Ulys is a specialised firm; it limits its intervention to certain very specific fields in which it aims to be a leader.

What this means

Ulys is characterised by a double specialisation:

• Limited fields of competence, unless a multidisciplinary team is set up at the client's request, including external service providers;
• The application and adaptation of more traditional legal matters to technological problems.

The application and adaptation of more traditional legal matters to technological problems.

This essential value allows us to understand more quickly and better the question posed, to provide a concrete and exploitable answer, taking into account the most recent developments in law and technology.

What this leads to in terms of behavior

• A client seeks the assistance of a lawyer in the negotiation and drafting of a complex ASP computer contract. Ulys intervenes without delay, by appointing a lawyer who has an immediate understanding of the vocabulary and the underlying technological issues. For the client, this saves time and guarantees efficiency.
• A general practice firm is confronted with a dismissal for serious facts found in email exchanges. It hesitates about the legality of producing these emails. As a subcontractor or in partnership, Ulys will intervene in support of this specific issue. The roles of each are clear, and the risks of competition are zero.
• A new directive is published in the electronic communications sector; it concerns several departments. A lawyer is assigned to study it, present it to the entire firm and indicate, in a few cases, what it means for the project.
• Each member of the firm is responsible for the legal monitoring of well-defined subjects. They are responsible for ongoing training and for publishing and lecturing regularly in their assigned fields. At the weekly meeting of the entire firm, he draws attention to crucial developments.
• A lawyer specializes through his or her cases, but also through involvement in scientific and academic work. All lawyers in the firm are active in the academic world, to varying degrees depending on the subject matter.

Ulys is in the image of the projects carried out by its clients: innovative! This is evident in the approach to the business as well as in the intense use of new technologies.

What this means

Ulys is in the image of the projects carried out by its clients: innovative!

This concern is expressed above all through the matters dealt with and the services offered, which range from the legal services traditionally offered by a law firm to the complete accompaniment of projects, including concerted actions to raise awareness among political decision-makers.

Innovation is also evident in the management, which combines a constant concern for Total Quality (ISO 9001), advanced computerization, multi-year progress plans, innovative communication, and employee empowerment.

A modern and human management, at the service of innovation.

What this implies in terms of behavior

• A multinational company wishes to invest in France in a highly regulated field, but a regulatory obstacle makes the project economically unviable. Ulys recruits, on behalf of the client, an agency specialized in institutional communication, and forms an alliance with other companies facing the same problem, in order to raise awareness with the government.
• A client of the firm is the subject of a smear campaign in certain newspapers. The firm not only represents the client in court. It also takes the initiative (with the client's agreement) at the media level. Because a client must also (and sometimes especially) be defended in front of the media.
• The firm's management, concerned about the cohesion and motivation of all the members of the firm (lawyers and paralegals), develops a constant policy of coaching and permanent internal training. The result is a better atmosphere, more solidarity within the team and greater efficiency at all levels.
• In the context of contract negotiations, twelve people, spread geographically over several time zones, have to correct draft contracts, SLAs and other annexed clauses. The revision mode (track change) is no longer sufficient. Ulys temporarily creates a secure access to a mini site dedicated to the project, on which everyone can read the documents and annotate them, but where only duly authorized people have the right to make changes.
• Each year, in January, a management review is held to verify that all quality-related remarks and suggestions have been met during the past year. Some customers are surveyed for satisfaction. Following this, the firm's management adopts the business plan for the coming year, with a clear budget, assigned objectives, priority internal projects, decided investments, etc. This roadmap, including a multi-year component, guides the teams throughout the year.

Legal advice is a tool, not an end in itself. Listening, communicating and respecting the specificities of each project are our leitmotiv.

What this means

Ulys is an integrated team, at the service of a project carried out by a "client-partner".

Legal advice is only a tool to achieve an objective; it must be simple, adapted and "solution" oriented.

Listening, communication, respect for constraints and the joint search for a solution are some of the tools that carry this value.

What this implies in terms of behavior

• Company Y wishes to develop an innovative concept of a commercial website. The legality of the project is uncertain and the client has no previous experience in this field. Ulys will be able to give a practical answer (based on the experience of similar cases), but also, if necessary, direct the client to key people and resources in the sector concerned, thanks to its own contacts and networks.
• In a case, an aspect that everyone thought was secondary at first turns out to be decisive. Because of this, the lawyer in charge realizes that he is not the most qualified person within Ulys to handle the case. He talks to the most competent person, who takes the lead with the client's agreement or intervenes as a complement. For the client, this is the guarantee of always having the best interlocutor.
• An international generalist firm is in charge of a merger-acquisition, but struggles to carry out the due diligence of intangible elements such as brands and software. Ulys will quickly provide a person experienced in the exercise, who will integrate the team to carry out the necessary verifications in accordance with the rules of the art and will base his report on the general audit. For the end client, this is a guarantee of quality; for the international firm, it is the possibility of having an immediately operational partner for a limited time.
• A call for tender from the European Commission is published. It requires the rapid setting up of a joint university-lawyer consortium at European level. Ulys drafts the standard documents and distributes them via its networks to the potential partners, who respond by following the proposed framework. The consortium was set up in a few days, with a coherent response to the call for tender. The latter was finally won. Ulys sets up a project team in charge of controlling the relevance of the project, and institutes a timekeeper who ensures that the deadlines are respected.
• One of the firm's lawyers is given a completely new file; he hesitates about which direction to choose. At the weekly meeting of the entire firm, he presents the problem, and an informal discussion ensues. Precedents, ideas and models emerge. For the client, it saves time and quality; for the whole firm, it is an opportunity to show solidarity.

We are committed to our client, but also to society, which translates into teaching, publications or social missions.

What this means

All members of the team, lawyers and paralegal staff, are concerned with respecting the commitments made, both externally (clients and suppliers) and internally (respect for the roles of each person, initiative and team spirit).

Our commitment is not limited to our role as lawyers, but extends to other responsibilities voluntarily assumed, such as teaching and expert duties.

What this entails in terms of behavior.

• A new legislative development occurs, which proves decisive in a project that a regular client has finally abandoned. The lawyer in charge of the file contacts the client proactively, in order to verify that the client is aware of the change in law and of its implications for the project.
• A partner in the firm specializes in the legal protection of minors on the Internet. In addition to defending his clients, he participates in a volunteer panel with a child abuse advocacy organization.
• A client is waiting for a consultation on a specific competition and intellectual property issue; the deadline is short and the client has not been able to gather all the information necessary for an exhaustive analysis of the case. In these circumstances, the collaborators responsible for the file need a few extra days to complete the expected document. The client is immediately contacted in order to find the most favourable solution: to deliver a first orientation document subject to further research or to postpone the communication of the complete project by a few days. In both cases, Ulys proposes that a lawyer visit the client without delay in order to help him or her put together the file as quickly as possible.
• Ulys takes over from another law firm in a very complex legal case. The client (an American company) considers its case to be almost hopeless, after having lost a summary judgment and a first instance on the merits. The client asks Ulys for a "second legal opinion". A multidisciplinary working group is created within the firm and, finally, the confrontation of ideas leads to a new solution, via a preliminary question to the European Court of Justice.
• A German company is planning to launch a novel online activity, which raises questions in terms of respect for the rights of others. There is no known case law or doctrine in France (or in the Benelux) on the subject. The lawyers in charge of the case undertook an assiduous search for foreign jurisprudence (thanks to the firm's networks and contacts) and eventually discovered a decision of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands that validated the concept, based on legal principles similar to those existing in France. This jurisprudence reassured the national authorities, who authorized the launch of the project.