Diversity

We are committed to continuing to build an inclusive culture and to make diversity and inclusion an integral part of our decision-making at every level of the firm. We demonstrate our position in action. Our activities in 2020:

• COBALT is a nominee for the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Europe 2021 awards, shortlisted in the ‘Social Justice’ category for the firm‘s work on two landmark cases in the Constitutional Court regarding the rights and protection of families of same-sex couples in Latvia.

COBALT provided pro bono legal assistance to the Association of LGBT and their friends Mozaīka as amicus curiae in both Constitutional Court’s cases. These were the first cases in the history of the Latvian Constitutional Court where the court convincingly ruled in favour of same-sex couples; moreover, it was declared that same-sex couples and their children shall be considered as families and should therefore enjoy equal protection by the state as families of married heterosexual couples. As a consequence, Saeima (the Parliament) is required to create regulation for the protection of families of same-sex couples by June 2022.

• COBALT together with the Go Forward Academy launched the COBALT female leaders’ class and granted 3 scholarships to the most motivated and socially active female students to study at the Go Forward Academy. The Academy is a leadership academy for women in Lithuania where future leaders are introduced to inspirational stories, knowledge and ideas to give tools for change in the world of business, science, and culture.
• In November 2020, COBALT became a signatory to the Latvian Diversity Charter, the first law firm in Latvia to join the initiative. The Diversity Charter is a voluntary declaration striving for respect and inclusion of diversity groups: http://www.thinkdiversity.eu/home/.
• COBALT Estonia is a long-term partner of the Art Museum of Estonia Foundation. In 2020, we elected to support the exhibition ‘Creating the Self: Emancipating Women in Estonian and Finnish Art.’ The exhibition focused on the changes in women’s self-awareness and social position that started in the 19th century, whichare echoed in the activities of female artists.

International capabilities

COBALT is a closely integrated alliance of top-tier law offices across the Baltics and Belarus uniting more than 200 attorneys and lawyers.

 Finnish Desk

COBALT’s Finnish Desk, based in our Tallinn office, focuses on legal issues related to cross-border business activities between Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania and Finland. Its main target group consists of the investors, entrepreneurs and companies in the Baltic States having a business interest in the Finnish market and vice versa.

The Finnish Desk consists of a four-member project management team: Martin Simovart, partner, Jesse Kivisaari, specialist counsel, Getter Villmann, junior associate, and Hegle Pärna, assistant lawyer.

In addition, the services of the Finnish Desk provide access to the high-level legal services of COBALT law office in all legal areas in the Baltics and Belarus, and to an extensive global partner network, including the exclusive membership of the Estonian office in World Services Group which intermediates worldwide recognised legal professionals and high-quality legal services, and in Lex Mundi which is an organisation of the world’s leading independent law firms.

German Desk

Germany is an important trading partner for the Baltic States. Many German and Austrian companies have established subsidiaries in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Likewise, Baltic entrepreneurs expand their business to German speaking countries. Accordingly, the demand for legal services in German language is quite high. We advise both domestic companies that are entering markets in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, as well as investors from German speaking countries.

Our team consists of qualified lawyers who have obtained their master or doctorate degree at German universities and have gained certain working experience in German law offices.

Russian desk

Although the business environment and investment activity around Russia always experienced unforeseen turbulences, there is a continuous need for entrepreneurial platforms that foster and safeguard economic interactions between Russia/CIS countries and European Union. As there is a constant demand for high quality and seamless cross-border services for foreign companies doing business in Russia and for Russian companies establishing a presence or expanding into Europe. Through many years of work experience in the region, COBALT is ideally positioned to offer its clients an in-depth knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the subtle differences between legal environments and business culture in Russia and European market. COBALT Russian Desk is the integrated team made up of lawyers who are fluent in Russian and have experience of advising clients in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Our one-stop project management approach and expertise, combined with all the necessary support from the leading Russian law firms, mean that investments and other commercial objectives in either market can be realized as smoothly as possible.

Client testimonials

CLIENT: Flavio Perini, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board, AS Baltika
COMPANY/FIRM: AS Baltika
TESTIMONIAL: I met with COBALT team for the first time during early spring 2020 when me and the shareholders were evaluating the opportunity to apply for the reorganisation of Baltika, one of the biggest retail companies in Estonia with also a presence all over Baltics, listed on Nasdaq Baltic Stock Exchange market. COBALT team was leading Baltika’s team through this complicated and uncertain procedure with a lot of professionalism, seriousness and preparation and the final result achieved thanks to their help was simply great.

CLIENT: Donatas Aksomitas, Managing Director, AGACAD
COMPANY/FIRM: AGACAD
TESTIMONIAL: AGACAD had worked with Cobalt in the past on a variety of corporate matters and always found them to be highly knowledgeable on both the legal and the business side, as well as proactive and efficient. For M&A work, the reputation of the firm – and in particular that of Juozas Rimas who heads the M&A Practice – preceded them. There was a long track record of deals where they successfully advised both local and international clients. So we knew we could count on them to represent our interests effectively and professionally in this transaction of historic importance to AGACAD and its founders.

CLIENT: Olga Barreto Goncalves, CEO, Latvian Startup Association “Startin.LV”
COMPANY/FIRM: Latvian Startup Association “Startin.LV”
TESTIMONIAL: Our recent experience with Cobalt included work on the new share option regulation in Latvia which took almost a year.

The elaboration on the new share option regulation in Latvia is an excellent example of private-public cooperation, which has resulted in the qualitative, balanced and up-to-date legal framework, embodying the best international practice and respecting essential local requirements.

As the lead voice of the start-up ecosystem in Latvia, we can confirm that the new share option regulation was a long-waited improvement and we already notice its positive impact on industry development.

Together with the start-up community, venture capitalists, parliament representatives (in particular Mr Reinis Znotiņš), Cobalt was one of the key drivers within the legislative process, demonstrating an excellent understanding of the business side and providing crucial legal input throughout all process.

CLIENT: Darius Žakaitis, Founder, Tech Zity UAB
COMPANY/FIRM: Tech Zity UAB
TESTIMONIAL: COBALT has advised our company Techzity UAB on the acquisition of shares in Techfabrikas UAB and the creation of a joint venture for the development of an innovative business park in Klaipėda, Lithuania. COBALT lawyers always find logical and knowledge-based solutions for every problem. I really enjoy working with COBALT and feel they have my back every step of the way. They were agile, pragmatic, bold, consistently level-headed and worked 24/7 to keep the deal on track. The team handles the full spectrum of M&A work and appears to be the first port of call for many of the market’s most high-value and sophisticated matters. Their attention to detail, extensive experience and strategic skills create value for clients.

CLIENT: N/a
COMPANY/FIRM: OP Corporate Bank plc Latvia branch
TESTIMONIAL: COBALT team was reached to provide their service in preparing credit documentation for a project finance case in energy sector. With the team’s professional and elaborative approach, it was possible to reach the goal in rather compressed time schedule. The team was certain not to overlook any details and they were prepared for anything that could come their way during discussions. It was also significant contribution that the involved specialists were following very carefully the set milestones in order to satisfy their fulfilment. Extensive knowledge of the energy sector was essential in supplementing the final documentation with important elements. All in all, ability to work under pressure and find compromises were also important elements to finalize this service, and we are thankful for the team’s contributions in this project.