Melsungen, 15 June 2022: Business lawyer Vanessa-Alice Rohina has now been working in the BRRS team in Melsungen for six months.
She is no stranger to the insolvency team in the Kassel and Erfurt region – she was already a trainee in Melsungen.
The BRRS marketing team was curious to find out how Vanessa-Alice sees her work at BRRS and what her impressions are after six months. That’s why we conducted an interview with her.
Question: What made you decide to join the team in Melsungen?
Vanessa-Alice Rohina: After four years in Frankfurt and gaining experience in a large law firm, among other things, I was drawn back home. I wanted to be closer to friends and family again. I always knew that I wanted to stay in the industry and nothing else came into question for me than BRRS Melsungen and working with partner Jutta Rüdlin.
Question: What exactly do you do at BRRS?
Rohina: As a commercial lawyer, I deal with regular insolvency proceedings, especially corporate insolvencies. This includes providing expert opinions and reports to the court, attending the initial hearings or conducting them independently – it depends on the size of the proceedings. I then also hold discussions with the respective managing directors and other parties involved. These are just a few examples of my tasks.
Question: What do you particularly like about your work?
Rohina: That it is so varied. No two days are the same. I think that insolvency law is often underestimated. It’s hardly a topic at university and in training, it only takes up one hour of time. Yet it is very extensive and diverse. In addition to insolvency law, many other areas of law are affected, such as labour law in the context of terminations or the continuation of contracts under special conditions. Or commercial and company law with regard to the legal form and managing director liability. Especially when a company is being continued, this encompasses the entire spectrum of legal and economic aspects. You have to understand a bit of everything in order to find good solutions in a crisis. Insolvency administration is not just an office job, because I have a lot to do with people and you also go out into the companies. The variety is my favourite thing about the job.
Question: And what do you particularly like about BRRS in Melsungen?
Rohina: The team here is very informal. We are all on first-name terms, which makes us approachable; we have flat hierarchies and treat each other with respect, using modern working methods and digital work tools. BRRS Melsungen is a modern, medium-sized law firm. We work with digital files and are open to changes in the workplace, such as New Work. It is important to me that BRRS is a Germany-wide law firm of a certain size with seven locations. There are regular team workshops, including with external moderation, where we also organise great company outings with the entire German team, which is good for team building.
Question: What is the difference between lawyers and business lawyers in terms of insolvency administration, restructuring and reorganisation?
Rohina: That’s a good question! A commercial lawyer like me is not a fully qualified lawyer, but has a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. Many people don’t realise what a commercial lawyer can do. Almost the entire degree programme is based on law and you also learn business administration from the ground up; that’s an advantage, especially in the context of insolvency administration. A commercial lawyer can do the same as a fully qualified lawyer. The big difference is that business lawyers do not litigate.
Question: How would you describe the ideal employer for a business lawyer like yourself? Maybe BRRS can learn something from you?
Rohina: An ideal employer for me is if I have further training opportunities. I would like to develop further – and BRRS offers me that too. I was able to attend further training (managing director liability in the light of the SanInsFoG and COVInsAG) during the probationary period. For me it is important to be able to exchange ideas with colleagues and learn from each other. The medium-sized company is great because it’s collegial and you support each other – no culture of elbowing. Mobile working is also very important for me. Working life has changed a lot and law firms have to keep up with it and should not insist on old behavioral patterns. It is important to challenge the commercial lawyers in the firm and to have a lot of confidence in them, because we work alongside and closely with the fully qualified lawyers – this works very well at BRRS Melsungen.
We would like to thank Vanessa-Alice for the insightful interview and wish her continued enjoyment at her job with the BRRS team in Melsungen!