Discover Benelux |  Special Theme |  Legal Excellence

In less than ten years after being called to the bar, Sabrina Martin was already heading her own chambers, as the freedom of working withing an independent law firm appealed to her.

Luxembourg, logistics – and legal links to the world TEXT: MARTIN PILKINGTON | PHOTOS: MARTIN AVOCATS

It’s a pleasing paradox of Luxembourg that the tiny country enjoys international links even world powers may envy. That comes from evolving in sympathy with the business and political environment, which in its own way the firm of Martin Avocats is doing too. Some lawyers never set up their own practice; some wait decades to do so. Sabrina Martin was called to the bar in 1996, and yet by 2005 she was already heading her own chambers. “Enjoying the freedom offered by working within an independent practice was something I had in mind from the very start of my career,” she explains. The practice was initially very much a generalist one, and it continues to offer a breadth of services, but as Luxembourg has continued to grow as a trade centre Martin and her colleagues have developed special competences in the law relating to

68 |  Issue 12 |  December 2014

logistics and international transport, which includes civil aviation and maritime law. “The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is providing the infrastructure and high-tech equipment needed to build that trade, and offers a very favourable geographic location,” says Maître Martin: “The new Freeport located next to Luxembourg Findel-Airport offers great opportunities too.”

ternational network of lawyers whose members tend to be small or mediumsized practices like ours,” says Maître Martin: “When you practice law in Luxembourg it’s very likely you’ll have dealings with lawyers outside the country, given the size of the Grand Duchy, so it’s extremely useful to have such links in obtaining, for example, rapid responses to questions of law in other jurisdictions.”

Maître Martin says: “We’ve built up very good relations with the customs authorities here in Luxembourg, and our aim is to continue to build expertise in the law of logistics and to provide a dedicated and personal service, and thus differentiate the way we work from far bigger – and perhaps less reactive – competitors.”

That outlook is not just seen in the practice’s external links: Sabrina and her colleagues can consult with clients in French, English, Luxembourgish, German, Italian and Arabic. Luxembourg writ large in a small firm, in fact: dynamic, evolving, international – and clearly very effective. www.martin-avocats.lu

Something hugely helpful in the firm’s development has been its membership of the LNA or Legal Netlink Alliance. “It’s an in-