Legal & Business Forum 2009: Business managers and the law: greater legal guarantees and value creation!

More and more laws are being passed today! In an increasingly complex society, often jaded business leaders and law professionals have to deal with the realities of this situation. 
The opening of the first Business & Legal Forum, on 14 and 15 October, 2009 at the Pré Catelan (Paris), gave law professionals a forum for debate to:

• Gain an overview of the legal situation in today’s world
• Provide practical advice on how business organisations can deal with the ever-growing number of norms 
• Understand the positive impact that law can have on a company’s performance

The participants set out their vision of the legal situation in their respective sectors and business organisations via workshops and plenary round tables. Taking part were:

• Christophe Roquilly, Professor and Director of the LegalEdhec research centre
• Bruno de Pampelonne (1981) President of the Edhec Alumni and Chairman of Tikehau Investment Management
• And legal experts from a range of sectors (lawyers, legal managers, public authority representatives…) specially invited for their renowned excellence

The forum gave Christophe Roquilly an opportunity to present the results of a study (in French) that dealt with the following issue: “The perception of law by business professionals and legal practitioners,” conducted with EDHEC alumni, former ENA students, and members of the IFA working in top management positions
Three main conclusions emerged from the study:
•    The bigger the companies, the more positive their perception of the law and the better their relations with the authorities that create legal norms
•    Business leaders still tend to consider the law and legal experts as a guarantee of security in their relations and their projects
•    Some business leaders – mainly in large organisations – consider that businesses should make a point of incorporating law as a performance lever.

The ambitious event once again attested to the excellence of Edhec’s Legal Research Centre in the eyes of the whole legal community present.