MAIN ANNUAL ASSEMBLY and SPRING MEETING 2003

Participants learned on the opening evening that one cannot depend on the weather in Hamburg when about 120 people had to cope with streaming rain on the short return trip to the Marx law firm after a pleasant cruise along the Alster on a masterfully restored river steamboat. The following “get-together cocktail“ and especially the moving vocal contribution by Ms Carina Theus, a coworker in this law firm, almost allowed guests to forget about the strains experienced earlier.

The Main Assembly also unanimously approved the annual balance for 2002, the 2003 budget, and granted discharge for the past year to both the Advisory Council and management. This freed the way for new elections in the Advisory Council. The members elected the following from 16 candidates to become their new Advisory Council members.

Ms Monika Baumhackel, Germany (incumbent); Esben Bigaard, Denmark (incumbent); Ms Christine DeKeersmaeker, Belgium (new); Dr. Rainer Maria Kraft, Austria (incumbent); Michael Newman, USA (new); Pedro Pais de Almeida, Portugal (new); Howard Palser, Wales (incumbent); Alexander Reus, USA (new); Jonathan Wood, England (new); Gerd Ziegenfeuter, France (incumbent).

In the following constituting session, the new Advisory Council elected Howard Palser, Wales, as chair, Ms Monika Baumhackel, Germany, as vice-chair, and Dr. Henrich Schleifenbaum, Germany as ombudsman with a seat on the Advisory Council. Dr. Roland Ermini, Switzerland, and Denis Raingold, England, will continue to serve as business managers of Consulegis and also have seats on the Advisory Council.

The afternoon of 2 May 2003 was reserved for three interesting presentations. Prof. Reinhard Zimmermann, PhD, of the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg, spoke of the "Principles of European Contract Law", Dr. Axel Hansen, member of the management of Kühne & Nagel International AG, provided information in a very notable talk on the rules of cooperation involving his firm with independent law offices, and Dr. Stefan Bötzel, partner at Roland Berger in Hamburg, proposed interesting ideas and suggestions such as how our network can be organized more efficiently and become more successful as a result.

After a day that proved strenuous for all, the participants were first able to recover at a refreshing cocktail gathering in the offices of the Brödermann & Jahn law firm and later at a pleasant evening meal in a former beacon ship.