The new co-managing partners of BCLP, Constantin Achillas and Olivier Mesmin, unroll their action plan in an interview with Décideurs

It didn't take long for associates at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner's (BCLP) Paris office to reorganize after a group of lawyers left in early January of this year. A pair of Constantin Achillas and Olivier Mesmin took over from Rémy Blain at the head of the team. Just in the bath, the two co-managing partners roll out their action plan.

Legal decision-makers. A whole group of lawyers from the firm left in early January to found Addleshaw Goddard's Paris office. What was your first action?

Olivier Mesmin. We had to react very quickly. The next day, we organized an associates meeting during which we started by deciding on the new governance. The constitution of our duo was validated immediately, which allowed us to quickly take stock of the actions to be carried out as a priority and to launch the first measures.

Constantine Achillas. We have in fact focused on identifying the right people for key positions such as financial management and general secretariat. We are delighted to have already found the talents to fill these positions.

You form a pair at the head of the 60 lawyers of BCLP. Why this choice?

CA. We are complementary, we have both had managerial functions in the past and it is always more comfortable to decide together. We talk to each o.ther every day.

OM Added to this is the fact that we have decided to set up collective management by involving the whole partnership.

That is to say?

OM. That is to say that one of our first measures was to set up a meeting of associates every Monday and working committees by topic (finance, communication, relocation, business development , links ...) . Each partner is involved in at least one of these committees, Constantin and I reserve the one relating to financial matters.

What is a bond committee?

OM. Between the many movements of the last few months and the health context, we all need to cultivate closeness in one way or another. This committee is an opportunity to bring together all the good ideas and to reflect on working conditions in a community.

CA. This is the case, for example, of improving the reception of new arrivals: internal information lapping, sponsorship, drafting of a booklet containing essential information on the firm and its environment… But not only. Setting a point of fifteen minutes every other Friday bringing together the entire cabinet allows us to share news, decisions, changes ...

Regarding BCLP's positioning, has the departure of the group of associates from Addleshaw Goddard changed the strategy of the Paris office?

OM. No, we are pursuing our plan common to all BCLP offices consisting of strengthening our positioning on the three major poles of the firm which are transactional, litigation (and investigations) and real estate in the broad sense that is to say oriented towards the entire real estate sector.

CA. We are well-versed in real estate, especially since the arrival of Pierre Popesco's team. We need to strengthen the corporate / M & A pole , through external or internal growth. The objective is to achieve a balance between these three pillars by bringing together around a hundred lawyers. We are fortunate to work in a team that knows each other well, which is very close. Our attention is focused on maintaining this cohesion.

What are BCLP's main strengths?

CA. First of all, our global network is fully integrated. It is a guarantee of quality for our customers who will find the same level of service in Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe. Then comes our investment for twenty years in the development of digital tools through the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. We have designed our own document automation platform, a workflow to meet the legal needs of internal teams, datarooms , dawn raiding preparation applications... We are equipped to allow our lawyers to focus on high-end service while offering our clients comprehensive support in business law.

A move is being prepared. Can you say more?

OM. In principle, we should move into new offices at the end of December. This is all in the hands of the locals committee. The objective is to bring together the teams which are today spread over two sites.

CA. We chose a building that looks like the Flatiron in New York since it is isolated at the intersection of Lafayette, Provence and Antin streets. We will occupy two floors there.