At Spiegel Sohmer, attorneys’ offices are not physically grouped by department. We are each in contact, on a daily basis, with people practicing in other fields of law. We believe that this helps create a stimulating environment; useful ideas often emerge from informal discussions held in the hallway. A good example is when a litigation attorney joins a discussion between tax attorneys, or vice versa.

In addition, since our firm consists of approximately 30 attorneys, we all know each other very well. We know the first names of our colleagues’ children, their favourite hobbies and their idiosyncrasies…This creates a rich and warm atmosphere, rather than a stiff and formal one.

We are all very informal, and almost nobody wears a jacket within the office (especially on Fridays) except, of course, when we attend client meetings.