Senior Partner Uros Popovic discusses latest trends in a challenging market

What do you see as the main points that differentiate D2P Law from your competitors?

Our main strengths are definitely our people. We promote from within and are very proud of the number of junior associates that have grown into senior associates and even partners within the firm. We have always differentiated our work environment from comparable law firms by making sure to treat our team fairly with a special focus on work-life balance. This has been a tremendous factor in maintaining loyalty and long term cooperation which our clients have especially grown to appreciate (e.g. working with the same lawyer for 7+ years).

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

Serbia has been experiencing a large inflow of Russian and Ukrainian citizens relocating here in the past several years. This has resulted in the relocation of significant commercial endeavors, sometimes involving thousands of employees. A lot of our firm’s work during this period was related to these brown and greenfield investments, with a heavy focus on employment matters (besides the usual corporate, commercial, contractual, and compliancy matters). We believe that this trend will continue for the next 12 months as well. We are also seeing a slight increase in transactional work and hope this will pick up even more in the near future.

What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients?

Our firm is constantly evolving in order to be able to adequately respond to the emerging trends. For example, we have formed an ESG department with a Partner, a Senior Associate, and an Associate who are constantly attending and organizing ESG events, as well as hosting workshops on CBAM and Omnibus regulations which are increasingly becoming more relevant in Serbia.

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

I would have to say that we have not yet felt a significant shift in client interaction due to technology as the prevailing use is still related to traditional e-mail, virtual data rooms, and so on. However, we are staying on top of issues introduced by the emergence of AI, especially from the legislative perspective.

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

We like to consider our firm as not purely a law firm but a business partner for our 300+ active clients. Some of them like e.g. adidas, Samsung, and Disney we have been serving for over 10 years. In such situations one becomes so familiar with the client’s business model and commercial needs, that we are often involved in restructuring their model of doing business even from a commercial perspective. These and numerous other clients therefore often see us as partners rather than providers of solely legal services and we believe that such trust is an excellent indication of the value we bring to their overall business strategy in the country.

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

Yes, please see the answer under 5) above. As for our firm in three years' time, assuming that the previous 13 years are a good indicator, I believe that we will grow both in terms of clients and team members by about 30 to 50%. As mentioned above, we will continue to grow our ESG practice and follow closely the emerging trends in AI both in practical and legislative terms.