Our values

Specialized!

Ulys is a specialised law firm. We’re not aiming at being as big as possible, but we work hard to be recognized as a leader in our fields of expertise.

What this means

Ulys is characterised by a dual specialisation:

1. Defined fields of competence, except where establishing a multidisciplinary team including external service providers on the request of the client;
2. The application and adaptation of more traditional legal matters to technological issues.

This essential value makes it possible to understand the issue raised more quickly and better, and to offer a concrete, exploitable response taking account of the most recent developments in law and technology.

What this leads to in practical terms

• A client seeks the assistance of a solicitor in the negotiation and writing of a complex ASP IT contract. Ulys works without delay, internally designating a solicitor with an immediate understanding of the vocabulary and the underlying technological issues. For the client, it is a time saving and a guarantee of efficiency.
• A non-specialised firm is faced with a dismissal for serious offences recorded in email exchanges. It is unsure about the legality of the production of these emails. Through subcontracting or in partnership, Ulys will work in support for this precise issue. Everyone’s role is clear, and the risks of competition are non-existent.
• A new directive is published in the electronic communications sector; it concerns several departments. A solicitor is given the assignment of performing a study, presenting it to the whole firm and indicating, in a few files, what this changes for the project in practical terms.
• Each member of the firm is responsible for the legal monitoring of well-defined matters. They give ongoing training; they also oversee publication and give regular conferences in the fields under their responsibility. At the weekly meeting of the whole firm, they draw attention to crucial developments.
• A solicitor becomes specialised through the cases, but also through his involvement in scientific and university works. All solicitors of the firm are active in the academic world, to varying degrees depending on the subject in question.

Innovative!

Ulys is the image of the projects brought in by its clients: innovative! This is expressed notably through the intensive use of technologies in our daily practice.

What this means

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

This desire is above all expressed through the matters dealt with and the services offered, which vary from the legal services traditionally offered by a firm of solicitors to full project support, via concerted actions for raising awareness in political decision makers.

Innovation also shows in the management, which combines a constant aim for Total Quality (ISO 9001), advanced computerisation, multiannual progression plans, innovative communication and empowerment of workers.

A modern and human management, working towards innovation.

What this leads to in practical terms

• A multinational company wishes to invest in France in a highly regulated field, but a legislative obstacle is making the project economically unviable. On behalf of the client Ulys recruits an agency specialised in institutional communication and forms an alliance with other companies faced with the same issue, in order to raise awareness in the government.
• One of the firm’s clients is subject to a denigration campaign in certain newspapers. The firm does not simply represent the client on a legal level – it also takes the initiative (with the client’s agreement) at a media level. Because a client must also (and sometimes especially) be defended before the media.
• The firm’s management, with a desire for cohesion and motivation of all members of the firm (solicitors and paralegals), is developing an ongoing internal coaching and training policy. From this arises a better atmosphere, greater solidarity within the team and better efficiency at all levels.
• Within the framework of the negotiation of a contract, twelve people geographically spread out ver several time zones must correct draft contracts, SLAs and other related clauses. The track changes mode is no longer sufficient. Ulys temporarily creates secure access to a mini website dedicated to the project on which everybody involved can read the documents and annotate them, but where only the duly authorised people have the right to make changes.
• The management review is held in January each year, which verifies that during the past year the comments and suggestions linked to quality have all been dealt with. Some clients participate in a satisfaction survey. In the aftermath of this the firm’s management adopts the corporate plan for the coming year, with a clear budget, assigned objectives, priority internal projects, agreed investments, etc. This strategy plan, comprising a multiannual measure, guides the teams throughout the year.

Partner!

Legal advice is a tool, not a goal. We like to be “solution oriented” and we can reach this by a constant listening of the client’s specific needs and constraints.

What this means

Ulys is an integrated team, working for a project given by a “client partner”.

Legal advice is only a tool making it possible 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 offer this value.

What this leads to in practical terms

• Company Y wishes to develop an innovative web trading concept. The legality of the project is uncertain and the client does not have prior experience in this field. Ulys can offer both a practical response (founded on the experience of similar cases) and also, where appropriate, signpost the client to key people and resources in the sector concerned, through its own contacts and networks.
• In a case, an aspect that everybody thinks is secondary at the beginning can ultimately prove to be key. Due to this, the solicitor in charge may notice that he is not the best qualified person within Ulys to manage the case. He will then talk to the most competent person, who will take over the leadership with the client’s agreement and work alongside the solicitor in charge. For the client, this is the guarantee of always having the best person working for them.
• An international non-specialist firm is responsible for a merger-acquisition, but is struggling to realise the due diligence of the intangible elements such as trademarks and software. Ulys will quickly provide a person well accustomed to the exercise, who will integrate the team in order to undertake the necessary verifications, working within professional guidelines, and who will draw up his report in the general audit. For the end client it is a guarantee of quality; for the international firm it is the option of engaging, for a limited time, an immediately operational partner.
• A European Commission request for proposals is published. It requires the rapid establishment of a mixed university/solicitors consortium at a European level. Ulys writes the standard documents and distributes them via its networks to potential partners, which respond according to the proposed framework. The consortium is set up in a few days, with a consistent response to the request for proposals. This is ultimately successful. Ulys puts a project team in place responsible for checking the relevance and institutes a timekeeper who oversees respect for deadlines.
• A solicitor of the firm is responsible for a totally new case; he is unsure of the direction to take first. During the weekly meeting of the whole firm, he presents the problem and a general discussion takes place. From this discussion emerge precedents, ideas and models. For the client it is a saving of time and quality; for the whole firm it is the opportunity to demonstrate solidarity.

Committed!

We are committed to our client, but are also willing to contribute building a better world; we give lessons at university, write books and make researches, and have a specific social program.

What this means

All members of the team, solicitors and paralegal staff, are careful to respect the agreements entered into, both external (clients and also suppliers) and internal (respect for everyone’s roles, team spirit and initiative).

Our commitment is not limited to our role as solicitors, but extends to other responsibilities taken on voluntarily, such as teaching and expert responsibilities.

What this leads to in practical terms

• A new legislative development takes place, which proves key in a project that a regular client has finally given up. The solicitor in charge of the case contacts the client proactively, so as to check he is aware of the change in law and what this involves for the project.
• A partner of the firm is specialised in the legal protection of minors on the Internet. In addition to defending his clients, he participates in a voluntary group of experts within an organisation for the protection of abused children.
• A client is awaiting a consultation on a specialist issue of competition and intellectual property; the deadline given is short and not all the information necessary to an exhaustive analysis of the case could be collated by the client. In these circumstances, the people responsible for the case need a few extra days to put together the required document. The client is contacted immediately in order to find the best solution for him: deliver a preliminary document, subject to further research, or defer communication of the complete project by a few days. In both cases, Ulys will suggest that a solicitor visit the client without delay in order to help him constitute the file as quickly as possible.
• Ulys takes over from another firm of solicitors in a highly complex legal case. The client (American company) feels his case is almost hopeless, after having lost an emergency hearing and initial proceedings on the merits. The client is asking Ulys for a second legal opinion. A multidisciplinary working group is created within the firm and ultimately ideas are discussed to make it possible to reach a new solution, via a preliminary question to the European Court of Justice.
• A German company envisages launching a brand new on-line activity, which raises questions in terms of respect for the rights of others. There is no case law or doctrine known in France (or in Benelux) on the subject. The solicitors in charge of the case set to assiduous research of foreign case law (through the firm’s networks and contacts) and end up discovering a decision of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands which validates the concept, basing its ruling on legal principles similar to those existing in France. This case law makes it possible to reassure the national authorities, which then authorise the project launch.