Kudun Sukhumananda was interviewed by The Legal 500, a leading global legal directory in their “Focus On… An interview with the Managing Partner on what makes your firm different” series last year.
Highlights of the interview include:
How has your role/involvement in client-facing work changed since setting up your firm?
We still and firmly believe in shifting the traditional paradigm of offering more than just legal advice to our client, balancing our advice with commercial practicality and finding out-of-the-box remedies, and in return gaining the client’s trust and their confidence to continuously engage us for their legal matters.
What are the biggest challenges facing firms in Asia Pacific and specifically in Thailand?
“Stiff competition and pricing pressure. With the COVID19 pandemic turning the world upside down, firms are further strained to keep up with their existing overheads and ensuring profitability. It is no longer easy to be demanding billable hours nor continue to serve only your existing clients. It is becoming critically important to have the ability to expand to cover new blue ocean practices and innovate.”
The global pandemic has clearly changed the way in which organizations tend to operate. What impact has this had on your clients and your approach to advising clients?
“While many Thai companies are trying hard to sustain their business with hopes of weathering the storm, some are taking a hard stance to re-organize and re-strategize their long terms plans.”
We have been approaching our clients, both existing and new, to reevaluate plans intended for expansion or fund raising, and to consider restructuring their business to be more sustainable and pandemic proof, and to diversify their reliance on a single source of income.
What do you do differently from other firms? What do you think separates you from your competitors?
“We treat our clients like partners and believe we are only successful when our clients have successfully achieved their goals. We believe with every problem, there is an opportunity in disguise and we help find that for our clients. Our four mottos are Passion, Daring, Family and Respect.”
Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?
“In three years’ time, I foresee further growth in headcount, recruiting experts from different practices we are lacking and further expansion in practice areas that we have yet to cover. At this moment, we have just launched our new Startup practice in collaboration with a startup advisor and a financial advisor, aptly called Entrepreneur Advisory Center that primarily focuses on helping Startups achieve their goals through a single point of resource.”
Please find the full interview on The Legal 500 here
