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Why lawyers need international relationships
Building international relationships is advantageous for lawyers as it increases their visibility, allows them to exchange ideas and knowledge, and opens doors to new opportunities. Award-winning lawyer Marial Lewis references her own experience to support this idea but also answers whether developing these relationships applies to all areas of law.
Grace Robbie
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Marial Lewis is the principal lawyer and founder of immigration boutique law firm Crossover Law Group, which was nominated for Innovator Law Firm of the Year at the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards in 2021.
She is also an award-winning migration lawyer, receiving the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 award for the migration category in 2021 and 2022 and being listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 for social impact in 2022.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, Lewis – by providing knowledge on how they have personally benefited her – expressed how important it is for lawyers to foster international relationships. She also explores these different types of relationships and discusses whether lawyers in all areas should strive to cultivate such relationships.
Lewis provided guidance on how lawyers can establish international relationships for different purposes.
“You can have relationships that build you up as a person, build you up as a practitioner, help you understand more about the legal industry around you, or connect you with other professionals in a similar career or life stage.
“As well as relationships that help your practice grow, help your networking opportunities grow, help refer on the referral side and help you to grow as a person and as a practitioner,” Lewis commented.
Each of these differing types of relationships is significant and beneficial for lawyers because it assists them in their practice and provides guidance.
However, Lewis revealed that when she opened her immigration boutique law firm, she “didn’t necessarily think of international relationships as something that’s extremely important”.
This mindset quickly changed because of how valuable the international relationships she has built over the last few years have been.
“From what I’ve realised based on the international relationships that I’ve been building the last few years, how important they actually are and how useful they are, not just to bring referrals or to allow me to help others who might stumble across Australia and want to be there, but it’s vice versa as well.
“If I have a client who has an interest in another country, I can have a network of lawyers that I can refer them to,” Lewis stated.
Lewis expressed that it is also important to foster relationships with individuals who don’t practise your specific area of law. She attains this mindset by referencing how beneficial these relationships and interactions have been.
“Even the lawyers I’ve seen from international conferences, not all of them in migration. In fact, I’ve met lawyers from Australia and from all over the world in many other areas, and I actually found that these networks really help,” Lewis said.
“You also exchange ideas, and you exchange what’s happening in different countries.
“It’s really good to know from an innovation point of view what other practitioners are doing around the world in different countries.”
She also outlined how these relationships are beneficial for getting advice from lawyers on “how to run a business”. She shared that one can view “what are the things, internationally, that other countries are doing that perhaps you might think, wow, it’s being done really well in that region. Perhaps I can implement that.”
Lewis explained that not all the relationships you build will immediately benefit you or assist you, “but what they can help you with is you build that confidence in being in an international network”.
