point in Primerus history, when at the
2002 Primerus Annual Conference in
Carmel, California, a technology expert
called Primerus a "virtual law firm."
"He said, `You are a virtual law
firm and you should organize as such,'"
Winder said. "That was a seminal
moment in Primerus history because
it gave us the institutes and practice
groups."
"The message was that we need to
bind together these small and medium-
sized select firms because the regional
firms are coming into towns and gobbling
us up, the national firms are gobbling up
the regional firms, and the international
firms are gobbling up the national firms,"
Winder said. "What are we going to do?"
The solution was to organize Primerus
member law firms according to their
primary area of focus and region. Over
the years, Primerus would adapt its
resulting in the following:
Asia Pacific
Europe, Middle East & Africa
Latin America & Caribbean
North America
Institute
moment, when Manley suggested an idea
to increase the number of defense firms
in the Primerus Defense Institute. The
idea was to host an annual event, now
called the Primerus Defense Institute
(PDI) Convocation, where Primerus
members could invite their clients for a
mixture of education and relationship-
building activities.
in 2005 with 50 members and 20 clients
in attendance. The event has continued
every year since then, with the 2016
Convocation in Napa Valley, California.
The 2017 PDI Convocation will be held
April 20-23 in Naples, Florida.
Clients including Matthew Tegmeyer,
national director of claims for Vericlaim
in Naperville, Illinois, love the event
because it's low-pressure, educational
and friendly, unlike so-called
networking events hosted by some
other organizations. He was pleasantly
surprised when he came back from his
first PDI with not one person offering
him a business card. He now turns to
Primerus first when he needs a lawyer.
According to Ferris, Primerus,
with law firms in nearly 50 countries,
becomes the alternative for clients to the
large, expensive law firms of the world.
"Primerus can be one-stop
shopping," he said. "You don't need
one of the large firms that have, until
recently, dominated the international
At the Primerus National Conference that year,
Primerus organized into practice groups, which
would later become the Primerus institutes.
United States joins Primerus.
The firm, Houser Henry & Syron
of Toronto, Canada, remains a
member today.