Newsletter Momentum PT

SÉRVULO PUBLICATIONS 05 Nov 2008

The word “crisis” has lodged itself firmly in our day-to-day vocabulary. Not only because of the financial crisis we are currently experiencing, but because the age we are living in is, decidedly, an age of “crises”, be they natural or social. There is even talk of a global crisis in contemporary societies, which would appear first and foremost to be a crisis in values or in standards.

Crises are undoubtedly moments of greater or lesser disruption to the progression of society. But they are also periods of intense critical reflection and new opportunities. After all, a crisis is when critical factors converge, impelling us to ask questions and to rise to new challenges. It is no coincidence that “crisis” and “critical” share the same etymological root.

The current crisis cannot be any different: causing serious disruption to many, it offers us, the legal professional, a precious opportunity to rethink concepts, the paradigms whereby our companies are organized and governed, regulatory and supervisory systems, instruments which serve the day-to-day business needs of corporations. This is a time to take stock of what has gone wrong, and to draw up plans for our future lives together. Time to look forward to a brave new world.

Fernando Ferreira Pinto
ffp@servulo.com