“Innovation takes courage” – and consulting
Lawyer Harald Keil believes in Adlershof
“You really had to believe in Adlershof,” lawyer Harald Keil from the law firm Bilk and Keil replies to why he settled down here in 1998. He specialised in IT and media law already as a trainee, a fairly young field of law back then. The media and the studios located in Adlershof attracted him – it was already a “prime address” in the past. The dot-com bubble, which burst shortly after, did not deter him. Today, Keil is based in ZIM3 in the midst of his clientele, a multitude of IT firms.
As a lawyer specialising in IT and media law, he started early giving young entrepreneurs broad consulting according to their needs which went beyond mere legal aspects. What helped him then was his involvement with the Business Informatics programme as a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences for Engineering and Economics, HTW today. That way, he knew what drove young entrepreneurs and what their strengths and weaknesses were. His liaison with teaching and his contacts with sponsoring institutions were very useful to a good many spin-off companies that originated in the university sector.
Harald Keil is sure: “Innovation takes courage.” In the past, the idea of starting over own company was unusual, while today the idea of a start-up naturally belongs to the range of options of a college graduate. Looking at it that way, young people today are more daring and “quickly have the right ideas at hand,” he sums up his experiences. Support for entrepreneurs has also become more professional and stable.
Naturally, what is produced and what is focused on, especially in the dynamic IT sector, is ever-changing. The technology cycles are becoming shorter and it can be observed that IT and the media sector are growing together. After the classic online stores, now mobile devices and social networks are pivotal to all considerations. Keil cites the company Ewanto as an example which received consulting from him and is currently moving into its first business offices located at the science hub.They are specialised in “mobile commerce”, the customization and optimisation of online stores for a range of new mobile devices.
With regard to his own work, this dynamic has produced new fields of action in the advising of the film industry and online journalists on matters of licensing and liability, among others. Especially in these areas, there is a great legal uncertainty among creatives. Keeping in mind possible conflicts in business startups or in the media sector, Keil advocates new and faster solutions which, to a certain extent, can be applied already in the prep phase. The coaching for start-ups and preventive mediation he offers now take up a growing amount of his work schedule.
What is great about this, according to Keil, is that it creates win-win-situations by helping both sides to save time and energy.
By Klaus Oberzig for Adlershof Special