Change of strategy: “It’s one thing to have a map. But you also have to be able to see where you’re going”

Managing Partner Martin André Dittmer looks back on the completed strategy period “In a league of our own” and ahead to its successor “Momentum 2025”. The new strategy was presented at a company trip to Croatia in late summer.

It was the first time in the firm’s more than 150-year long history that Gorrissen Federspiel in 2019 went all in on developing and pursuing a strategy as a “tool designed to increase the likelihood that we’ll reach our destination,” as Managing Partner Martin André Dittmer puts it.

“Through ‘In a league of our own’, we united the firm, partners and employees under a shared vision. We wanted to become Denmark’s leading law firm with the most satisfied clients, who choose us for our deep professionalism and our decency, and with the most talented and committed employees. We wanted to set our own standards based on the understanding that we are number one, rather than benchmarking ourselves against our competitors,” explains Martin André Dittmer.

The process towards the final strategy involved a thorough analysis of the position of the firm and discussions among the partners of the direction we wanted to take. It was a rewarding process. However, it was also clear that the strategy would have to be continuously adapted to reality when conditions change as they did in the spring of 2020.

“No one was prepared for a global pandemic. Because of Covid-19, we had to revise the priorities of ‘In a league of our own’. Initiatives on IT upgrades were accelerated to create better conditions for setting up a home office. At the same time, it was a priority for us to support job security and well-being in the midst of the indefinite furlough of employees,” says Martin André Dittmer and sums up:

“It’s one thing to have a map where you have laid out the route towards your ambition: to be Denmark’s leading and preferred law firm. But you also have to be able to see where you’re going,” says Martin André Dittmer.

When the consequences of the war in Ukraine hit with delayed effect in the autumn of 2022, it was again necessary to deviate from the course when activity slowed down. The reaction was not to cut the workforce but to move the attorneys to where the clients’ needs were. Others spent the period upskilling and reskilling until things began to normalise again towards the end of the year.

It is with pride that Gorrissen Federspiel’s Managing Partner looks back on several successful initiatives and a great development of the firm in the previous strategy period.

“Our clear leadership in the quality of our legal assistance is something we can all be very proud of. That’s why we can also – without hesitation – call ourselves Denmark’s leading law firm. We are in a league of our own” says Martin André Dittmer. This is confirmed by several surveys.

For three years on end, Gorrissen Federspiel has been ranked as #1 in Prospera’s review of the ten largest law firms in Denmark. The image survey by IFO – Institute for Opinion Analysis – also ranks us at the top. In the latest survey by Universum, law students named Gorrissen Federspiel as their preferred business-oriented law firm.

Internally, we have seen noticeable improvements.

“We’ve professionalised our entire operations and business development. Well-being is steadily improving. The scene has been set to execute on our ambitions and truly stand out as Denmark’s leading law firm,” says Martin André Dittmer.

In 2019, when the partnership defined the strategy “In a league of our own”, we gave ourselves three years to achieve our ambitions. 2022 was therefore the last year in the previous strategy period and the year when the new strategy period was defined and shaped. While the direction and the ambitions of the previous strategy were set by the partners, the new strategy is even more so based on Gorrissen Federspiel’s two most important target groups, the employees and the clients. The first six months of 2022 were used to listen to feedback, advice and wishes for the future from employees and clients – input that makes up important building blocks of the new strategy, which will be rolled out in 2023.

Evolutionary progress

“Momentum 2025” is therefore not a revolution, but an evolution. The feedback from employees and clients was generally that as a workplace and legal adviser we are doing really well and are on the right course. The basis of the strategy has therefore been to focus on how we can accelerate the already positive development and direction of the firm. In this respect, especially the clients’ feedback was surprisingly similar, says Martin André Dittmer.

“They agree that the quality of our legal work is outstanding. We have a particularly high level of professionalism. A professional width and depth in our practice areas that allow us to solve complex issues better than others. The clients have asked that we are guided even more by their reality and that we become more proactive towards them between cases through ongoing dialogue and idea generation in relation to challenges and opportunities.”

This will require even greater understanding of the client’s industry and sector and thereby becoming even better at understanding and anticipating the client’s need of our assistance.

“We must become experts on our clients. We must understand their business and the different drivers that matter to them. The more specific knowledge we have of them, the better services we can provide and the more value we can add. This calls upon us – where relevant –to focus our business even more on sectors than on our legal practice areas. The next three years will be characterised by this transition,” says Martin André Dittmer.

He points to Shipping/Offshore/Transportation, which has always been one of the pillars of Gorrissen Federspiel, and Energy & Infrastructure and Defence & Security as examples of selected sector groups. The increased focus on sectors is one of several initiatives in the 2025 roadmap.

Four main themes in the strategy

Once consensus was reached on the direction, the specific aims and initiatives to achieve them, four main themes emerged for “Momentum 2025”: Clients first, The best employees, One team and The most well-run law firm. Each theme has a number of underlying initiatives, but at the same time they are prerequisites for each other, explains Martin André Dittmer:

“Gorrissen Federspiel is what we are because of our talented employees. And we’ll not achieve our clientfocused ambitions without having the best employees and the ability to work as one team. That’s why, for instance, we can only succeed with Clients first by also developing and offering the best possible setting for well-being and professional development.”

Croatian kick-off

For the strategy to be successful, everyone must be able to see themselves in it and pull in the same direction. Whether you are a fee-earner or have another function in the firm, you are an important part of a unified team and community. This point was emphasised by inviting everyone from Gorrissen Federspiel to a combined summer party and strategy presentation in Dubrovnik, Croatia. One weekend in August 2022 with time for fun and discussions on how you saw yourself in the new strategy and how we each could contribute to the strategy.

“It created a feeling that everyone wants to take part in the journey and take Gorrissen Federspiel further so that we can become an even better workplace and still be the clients’ preferred law firm,” Martin André Dittmer concludes.