CCBE president extols the art of persuasionInterview: Rupert Wolff preoccupied by MDPs and WTO, discovers Neil RoseIt is a sign of the times in the legal profession that the new president of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) is, for once, not a senior lawyer who has been doing the international rounds for more years than anyone cares to remember.

In 43-year-old Rupert Wolff, the CCBE has its youngest ever and also first Austrian president.

Based at a four-lawyer firm in Salzburg but also qualified at the Milan Bar, Mr Wolff's practice concentrates on Austrian/Italian company and commercial work, as well as domestic real estate and clinical negligence.

Because it represents national Bars and law societies at a European Union (EU) level, the CCBE always seems remote from practitioners.

But this position also means that it has a voice on issues such as multi-disciplinary partnerships (MDPs) and liberalisation of legal services by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Another feature of its position is that central and eastern European countries hoping to join the EU have observer status at the CCBE, and Mr Wolff cites their 'active participation' as a sign of the good state the CCBE is in.

But should the CCBE be using this influence to encourage the likes of Slovakia and Romania from dropping legislation which is hostile to foreign law firms practising in their countries? 'I do not deem pressure to be a fair instrument in pursuing common interests,' Mr Wolff says.

'Persuasion is fair.' The need to persuade people is central to Mr Wolff's message; not surprising perhaps in a political organisation where issues such as MDPs and the WTO sharply divide members.

The CCBE has taken a negative position on MDPs; however, Mr Wolff recognises that this is not an issue that will go away.One Austrian lawyer involved in mediation was recently refusedpermission to set up in business with a psychologist, he notes, and Mr Wolff says that MDPs may be supportable with 'a strong system of Chinese walls'.At the end of last year, the CCBE agreed to support WTO moves towards easier cross-border legal practice, but has yet to take the final step of approving the concept of foreign firms employing and going into partnership with local lawyers.

Mr Wolff personally supports this.Other key issues Mr Wolff faces include continuing efforts to reduce the impact of the proposed money laundering directive on client confidentiality and encouraging greater government-funded access to justice across the EU.But Mr Wolff is perhaps best known for his work on e-commerce and the CCBE is busy promoting lawyers' work in this area.

In November, it issued guidance on the content of e-mails and Internet sites.

In addition, it is working with the European Commission to create an on-line EU lawyers database.The database will allow the public to find lawyers capable of speaking their language in a particular field of law across the EU.

The first stage of this, which should be complete this year, will simply see the site act as a portal to the on-line directories of national Bars and law societies.'The second, visionary step would be to have a real database,' Mr Wolff says, 'hopefully listing all EU lawyers.' Lawyers may then at last understand the CCBE's relevance.