GET TO KNOW THE PEOPLE
GET TO KNOW THE PEOPLE BEHIND OUR GLOBAL NETWORK Guest: Malene Overgaard Partner Host: Friederike V. Ruch CEO Hi Malene, great to get to introduce you to our global network. What do you do? I am Partner in the Scandinavian full-service law firm Schjødt, which recently started an office in Denmark. I work with tax law – more or less all aspects of tax law including cross boarder taxation and M&A tax etc. which I have done for the last 23 years. What's it like to build a new office of an existing firm in a new country? Well, it's about always expecting the unexpected. It takes a lot of footwork, and the pace is high! But it's one step at a time and we're on the journey together and with priceless help from our colleagues in the existing offices of the firm. In a very short time, we have set our footmark in Denmark and are expanding in a high pace. What is something Schjødt is doing better compared to your competitors providing legal services? Like our competitors we are a top-tier professional firm, and we are providing legal services within all business areas. We are seeing a high demand for the services we can provide due to our presence throughout Scandinavia, and this is one of our strongest strengths. Big international clients are very positive about Schjødt being a one-stop-shop for Scandinavia. Compared to other companies having offices in several jurisdictions, we are in fact one firm and work together daily which means that we work as one office. The input we get from our clients is that they really feel this difference, and this is what make us unique. convinus.com
Where do you get your best ideas? Through the many different inputs, I receive from colleagues and clients during a day. But using this input to create new ideas often happens when I enjoy time at the North Sea on the Danish west coast with its beautiful and rough nature. What do you especially take away from working so closely cross border with your Schjødt colleagues? My colleagues in the Swedish and Norwegian offices of the firm have legal traditions very similar to the Danish, and the mindset of the people is also very similar, but still some things are different. That inspires me to see all the similarities and then all the differences as well. It is always healthy in all aspects of life to gather inspiration and input from others. This makes us grow as advisors and as individuals. What changes are you expecting in the next 12 months? With 2024 being the biggest election year of all time, the political landscape might look different in the coming months and years. This is always an ongoing consideration when giving advice and servicing clients, but I expect more rule changes and more political changes now. We're also seeing a surge of data sharing between the countries which raises the question of compliance in all business sectors and industries. Compliance is going to be a high priority not only in the next year, but in the next 10 years! What are you looking forward to in the next 12 months? I am looking forward continuing our journey and get more great people on board. In 1.5 year, we have expanded from 2 to 40 professionals, and we have just advertised for open positions in almost all our legal areas of expertise for the Danish office. We have such a great group of partners and employees onboard and we are looking forward to opening the door for other skilled advisors and to integrate them into the Schjødt professionalism. It must be fun to be at work and we need to put an effort into making everyone integrated and part of the same culture. So in other words, I am looking forward to continuing the journey making sure that we grow together. Marlene, thank you so much for this interview and I look forward to reading your article! convinus.com
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