31 Ten years have passed since Israeli legislation first allowed law firms that specialize in the law of a foreign country to open in Israel. In an article featured in Israeli financial paper “Globes”, on the third anniversary of the legislation, it was said that “one can hardly say that the large international law firms have swamped the Israeli market, but nevertheless some notable names have opened modest representative offices here.” At that time,12 international law firms had representative offices in Israel, according to data collected by Nishlis Legal Marketing. Furthermore, an estimated 90 law firms had an Israel Desks, mostly U.S. law firms. Number of Israel Desks doubled in a decade Fast forward ten years and the numbers have nearly doubled. According to recent data, compiled by Nishlis Legal Marketing, there are 160 law firms with an Israel Desk, out of which 22 have presence in Israel. Interestingly, Covid-19 pandemic accelerated Israel business development dramatically. In 2020 there was an estimated 130 international law firms with an Israel Desk, 17 actually in Israel. This translates to an increase of nearly 40% of international law firms on the ground and 23% jump in international firms with an Israel Desk. Why did more global law firms take a greater interest between 2020-22? There were three principal factors at play that attracted foreign firms: 1. Israeli firms became more sophisticated and strategic with regards to their international business development and referrals.Until 2019, there were a handful of Israeli firms that had the bulk of the referral work and most of these firms referred the legal work in a tactical manner (who do I know that I can refer to). Only then did firms start to treat their referrals more strategically and allocate them by various criteria, collect and track the data. A growing interest in Israel - 2023 Israel Business Development
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