Published by The current work situation with a mixture of law firm, home office, video conferences, zoom seminars and even my first online court hearing (the day before yesterday) is something special. Despite a certain affinity for technology, I have learned a lot in the past few weeks.
One of the challenges for us lawyers is that our work for our clients is based on trust. Nothing justifies trust better than personal contact, and that is hardly possible at the moment. In my opinion, a conversation over a video channel is not a full substitute. The clients for whom we have been working for a long time know us and the quality of our work. But how can trust arise with new clients if they currently do not have the opportunity to get to know “their” lawyer personally at all?
That demands us lawyers, we have to get a little more "out of cover" and maybe show ourselves more than we are used to. There are colleagues who, as self-marketers, have no problem with this and hardly do anything better than standing in front of a camera and making statements. But there are also others who do not feel comfortable about it. For me personally, the inner boundary has long been between writing like this blog and a camera that films me: I feel comfortable with the former, but not with the latter.
The constant video conferencing and the holding of seminars via zoom are currently reducing such inhibitions. Now the threshold lies more between the live conversation, mediated by cameras, and a recording of this conversation, which can also be viewed afterwards. So far it was Interview for Black Label in September 2019 a real psychological hurdle for me.
On May 5th I am invited to hold the first of a series of planned “Berlin Real Estate Talks” with Achim Amann, the owner of Black Label. I am happy about this invitation and gladly accept it. We will chat about an hour about the Berlin real estate market and the current legal situation, the whole thing will take place live like a panel discussion in front of an audience that can ask questions - just streamed online, not present in a hall. Half a year ago, I probably would have refused because of the cameras. But now ... it's nothing more than giving a seminar online. My boundaries have shifted, I've learned something new. These are exciting times, let's make the best of it.
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