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“Not just any firm can join law firm association MSI… a screening process gives member firms a high level of confidence when referring a matter to another firm.” Michael Hendler, Managing Member
For Maryland law firm Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler, joining international law firm alliance MSI had everything to do with the common goals of its member firms and the collegiality between them. Attending a members meeting prior to deciding to join gave the firm confidence that MSI members were looking for the same things as them: to expand and provide better quality service to clients.
When you ask Managing Member Michael Hendler what distinguishes Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler, LLC from any other mid-sized, Maryland law firm, he talks about the quality of attorneys, the personal levels of service and the ability to serve clients in virtually any jurisdiction in the world.
So what gives this Maryland law firm, which just celebrated its 80th anniversary, the ability to service clients from Berlin, Maryland to Berlin, Germany? The answer is MSI, an international alliance of independent legal and accounting firms which, like Adelberg, have found a cost effective way to provide quality representation to their clients on a global basis.
Like other law firms which do not have a worldwide network of offices, Adelberg needed to provide quality, cost effective representation to its clients outside of Maryland. “We have been around a long time, we have a strong culture and merger with a larger firm was not something we wanted,” says Hendler. The solution came when the firm was approached by international law firm alliance MSI.
“The more questions we asked about MSI, the more we liked the answers,” explains Andrew Radding, who heads Adelberg’s white collar criminal defense section.
Those answers revealed a few key points. First, not just any firm can join MSI. Before being invited to join, a firm goes through a thorough screening process. Additionally, MSI limits membership to one firm in each geographic area, ensuring a level of collegiality and openness which would be impossible among competing firms.
Before finalising the decision to join, the firm attended MSI’s Americas Regional Meeting in Dallas: “The seminars were productive and informative, and we found MSI to be a group of professionals just like us, looking for opportunities to expand their practice and provide quality service to their clients,” reported Rudow. Shortly after, Adelberg joined MSI, and the results have spoken for themselves.
“The ability to send an email to an attorney in the United Arab Emirates, and get a prompt response in English was invaluable to both our firm and our client,” explains Jerald Lurie, who heads Adelberg’s business and corporate section. The firm has also received referrals - Rudow successfully handled a complex Maryland tax matter referred in by another member.
Adelberg views its law frm alliance membership as a strong marketing tool, particularly for its expanding construction, business and litigation practices, where clients often need legal services outside of Maryland. MSI resources allow the firm to be confident the needs of clients will be met in any jurisdiction, with the same level of personal service and quality clients have come to expect from Adelberg over the past eighty years.
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