Our Face-to-Face Interactions at the Summit Helped Us Decide to Hire Them

A Marcus Evans Success Story

“We hired a small start-up that Marcus Evans introduced us to. Meeting them in person at the
Summit helped us make the decision faster. An email would not have led to the same outcome,”
said Federica Ferrini, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Bolton, a delegate at the Marcus Evans European Corporate Counsel Summit.

What new business opportunities did the Summit present you with?

It was a great chance to network with my peers from other in-house legal departments and with compliance leaders. I also met law firms and suppliers with different technologies and tools that we could potentially use. Indeed, we followed up with one of them and have started using their tool to apply AI in our review of agreements.

Were you familiar with the company before the Summit?

No, it was our first time. It is based in Belgium and was a new start-up at the time, with very few clients. That was probably why I had not heard about it before the Summit.

Would you have accepted any unsolicited calls or emails from them?

No. Having a face-to-face interaction helped. An email would not have led to the same outcome. At the Summit, I had the opportunity to meet the CEO, discuss their proposal and ask different questions. They were cheaper than other tools we had encountered before. The combination of those elements was a winning one. We decided to give them a try.

It can be difficult for unknown suppliers to get on our radar. We prefer to meet people through our contacts, as the market is very crowded, and it s very difficult to navigate and understand which tools are really valuable.

Were you already searching for such tools or suppliers?

I had given up my search at some point. I had met with a few suppliers and was not convinced they had the right tools for us. They were also very expensive.

Did you meet law firms you wouldn't have come across on your own?

Yes, we also gained exposure to law firms we wouldn't have otherwise met. There were many boutique firms, and firms with specific competencies or based in a specific country. We don't know all the firms that are active in Europe.

What did you think of the format of the event?

I liked the format. It had the right balance between content and meetings. The presentations were interesting and valuable to me. The quality of the speakers was very high. The content inspired me to start thinking of how I should reorganise my department and manage AI. The quality of the suppliers I met was also very good.