Mr Giorgi Sarajishvili > BGI Legal > Tbilisi, Georgia > Lawyer Profile

BGI Legal
Meidan Palace Business Center
44 Kote Abkhazi Street
Tbilisi 0108
Georgia

Work Department

Litigation
IP law

Position

Head of Litigation Practice

• Represented the interests of foreign investors operating in various fields of business in Georgian Courts.
• Represented foreign companies in local procedures for recognition and enforcement of foreign awards.
• Advised and represented Apple, Facebook, Hewlett-Packard, Ferrero Group, Amazon.com, Sony Corporation and other international companies on Intellectual Property matters.
• Represented a client in the biggest ever (from financial standpoint) matrimonial case in Georgia.
• Represented the interests of one of the largest companies in Georgia (producer of fertilizers) concerning the dispute on over USD 100 mln.
• Represented foreign investor (exclusive operator of parking services in Tbilisi, Georgia) in a series of disputes with the central and municipal Governments of Georgia.
• Successfully established the court practice on veil piercing in private disputes in a case representing the interests of a subsidiary of the international commodity giant Glencore.
• In representing the interests of Facebook.Inc, established a court practice on the cancellation of domain names incorporating a trademark.
• Successfully completed two landmark cases in favour of multinational confectionary giant Ferrero Group, establishing practices for: a) the registration of a trademark which “acquired distinctiveness through usage,” b) the exception from general prohibition of the registration of a geographical indication as a trademark.
• Revised a taxation section of the Prospectus of the Georgian Government for the issuance of sovereign debt securities at an amount of USD 500 mln.
• Revised a taxation section of the Prospectus of a Georgian bank for the issuance of Securities for the London Stock Exchange.
• Represented the Georgian Government in bilateral negotiations with the European Commission on Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements.

Career

Prior to becoming the Head of Litigation Practice, served as a Senior Associate (since 2014) and Associate (since 2010) at BGI Legal, also as Senior Lawyer at the Division of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia (since 2008). Professional experience also includes practices at the Office of the State Minister for Civil Integration (2007) and Tbilisi City Court (2006).

Languages

English, Russian, Georgian

Memberships

Georgian Bar Association (2010)
Association of Law Firms of Georgia (2012)
Georgian Young Lawyers Association (2004)

Education

Erasmus University Rotterdam, LL.M (2010)
Tbilisi State University, Bachelor (2008)

Lawyer Rankings

Georgia > Dispute resolution

(Next Generation Partners)

Giorgi SarajishviliBGI Legal

The team at BGI Legal provides ‘detail-oriented and effective’ advice to a primarily international roster of corporate clients across the full scope of their litigation requirements, including as it relates to commercial, IP, real estate, white-collar and employment disputes. Dovetailing with his own compelling transactional practice, team head Zaza Bibilashvili is particularly adept at handling high-profile corporate/commercial disputes. He is also one of many in the team with significant ADR experience, and has himself served as an arbitrator on numerous ICC arbitration cases. Sandro Bibilashvili has argued cases at all levels of the Georgian court hierarchy and is noted for his mediation skills, as is Giorgi Sarajishvili, who is ‘great at negotiating settlements on mediation’. Davit Kakoishvili excels in white-collar and extradition cases, while the ‘very diligent and hardworking’ Lika Topuria has recently handled some high-profile cases for creditors in the airline industry, as well as IP disputes for large food and beverage companies.