner), Dr. Georg Diwok (Partner), Mag. Agata Wolinska (
Konzipientin), Ing. Jakob Reiter (former trainee and umpire of the Vienna debate club)
Debating experts
Debate tournament “Vienna IV 12”, March 9 through March 11, 2012: Baker & McKenzie’s honorary jury elects medical student Véronique Lorenz as best female speaker
More than 200 students from 23 countries participated in the debate tournament “Vienna IV”, which took place from March 9 through March 11, 2012. This “debating championship” was hosted by the Vienna Debate Club and the Young European Federalists with the support of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche, the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the University of Vienna. In addition, our law firm also acted as honorary jury.
Intellectual high-performance The first two days of the competition took place at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, where the students competed with each other in teams of two, with one team being the supporters and the other team being the opponents of a topic. In its assessment, the jury considered the logical correlation of the argumentation, the originality of the reasoning and the effectiveness of the presentation. The six preliminaries were succeeded by the semi-finals and the final, which took place at the University of Vienna.
Georg Krakow
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The day began with the festive opening speeches of Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik and Mag. Georg Krakow, senior counsel of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche specializing in white-collar crime. Then, the best 8 of more than 50 teams competed with each other in the main ceremonial chamber. The students Patrick Ehmann and John Tomas Eltringham were the overall winners of the three-day event.
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Debating with passion After in-depth deliberations, the Baker & McKenzie honorary jury elected the medical student Véronique Lorenz as best female speaker. She convinced with her arguments on the topic “Incubators instead of natural pregnancies”, where she took the opposing standpoint. “I am very happy about the distinction,” says the finalist, who has already participated in numerous international debate competitions and has won the Tilbury House Winter Tournament in 2011. “Debating is lots of fun and has become my hobby,” says Véronique Lorenz. According to her, it is always a new challenge to deal with a predetermined topic and to commit oneself to a specific point of view – even if it sometimes does not reflect one’s own. “When it came to the topic of Vienna IV’s final, I was very happy that the lot decided that I had to argue against incubators” comments Véronique. Already now, she looks forward to competing in the next debating tournament in Vienna.
Mag. Georg Krakow, senior counsel of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche specializing in white-collar crime, during his opening speech.
The ceremonial chamber (
Festsaal) of the University of Vienna: The semi finals and the final took place in this festive setting.
The four teams of finalists of the debate tournament including Véronique Lorenz (second row, far right), whom Baker & McKenzie’s honorary jury elected as best female speaker.
Award ceremony: Mag. Georg Krakow congratulates Véronique Lorenz.
Pictures: Michele Pauty
Career’s Best Recruiters 2011/2012
Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche makes the 1st place in the category legal advice
Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche secured the top position in the category legal advice in the employer branding study “Career’s Best Recruiters 2011/2012”. All in all, the study evaluated 500 Austrian companies. In the overall ranking across all industry sectors, Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche achieved rank 51. The evaluation was conducted in accordance with state-of-the art employer branding and recruiting research. The solemn award ceremony for the “Career’s Best Recruiters” certificates and seals will be held by the Federal Minister Univ.-Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Töchterle in the Federal Ministry for Science and Research in February 2012.
The study’s focus was threefold: The first step included an analysis of the employer brand power covering aspects such as homepage, presence at online job fairs and recruiting fairs as well as social web activities. In a second step, it was analyzed how the companies reacted to unsolicited job applications, while a third analysis focused on how job applicants perceived the companies in their role as employers. The study claims to provide a uniform and representative picture both for the evaluated companies and institutions and for potential job applicants.
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“We are very proud to receive this award, beating our top competitors in the sector”, says Dr. Stefan Riegler, Hiring Partner with Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche. “Recruiting has always been very important to us. In the course of last year, we have implemented a number of exclusive measures to ensure that we are early in getting to tomorrow's top lawyers”. He
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believes that these innovative measures are the key to success. Measures such as the Career Mentorship Programme, which the law firm launched in its Vienna office in 2010, and that is so far entirely unique, the firm’s customized performances on job fairs and its extensive efforts to cultivate established personal contacts to young legal talent at the local universities. “This positive feedback confirms that we are on the right track” says Dr. Stefan Riegler.
The study also evaluated 500 German companies. Baker & McKenzie Germany made it among the top three in the category legal advice and achieved rank three in the German ranking. In the overall ranking across all industry sectors, the German law firm made the 91st place, thus ranking among the top 100 companies.
“Career’s Best Recruiters” is conducted annually by the Vienna-based communication agency GPK Event- und Kommunikationsmanagement GmbH. The recruiting study shows how different companies and institutions are perceived by graduates of universities, universities of applied sciences and technical colleges.
Wien Energie Business Run 2011
Baker & McKenzie mentee Felix Kernbichler amazes all by making 3rd place
This year's Wien Energie Business Run has seen more runners sign up than ever before: approximately 20,000 employees from large corporations but also SMEs participated in the race which took place on September 22, 2011. Just as in the previous years, Baker & McKenzie took part as well: 13 attorneys and members of staff of the Vienna office donned their running shoes and completed the course of 4.2 kilometers, starting at the Ernst-Happel stadium taking them through Vienna's Prater and back.
Felix Kernbichler, a mentee of Baker & McKenzie’s Career Mentorship Programme (CMP) since summer 2010, made a fantastic third place in the overall score. He reached the finish line after 12 minutes and 42.7 seconds. Nada Pauer, a law clerk with Baker's Vienna office, made 8th place in the overall women’s results. Together with Thomas Obersteiner, a former mentee of the CMP-Programme who is now working as Konzipient (trainee lawyer) in the Vienna office, both made 6th place in the mixed scores of all participating teams, putting Baker in the lead as top law firm for the second time in a row in terms of overall score.
“I was pleased to be able to take part in the run – it was fun!” says the CMP mentee and first-time Wien Energie Business Run participant, Felix Kernbichler. His top placement is not a coincidence: The 23-year old has been active in competitive sports ever since he was 12 years old, specializing in particular in 800 m and 1,500 m runs. “I put in about 10 training sessions per week. I run every evening and sometimes even at noon!”, he tells us about his running activities. Kernbichler, who was born in Maria Enzersdorf, is one of Baker’s very first mentees participating in the Austrian Mentorship Programme. Already two years prior to launching the Programme in Austria, the law firm had claimed quite a big success with the start of its CMP in its German offices. The Programme has won several awards in Germany and seven mentees have already joined the firm as associates.
We are already looking forward to the Wien Energie Business Run 2012!
Photo: Baker & McKenzie
Vienna law student wins first Baker & McKenzie Debate Club competition
Baker & McKenzie’s first Debate Club competition has a winner: Antonia Cermak, law student at the Juridicum and Vienna’s Wirtschaftsuniversität took the lead by outclassing the competition. The 22 year old student impressed the jury with her debating and rhetorical skills, scoring 58 of 60 points. Law student Benedikt Harich came in second.
Baker & McKenzie’s first Debate Club event was held at the Wirtschaftsuniversität Vienna from May 6 through May 7, 2011. The law firm Baker & McKenzie launched this annual competition together with the Vienna debating club (Debattierklub Wien) in order to foster discourse culture among talented lawyers-to-be.
Antonia Cermak will soon join the ranks of Baker & McKenzie, where a senior lawyer will serve as her mentor and advisor.
(left to right): Baker & McKenzie partner DDr. Alexander Petsche congratulates the winning Antonia Cermak and second in place Benedikt Harich.
Antonia Cermak, winner of Baker & McKenzie’s first Debate Club competition
Photos: Baker & McKenzie
Job fair SUCCESS11 huge success for Baker & McKenzie
The job and career fair SUCCESS11, the largest job fair for legal professionals in German-speaking countries, was held for the fifth time in Vienna on March 23, 2011. Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche acted as this year’s main partner of the fair and contributed to several events on the agenda. The job fair was opened at 10:00 a.m. by Baker & McKenzie Partner
DDr. Alexander Petsche together with MMag. Bernhard Wundsam, UNIPORT’s managing director and organizer of the job fair, and Mag. Alexander Nagel, Marketing Manager at UNIPORT, in the “Juridicum” of Vienna University.
At 1:30 p.m., the visitors were invited to join a panel discussion with
Dr. Stefan Riegler, Dispute Resolution Attorney at Baker & McKenzie Vienna and Mag. Nagel. The topic of this discussion was the firm’s philosophy, the history of Baker & McKenzie in Vienna as well as the
Career Mentorship Programme for young legal talent, which Baker & McKenzie established in the Vienna Office in summer 2010 with six candidates and which will start its second round this summer. The award-winning
mentorship programme has already been implemented successfully by the German Baker & McKenzie offices. “The programme closes the gap between education and job and in the ideal case – if the chemistry is right – the candidate is offered a position in our firm,” Stefan Riegler emphasizes the advantages of the mentorship programme. The mentees, still in the midst of their studies, are provided with a comprehensive insight into an attorney’s daily work, receive support for their education and are able to establish a network with experienced attorneys and fellow mentees. Following the panel discussion, many visitors used the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and rhetorical skills in a simulated job interview with Stefan Riegler.
In the afternoon, the Baker & McKenzie workshop once more focused on the Career Mentorship Programme. The participants of the workshop used the opportunity to speak with Mag. Aakriti Chandihok, one of the first mentees, benefitting from her valuable first-hand information.
In addition, Aakriti Chandihok and several other Baker & McKenzie attorneys were available to answer the questions of interested up-and-coming attorneys at a stand especially set up for this occasion. “At SUCCESS11, we were able to establish contact with several interested candidates and present Baker & McKenzie as a brand,” Stefan Riegler says and concludes: “Our participation in the fair as main partner has proven to be a huge success for our firm: All in all, we had a well-frequented stand, many events on the agenda were organized with our help and we established several contacts which are interesting for us also in the medium term.”
(from left to right) The team at Baker & McKenzie's fair stand: Dr. Franz Josef Arztmann (Procurement Law Attorney), Mag. Isabella Schnöpf (Trainee Attorney IP/IT), Claudia Mahrer (Assistant Recruiting), Dr. Hutan Rahmani (Trainee Attorney Corporate) and Mag. Christoph Schertler (Trainee Attorney Dispute Resolution).
Photo: Uniport
Baker & McKenzie Partner DDr. Alexander Petsche opened the job fair SUCCESS11
Photo: Uniport
Dr. Stefan Riegler (left), Dispute Resolution Attorney at Baker & McKenzie Vienna, during panel discussion with Mag. Alexander Nagel, Marketing Manager at UNIPORT
Dr. Stefan Riegler, Dispute Resolution-Partner bei Baker & McKenzie Wien, im Bühnengespräch mit Mag. Alexander Nagel, Marketing Manager bei UNIPORT
Career Mentorship Programme" project wins 1st place in personnel marketing category in Germany
In Spring 2010, Baker & McKenzie Austria carried out its first selection procedure for its “Career Mentorship Programme” which had been successfully initiated by the law firm’s German offices about two years beforehand. The mentorship program for young legal talent, aimed at bridging a gap often identified in legal studies, is not only one of its kind amongst law firms, but also won the PMN Management Award 2010 in the category “personnel marketing”. The jury - made up of business journalists, former managing partners and heads of business service areas of various law firms - praised the “Career Mentorship Programme” as the first and only program successfully attracting and retaining young talent to the firm with the help of the mentorship program. The program also received one of a total of four awards presented by azur for Baker & McKenzie Germany’s excellent achievements in the area of promoting young talent. This is just one of the many reasons why Baker & McKenzie Austria is equally determined to make use of this program for supporting its up-and-coming attorneys. The Vienna Office is already reporting very encouraging results: After starting with six mentees in 2010, the Vienna Office is now seeking further participants to join this year’s program.
Paragra§en-Reiter
With our quarterly newsletter "Paragra§en-Reiter," which is published by our German Practice Group "Dispute Resolution," we inform Moot Court alumni about the latest news regarding our law firm and current developments in the field of arbitration.
Read Paragra§en-Reiter Issue 1/2011.
Read Paragra§en-Reiter Issue 3/2010.
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“It was a great opportunity to meet and talk to colleagues from all the different service areas in our office” says Andreas Froessel who joined the labor law practice group as a Konzipient in mid August 2011. Only weeks after becoming a mentee in summer 2011, the 24-year-old joined Baker & McKenzie Diwok Herrmann Petsche. “I was very lucky to be able
|
to become a Konzipient so quickly” comments the labor law specialist, who had discovered his passion for this area of law already during his studies at the university. Baker's Vienna office happened to have a vacancy exactly at the moment when he finished his studies. On the occasion of the seasonal get-together, he was reunited with many of his colleagues from mentee-times. "We had already met at this year's Summer Camp in Zurich, where we spent a great time together. It was nice to be able to meet and talk again here in such a nice atmosphere."
The law firm had not only invited its mentees to the event but also all trainee lawyers who had had a placement with the law firm in 2011. All of them had the opportunity to talk to the attorneys of the Vienna office and to further extend their network of experienced advisors.
The positive feedback of the invitees showed: The Fluency Punch was a great success for everybody involved.
(left to right): Mag. Agata Wolinska (Konzipientin/Litigation), Mag. Bernd Pichlmayer (Konzipient/Corporate), Mag. Nadina Eugster (Konzipientin/Corporate), Ing. Jakob Reiter (former trainee IT/IP and umpire of the Vienna debate club), Mag. Isabella Schnöpf (Konzipientin/IT/IP), Mag. Johannes Fuhrmann (Konzipient)
(left to right): Mag. Andreas Froessel (Konzipient/ Labor Law), Martin Schwertmann and Mag. Thomas Mollnhuber (both mentees of the Career Mentorship Programme)
(left to right): Mag. Andreas Traugott (Partner), Dr. Georg Diwok (Partner), Mag. Agata Wolinska (Konzipientin), Ing. Jakob Reiter (former trainee and umpire of the Vienna debate club)
Debating experts
Debate tournament “Vienna IV 12”, March 9 through March 11, 2012: Baker & McKenzie’s honorary jury elects medical student Véronique Lorenz as best female speaker
More than 200 students from 23 countries participated in the debate tournament “Vienna IV”, which took place from March 9 through March 11, 2012. This “debating championship” was hosted by the Vienna Debate Club and the Young European Federalists with the support of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche, the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the University of Vienna. In addition, our law firm also acted as honorary jury.
Intellectual high-performance
The first two days of the competition took place at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, where the students competed with each other in teams of two, with one team being the supporters and the other team being the opponents of a topic. In its assessment, the jury considered the logical correlation of the argumentation, the originality of the reasoning and the effectiveness of the presentation. The six preliminaries were succeeded by the semi-finals and the final, which took place at the University of Vienna.
Georg Krakow
|
The day began with the festive opening speeches of Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik and Mag. Georg Krakow, senior counsel of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche specializing in white-collar crime. Then, the best 8 of more than 50 teams competed with each other in the main ceremonial chamber. The students Patrick Ehmann and John Tomas Eltringham were the overall winners of the three-day event.
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Debating with passion
After in-depth deliberations, the Baker & McKenzie honorary jury elected the medical student Véronique Lorenz as best female speaker. She convinced with her arguments on the topic “Incubators instead of natural pregnancies”, where she took the opposing standpoint. “I am very happy about the distinction,” says the finalist, who has already participated in numerous international debate competitions and has won the Tilbury House Winter Tournament in 2011. “Debating is lots of fun and has become my hobby,” says Véronique Lorenz. According to her, it is always a new challenge to deal with a predetermined topic and to commit oneself to a specific point of view – even if it sometimes does not reflect one’s own. “When it came to the topic of Vienna IV’s final, I was very happy that the lot decided that I had to argue against incubators” comments Véronique. Already now, she looks forward to competing in the next debating tournament in Vienna.
Mag. Georg Krakow, senior counsel of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche specializing in white-collar crime, during his opening speech.
The ceremonial chamber (Festsaal) of the University of Vienna: The semi finals and the final took place in this festive setting.
The four teams of finalists of the debate tournament including Véronique Lorenz (second row, far right), whom Baker & McKenzie’s honorary jury elected as best female speaker.
Award ceremony: Mag. Georg Krakow congratulates Véronique Lorenz.
Pictures: Michele Pauty
Career’s Best Recruiters 2011/2012
Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche makes the 1st place in the category legal advice
Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche secured the top position in the category legal advice in the employer branding study “Career’s Best Recruiters 2011/2012”. All in all, the study evaluated 500 Austrian companies. In the overall ranking across all industry sectors, Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche achieved rank 51. The evaluation was conducted in accordance with state-of-the art employer branding and recruiting research. The solemn award ceremony for the “Career’s Best Recruiters” certificates and seals will be held by the Federal Minister Univ.-Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Töchterle in the Federal Ministry for Science and Research in February 2012.
The study’s focus was threefold: The first step included an analysis of the employer brand power covering aspects such as homepage, presence at online job fairs and recruiting fairs as well as social web activities. In a second step, it was analyzed how the companies reacted to unsolicited job applications, while a third analysis focused on how job applicants perceived the companies in their role as employers. The study claims to provide a uniform and representative picture both for the evaluated companies and institutions and for potential job applicants.
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“We are very proud to receive this award, beating our top competitors in the sector”, says Dr. Stefan Riegler, Hiring Partner with Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche. “Recruiting has always been very important to us. In the course of last year, we have implemented a number of exclusive measures to ensure that we are early in getting to tomorrow's top lawyers”. He
|
believes that these innovative measures are the key to success. Measures such as the Career Mentorship Programme, which the law firm launched in its Vienna office in 2010, and that is so far entirely unique, the firm’s customized performances on job fairs and its extensive efforts to cultivate established personal contacts to young legal talent at the local universities. “This positive feedback confirms that we are on the right track” says Dr. Stefan Riegler.
The study also evaluated 500 German companies. Baker & McKenzie Germany made it among the top three in the category legal advice and achieved rank three in the German ranking. In the overall ranking across all industry sectors, the German law firm made the 91st place, thus ranking among the top 100 companies.
“Career’s Best Recruiters” is conducted annually by the Vienna-based communication agency GPK Event- und Kommunikationsmanagement GmbH. The recruiting study shows how different companies and institutions are perceived by graduates of universities, universities of applied sciences and technical colleges.
Wien Energie Business Run 2011
Baker & McKenzie mentee Felix Kernbichler amazes all by making 3rd place
This year's Wien Energie Business Run has seen more runners sign up than ever before: approximately 20,000 employees from large corporations but also SMEs participated in the race which took place on September 22, 2011. Just as in the previous years, Baker & McKenzie took part as well: 13 attorneys and members of staff of the Vienna office donned their running shoes and completed the course of 4.2 kilometers, starting at the Ernst-Happel stadium taking them through Vienna's Prater and back.
Felix Kernbichler, a mentee of Baker & McKenzie’s Career Mentorship Programme (CMP) since summer 2010, made a fantastic third place in the overall score. He reached the finish line after 12 minutes and 42.7 seconds. Nada Pauer, a law clerk with Baker's Vienna office, made 8th place in the overall women’s results. Together with Thomas Obersteiner, a former mentee of the CMP-Programme who is now working as Konzipient (trainee lawyer) in the Vienna office, both made 6th place in the mixed scores of all participating teams, putting Baker in the lead as top law firm for the second time in a row in terms of overall score.
“I was pleased to be able to take part in the run – it was fun!” says the CMP mentee and first-time Wien Energie Business Run participant, Felix Kernbichler. His top placement is not a coincidence: The 23-year old has been active in competitive sports ever since he was 12 years old, specializing in particular in 800 m and 1,500 m runs. “I put in about 10 training sessions per week. I run every evening and sometimes even at noon!”, he tells us about his running activities. Kernbichler, who was born in Maria Enzersdorf, is one of Baker’s very first mentees participating in the Austrian Mentorship Programme. Already two years prior to launching the Programme in Austria, the law firm had claimed quite a big success with the start of its CMP in its German offices. The Programme has won several awards in Germany and seven mentees have already joined the firm as associates.
We are already looking forward to the Wien Energie Business Run 2012!
Photo: Baker & McKenzie
Vienna law student wins first Baker & McKenzie Debate Club competition
Baker & McKenzie’s first Debate Club competition has a winner: Antonia Cermak, law student at the Juridicum and Vienna’s Wirtschaftsuniversität took the lead by outclassing the competition. The 22 year old student impressed the jury with her debating and rhetorical skills, scoring 58 of 60 points. Law student Benedikt Harich came in second.
Baker & McKenzie’s first Debate Club event was held at the Wirtschaftsuniversität Vienna from May 6 through May 7, 2011. The law firm Baker & McKenzie launched this annual competition together with the Vienna debating club (Debattierklub Wien) in order to foster discourse culture among talented lawyers-to-be.
Antonia Cermak will soon join the ranks of Baker & McKenzie, where a senior lawyer will serve as her mentor and advisor.
(left to right): Baker & McKenzie partner DDr. Alexander Petsche congratulates the winning Antonia Cermak and second in place Benedikt Harich.
Antonia Cermak, winner of Baker & McKenzie’s first Debate Club competition
Photos: Baker & McKenzie
Job fair SUCCESS11 huge success for Baker & McKenzie
The job and career fair SUCCESS11, the largest job fair for legal professionals in German-speaking countries, was held for the fifth time in Vienna on March 23, 2011. Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche acted as this year’s main partner of the fair and contributed to several events on the agenda. The job fair was opened at 10:00 a.m. by Baker & McKenzie Partner DDr. Alexander Petsche together with MMag. Bernhard Wundsam, UNIPORT’s managing director and organizer of the job fair, and Mag. Alexander Nagel, Marketing Manager at UNIPORT, in the “Juridicum” of Vienna University.
At 1:30 p.m., the visitors were invited to join a panel discussion with Dr. Stefan Riegler, Dispute Resolution Attorney at Baker & McKenzie Vienna and Mag. Nagel. The topic of this discussion was the firm’s philosophy, the history of Baker & McKenzie in Vienna as well as the Career Mentorship Programme for young legal talent, which Baker & McKenzie established in the Vienna Office in summer 2010 with six candidates and which will start its second round this summer. The award-winning mentorship programme has already been implemented successfully by the German Baker & McKenzie offices. “The programme closes the gap between education and job and in the ideal case – if the chemistry is right – the candidate is offered a position in our firm,” Stefan Riegler emphasizes the advantages of the mentorship programme. The mentees, still in the midst of their studies, are provided with a comprehensive insight into an attorney’s daily work, receive support for their education and are able to establish a network with experienced attorneys and fellow mentees. Following the panel discussion, many visitors used the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and rhetorical skills in a simulated job interview with Stefan Riegler.
In the afternoon, the Baker & McKenzie workshop once more focused on the Career Mentorship Programme. The participants of the workshop used the opportunity to speak with Mag. Aakriti Chandihok, one of the first mentees, benefitting from her valuable first-hand information.
In addition, Aakriti Chandihok and several other Baker & McKenzie attorneys were available to answer the questions of interested up-and-coming attorneys at a stand especially set up for this occasion. “At SUCCESS11, we were able to establish contact with several interested candidates and present Baker & McKenzie as a brand,” Stefan Riegler says and concludes: “Our participation in the fair as main partner has proven to be a huge success for our firm: All in all, we had a well-frequented stand, many events on the agenda were organized with our help and we established several contacts which are interesting for us also in the medium term.”
(from left to right) The team at Baker & McKenzie's fair stand: Dr. Franz Josef Arztmann (Procurement Law Attorney), Mag. Isabella Schnöpf (Trainee Attorney IP/IT), Claudia Mahrer (Assistant Recruiting), Dr. Hutan Rahmani (Trainee Attorney Corporate) and Mag. Christoph Schertler (Trainee Attorney Dispute Resolution).
Photo: Uniport
Baker & McKenzie Partner DDr. Alexander Petsche opened the job fair SUCCESS11
Photo: Uniport
Dr. Stefan Riegler (left), Dispute Resolution Attorney at Baker & McKenzie Vienna, during panel discussion with Mag. Alexander Nagel, Marketing Manager at UNIPORT
Dr. Stefan Riegler, Dispute Resolution-Partner bei Baker & McKenzie Wien, im Bühnengespräch mit Mag. Alexander Nagel, Marketing Manager bei UNIPORT
Career Mentorship Programme" project wins 1st place in personnel marketing category in Germany
In Spring 2010, Baker & McKenzie Austria carried out its first selection procedure for its “Career Mentorship Programme” which had been successfully initiated by the law firm’s German offices about two years beforehand. The mentorship program for young legal talent, aimed at bridging a gap often identified in legal studies, is not only one of its kind amongst law firms, but also won the PMN Management Award 2010 in the category “personnel marketing”. The jury - made up of business journalists, former managing partners and heads of business service areas of various law firms - praised the “Career Mentorship Programme” as the first and only program successfully attracting and retaining young talent to the firm with the help of the mentorship program. The program also received one of a total of four awards presented by azur for Baker & McKenzie Germany’s excellent achievements in the area of promoting young talent. This is just one of the many reasons why Baker & McKenzie Austria is equally determined to make use of this program for supporting its up-and-coming attorneys. The Vienna Office is already reporting very encouraging results: After starting with six mentees in 2010, the Vienna Office is now seeking further participants to join this year’s program.
Paragra§en-Reiter
With our quarterly newsletter "Paragra§en-Reiter," which is published by our German Practice Group "Dispute Resolution," we inform Moot Court alumni about the latest news regarding our law firm and current developments in the field of arbitration.
Read Paragra§en-Reiter Issue 1/2011.
Read Paragra§en-Reiter Issue 3/2010.
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“It was a great opportunity to meet and talk to colleagues from all the different service areas in our office” says Andreas Froessel who joined the labor law practice group as a Konzipient in mid August 2011. Only weeks after becoming a mentee in summer 2011, the 24-year-old joined Baker & McKenzie Diwok Herrmann Petsche. “I was very lucky to be able
|
to become a Konzipient so quickly” comments the labor law specialist, who had discovered his passion for this area of law already during his studies at the university. Baker's Vienna office happened to have a vacancy exactly at the moment when he finished his studies. On the occasion of the seasonal get-together, he was reunited with many of his colleagues from mentee-times. "We had already met at this year's Summer Camp in Zurich, where we spent a great time together. It was nice to be able to meet and talk again here in such a nice atmosphere."
The law firm had not only invited its mentees to the event but also all trainee lawyers who had had a placement with the law firm in 2011. All of them had the opportunity to talk to the attorneys of the Vienna office and to further extend their network of experienced advisors.
The positive feedback of the invitees showed: The Fluency Punch was a great success for everybody involved.
(left to right): Mag. Agata Wolinska (Konzipientin/Litigation), Mag. Bernd Pichlmayer (Konzipient/Corporate), Mag. Nadina Eugster (Konzipientin/Corporate), Ing. Jakob Reiter (former trainee IT/IP and umpire of the Vienna debate club), Mag. Isabella Schnöpf (Konzipientin/IT/IP), Mag. Johannes Fuhrmann (Konzipient)
(left to right): Mag. Andreas Froessel (Konzipient/ Labor Law), Martin Schwertmann and Mag. Thomas Mollnhuber (both mentees of the Career Mentorship Programme)
(left to right): Mag. Andreas Traugott (Partner), Dr. Georg Diwok (Partner), Mag. Agata Wolinska (Konzipientin), Ing. Jakob Reiter (former trainee and umpire of the Vienna debate club)
Debating experts
Debate tournament “Vienna IV 12”, March 9 through March 11, 2012: Baker & McKenzie’s honorary jury elects medical student Véronique Lorenz as best female speaker
More than 200 students from 23 countries participated in the debate tournament “Vienna IV”, which took place from March 9 through March 11, 2012. This “debating championship” was hosted by the Vienna Debate Club and the Young European Federalists with the support of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche, the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the University of Vienna. In addition, our law firm also acted as honorary jury.
Intellectual high-performance
The first two days of the competition took place at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, where the students competed with each other in teams of two, with one team being the supporters and the other team being the opponents of a topic. In its assessment, the jury considered the logical correlation of the argumentation, the originality of the reasoning and the effectiveness of the presentation. The six preliminaries were succeeded by the semi-finals and the final, which took place at the University of Vienna.
Georg Krakow
|
The day began with the festive opening speeches of Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik and Mag. Georg Krakow, senior counsel of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche specializing in white-collar crime. Then, the best 8 of more than 50 teams competed with each other in the main ceremonial chamber. The students Patrick Ehmann and John Tomas Eltringham were the overall winners of the three-day event.
|
Debating with passion
After in-depth deliberations, the Baker & McKenzie honorary jury elected the medical student Véronique Lorenz as best female speaker. She convinced with her arguments on the topic “Incubators instead of natural pregnancies”, where she took the opposing standpoint. “I am very happy about the distinction,” says the finalist, who has already participated in numerous international debate competitions and has won the Tilbury House Winter Tournament in 2011. “Debating is lots of fun and has become my hobby,” says Véronique Lorenz. According to her, it is always a new challenge to deal with a predetermined topic and to commit oneself to a specific point of view – even if it sometimes does not reflect one’s own. “When it came to the topic of Vienna IV’s final, I was very happy that the lot decided that I had to argue against incubators” comments Véronique. Already now, she looks forward to competing in the next debating tournament in Vienna.
Mag. Georg Krakow, senior counsel of Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche specializing in white-collar crime, during his opening speech.
The ceremonial chamber (Festsaal) of the University of Vienna: The semi finals and the final took place in this festive setting.
The four teams of finalists of the debate tournament including Véronique Lorenz (second row, far right), whom Baker & McKenzie’s honorary jury elected as best female speaker.
Award ceremony: Mag. Georg Krakow congratulates Véronique Lorenz.
Pictures: Michele Pauty
Career’s Best Recruiters 2011/2012
Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche makes the 1st place in the category legal advice
Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche secured the top position in the category legal advice in the employer branding study “Career’s Best Recruiters 2011/2012”. All in all, the study evaluated 500 Austrian companies. In the overall ranking across all industry sectors, Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche achieved rank 51. The evaluation was conducted in accordance with state-of-the art employer branding and recruiting research. The solemn award ceremony for the “Career’s Best Recruiters” certificates and seals will be held by the Federal Minister Univ.-Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Töchterle in the Federal Ministry for Science and Research in February 2012.
The study’s focus was threefold: The first step included an analysis of the employer brand power covering aspects such as homepage, presence at online job fairs and recruiting fairs as well as social web activities. In a second step, it was analyzed how the companies reacted to unsolicited job applications, while a third analysis focused on how job applicants perceived the companies in their role as employers. The study claims to provide a uniform and representative picture both for the evaluated companies and institutions and for potential job applicants.
| |
“We are very proud to receive this award, beating our top competitors in the sector”, says Dr. Stefan Riegler, Hiring Partner with Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche. “Recruiting has always been very important to us. In the course of last year, we have implemented a number of exclusive measures to ensure that we are early in getting to tomorrow's top lawyers”. He
|
believes that these innovative measures are the key to success. Measures such as the Career Mentorship Programme, which the law firm launched in its Vienna office in 2010, and that is so far entirely unique, the firm’s customized performances on job fairs and its extensive efforts to cultivate established personal contacts to young legal talent at the local universities. “This positive feedback confirms that we are on the right track” says Dr. Stefan Riegler.
The study also evaluated 500 German companies. Baker & McKenzie Germany made it among the top three in the category legal advice and achieved rank three in the German ranking. In the overall ranking across all industry sectors, the German law firm made the 91st place, thus ranking among the top 100 companies.
“Career’s Best Recruiters” is conducted annually by the Vienna-based communication agency GPK Event- und Kommunikationsmanagement GmbH. The recruiting study shows how different companies and institutions are perceived by graduates of universities, universities of applied sciences and technical colleges.
Wien Energie Business Run 2011
Baker & McKenzie mentee Felix Kernbichler amazes all by making 3rd place
This year's Wien Energie Business Run has seen more runners sign up than ever before: approximately 20,000 employees from large corporations but also SMEs participated in the race which took place on September 22, 2011. Just as in the previous years, Baker & McKenzie took part as well: 13 attorneys and members of staff of the Vienna office donned their running shoes and completed the course of 4.2 kilometers, starting at the Ernst-Happel stadium taking them through Vienna's Prater and back.
Felix Kernbichler, a mentee of Baker & McKenzie’s Career Mentorship Programme (CMP) since summer 2010, made a fantastic third place in the overall score. He reached the finish line after 12 minutes and 42.7 seconds. Nada Pauer, a law clerk with Baker's Vienna office, made 8th place in the overall women’s results. Together with Thomas Obersteiner, a former mentee of the CMP-Programme who is now working as Konzipient (trainee lawyer) in the Vienna office, both made 6th place in the mixed scores of all participating teams, putting Baker in the lead as top law firm for the second time in a row in terms of overall score.
“I was pleased to be able to take part in the run – it was fun!” says the CMP mentee and first-time Wien Energie Business Run participant, Felix Kernbichler. His top placement is not a coincidence: The 23-year old has been active in competitive sports ever since he was 12 years old, specializing in particular in 800 m and 1,500 m runs. “I put in about 10 training sessions per week. I run every evening and sometimes even at noon!”, he tells us about his running activities. Kernbichler, who was born in Maria Enzersdorf, is one of Baker’s very first mentees participating in the Austrian Mentorship Programme. Already two years prior to launching the Programme in Austria, the law firm had claimed quite a big success with the start of its CMP in its German offices. The Programme has won several awards in Germany and seven mentees have already joined the firm as associates.
We are already looking forward to the Wien Energie Business Run 2012!
Photo: Baker & McKenzie
Vienna law student wins first Baker & McKenzie Debate Club competition
Baker & McKenzie’s first Debate Club competition has a winner: Antonia Cermak, law student at the Juridicum and Vienna’s Wirtschaftsuniversität took the lead by outclassing the competition. The 22 year old student impressed the jury with her debating and rhetorical skills, scoring 58 of 60 points. Law student Benedikt Harich came in second.
Baker & McKenzie’s first Debate Club event was held at the Wirtschaftsuniversität Vienna from May 6 through May 7, 2011. The law firm Baker & McKenzie launched this annual competition together with the Vienna debating club (Debattierklub Wien) in order to foster discourse culture among talented lawyers-to-be.
Antonia Cermak will soon join the ranks of Baker & McKenzie, where a senior lawyer will serve as her mentor and advisor.
(left to right): Baker & McKenzie partner DDr. Alexander Petsche congratulates the winning Antonia Cermak and second in place Benedikt Harich.
Antonia Cermak, winner of Baker & McKenzie’s first Debate Club competition
Photos: Baker & McKenzie
Job fair SUCCESS11 huge success for Baker & McKenzie
The job and career fair SUCCESS11, the largest job fair for legal professionals in German-speaking countries, was held for the fifth time in Vienna on March 23, 2011. Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche acted as this year’s main partner of the fair and contributed to several events on the agenda. The job fair was opened at 10:00 a.m. by Baker & McKenzie Partner DDr. Alexander Petsche together with MMag. Bernhard Wundsam, UNIPORT’s managing director and organizer of the job fair, and Mag. Alexander Nagel, Marketing Manager at UNIPORT, in the “Juridicum” of Vienna University.
At 1:30 p.m., the visitors were invited to join a panel discussion with Dr. Stefan Riegler, Dispute Resolution Attorney at Baker & McKenzie Vienna and Mag. Nagel. The topic of this discussion was the firm’s philosophy, the history of Baker & McKenzie in Vienna as well as the Career Mentorship Programme for young legal talent, which Baker & McKenzie established in the Vienna Office in summer 2010 with six candidates and which will start its second round this summer. The award-winning mentorship programme has already been implemented successfully by the German Baker & McKenzie offices. “The programme closes the gap between education and job and in the ideal case – if the chemistry is right – the candidate is offered a position in our firm,” Stefan Riegler emphasizes the advantages of the mentorship programme. The mentees, still in the midst of their studies, are provided with a comprehensive insight into an attorney’s daily work, receive support for their education and are able to establish a network with experienced attorneys and fellow mentees. Following the panel discussion, many visitors used the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and rhetorical skills in a simulated job interview with Stefan Riegler.
In the afternoon, the Baker & McKenzie workshop once more focused on the Career Mentorship Programme. The participants of the workshop used the opportunity to speak with Mag. Aakriti Chandihok, one of the first mentees, benefitting from her valuable first-hand information.
In addition, Aakriti Chandihok and several other Baker & McKenzie attorneys were available to answer the questions of interested up-and-coming attorneys at a stand especially set up for this occasion. “At SUCCESS11, we were able to establish contact with several interested candidates and present Baker & McKenzie as a brand,” Stefan Riegler says and concludes: “Our participation in the fair as main partner has proven to be a huge success for our firm: All in all, we had a well-frequented stand, many events on the agenda were organized with our help and we established several contacts which are interesting for us also in the medium term.”
(from left to right) The team at Baker & McKenzie's fair stand: Dr. Franz Josef Arztmann (Procurement Law Attorney), Mag. Isabella Schnöpf (Trainee Attorney IP/IT), Claudia Mahrer (Assistant Recruiting), Dr. Hutan Rahmani (Trainee Attorney Corporate) and Mag. Christoph Schertler (Trainee Attorney Dispute Resolution).
Photo: Uniport
Baker & McKenzie Partner DDr. Alexander Petsche opened the job fair SUCCESS11
Photo: Uniport
Dr. Stefan Riegler (left), Dispute Resolution Attorney at Baker & McKenzie Vienna, during panel discussion with Mag. Alexander Nagel, Marketing Manager at UNIPORT
Dr. Stefan Riegler, Dispute Resolution-Partner bei Baker & McKenzie Wien, im Bühnengespräch mit Mag. Alexander Nagel, Marketing Manager bei UNIPORT
Career Mentorship Programme" project wins 1st place in personnel marketing category in Germany
In Spring 2010, Baker & McKenzie Austria carried out its first selection procedure for its “Career Mentorship Programme” which had been successfully initiated by the law firm’s German offices about two years beforehand. The mentorship program for young legal talent, aimed at bridging a gap often identified in legal studies, is not only one of its kind amongst law firms, but also won the PMN Management Award 2010 in the category “personnel marketing”. The jury - made up of business journalists, former managing partners and heads of business service areas of various law firms - praised the “Career Mentorship Programme” as the first and only program successfully attracting and retaining young talent to the firm with the help of the mentorship program. The program also received one of a total of four awards presented by azur for Baker & McKenzie Germany’s excellent achievements in the area of promoting young talent. This is just one of the many reasons why Baker & McKenzie Austria is equally determined to make use of this program for supporting its up-and-coming attorneys. The Vienna Office is already reporting very encouraging results: After starting with six mentees in 2010, the Vienna Office is now seeking further participants to join this year’s program.
Paragra§en-Reiter
With our quarterly newsletter "Paragra§en-Reiter," which is published by our German Practice Group "Dispute Resolution," we inform Moot Court alumni about the latest news regarding our law firm and current developments in the field of arbitration.
Read Paragra§en-Reiter Issue 1/2011.
Read Paragra§en-Reiter Issue 3/2010.