Michael Damianos & Co LLC > Nicosia, Cyprus > Firm Profile

Michael Damianos & Co LLC > Firm Profile

The firm: Michael Damianos & Co LLC is a Cyprus law firm based in Nicosia. The firm’s founder graduated from the University of Southampton with the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LLB) with First Class Honours and from Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge with a degree of Master of Law (LLM). Before practising in Cyprus he qualified as a solicitor at the London office of Simmons & Simmons and then moved to the London office of Lovells LLP (now Hogan Lovells), where he was mainly involved in mergers and acquisitions (general), energy-related mergers and acquisitions and energy-related commercial and regulatory work.

The firm has grown in size considerably since its formation in 2010.  It now employs seven lawyers and four paralegals.

The firm’s objective and commitment is to provide best-quality, practical and cost-effective advice/services to its clients and to rapidly respond to their instructions and needs. It has an expanding client base ranging from financial institutions, to high-net-worth individuals, a variety of corporate entities and multinational organisations (private/public company and funds), but despite the diversity of its clients, it recognises that each client is unique with particular business concerns and needs and, therefore, it exercises a personal commitment to all of its clients.

Areas of practice: The firm’s practice is highly international with a strong commercial, corporate, M&A, banking and finance, and energy focus.  Although a full-service Cyprus law firm, our main areas of practice are: (a) banking and finance (such as asset finance, refinancing and debt restructuring, real estate financing, acquisition financing and corporate financing), (b) international and local mergers and acquisitions, (c) corporate (such as joint ventures, takeovers and restructurings), (d) private equity, (e) energy related projects (including the drafting of acquisition documents and commercial agreements), (f) general commercial work (such as preparing all types of commercial contracts, such as agency, distribution, franchising, supply of goods/services, outsourcing, manufacturing and licensing contracts), (g) real estate (including advice and negotiation on the terms of sale-purchase agreements and drafting of lease agreements), (h) shipping, and (i) privacy and data protection.

The majority of the firm’s work comes from referrals from international law firms in relation to the Cypriot element of international transactions that are usually run by overseas counsel, or by clients of such international law firms in relation to transactions that the firm will run itself for them directly from Cyprus. The firm, therefore, specialises in this type of transactions. Local corporate and banking work comes from Cypriot groups of companies (in various sectors) in relation to their legal work in Cyprus (and sometimes abroad) and also with respect to their advisory role with Cypriot banks as outsourced consultants.

In addition to the firm’s purely legal work, it also practices in the area of company formation and administration/corporate services. The firm incorporates Cyprus companies (along with companies in various other jurisdictions, mainly offshore) to suit its clients’ needs and provides a complete range of fiduciary/corporate services to such companies (such as the provision of company secretarial services, registered office address, company directors, company nominee shareholders and bank account opening). The firm is also able to assist its clients to establish representative offices in Cyprus and, through its associated companies, provide them with all relevant services for such purpose.

Lawyer Profiles

Photo	Name	Position	Profile
	Ms Christina Aloupa	Christina Aloupa is an associate at Michael Damianos & Co LLC. Her…	View Profile
	Ms Maria Anastasiadou	Μaria Anastasiadou is a senior associate at Michael Damianos & Co LLC. Her…	View Profile
	Ms Christina Charalambidou	Christina Charalambidou is an associate at Michael Damianos & Co LLC.  Her…	View Profile
	Mr Michael Damianos	Michael Damianos is the founder of Michael Damianos & Co LLC.	View Profile
	Ms Evelyn Ioannou	Evelyn Ioannou is an associate at Michael Damianos & Co LLC. Her…	View Profile
	Mrs Maria Papaefstathiou Damianos	Maria Papaefstathiou Damianos is a partner at Michael Damianos & Co LLC…	View Profile
	Ms Andrea Petridou	Andrea is an associate at Michael Damianos & Co LLC. Her practice…	View Profile

Interviews

Maria Papaefstathiou Damianos, Managing Partner

Managing partner Maria Papaefstathiou Damianos explains how the firm is adapting to clients’ changing needs.

 

1) What do you see as the main points that differentiate Michael Damianos & Co LLC from your competitors?

We are an internationally minded law firm and the majority of the work that we do is international, being instructed by international law firms, financial institutions or other international organisations that do work in or via Cyprus.

The firm provides practical, commercial and non-academic advice which tends to be to the point.  As the firm’s founder has spent time in the City of London with two international law firms, the firm has been set up and grown to satisfy the needs of instructing counsel, such as to be responsive and to make instructing counsel feel that the firm is their own office presence in Cyprus (just like having an office in another part of the world).

 

2) Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

We see growth in demand mainly in international acquisitions work in the technology and healthcare sectors.  Having said that, we also see a lot of demand in foreign corporations setting up offices or even moving their headquarters in Cyprus, which is something that provides growth for real estate, commercial, employment law and immigration work.

 

3) What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

As the firm has grown over the years, it has been spilt into different departments such as the transactional department (dealing mostly in corporate and finance work), the advisory department (dealing with all types of commercial related work), the private client department, the corporate services and the business immigration department.

This is very beneficial and important for clients who have different needs and need to be serviced via different departments and not merely by specific lawyers on all matters.

 

4) Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Technology has, especially during recent years, facilitated to a great extent our way of interacting with clients.  Meetings are now taking place online through various channels and this provides value to the client, in terms of not losing time in going back and forth in physical meetings, especially from and to different countries, unless it is essential.

 

5) Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

The firm is committed to providing value to the businesses of all its clients and help them achieve the best possible result.  This is achieved through the professionalism and dedication of the members of the firm as well as their responsiveness, all of which drive the end result.

The firm has recently acted for a long-standing client, who has founded a fintech real estate company, that is being managed by experienced real estate and technology professionals.  We assisted with the legal aspects of the start-up’s website and online platform, including the preparation of terms and conditions, privacy notices, disclaimers, cookies policies, legal documents as well as the handling of data protection matters.  Having a proper and compliant website is vital for our client’s business.

 

6) Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

We see the firm expanding in the services it provides, in the regions that it is active in, and growing in numbers of employees, clients and of course revenue and profits.  We see it growing and expanding its technology, employee incentives and healthcare services.