Following a months-long parliamentary deadlock, what changes are you anticipating to see following the election of Kiril Petkov?
Bulgarian people expect to see zero tolerance towards corruption, judicial reforms, innovations, attraction of foreign investors and successful Bulgarians who live abroad to come back, and, in general, modern ruling of the country.
As one of the leading domestic law firms in Bulgaria, what are the differentiating factors between the well-established local players and international law firms? How are you developing and maintaining your relationships with the international firms?
We are happy to have local and international competition. The leading domestic firms are well established, with experienced lawyers, strong local knowledge, and good network of contacts. Since we have international elements in almost all of our cases, we work with international firms as good partners on a daily basis.
Will law firms in Bulgaria continue to embrace the changes to working patterns, initially impacted by Covid-19, such as remote working? In what instances will firms go back to the ‘normal’ methods of working, such as face-to-face meetings?
We see in Bulgaria most of the changes one may face in the “global village”-like hybrid regime of work, Big Resignation, and other specifics of the “new normal”. We have already started face-to-face meetings and a process of returning to the office, however with more flexibility and sensitivity. The personality of the lawyers as human beings and their needs are more in the focus of the law firms. At the same time, the new cost effective and efficient ways of tech communication will continue to be part of our professional and personal life.
Which areas of the Bulgarian market are most influenced by foreign investment?
Basically, these are the industries requiring substantial financing and specific knowledge, such as banking, mining, energy, retail, consumer products, and others. There, we see valuable know-how, modern ways of organisation. Sometimes there is good local competition in these sectors and a process of mutual learning.
What are the biggest challenges facing the Bulgaria legal market in the next 12 months?
Big Resignation and war for good people, more legal tech and rethinking of law firms’ business model. The severe energy and economic crises, including high inflation, and the consequences from the war in Ukraine will heavily impact not only the economy and social life, but also the legal market.
Do you consider sustainability credentials important to your firm’s business?
Yes, but not because it is a modern topic. Sustainability has always been very important to us.
Have ESG considerations prompted you to re-evaluate the service you provide?
We always keep them in mind for ourselves and for our clients. Wherever there is an opportunity, we try to improve our services and our contribution to the society.
Where do you feel your clients need the most legal support in the next 12 months?
Employment, migration, energy, ITC.
What sets your firm apart from competitors?
Our attitude of no compromise with the moral, focus on our people who are carefully selected and developed, innovative thinking, quality based on international standards and hard work. And, of course, our broad spectrum of local and international contacts and knowledge.
Are there specific practice areas you see as particularly thriving, which you intend to bolster in coming years? Are there any new areas of practice that have emerged recently?
Everything related to technology and energy. We are developing close cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe in these and other practice areas, such as transport, retail and consumer goods, pharma.
How active are members of your team in terms of thought leadership?
We work to intensify this process because we want our people to be even more active.
What are your firm’s policies on diversity and inclusion? Does your firm have any specific diversity initiatives?
We have never made any difference among our people in terms of gender, age, sexual orientation, belief, etc. For us, all the people are equal human beings and professionals. We value the differences, we understand their importance and we use them to the extent they exist.
What does innovation mean to you? Can you tell us about any specific innovation initiatives at your firm?
This is the way of thinking and working. We try on a daily basis to have new, out-of-the-box initiatives and to implement them – directly in our work, as well as through various events and organisations, with or without other partners. Our initiatives are numerous, some of them are held for already more than 20 years, like the Balkan Legal
Forum that we organise on behalf of the IBA as the premier legal event in the region, our Academy for Partners, where for the last 4 years we have been providing free educational series to our clients and colleagues on a bi-weekly basis, introduction of new Legal Tech, collaboration with consultants from other sectors, etc.
What technological changes have you implemented at your firm to improve the legal services you provide to your clients?
The Legal Tech should serve our people and clients. We need it for better efficiency, higher speed, improved quality and, of course, to secure cyber security comfort. We have a sophisticated ERP system in place for the past 9 years, we are completely cloud-based and we constantly introduce new products (at documents management level, CRM, etc.) that could improve our services and our clients’ satisfaction.