“I thoroughly enjoy collaborating with emerging  companies, due to their dynamic nature. Wit- nessing individuals pursue their aspirations generates a remarkable energy that invigorates me. Within the healthcare industry, start-ups frequently navigate a heavily regulated environment while pursuing their innovative concepts. Often, they lack awareness regarding what actions are permissible, as well as what boundaries they must adhere to. As a legal professional, I seek creative resolutions that transcend conventional approaches. My focus centers on comprehensively evaluating the necessary steps essential to clearing the path for future success.

As the storm brews, we stand steadfast with all our experience, providing support and reassurance through our presence. Our health and life science industry group, established approximately 15 years ago, has enabled us to advise companies and investors, both big and small, including those who have achieved varying degrees of success. Our contribution has gone beyond the mere provision of legal advice, resulting in added value that has proved invaluable. To borrow from sailing parlance: we have already experienced many successful regattas.

When I decided to leave corporate law behind in 2006, the health and life science industry was primarily led by large pharmaceutical companies. Since then, the industry has undergone significant transformation, with a strong shift towards the integration of technology and medicine, particularly in the areas of MedTech and AI. Despite these changes, one thing has remained constant: the industry's focus on improving people's health and well-being through innovation. I want to support that. The COVID-19 pandemic serves as a prime example of the positive impact that can be made. My team was able to provide support to BioNTech and Moderna in their efforts to launch their products in Austria, which was a fulfilling experience for us and is a rewarding aspect of our profession.

A profession that remains heavily male-dominated to this day. In 2009, when I was expecting my first child, there were no specific regulations in place regarding maternity leave for female lawyers. Despite this, I was determined to return to work and avoid the common fate of having children and never working as a lawyer again. I drafted a plan on an A4 paper detailing my envisioned working hours, KPIs and earnings. The partner supervising me looked at it and said: ‘Sounds reasonable, that’s how we’ll do it. To this day, I remain grateful for that.

Inspired by this personal story, a drive to extend benefits to others led to the creation of women@ DORDA in 2016. Focusing initially on establishing a parental leave program for self-employed lawyers, whose demanding schedules posed unique challenges to family life. Through flexible work arrangements and job sharing, these obstacles were overcome, creating a blueprint for equitable policies and practices.

The expansion of our part-time model initially designed for women has been well received. Interestingly, more men than women are now taking advantage of this part-time opportunity. To this day, I’m not at one hundred percent in my lawyer’s job, because I want to retain flexibility to raise my children, and I am still serving as managing partner and leading an industrial group.

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Some things you just have to do!

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It has paid off. Since we started promoting women and prioritizing diversity in our teams our success has continued to grow each year, and we are committed to further developing our model. As part of this effort, we host an event series called “Role Models Wanted”, where we invite accomplished women to join us for an evening. Through these conversations, we’ve learned that resumes often don’t tell the whole story. Many women underestimate their abilities based on what they see on paper. It's only when you talk to each other that you learn that we all have a lot of ‘calms’ and ‘storms’ in our development.”

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