February 2025

Ana-Maria Baciu spoke to Alina Matei in an interview for juridice.ro, the reputable legal media outfit, under the theme “Focus 2025“.

Alina Matei: What was your biggest professional challenge last year?

Ana-Maria Baciu: It may seem surprising, but the most significant professional challenge of the past year was not the transformation that our law firm went through but the acceleration of the tempo of our evolution, an objective assumed as the first result of this transformation.

Our increased pace of reaction was reflected in the even greater emphasis we placed on listening (and hearing!) to each other as members of the BACIU PARTNERS team, in the speed and manner in which we react internally to substantive issues brought up by any member of our team, and, undoubtedly, in the way we anticipate, with the proactivity that characterizes us, critical topics on our client’s business agenda.

Alina Matei: What do you propose for 2025 from a professional perspective?

Ana-Maria Baciu: We will continue to make our way of thinking and putting things into practice to be reflected, without obstacles, in all the initiatives we are involved in. My personal commitment to propose to the business community a team that constantly earns and maintains its partner status for our clients has been and will remain, at least for the moment, my personal challenge and bet.

Alina Matei: The most interesting phenomenon at the beginning of this century is the presence of artificial intelligence everywhere. So, also in the judicial system. There are already judges who use AI in drafting judgments, as is the case in the United Kingdom, where this issue was regulated. Do you use AI to study legal issues?

Ana-Maria Baciu: Like most business law firms in Romania, we tested AI tools long before AI became everyone’s favorite topic. Although this technology can be useful in analyzing large volumes of data, automating repetitive tasks, or even generating the first versions of documents, it is still not characterized by what I believe makes the real difference: critical thinking, intuition, and a deep understanding of contextual nuances.

The practice of law means more than the application of a set of rules; it requires interpretation, strategy, and, above all, meaningful human interaction. A lawyer’s authentic value lies not only in facilitating access to information but also in his ability to analyze it, ask the right questions for the specific context, and anticipate the implications beyond what an algorithm can calculate, no matter how complex.

Alina Matei: By the nature of the profession, lawyers have quite clear opinions, which can lead to disagreements from small to large in interpersonal relationships. And yet we have to work and interact with such people as well. Books teach us that we must cultivate courtesy towards such people. What would it sound like if you were to establish a principle and two exceptions in collegial relationships?

Ana-Maria Baciu: As long as both the speaker and the listener differentiate between feedback (which is about behavior) and criticism (which is about the person), disagreements tend to stay that way – disagreements, whether small or large.

As for the rule, this must be politeness. Without being an exception, politeness, although unconditional, must be, when the situation requires it, doubled by firmness. Also, politeness cannot be an obstacle to following the rules. The balance between all of these, although difficult, is important, and I believe that when a relationship makes it impossible for you to remain polite, it may be time to think about getting out of that relationship.

Alina Matei: We hear more and more often that empathy is needed and that without empathy, we are tough, brutes, or soulless people. How much empathy do lawyers need?

Ana-Maria Baciu: In brief – a lot of empathy, but carefully managed.

In more detail, empathy cannot be missing from our professional lives, just as it cannot be missing from our personal lives. Empathy is probably the main ability to build relationships with others. Still, at the same time, it supports the regulation of one’s own emotions and encourages supportive behavior of others, in the case of lawyers, colleagues, or clients alike. On the other hand, while empathy is undoubtedly an important quality, it can quickly become a disadvantage if not managed correctly. Exaggerated empathy can attract suffering, anxiety, and, last but not least, anger.

So, empathy, but with limits.

Alina Matei: For a constructive dialogue with your office colleagues, judges, clerks, prosecutors, and all the lawyers with whom we come into contact, what resolution do you propose at the beginning of the year?

Ana-Maria Baciu: My proposal is to make respect (earned, not demanded or imposed) for the work, time, and effort of everyone we interact with, the basic rule.

Alina Matei: Please send a message to the readers of Juridice.ro and to those who make it.

Ana-Maria Baciu: I know that we are in a time when optimism is hard for us. But I think it’s important to practice it all the more. Be optimistic!

The full interview is available in Romanian HERE.

Thank you, Alina Matei and juridice.ro for this opportunity! Always a pleasure!