Dear Interlegal Colleagues and Friends,
Here is the new issue of your newsletter from Milan, where the heath is picking up to 34 centigrade Celsius during these days and the shades provide small relief to those braves who adventure themselves out of the air conditioned offices in business suit during lunch time.

Participants to the Network Meeting in Budapest enjoyed their time in this thriving city, by visiting the Palace of Arts, the Buda Castle, the Dohany street synagogue, the Gellert bath, Margaret Island as well as the fancy shops in Deak Ferenc Street. We were pleased by a relaxing dinner at the Gundal restaurant, a satisfactory General Meeting at the Institute of Legal Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Science – where we resolved on several items of the Network agenda – to conclude with an elegant  gala dinner on Saturday evening at a charming restaurant in the city. Thanks again to our hosts Peter Nogradi and Adam Booc, who did a great job in making us feel at home during our stay there. Indeed the Meeting was successful!

We carried forward the new specialist group project in Budapest, where two very interesting sessions of different format took place on the board of a pleasure boat on the Danube river. We discussed – among other – about the new institutional web site, the on going marketing strategies of the Network, the new understanding with the Eura Audit Network, the paid Interlegal officer, as well as about the Countries of the world we are currently targeting for new members, which are notably France, Denmark, Russia, Japan etc. As often reminded, new Members are important for the success Network and to increase the opportunities of reciprocal business referrals. Should you have contacts or names to recommend, please let Hanjo Vogel, Jeremy Shulman or me know about it!

Another item that was discussed in Budapest was the IBA dinner we are going to host - as usual - in connection with the 2009 IBA Annual Conference in Madrid. That Interlegal dinner will take place on Thursday October 8, 2009 at a fancy restaurant in the city. This year we need to take advantage of the fact that several members will serve as hosts at the dinner, therefore we should be capable to better advertise the event before and during the IBA Conference, to increase our marketing exposure and to present a solid image of our Network towards those who will attend. So think about it.

No doubt that the upcoming Meeting in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands is going to be a successful one. St. Thomas is a pearl in the Caribbean and worldwide renowned for its turquoise water and white sand beaches is a popular tourist destination. It is quite close and well connected to New York via air, circumstance this latter that could justify a business stopover there, and the exciting program set up by our colleagues Bill Blum and Robert Solomon is going to match your expectations. A couple of hours on Friday afternoon should be devoted once again to the specialist groups sessions and a special dinner has been scheduled with the Lieutenant Governor of the US Virgin Islands on Friday evening. Come along to a wonderful natural spot to meet with your Interlegal friends once again.

May 2010: a Meeting in the beautiful Geneve/Lausanne hosted by Reymond and Fischele. Cannot miss it! But let us first have an enjoyable and fruitful time in St. Thomas. I do hope you are all doing well and look forward to seeing you all in November!

Riccardo G. Cajola from Milan