In the Spotlight: DLA – Jeremy Lustman
In our ‘In the Spotlight’ series, we catch up with the iconic Jeremy Lustman, head of the Israel Desk at global law firm, DLA Piper.
What are the primary strategic objectives for the Israel-focused legal team in the upcoming year, and how do they align with the overall goals of the global law firm?
Our primary objectives in the upcoming year are to continue building strong client relationships, perform and deliver the highest quality of legal work, and be heavily integrated in the community as a reflection of our core priority of corporate social responsibility. These goals and values are completely aligned with those of the global DLA Piper law firm.
How does the team collaborate internally and externally to stay abreast of the latest legal developments in Israel and globally?
We have great resources from the global practice online, which we utilize to stay abreast of the latest legal developments around the world, and which we share in our newsletters and on social media in order to keep our colleagues and clients in Israel similarly informed. We also collaborate with both DLA Piper colleagues and Israeli legal colleagues to develop programs for our clients on relevant cutting-edge topics. Of course, we benefit from that learning as well.
What opportunities does the head of the Israel-focused legal team foresee for expanding the firm’s presence and influence in Israel?
We hope to continue growing our practice in the coming year, attracting new clients and colleagues by placing a real premium on quality. We also foresee the expansion of our team across all areas – business development, marketing, project management, and administration. We are very proud of the team we have assembled to date.
In addition, our relationships across the Israeli legal ecosystem are very important to us and we will continue to focus on maintaining and building upon them. We are proud to be uniquely positioned as a key connector in the market, engineering opportunities to bring together top Israeli law firms and general counsel at major Israeli companies on multiple occasions – to support charitable endeavors such as our annual basketball tournament to benefit United Hatzalah of Israel, collaborate on attracting olim in the legal field, share expertise and thought leadership, and network to build relationships across the ecosystem.
What are the challenges facing the firm’s Israeli desk? How does the team address potential cultural or jurisdictional challenges when working on cases that involve both Israeli and global legal perspectives?
Politics can be a challenge, both within Israel and globally. We strive and fortunately have remained apolitical as a practice, but in fraught political times like today, that is a formidable task. It has also been challenging during war time to be in a normal work routine when the country is in the midst of a fight for its existence. Gratefully, Israel is the one of the most resilient economies in the world, as evidenced by the global support it continues to receive.
Would you like to put a spotlight on any Israel related lawyer or practice?
There are too many exceptional individuals and organization to focus on just one. We value our relationships with so many of the top law firms we work with on a daily basis and hold them very dear.
