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June 27, 2008 5:05 PM
THE LONDON LAWYER: To Russia With Love
Posted by Richard Lloyd
Posted June 27, 2008 at 10:30 a.m.
At this gathering of independent firms from Russia and surrounding countries, Nick Eastwell, the head of Linklaters's new emerging markets practice, was on hand to make the case for international firms. In particular, he highlighted the U.K. firm's decision to spin off four offices in Eastern Europe while launching a group focused on the developing economies of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Dr. Cord-Georg Hasselmann of Hengeler Mueller and Dimitry Afanasiev of Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners argued for the independents, outlining international strategies based on a series of "best friend" relationships with overseas practices.
The health of Russia's rule of law is a topic of interest to both Russian independents and international firms (especially now, as oil giant BP plc struggles with its Russian partners for control of joint venture TNK-BP). Echoing a point made several times over the course of the conference, Afanasiev stressed the need for judicial reform in Russia, which he said was vital if major M&A deals and litigation were to be done under Russian law. "We need to promote the prestige of being a judge and ensure the inevitability, not the severity, of punishment," he said.
The guest speaker at dinner Thursday evening was Igor Artemiev, head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia. He assured all those present that Russia's new antitrust laws were so complicated that companies were bound to need lawyers to guide them. Not surprisingly, he was warmly received. The only downside of the evening was Russia's misfiring soccer team, which lost to Spain 3-0 yesterday in the European Championships. Russia's law firms hope to do better.
Posted June 26, 2008 at 2:20 p.m.
Today's first panel discussion of the CIS Local Counsel Forum featured a who's who of the independent Russian legal market, which now includes 16,500 firms and more than 1,000 law schools. ALRUD senior partner Vassily Rudomino highlighted the progress of the local firms that up until a decade ago were little known in the international legal community. But he stressed that work still needed to be done.
"We need to increase our profile, be integrated with the international community, and develop overseas relationships either through a 'best friends' network or more formal associations," Rudomino said.
The presentation and the Q&A that followed focused in part on how CIS firms could copy the success of leading overseas independents like the U.K.'s Slaughter and May and Germany's Hengeler Mueller. In the battle to recruit the best staff, moderator Dimitry Afanasiev of Egorov, Puginsky advised that Russian firms emphasize to potential recruits that they can offer job security, a platform for young lawyers to share profits, and the opportunity to be part of a rapidly developing business.
Although Andrey Goltsblat, managing partner of Pepeliaev, Goltsblat, joked about merging his firm with Linklaters to form Golstblat and Linklaters, the prevailing sense was that these Russian firms would resist any overtures from international firms and remain independent.
Posted June 26, 2008 at 11:25 a.m.
There's a palpable sense of pride among the lawyers from Russia and other former Soviet republics now gathered at the third CIS Local Counsel Forum in St. Petersburg. Not only has the region achieved remarkable economic growth, but the Russian soccer team has made it to the semifinals of the European Championships. "Today, Russia can say that it has one of the leading football teams in the world to go with one of the fastest growing economies," said Irina Paliashvili from Ukrainian firm RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group.
And now it's time for the region's law firms to have their turn in the sun. That was the message of the opening remarks from Dimitry Afanasiev, name partner and chairman of host firm Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners. Afanasiev said the conference should focus on pinpointing what he described as the "recipe for the successful independent or national firm in Russia or any other former Soviet Republic." He praised the contributions of the U.S. legal market in training CIS lawyers—Afanasiev himself practiced in Philadelphia as a young attorney—but insisted that it was now time for the local firms to stand on their own two feet, "We have come of age," he asserted.
Afanasiev congratulated the organizers of the conference for building links between law firms in the former Soviet republics. "Now, more than 15 years since the collapse of the USSR, we're talking to each other again," he said. It's imperative, he went on, that the Russian legal community mirror the success of Russian companies, and play its own role on the international stage.
"Why should a deal between a company from Tajikistan and one from Azerbaijan be conducted under English law?" he asked. Some 200 lawyers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS--the countries of the former Soviet Union), Europe, and the United States are attending the forum, including attorneys from Linklaters, Spain's Uría Menéndez, Germany’s Hengeler Mueller, and Russia's ALRUD and Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners. On the agenda for tonight: cheering for Russia in the televised Russia v. Spain match in the conference hall.
Posted June 24, 2008 at 2 p.m.
Since it was founded in the early eighteenth century by the Russian czar Peter the Great, St. Petersburg
Organized by RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group and hosted by Russia's Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners--the firm was the subject of a Focus Europe profile last December--the forum brings together lawyers from local and international firms in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and beyond.
Egorov, Puginsky has become one of a small brood of independent Russian firms with some clout in the Russian market, a standard-bearer alongside Moscow boutiques Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners; Liniya Prava; and Andrey Gorodissky & Partners. As such, the firm is becoming an
increasingly prominent fixture on Russia's legal scene.
On Thursday the keynote address will be delivered by the head of
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