Interview with: Igor Bernik, Managing Partner

Managing partner discusses the legal profession in the unpredictable age of AI.

 

1) What do you see as the main points that differentiate Bernik Dimitrijević l.f. Ltd. from your competitors?

Bernik Dimitrijević is a go-to law firm for international clients – especially those seeking to establish a presence and extend their business to the Slovenian market. The firm is distinguished from its competitors by a well-functioning combination of factors:

Comprehensive and Holistic Expertise: The firm’s ability to seamlessly navigate overlapping legal areas and offer counsel on multiple practice areas simultaneously is a significant advantage. This is especially valuable for international clients with complex needs requiring insights across various legal domains (most notably corporate and commercial law on one side and employment and immigration law on the other).

Personalized Engagement: Each client interacts directly with one of the partners, promoting a personal and trusting relationship. Our commitment to prompt communication and highlighting potential issues fosters a client-focused, results-driven partnership.

A Client-Centric Approach: We prioritize effective communication and understanding our clients’ goals. International clients often (understandably) don’t hold a strong grasp of Slovenian law and local business and market practices. Consequently, there is a higher chance of ineffective communication relating to “searching for the right questions” (understanding the client’s goals), rather than the “right answers” (realizing those goals in practice). The corresponding time and effort involved diminishes the valuable resources of the firm while raising the expense for the client. Our firm has been looking for solutions to this particular complication arising from the international nature of the client-attorney relationship. From the start of our practice, we drafted multiple introductory documents, questionnaires and general clarifications on various topics (that were noticeably problematic in this respect based on previous experience) – these reading materials were relayed to the client before any collaboration even started. We found that this resulted in shorter and more precise communication that rendered better results. The client obviously saved on legal fees, but on the other hand the firm saved on the time at our disposal, allowing us to have more clients and represent and counsel them by our highest standards. As of this year, the firm has been using generative AI for creating first drafts of the mentioned reading materials.

Generative AI Integration: By utilizing generative AI, we have transformed how we share basic legal knowledge. Offering easily accessible legal articles in response to specific client needs demonstrates our dedication to empowering clients with relevant information. Apart from identifying the useful topics and drafting the generative AI prompts, the team’s only other task is reading and correcting potential errors (which are surprisingly few in these general-type texts) and uploading the article to the firm’s website. By using these technological advances and our efficient methodology, we are ensuring that our clients are well informed prior to and during our (main) projects, which consequently saves valuable time for the firm and enables us to perform more specific services with less unnecessary introductory fees for the client.

A High-Quality Work Environment: Although this is entirely an internal aspect (it only concerns the firm and its personnel), I believe it is a significant contributor to the overall high quality of services. By implementing adaptive work hours, every member of our team has the ability to organize their work and personal life in an optimal way, which results in exceptional quality of work. This requires a necessary high level of trust among our staff, but we take great pride that we are able to provide support and care for any ongoing and long-lasting projects as well as any emergency situations, while maintaining our staff’s wellbeing and satisfaction a priority.

 

2) Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

We believe that only very creative and adaptive practitioners can succeed as AI grows and impacts legal counselling. Adaptability and creativity, as well as the motivation and aptitude to keep up with these changes, will be critical, as client needs become increasingly more particular (the clients industry sectors also being susceptible to the same influence of AI technology).

In the upcoming year, we anticipate growth in the following practice areas:

Technology and IP Law: The rapidly evolving technology sector necessitates specialized legal guidance. We expect increased demand for our counsel on intellectual property, data protection, and regulatory compliance.

Commercial Litigation: The rise in commercial disputes is due to the nature of modern corporate operations, which include elaborate contracts and highly technical and complicated (yet ever-changing) regulations. This is particularly true in high-risk industries. Skilled commercial litigators are required to negotiate these cases and provide effective solutions, delivering the best possible outcomes.

International Expansion Services: As Slovenia and the EU continue to attract foreign investment, our expertise in assisting international clients with market entry and operational setup is poised for expansion. The demand for efficient, cross-disciplinary solutions will drive growth in this area.

 

3) What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

One of the most significant adjustments we’ve implemented at our firm to benefit clients (apart from incorporating generative AI, as explained in the next answer) is for our lawyers to acquire non-legal skills in order to keep up with forthcoming innovations in industries such as technology, engineering, and construction. Recognizing the issues that clients in these industries confront, our staff has proactively pursued technical and industry-specific expertise training.

This change makes it possible for the team at Bernik Dimitrijević to generate not only legal advice but also deliver insights into the operational and strategic issues of our clients’ organizations. By combining legal assistance with sector-specific knowledge, we can give more comprehensive solutions, improving the value we provide to our clients.

 

4) Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Absolutely, technology is constantly reshaping how we interact with clients and offer services. Technology facilitates smoother communication, document sharing, and collaboration, allowing us to deliver services efficiently and effectively, especially for international clients.

The introduction of generative AI tools has been a transformative change. By automating the creation of legal articles, we provide clients with accessible, relevant information to enhance their understanding of legal matters, especially in the initial stages of our collaboration. The integration of generative AI has enabled us to establish a comprehensive and ever-growing library of legal articles for clients, enhancing their basic legal knowledge. This change saves time for both our firm and clients and ensures that our services are more streamlined and focused on specific and advanced client needs, with less unnecessary introductory fees.

 

5) Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

A prominent client of the firm (a foreign based group of companies with a corporate presence in Slovenia, among other countries) recently reached out to our firm regarding a matter of EU regulations on a specific industry sector issue not being interpreted in the same way by four separate EU member states in which the client conducts their business.

Failure to resolve this issue would potentially cause the client great damage as an inconsistent approach by four separate EU member states would hinder the client’s cross-border operations. Our firm was put in charge of resolving this complex regulatory issue. The seat of the client being one member state, while the activities being conducted in four other separate member states – this represented an extremely demanding trans-jurisdictional issue. The client needed expert counselling capable of referencing multiple jurisdictions and producing a unique result for all of them. This required a full understanding of the client’s business model.

Our team provided great value in advising the client in this matter and is coordinating the efforts of several players and decision makers in the process: namely three separate foreign law firms, as well as two separate foreign regulatory authorities competent in these sector specific matters. This way our firm is implementing the client’s mother company’s business model in other member states as well as comparing, analyzing, and giving conclusions on the various interpretations of the same contentious EU Directive. The efforts resulted (among other results) in a submission of a request for a preliminary judgement to the Court of justice of the European Union, aiming at resolving the issue for the client in a unified manner for all jurisdictions and with beneficial effects on the client.

The full result of our services will enable the client to adjust their business model to make it both compliant with all member state (and EU) legal systems as well as fully operational with less exposure to regulatory complications across the board. The case is a good example in the sense that it calls for not only representation of the client against an opposing party or state authority but requires a great understanding of the industry sector and the client’s business model.

Understanding what will work for the client’s business is equally as important as delivering an opinion on the legal landscape. This combination of legal and non-legal insight is in my opinion what the future of the legal profession will require more and more as simpler issues will be increasingly streamlined and automated, and at Bernik Dimitrijević, we are prepared for that challenge.

 

6) Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Certainly, as business activities spread across multiple jurisdictions, clients want their lawyers to provide stability and guidance. Lawyers are no longer just advisors; they play a key role in helping businesses overcome the challenges of operating internationally. They offer insights into cultural nuances, customs, and local market conditions. They help businesses anticipate potential challenges and plan for various scenarios, ensuring smoother operations. Lawyers also aid in building connections and networks in different regions, which can be crucial for successful expansions. Overall, their role extends beyond legal advice to include business acumen and international relationship building.

In three years’ time, I envision Bernik Dimitrijević l.f. Ltd. as a pivotal player in driving legal and business innovation within the Slovenian market and beyond. Building on our successful track record, we aim to have expanded our presence deeper into key industries: banking and finance, technology, media and telecommunications as well as consumer and luxury goods.

Our firm will continue to leverage technology to enhance client interactions, ensuring efficient communication and the seamless delivery of legal services. Additionally, we anticipate our generative AI tools evolving to provide even more sophisticated legal insights, assisting clients in making well-informed decisions.