Deloitte Legal s.r.o., advokátní kancelár

Managing Partner Martin Bohuslav explains how Deloitte Legal is leveraging advanced technologies and multidisciplinary collaboration to meet the evolving needs of clients in the Czech Republic.   1. What do you see as the main points that differentiate [law firm name] from your competitors? Well, without doubt a great differentiator is the ability to provide bundled solutions together with our Deloitte colleagues in other service lines. This includes solutions involving colleagues such as IT Consultants, Financial Advisors, Risk Advisers, and Tax Experts, among others. Further differentiation comes through our being focused on the most important and relevant topics at the current time. Presently, two such topics are Digitalization and ESG (Environmental Social and Governance). Both topics require major transformational processes to be taken by our clients, which can prove quite daunting for them. However, we are good at transformations! And we offer added support to these clients, making the transformational processes manageable and trouble-free, through our integrated project management capabilities.   2. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Beyond Digitalization and ESG transformational projects, I think that we can expect to see growth across the whole spectrum of traditional legal practice areas. Depending on the economic outlook over the next 12 months, this should include M&A transactions, restructuring, or even insolvencies – these areas headed by our Partner Petr Suchy. Our crown jewel is Tax Litigation as well, headed by our Partner Jirina Prochazkova. Since we have the largest Tax & Legal team on the market, I believe we are unmatched in our ability to cover this area and bring true synergies in our service offerings. But it is necessary to mention other areas as well. We advised on the succession planning for a prominent family business, creating a robust framework for the transition to the next generation while preserving the family’s wealth – team led by Ludvik Juricka. And we are really good at compliance and business integrity services (incl. forensics) – team led by Jaroslava Kracunova. We are strong at Banking&Finance area with team led by Jan Prochazka.   3. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? The most significant change we've made is our increased focus on integrating AI into our legal processes. This technology allows to handle larger volumes of work with greater accuracy and efficiency, which directly benefits by reducing turnaround times and keeping the high quality of our services. Additionally, our multidisciplinary collaboration within Deloitte ensures that we provide holistic solutions that encompass not only legal advice but also technological, financial, and risk management perspectives.   4. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Yes, and it has been already mentioned in relation to AI. But not only AI matters. Planning, Communication, and Collaborative applications to provide the client with available comfort and control – these are the ways we want to go. However, AI shall have THE IMPACT.   5. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? Certainly. Recently, we assisted Ataccama, a leading international software company, in securing a significant investment from Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, valued at billions of Czech Crowns. This investment was one of the most notable in the Czech Republic in recent years and is a testament to our expertise in facilitating complex transactions that enhance our clients' growth and market presence. Additionally, we supported the advisory group Partners in obtaining a banking license. This involved navigating the intricate regulatory landscape and ensuring compliance with all necessary requirements. This achievement not only enabled Partners to expand their service offerings but also marked a significant transformation in their business model. Another example is our involvement with the sale of S&K LABEL and S&K TOOLS to private equity funds. Our legal guidance throughout the transaction ensured a smooth process, aligning the interests of (international) buyers and sellers, which ultimately added substantial value to both parties involved.   6. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? We are in the perfect position to be a strategic partner for our clients simply due to our wide practical experience across all industries, and with the major international players. We are good at transformations! And the clients need to transform in many areas nowadays. We are here to help them. With this unique business insight, we can offer proactive solutions, and the best practices taken around the world. Our lawyers, through daily collaboration with other experts, in Tax, Finance, Technology, etc., have a broader business perspective, than those at traditional law firms, which means that they can keep company objectives and goals in mind without only taking a solely narrow legal approach. In three years’ time, we remain a TOP Law Firm on the Czech market, harvesting the technological and organisational advantage of being part of the Deloitte family. Additionally, we will continue bringing a new normal to clients in providing integrated bundled solutions, which traditional law firms will not be able to do without bringing in 3rd party providers.    

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Deloitte Legal from your competitors? Well, without doubt a great differentiator is the ability to provide bundled solutions together with our Deloitte colleagues in other service lines. This includes solutions involving colleagues such as IT Consultants, Financial Advisors, Risk Advisers, and Tax Experts, among others. Further differentiation comes through our being focused on the most important and relevant topics at the current time. Presently, two such topics are Digitalization and ESG (Environmental Social and Governance). Both topics require major transformational processes to be taken by our clients, which can prove quite daunting for them. However, we offer added support to these clients, making the transformational processes manageable and trouble-free, through our integrated project management capabilities. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? Beyond Digitalization and ESG transformational projects, I think that we can expect to see growth across the whole spectrum of traditional legal practice areas. Depending on the economic outlook over the next 12 months, this should include M&A transactions, restructuring, or even insolvencies. One further area of growth is likely to be in Tax Litigation, which is headed by my talented colleague Jirina Prochazkova. Since we have the largest Tax & Legal team on the market, I believe we are unmatched in our ability to cover this area and bring true synergies in our service offerings. What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? We are doing a great job of supporting our clients in the Digital Legal area. Digital team have a refreshingly entrepreneurial and proactive approach to dealing with the tasks, which are often accompanied with tight deadlines. This allows us to deliver a significant volume of work for our Technology-related clients, including those in Software Development. I would add, too, that client benefits are coming from the increasing efficiencies brought forward in our Tax Litigation team. The ongoing closer collaboration between the Tax & Legal colleagues is certainly something that is bringing added value to our clients. Lastly, in ESG, we really aspire to bring holistic projects to our clients where we cover Project Management, with full scope consultancy, and not just Legal Advisory alone. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Again, the high level of efficiency from the Digital Law team comes to mind. Through their using the latest advancements in Legal Technologies via Planning, Communication, and Collaborative applications, we can see major time and resource savings being gained. This directly benefits our clients allowing us to cover high volume-work over shorter times, and with better accuracy. A further note that I should mention is that taken by one of our colleagues Jan Prochazka, who heads our Banking & Finance team. He is integrating legal services with all the technologies offered by Deloitte. So, for example, if Deloitte is providing a software-related solution to a bank, an integral part of this will be the option of purchasing legal advisory through that solution at any time in future. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? An example that I should mention would be one where, thanks to the elaboration of an ESG Strategy for a client, we were directly involved in increasing their value through implementing that strategy. Almost nobody, nowadays, can ignore the increasing requirements for ESG application as this will be demanded more and more from their clients and customers. Thus, we are helping this client from transforming something which, on first impression, could have been taken to be a burden by their company executives, into something which is a benefit, and brings tangible and measurable savings. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? We are in the perfect position to be a strategic partner for our clients simply due to our wide practical experience across all industries, and with the major international players. With this unique business insight, we can offer proactive solutions, and the best practices taken around the world. Our lawyers, through daily collaboration with other experts, in Tax, Finance, Technology, etc., have a broader business perspective, than those at traditional law firms, which means that they can keep company objectives and goals in mind without only taking a solely narrow legal approach. In three years’ time, I see the firm as being the undisputed second-largest law firm on the Czech market. Additionally, I hope that we will bring a new normal to clients in providing integrated bundled solutions, which traditional law firms will not be able to do without bringing in 3rd party providers.