Gvinadze & Partners LLC > Tbilisi, Georgia > Firm Profile

Gvinadze & Partners LLC
10 Melikishvili Street
0179
Georgia

Georgia > Dispute resolution Tier 1

At Gvinadze & Partners LLC, the team's work in the disputes area spans  administrative law, competition, intellectual property, investments, financial services, employment and real estate. The team is led by Nick Gvinadze who is ‘widely known and respected in the international arbitration community’. Zakaria Shvelidze is experienced in civil and administrative law and Sophie Panjikidze is an experienced litigator and patent attorney.

Practice head(s):

Nick Gvinadze

Other key lawyers:

Zakaria Shvelidze; Sophie Panjikidze

Testimonials

‘Excellent firm with a very good litigation capability.’

‘Nick Gvinadze is excellent. He is able to explain the process of litigating under Georgian law and make it easy to understand’

‘Gvinadze and Partners has had many years of near unrivalled experience in cross-border litigation and international arbitration.’

‘Nick Gvinadze is one of Georgia’s leading litigation and arbitration specialists. He is widely known and respected in the international arbitration community. He has enormous experience of the procedural strategic nuances of international arbitration and is able to deploy that experience to present cases in a manner that resonates with the tribunal.’

‘Technically excellent litigation with a very good tactical sense. The firm understands the commercial issues well.’

Key clients

Enyo Law LLP

Catena Operations Limited

Tamagnone Di Marco Law Firm

European Broadcasting Union

Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC

Cushman & Wakefield (Veritas Brown Caucasus LLC)

E&M Manufacturing Ltd.

HeidelbergCement Caucasus Ltd

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton

ZTE Corporation

UNICONF

Amorim & Irmãos, S.A.

iC consulenten Ziviltechniker GesmbH

MTU Maintenance Lease Services B.V.

Clifford Chance US LLP

Mr. Franco Muzzone

Work highlights

  • Assisted US law firm Levenfeld Pearlstein LLP with defending an American real estate investor against Georgian injunctive measures in the context of a dispute pending in the US courts and in international arbitration.
  • Working with Enyo Law LLP in the UK in connection with a pending ICSID arbitration case concerning claims arising out of major oil and gas exploration and production operations in Georgia.
  • Working with Littleton Chambers in the UK on a high-profile divorce matter involving substantial tangible and intangible assets in Georgia, the UK and Switzerland.

Georgia > Real estate and construction (and projects) Tier 1

The team at Gvinadze & Partners LLC has a broad offering in this space, which includes handling construction, real estate litigation, administrative and corporate real estate matters. It has notable expertise in the hospitality and leisure sectors and recently assisted with the construction of a multimillion-dollar residential and commercial complex in Tbilisi. The team, which also has extensive energy and infrastructure expertise, is led by managing partner Nick Gvinadze, who is supported by Zakaria Shvelidze and Sophie Panjikidze.

Practice head(s):

Nick Gvinadze

Other key lawyers:

Zakaria Shvelidze; Sophie Panjikidze

Key clients

SOCAR Midstream Operations

iC consulenten Ziviltechniker GesmbH

aMDL

Infinite Energy LLC

Intercontinental Hotels Group

The Norwegian Embassy in Tbilisi / The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

San Diego State University (SDSU)

AHR Architects

DAR Building

AdvanSys – Technologies & People

Baltvesta/Georgian Retail Centers LLC

Veritas Brown Caucasus LLC (Cushman & Wakefield)

RCI Europe

Dasta Records Management

Emerging Markets Advisory Corporation (EMAC)

EnerMech Limited

Nobel Oil

PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal Middle East LLP / Mitsubishi Electric

Work highlights

  • Advising SOCAR Midstream Operations on legal aspects of their extensive operations in Georgia.
  • Advising the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the set up of the very first Norwegian Embassy in Georgia.
  • Advising RCI Europe on the commercial and legal issues relating to the franchising of a number of resorts on the Black Sea coast of Georgia.

Georgia > Banking and finance Tier 2

Gvinadze & Partners LLC is sought out by international financial institutions to assist with the regulatory and operational aspects of banking and finance transactions. The group also has a track record acting as local counsel to international law firms assisting clients with their activities in Georgia. Nick Gvinadze leads the team, which also includes Sophie Panjikidze, who is noted for her transactional work and wide-ranging expertise.

Practice head(s):

Nick Gvinadze

Other key lawyers:

Sophie Panjikidze; Mariam Metreveli

Key clients

Paysend Group

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

China Development Bank (CDB)

Commerzbank AG

Raiffeisen Bank

MFO Credit Plus Georgia JSC

Quilam Capital

WB21 Pte.

Amundi

MasterCard

Reed Smith / The World Bank

Finstar Financial Group / 4Finance

INOKS Capital SA

Dreymoor Fertilizers Overseas Pte. Ltd.

Baltvesta/Georgian Retail Centers LLC

Work highlights

  • Assisting the Asian Development Bank with a project aiming to improve the quantification of quasi-fiscal activities by state-owned businesses and supporting SOE sector reform.
  • Advising the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on the extension of financing to an existing borrower through a funded risk participation in a senior secured loan.
  • Advised Paysend Group on the compliance of its operations with the applicable laws and regulations in Georgia.

Georgia > Commercial, corporate and M&A Tier 2

Gvinadze & Partners LLC is particularly strong in tax, compliance and regulatory issues and has a strong network of local and international connections. The group provides ongoing assistance to clients including Nestlé and The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and has also represented Asian Development Bank in a landmark transaction in the Georgian market. Nick Gvinadze, who has vast experience in commercial law, heads the department. He is supported by Sophie Panjikidze  whose diverse workload includes involvement in many corporate and commercial transactions.

Practice head(s):

Nick Gvinadze

Other key lawyers:

Testimonials

‘The team has always been very responsive and helpful when approached.’

‘Nick Gvinadze is an excellent communicator, very responsive and always willing to help.’

Key clients

Ellex Valiunas / SOLTERA

Buren Legal

IDS Borjomi

Reed Smith LLP

OTANI Tires

Goodwin Procter LLP

Herzog Fox & Neeman

SPORTRADAR GROUP

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)

Simmons & Simmons LLP

Nestlé

Dasta Records Management

Robert Bosch

The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)

Covington & Burling LLP

NextClinics International GmbH

Work highlights

  • Advising IDS Borjomi on a bonds issuance together with Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.
  • Advising Covington & Burling LLP on Georgian law regulations applicable to medical devices and personal data protection within the healthcare/pharmaceutical sector.
  • in collaboration with Buren Legal, conducted legal due diligence and issued a legal opinion for an IPO by a Chinese technology company.

The firm: Gvinadze & Partners is a leading Georgian business law firm with a long and successful history of serving inward investment in Georgia. In this crucial post-independence period of Georgia’s development, the firm has represented the lion’s share of a truly diverse international clientele, ranging from international NGOs and diplomatic missions to industrial giants, multilateral lending institutions and multi-billion oil and gas consortia. The firm’s experience is equally diverse and all-inclusive, ranging from start up guidance and incorporation of numerous investment vehicles to representation in some of the most noteworthy and complicated projects of the region in the past two decades. Gvinadze & Partners is equally well-known for its dispute resolution expertise, having acted in some of the highest profile disputes in the Georgian courts as well as in international arbitration, and having provided quality support to many cross-border arbitration and litigation matters involving Georgian law, including successful enforcement of a number of foreign arbitral awards in Georgia.

Throughout the firm’s various name changes and reincarnations since the early 1990s, its core value and the key element to its success has been the unparalleled and uncompromised quality of the firm’s legal work. Indeed, ever since the early days of Gvinadze & Partners’ legacy firm GCG Law Office, its law practice has been known as the highest quality legal service provider in Georgia. The firm is proud that in a difficult transitional period it has been at the forefronts of the development of Georgia’s newly born legal profession, and has aspired to the highest standards of professional ethics with the clients and peers alike.

Areas of practice: Gvinadze & Partners prides itself on over two decades of extensive private practice experience in all key areas of business law, such as corporate and M&A, banking and finance, capital markets, energy and infrastructure, real estate and construction, tax and customs, dispute resolution, intellectual property, employment and competition. The firm is led by three partners and is supported by highly experienced counsel and associates.

Perhaps the most telling example of the firm’s profound expertise in virtually every area of business law is its role as lead Georgian legal counsel throughout the planning, negotiation and implementation of all the major oil and gas pipeline projects in transit through Georgia – the Baku-Supsa, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) projects, which have put Georgia firmly on the energy map of Europe and assured its strategic place as the nexus of the modern silk road. The firm’s 15 years of intensive work on these projects of the century has involved the widest possible spectrum of commercial law practice, including drafting, negotiation and implementation of complex intergovernmental and host government agreements, legislative drafting, representation in multi-billion secured syndicated financing, elaboration, documentation and implementation of detailed land acquisition strategies, detailed advice on a myriad of real property, tax and customs, environmental, labour, permitting and contractual matters, and finally successful resolution of hundreds of compensation, environmental and right of way disputes in the Georgian courts.

Nick Gvinadze (managing partner) with nearly a quarter of a century in busy private practice, he has accumulated abundant experience in the whole spectrum of both Georgian and cross-border commercial law, with particular focus on energy, infrastructure, tax and dispute resolution. Nick has advised on a number of key foreign investment projects in Georgia, including major oil and gas transportation projects in the Caspian region, and has acted in a number of higher profile proceedings in the Georgian Courts as well as in international arbitration.

Sophie Panjikidze (partner) having started with the legacy firm Georgian Consulting Group (GCG Law Office) back in 2002, Sophie has been responsible for successful incorporation, reorganization and winding up of many dozens of foreign investment vehicles, and has advised on a number of complex cross-border corporate and finance transactions as well as major privatization matters. With nearly 15 years of extensive private practice experience, Sophie has acquired valuable expertise in corporate, banking and finance, contracts, real estate, labor, insurance, IP and competition law matters, and has also been instrumental in supporting the firm’s extensive litigation practice with important background research and due diligence.

Zakaria Shvelidze (partner) Zakaria’s practice encompasses a wide area of civil and administrative law and dispute resolution, with particular expertise in energy and infrastructure, construction contracts and permitting, land and real estate, tax and labor matters. With nearly a decade at the firm, Zakaria has advised and represented the interests of numerous foreign investors in Georgia. In addition to his broad transactional experience, Zakaria is an experienced dispute resolution lawyer with an impressive track record of successfully completed matters in Georgian courts as well as in numerous administrative proceedings in front of various governmental and municipal agencies of Georgia.

DepartmentNameEmailTelephone
Corporate M&A Nick Gvinadze
Corporate M&A Sophie Panjikidze
Banking and finance Nick Gvinadze
Banking and finance Sophie Panjikidze
Energy and infrastructure Nick Gvinadze
Energy and infrastructure Zakaria Shvelidze
Real estate and construction Nick Gvinadze
Real estate and construction Zakaria Shvelidze
Tax and customs Nick Gvinadze
Tax and customs Zakaria Shvelidze
Dispute resolution Nick Gvinadze
Dispute resolution Zakaria Shvelidze
Privatisations and regulatory compliance Sophie Panjikidze
Privatisations and regulatory compliance Zakaria Shvelidze
Intellectual property Nick Gvinadze
Intellectual property Sophie Panjikidze
Employment Sophie Panjikidze
Employment Zakaria Shvelidze
Antitrust Nick Gvinadze
Antitrust Sophie Panjikidze
Capital markets Nick Gvinadze
Capital markets Sophie Panjikidze
Restructuring and insolvency Nick Gvinadze
Restructuring and insolvency Sophie Panjikidze
Private equity Nick Gvinadze
Private equity Sophie Panjikidze
Number of lawyers : 16
English
French
Georgian
German
Russian
American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Georgia
Georgian-Swiss Business Association
EU-Georgian Business Council (EUGBC)
German Economic Association (DWV)
Chamber of Commerce and Industry France-Georgia