Exchanging roles across borders

To truly understand what another person experiences, it’s said you need to walk a mile in their shoes; secondments enable lawyers to do just that. 

Earlier this year Simbarashe Mariwande, a junior associate at Muvingi & Mugadza Legal Practitioners (M&M) in Zimbabwe, was seconded to SST Attorneys in South Africa for two weeks. Both firms are members of Alliott Global Alliance (AGA), one of the largest multidisciplinary global alliances with coverage in almost 100 countries, including in 17 countries in Africa.

Mariwande said one of his goals of taking part in the secondment was to observe the differences between SST and M&M and identify areas where both firms could potentially collaborate in the future. He joined the commercial law and M&A teams at SST and was mentored by Managing Director Louis Stroebel.

As M&M is a general full practice firm, Mariwande was eager to learn the intricacies of large-scale mergers and acquisitions at SST.

“One important skill I learned was the ability to map out a transaction and list the critical elements that must be solved, as well as being creative in developing solutions to specific problems,” he shared.

Mariwande says the secondment gave him a more comprehensive understanding of South African legal culture, particularly in M&A practice, and enabled him to appreciate the subtle differences between each country when conducting a transaction. 

“Back at M&M I plan to apply the technical knowledge and principles I gained from handling a financial transaction in the M&A sector,” Mariwande said.

“In addition, I want to emphasise the importance of working together with a variety of stakeholders from different industries to effectively manage a transaction for our clients’ benefit. I also want to raise awareness of the importance of strengthening our soft skills as attorneys in order to increase productivity and deliver top-notch legal services to our clients.”

Stroebel, shown above at left with Mariwande, was equally as pleased with the exercise.

“The secondment really strengthened the business relationship between the two firms,” he said.
“With both firms having a deeper understanding of the service offering of the other, the different client bases and general market conditions, this creates an environment where mutually beneficial business opportunities can easily be identified and capitalised on.”

He believes there is huge value in having lawyers seconded to other firms and jurisdictions.

“Although lawyers are trained on the laws that apply in the jurisdictions where they practise, a material part of the skills required to excel in their profession is problem solving, logical analysis, relationship management, business skills and creative/out-of-the-box thinking and providing workable real world solutions,”

Stroebel noted. “All of these skills will become increasingly important in a world where AI will likely feature more in basic legal advice. Candidates that participate in such secondment initiatives have a massive advantage by being exposed to these other skills of different senior lawyers in different practice areas and jurisdictions.”

He added that SST will seek out law firms in other jurisdictions with the same practice areas as their firm to send their lawyers to, so that they can benefit and learn from industry leaders.

A formalised staff exchange programme is one of the resources set up by AGA to support members’ internal recruitment and retention programmes. AGA internships offer secondees an understanding and appreciation of a different country’s legal and accounting cultures, services and professional ethics. They also facilitate knowledge sharing which can enhance the capabilities of both firms taking part in the exchange.

“I'm overjoyed that the success of my secondment has resulted in us returning the favour, and we will soon host one of SST’s junior attorneys, who will have the chance to learn more about Zimbabwean legal culture,” Mariwande said.

AGA members can find out more about the alliance's staff exchange program here.

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Further reading:

• Staff exchange strengthens law firm collaboration in Africa

About Alliott Global Alliance

Founded in 1979, and with 220 member firms operating out of 300 offices in over 95 countries, Alliott Global Alliance is an international alliance of independent, law, accounting, and specialist advisory firms, working across the world Together as One. Each of our members share a common goal: to learn and share knowledge, resources, and opportunities to make the world smaller and their businesses stronger.

We work with a spirit of generosity and openness — so that together, we can continue to fulfil our ambitions, gain greater experience, and drive mutual success.

Alliott Global Alliance is expanding fast, and has its sights set firmly on growing its legal and accounting membership to 110 countries. Opportunities to represent the alliance are available to independent professional firms in specific jurisdictions in Africa, and in Europe, China, the ASEAN region, Australasia, the Gulf Cooperation Council region, Central and South America, the Caribbean and North America. For further information about membership in Latin America, contact membership@alliottglobal.com.