VIR-KUN-EN recorded a successful growth during the year 2021. Reflecting the school's continued progress against its strategy, the results were the strongest the VIR-KUN-EN has recorded to date, despite the year 2021 being marked by the impact of the spread of the coronavirus consequences across the globe.

At the year end, the school continued to benefit from a balance sheet, with no borrowings. In Autumn 2021, VIR-KUN-EN also successfully launched the scheduled Initiatives of the Scuola Legale Diffusa, .
Mindfulness, Series on Mindfulness, Golden Hours

Given the ongoing and unpredictable consequences of the pandemic at the year end, the school's leadership has decided it is prudent to strengthen the collaborations. The collaborations recognizes the continuing uncertain market conditions and anticipates different impacts including the remote and flexible working.

 

In 2021 we've put our vision to be the International law school of choice based in Sicily, at the core of all we do. 

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Mediterranean Essence, Palermo and Cefalù, are an example of a social-cultural syncretism between Western, Islamic and Byzantine cultures on the island which gave rise to new concepts of space, structure and decoration. They also bear testimony to the fruitful coexistence of people of different origins and religions (Muslim, Byzantine, Latin, Jewish, Lombard and French). We can be the Mediterranean law school of choice because the rich variety of ethnicity, culture and heritage in Sicily is reflected in our school. We believe our current and future success is dependent upon us continuing to build and nurture deeper roots in the Mediterranean Lifestyle.

Before we have made excellent progress against our goals. Now we are taking a long term view and making strategic investments in our business while remaining agile and adaptable.

 

We will be very pleased if, over the next period of our strategy, we will see strong success across all our zones.

 

Ever-growing field of mindfulness and contemplative law practice

 
The continued development of our mindful practice in establishing a calm, focused perspective, increased resilience and wellbeing, and equity in the profession which now generates our benefits, demonstrates the success of our focused approach and sustained investment. We have successfully integrated mindfulness, a foundation for ethical lawyering and seen well being grow by 100%. The scale and quality of mindful lawyering in the US, and its strong alignment with our practice and the Mediterranean Lifestyle, present a highly compelling proposition for our clients who turn to us for support on their most business-critical and complex matters. The Mindful legal practice and the Integral Ecology remain an absolute strategic priority for the firm and is an area where we are extremely well-placed for ever greater success.

Attracting attention to the Mediterranean Lifestyle

The Mediterranean Lifestyle has its origins in Pantelleria in the Sicilian region of Italy. We experience this traditional life pattern from the territory where we live and work.
When in 2010 the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO inscribed the Mediterranean Diet among the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, it explained the meaning of "lifestyle", implying "the set of practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills and cultural spaces with which the populations of the Mediterranean have created and recreated over the centuries a synthesis between the cultural environment, the social organization, the mythical and religious universe around eating ". One of the most popular references to life in the Mediterranean is summed up with a popular saying:

"To Live a Longer Healthier and Happier Life" . Undoubtedly, these are daily goals that each of us is committed to and there is both theoretical and practical evidence that this Mediterranean saying has intrinsic value.

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In general, people living in the Mediterranean follow seven simple principles:

Eat healthy     
Spend time with family and friends
Find time to relax
Laugh often
Enjoy life and appreciate the simple things
Be productive
Stay physically active

We create the team, ecosystem, community of contemplative practitioners whose goal is the ongoing development of racial, social, economic and environmental justice and the advancement of human flourishing.  We continue to build a mindful, ethical practice. The continued development of Mediterranean Lifestyle practice, which now plays an important role in the establishment of appropriate dietary guidelines in confinement situations such as the COVID-19, demonstrates the success of our focused approach and sustained investment. The quality of the Mediterranean Lifestyle, and its strong alignment with our practice, presents a highly compelling proposition for our clients who turn to us for support on their different personal, business-critical and complex matters. The Mediterranean Lifestyle remains an absolute strategic priority for the school and is an area where we are extremely well-placed for ever greater success ..

Meeting the needs of Financial Investors

The ability to bring wraparound, integrated support and insight to clients has also underpinned the continued success of our business. While this is a broad and diverse set of clients, Financial Investors are united by ambitious strategies and they play a role that will be fundamental to the rebuilding of the global economy. This is an important client segment for us.

Focused investment for growth of our leading Social Security Law team

Our highly successful and fast-growing Social Security Law team enjoyed stellar past years. In a world that is increasingly complex and more highly regulated, our team is in great demand as clients seek trusted advice on some of their most challenging situations. This is a group that is getting so many of the fundamentals right: a fantastic pipeline of talent, targeted lateral hiring, a focus on the matters where we can make the most difference, excellent service, and enthusiastically embracing new ways of working that deliver value to our clients. A key priority of our strategy has been to support the growth of this important area.

Working together to manage the impacts of COVID-19

This is a time when many organizations want to move quickly and work differently, especially to help address the human tragedy and impact of the pandemic. Investment is not only about growth, it is also about ensuring we remain resilient. Our strategic emphasis on enhancing our Scuola Legale Diffusa and driving our Innovation and Best Delivery agenda is critical. Our investments in these capabilities have enabled us to embrace the challenge of this enforced global experiment in remote working without any substantive disruption to the high standards that our clients expect from us. Beyond our fee-paying work, it is also deeply rewarding to see the legal expertise, knowledge, and time of our people being provided pro bono to help individuals who are suffering from injustice as a result of the pandemic, and to assist institutions that are providing a lifeline to the most vulnerable members of society. We are at our clients' side throughout.

 

Investing in Mediterranean Studio Legale Duffuso at the heart of our success

We passionately believe that our agility is founded on a strong, inclusive and collaborative culture, that we are more effective with mindful communication. Mindfulness mitigates and heals bias. It is our fantastic team that has seen the firm through the past year, and who will see us through the year ahead. We have been humbled to witness the adaptability, flexibility, sense of community and spirit of togetherness shown by our people, especially over recent months. As well as owing them a debt of gratitude, we also owe it to them - and to society - to keep up the momentum around forging a culture in our firm and in our sector which is truly inclusive, and stronger for it. This is why our new inclusion targets are so important. This is why our everyday Mediterranean contemplative practices are so important. We call them "practices" because over time, with repetition, our learning grows as our experience changes. Our emotional intelligence supports ethical practice.

Looking ahead

In common with nearly all businesses, the progress of the virus and the associated lockdown measures, have had a material impact on activity levels in some areas of the school. This year remains extremely difficult to map: some geographies are starting to see green shoots, while others are still very much in the eye of the storm. The risk also needs to be factored in. The lack of clarity is exacerbated by the potential reshaping of global trade and investment flows in the light of increasing geopolitical tensions. Beyond this, there is the unquantifiable human cost of the pandemic that will leave a permanent scar on many businesses, economies and, most importantly, communities globally.

Focusing on our vision and strategy

In this environment, more than ever, clients need our unstinting support.

To achieve their goals, they need access to trusted global insight and expertise paired with efficient and innovative service delivery. As a result, we must intensify our focus on our long-standing strategic priorities and accelerate our work to evolve our client offer and operating model. Through the pandemic, we have all experienced first-hand the benefits of mindfulness, technology and a collaborative global platform. We now need to ensure that we use this knowledge, embed our positive new habits and maximise the potential that already exists within the firm to drive a step-change in how we work and deliver our services.
Doubling down on our strategy, combining business and scientific research, acting as a trusted adviser to our clients, and remaining zen, agile and adaptable will be our focus for the future. Not only will that secure our own success but it will also mean that we will contribute to shaping the sustainable markets, economies, and communities that are essential to the future success of each of us.

It's fun to walk together!

 

Selected work highlights:

 

During Y21, the VIR-KUN-EN:

- opened the first of its kind Interdisciplinary/Legal Research Hub
- received the reseacrh approval from the University of Palermo

- started the collaboration with the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Palermo, Sicily