Our culture is your story - Ole Panzer
I joined our Hamburg office in 2021 as a newly qualified lawyer, and it was immediately obvious how well connected we were with other AG offices around the world. In almost four years, I have worked with many of the international offices on cross-jurisdictional matters, which has given me a wide baseline of practice and a great variety of experience.
Wherever you are in the world it is clear that being a practising lawyer may at times be a bit challenging and there are always deadlines, but it is honestly a pleasure to work with my colleagues in the other AG offices.
Even though the languages, cultures and time zones are different, every AG team I interact with is friendly, co-operative and working to a high standard in their market. It is impressive, and it makes working interculturally even more enjoyable.
It speaks volumes for our culture that we can work together in this way. It shows that we have good principles that all our colleagues uphold along with a shared approach to our work that makes collaboration possible even when the timelines are tight.
What also speaks volumes for our culture is the working relationship I have with the Partners I work with. The opposite of micromanagement is trust, and I feel like lots of that is placed in me as we work together.
From the very beginning of my time at AG I have been given freedom to develop and work with all the support I need to succeed. Being given that responsibility was a real motivation and pushed me to do my best work. That approach still pushes me forward to this day.
Perhaps if I had worked in another law firm I would be in a more traditional ‘back office’ role, where the Partners would have all the correspondence with clients and the associates would almost be hidden, but at AG I am in direct contact with our clients, building relationships and helping them in any way I can.
At this stage in my career, I could not imagine working for a purely German law firm anymore. I love working with all the people I meet from the other AG offices and clients from around the world. Along with this, I really like working with the German team.
I do not wake up in the morning and think of going to work with my team as a burden. It feels very instinctive and natural, it’s just what I do and I enjoy it.
