Karamanolis & Karamanolis LLC > Nicosia, Cyprus > Firm Profile

Karamanolis & Karamanolis LLC > Firm Profile

Karamanolis & Karamanolis LLC is a boutique firm specialized in commercial and corporate litigation and arbitration.

The founders of the firm are experienced and passionate professionals who have been at the forefront of many significant commercial cases of the past years.

We have significant experience in a wide range of contentious matters such as, commercial fraud and cross border asset recovery, management and corporate control disputes, derivative claims, breach of fiduciary duties, M&A litigation, trust disputes, winding-up applications, enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards, breach of contract, product liability, construction disputes and employment law claims.

Our practice also covers unlawful termination of distribution franchise and licensing agreements and contentious aspects of intellectual property law.

The firm regularly represents clients in multijurisdictional cases which require the issuance of interim freezing injunctions, disclosure and search orders.

Unlike most firms in Cyprus, Karamanolis & Karamanolis LLC only takes on a very limited number of cases, for which we are confident our expertise will add significant value.

Our strict specialization policy allows our directors to have substantial and continuous involvement in all projects. This approach guarantees the delivery of outstanding, partner-level advice which is practical, pragmatic and has a business sense for every client and in every single case of our firm.

We keep an open line of communication with our clients and make sure that they are always involved in the decision-making process regarding their case.

We don’t fear to admit that we take our clients’ problems personally and go to great lengths to assist them, at the same time, we keep an open line of communication with them and make sure that they are always involved and updated.

Although we have acquired a reputation for being resourceful and relentless in Court, we remain every bit as creative and determined in seeking opportunities for mutually beneficial and practical solutions to pending disputes.

In terms of pricing, we are committed to provide transparent fee structures with timely invoicing of any services rendered and expenditure incurred. Even in the most complex international commercial disputes, our aim is to provide the best quality of advice and advocacy with the least possible lawyer hours charged, and thus creating more value for our clients.

Areas of practice
Corporate and commercial litigation – arbitration: We have significant experience and expertise in domestic and cross-border dispute resolution, both through litigation and arbitral proceedings before the LCIA, the ICC, the SCC, the ICDR, the SICAC, and the CEDRAC.

Our litigation and arbitration practice combines deep industry knowledge with years of experience in commercial and corporate disputes which include:

• Commercial fraud and cross-border asset recovery
• Financial and regulatory disputes arising from the banker-customer relationship;
• Breach of directors’ and fiduciary duties claims;
• Shareholders’ disputes;
• Winding-up applications;
• M&A litigation;
• Applications for the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards;
• Intellectual property and technology disputes

In order to safeguard our clients’ interests, we also support them in obtaining interim relief such as, freezing injunctions, disclosure injunctions, garnishee proceedings and search orders.

Banking and finance: Our expertise includes the representation of clients in complex litigation cases involving complicated multi-jurisdictional corporate structures, legal entities under liquidation or administration, cross-border and domestic asset tracing and recovery, fraudulent transactions and enforcement of share pledges and other securities. Our banking litigation practice also covers general domestic debt recovery, cross-border recovery and all disputes arising from the banker-customer relationship.

Competition law: Our broad experience in commercial matters and disputes includes the provision of high quality, proactive and practical advice in relation to competition law matters.

Our services include:

• Reviewing and drafting of our clients’ commercial agreements ( ie distribution, franchising, agency agreements) and practices in compliance with competition laws;
• Handling intra-company complaints for anti-competitive behaviour;
• Advice and support in relation to the drafting and filing of notifications on proposed concentrations with the Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition;
• Advice and support to clients with strong market position on the application of the abuse of dominance provisions to their commercial behaviour;
• Advising on public procurement and state-aid matters and representing clients before the administrative court and the Tenders Review Authority of Cyprus; and
• Representation of our clients before the Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition and the Supreme Court of Cyprus in the context of private actions and litigation based on competition law.

Data protection and privacy law: Our firm advises and represents clients in disputes relating to all aspects of data protection and privacy including:

• Duties and liabilities of data processors;
• data protection policies and other related documentation;
• international transfers of personal data;
• Security breaches and complaints;
• data protection issues in the context of internal investigations;
• data protection issues in the context of intellectual property, corporate transactions and restructurings;
• data protection issues arising in the context of banker-customer and employer-employee relationships.

Employment and immigration law: Our team has a deep-rooted understanding of employment law and we regularly advise both individuals and the Human Resource departments of domestic and multinational companies on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment matters which include:

• all employment aspects in commercial transactions;
• negotiation and drafting of employment and severance documents;
• information and consultation requirements;
• disciplinary and grievance procedures;
• employment data protection issues;
• employment aspects of company restructuring;
• transfer of undertakings;
• Redundancies;
• provident and pension funds issues;
• equality and diversity issues;
• voluntary severance schemes;
• Discrimination and equal pay claims and
• Data protection disputes.
• We also have significant experience in the drafting and enforcement of restrictive covenants, confidentiality agreements as well as compromise and release agreements and employer’s manuals and policies.

We represent both employers and employees before the Industrial Disputes Tribunal the District Courts of Cyprus and the Supreme Court of Cyprus, in connection to unfair and wrongful dismissal disputes, constructive dismissal disputes, mass redundancies, TUPE disputes and any claims connected with post-termination restrictions and with Employees’ Duty of Fidelity and Confidentiality.

Information and technology: Our litigation team has significant experience in handling and representing clients in both domestic and cross-border information and technology related disputes before the courts, as well as before arbitral tribunals.

Our firm consists of very tech-savvy individuals with a particular interest in information and technology companies and we understand their needs and the challenges they are facing.

We also provide specialised advice to entrepreneurs, investors and innovative companies in the following fields:

• Drafting and review of commercial agreements;
• Intellectual property protection and enforcement;
• Competition law compliance and enforcement;
• Consumer law compliance;
• Data protection and privacy matters;
• Employment, Human Resources and immigration;
• Gambling regulation compliance;
• Securing trade secrets and confidential information;
• Tax and financing implications in the information and technology sector

Insurance law: Our firm has significant experience in all aspects of insurance law.

We regularly advise clients on issues of professional liability, directors’ and officers’ claims, construction and product liability and our lawyers have significant experience in all forms of dispute resolution in these areas.

We provide practical guidance with respect to both domestic and international regulation of insurance companies. We have advised and represented insurers, reinsurers and brokers before the courts of Cyprus and the competent regulatory authorities.

Our deep understanding of the local market and legal framework enables us to provide support with policy wording and contract review.

Intellectual property law: In the litigation field, we regularly assist our clients with trademark and brand protection, copyright infringements, contentious registry proceedings, passing off proceedings and any type of enforcement of security interests of IP assets.

We understand our clients’ business and have significant experience in intellectual property related transactions – these include licensing and assignment agreements, distribution and agency agreements, franchising deals and research & development agreements.

Public and administrative law: Our firm regularly advises clients in their dealings with government and public sector bodies. We provide strategic advice with regard to the interaction with public authorities and we are often appointed to challenge administrative decisions.

We have significant experience in representing clients before a wide spectrum of government and quasi-government bodies, regulatory agencies and regulatory and professional bodies, including the Commissioner of Taxes, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission,  the  Tenders Review Authority, the Commission for Exclusion of Economic Operators from Public Tenders, the Disciplinary Board of the Public Service Commission, the Disciplinary board of the Education Service Commission and the Disciplinary board of the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber.

In addition, our litigation team regularly represents clients before the Administrative Courts of Cyprus, both at first instance and on Appeal.

Our particular expertise in the field of public procurement law allows us to provide very practical and precise guidance to economic operators who wish to participate in public tenders on the very extensive requirements for participation in the tender procedure and the preparation of the tender documents for submission before the authorities.

Real estate and construction law: Our practice and expertise include the representation of clients in disputes and litigation related to the acquisition and disposal of all interests in real estate, real estate financing, every aspect of property investment and development including construction and taxation issues, landlord and tenant issues, business leases and secured lending.

Restructuring and insolvency law: We regularly represent and work closely with companies in financial difficulty, insolvency practitioners, examiners, receivers, creditors, private equity firms, hedge funds and banking institutions.

We advise on all stages and aspects of financial distress and we collaborate with financial consultants, accountants and other professional advisers and experts to ensure the provision of strategic, practical and effective solutions that can really work.

Our litigation team has vast experience in handling all aspects relating to winding up applications before the courts, including interim injunction and provisional liquidator applications.

Taxation law: Our firm members have vast tax litigation and dispute resolution experience. We regularly advise and represent clients in tax investigations and disputes from initial queries before the Tax Commissioner to tax litigation before the Administrative Court and the Supreme Court of Cyprus.

Trusts, wills and succession: Our clients benefit from our extensive litigation experience in disputes involving trust structures, as well as contested inheritance and probate claims.

Lawyer Profiles

Photo	Name	Position	Profile
	Mr Yiannis Karamanolis	Managing Director	View Profile
	Mr Andreas Karamanolis	Director	View Profile

Interviews

Yiannis Karamanolis, Managing Director

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Karamanolis & Karamanolis LLC from your competitors?

The main point that differentiates our firm is the level of experience and service.

As a boutique firm, we focus on commercial and corporate litigation. This allows us to provide exceptional legal advice in an efficient manner. At the same time, it allows us to attract top legal talent on this area of law.

With a smaller and focused client list, we can provide individualized service. Our firm’s partners are always accessible and have a hands-on approach on every case and issue our clients face, no matter how minor it may appear at first glance.

We strictly apply a same day initial response on every query by our clients and treat all requests with a sense of urgency.

Our firm’s size and lean organizational structure allow us to add value to our clients without wasting resources.

We make transparent and creative fee arrangements, and we ensure accurate budgeting and reporting for each phase of the provided services.

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

We expect that there will be significant increase in demand for legal services in the fields of Corporate Litigation, Insolvency & Restructuring, Intellectual Property, Banking and Finance, and Employment law. Furthermore, we expect that the Information and Technology sector, a field in which our firm has extensive experience and expertise, will continue to rapidly grow despite the pandemic.

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

Direct and personal contact with our clients has always been a priority to us. For this reason, we have invested in new technologies and have trained our personnel to use all available media to provide services to our clients remotely but at the same, efficiently. While remaining easily accessible, we have applied the latest security measures and policies to ensure that our clients’ data are safe and remain confidential.

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

Technology has significantly changed the nature of our work.

We now have access to additional online legal search databases from Cyprus, Greece and the UK, which has made legal research faster and easier than it used to be in the past. This has allowed us to be more efficient and has shortened our response time to complicated queries and requests from our clients.

The ease of access to cases and materials of other common law jurisdictions is especially useful for lawyers in Cyprus since it allows us to remain at the cutting edge of legal practice and provide creative solutions to our clients.

Furthermore, new technologies have helped us to strengthen our bonds with our clients, since we are now able to communicate with them 24 hours a day, and even share the same screen, from any location. We arrange video calls with clients and colleagues to discuss cases and provide feedback live, through Zoom, Microsoft Teams Cisco Webex.

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

Our firm always seeks to provide advice which is legally sound but also makes commercial sense for the client’s business and goals.

We have very recently advised on the dispute resolution issues of a major transaction and the enforceability of several terms included in the relevant shareholders’ agreements. The negotiation had reached a dead-end, since the other party insisted on the inclusion of a term that was completely unacceptable by our clients. The terms of the agreement had previously been discussed between the parties with the legal framework of another common law jurisdiction in mind. However, we advised the client that this term should not be a deal breaker since, under Cyprus law (as opposed to other common law jurisdictions that were taken into consideration previously), the term which constituted the main impediment to a final agreement between the parties, would be most probably declared as illegal and unenforceable by the Cypriot Courts.

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

Clients will always seek advice, which is not only legally accurate, but which is also practical. In addition, clients will always require stability, efficiency, loyalty, personal attention, and attention to detail. For these reasons, we expect that more businesses and individuals will turn to boutique law firms led my highly experienced professionals, which offer specialised, personalised, and cost-effective services to a smaller client base.

Within the next three years we expect to continue our rapid growth and significantly increase our market share in the legal services industry of Cyprus.

Spotlights

CYPRUS

Karamanolis & Karamanolis LLC is a boutique firm specialized in Commercial and Corporate Litigation and Arbitration.

The founders of the firm are experienced and passionate professionals who have been at the forefront of many significant commercial cases of the past years.

We have significant experience in a wide range of contentious matters such as, commercial fraud and cross border asset recovery, management and corporate control disputes, derivative claims, breach of fiduciary duties, M&A litigation, Trust disputes, winding-up applications, enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards, breach of contract, product liability, construction disputes and employment law claims.

Our practice also covers unlawful termination of distribution franchise and licensing agreements and contentious aspects of intellectual property law.

The firm regularly represents clients in multijurisdictional cases which require the issuance of interim freezing injunctions, disclosure and search orders.

Unlike most firms in Cyprus, Karamanolis & Karamanolis LLC only takes on a very limited number of cases, for which we are confident our expertise will add significant value.

Our strict specialization policy allows our directors to have substantial and continuous involvement in all projects. This approach guarantees delivery of outstanding, partner-level advice which is practical, pragmatic and has business sense for every client and in every single case of our firm.

We keep an open line of communication with our clients and make sure that they are always involved in the decision-making process regarding their case.

We don’t fear to admit that we take our clients’ problems personally and go to great lengths to assist them, at the same time, we keep an open line of communication with them and make sure that they are always involved and updated.

Although we have acquired a reputation for being resourceful and relentless in Court, we remain every bit as creative and determined in seeking opportunities for mutually beneficial and practical solutions to pending disputes.

In terms of pricing, we are committed to provide transparent fee structures with timely invoicing of any services rendered and expenditure incurred. Even in the most complex international commercial disputes, our aim is to provide the best quality of advice and advocacy with the least possible lawyer hours charged, and thus creating more value for our clients.