TAGLaw's Member Repeat Winner
Of Client Choice Award for Austria
On September 19 2006 the International Law Office (ILO) was proud to host the second annual Client Choice Awards ceremony in Chicago. The prestigious ceremony was attended by 120 managing and senior partners representing the nominated firms - with just one exclusive winner in each of 34 jurisdictions. For the second year in a row, TAGLaw's member firm in Vienna, Preslmayr Attorneys at Law, was the winner for Austria. Of the 34 winners, only four -- with Preslmayr among them -- were repeat winners.
These international awards are the first and only to focus on the full spectrum of client service and customer care. This unique approach, together with ILO's unrivalled presence among law firm clients globally, was reflected in the response to the survey from which the winners were shortlisted. Over 1,100 individual assessments by corporate counsel of law firms with which they had worked in the past 18 months were polled. This clearly demonstrates, as Alan Dunlop, VP and general counsel at the Hess Corporation, noted in his opening address, that "the Client Choice awards bypass the marketing gloss to show which firms are actually delivering real value to their clients, day in, day out - which, in the end, is what the people on both sides of the relationship really want". By taking part in the survey, respondents expressed their wish to reward, and therefore encourage, firms for their excellence in client service.
The criteria for the awards focused on law firms' ability to add real value to their clients' business above and beyond the other players in the market. The firms were assessed on the following criteria: quality of legal advice; value for money; commercial awareness; effective communication; billing transparency; tailored fee structures; depth of team; response time; sharing of expertise; and use of technology.
