Legal Consultant Profiles: Verena Della Vedova.

1. What path lead you to be attracted you to legal consulting and the flexible work model?

I had worked as a consultant for Ernst & Young in Germany, as a lawyer in New York, and for an international law firm in Hong Kong. I was looking for a flexible work model, which provides an attractive possibility to balance work and family life. I also believe in the rise of tech start-ups, crypto businesses and LegalTech, and this gives me the chance to become an expert and define a skillset in these emerging tech industries.

2. What are the main advantages to you of the NewLaw model?

Its main advantage is that it provides regular part-time and remote work assignments which is ideal for mothers of young children. Another advantage is that it gives the opportunity to stay for a longer period in my home country, expose my kids to my husband`s and my home countries, and spend time with the family. This is crucial for me as an expat without family ties in Hong Kong. Working for NewLaw helps me to follow my career as a lawyer in Hong Kong and maintain my connections with my home country by choosing not to work for a certain amount of time.

3. Describe how you "engage" with the flexible working model

I usually choose projects which I have a strong background for and find to be challenging or interesting. Timewise, I opt for either short-term projects full-time or long-term projects part-time. Project-based nature of the assignments means that I have enough time to balance work and family time.

4. What kind of clients have you worked with and on what type of matters?

NewLaw attracts me because I am exposed to a wider range of sectors and industries, which means that I can always learn something new. It was interesting to support start-ups with diverse needs such as employment matters, creation of employee participation plan, share subscription agreement with new investors, organised trade mark application in multiple jurisdictions, and drafting of diverse commercial contracts. Another interesting project was supporting a company in the tobacco industry in matters such as protecting trade secrets and confidential data.

5. Was making the transition to NewLaw worth it? Why?

For me the transition to NewLaw was totally worth it. It is exciting to be exposed to different working environments, different business processes and different ways of working on the one hand, and spending valuable time with my kids on the other.