Culture matters

Dominic Carman

How Swiss law firms shape and re-shape their culture to attract the best

What is culture? In modern commercial parlance, the question is easily answered: it typically refers to the shared beliefs, customs, practices, social behaviour, and values of a group of people, such as lawyers working together in a law firm office. Derived from the Latin word colere, which means to cultivate, this historic meaning can also be applied directly to the management of Swiss law firms. Given Switzerland’s deep roots in farming, family farms and sustainability, the concept of careful cultivation lies deep within the Swiss psyche. Managing partners in Geneva and Zurich may now be far removed from tending the soil, but as custodians of their respective firms, they and their fellow partners are busily engaged in cultivating legal talent that will sustain them in the future – and in doing so, they nourish and replenish each firm’s distinctive culture.

So, how do they aim to shape that culture and how does that translate into attracting the best lawyers as the battle for talent continues?