What is the BG FutureLab?

Binder Grösswang has established a think tank focussing on future-related questions for clients.

When celebrating a jubilee, people usually look back on the past and review the path that has been taken. In its 60^th year, Binder Grösswang is doing exactly the opposite: The firm is looking at the path that lies before its clients and has established an internal think tank for this purpose. “Future-relevant issues have always been an important part of our work,” explains Raoul Hoffer, the head of Binder Grösswang’s think tank. “The firm’s various teams already deal with numerous cases that concern topics of the future: digital topics, Internet platforms, green bonds, crypto assets or, for example, the founding of companies in virtual space. What we want to accomplish with our think tank, however, is something new: the targeted development of future-related topics on an interdisciplinary basis across all teams in the firm.”

In this jubilee year, therefore, six Binder Grösswang partners have established the “BG FutureLab”. This think-tank identifies topics that will be relevant and important for our clients in the future, so that they can be prepared for the corresponding legal implications at an early stage and make any necessary adjustments. The team does this, on the one hand, jointly with our clients in discussions and workshops; on the other hand, our lawyers proactively contact clients when they identify important issues that require action on the clients’ part.

“Three major trends in the legal sector are legal tech, digital law and sustainability,” Raoul Hoffer points out. The BG FutureLab has already started a project on the subject of sustainability, for example. A book dealing with the legal aspects involved, entitled “Sustainability – Rechtliche Aspekte von Nachhaltigkeit”, will be published at the time of our jubilee celebration. The publication contains contributions from more than ten Binder Grösswang partners and teams. Other topics on which the BG FutureLab is working include mobility, the Internet of Things, life sciences and smart cities.

“The work of the BG FutureLab will benefit not only the companies and institutions with which Binder Grösswang works on the projects. All our clients can benefit from the experience we gain. The analyses of these future-related questions can be relevant for them industry-wide or in general terms,” says Hoffer.

Impulses for the BG FutureLab can come both from clients and from within the firm, given that the collaborative work done by the BG FutureLab involves the entire law firm. The internal structure and communication at Binder Grösswang are also taken into account. Particularly also in view of new, future-related considerations, Binder Grösswang intends to continue playing a leading role in the legal market. Our outlook is: “The BG FutureLab is conceived as an open and flexible forum in which we aim to develop new ideas and approaches. It will be a success if our clients and we, ourselves, gain strength for the future as a result of this project.”