CEELM Round Table: What Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Stronger

On 26 March Partners from 13 leading law firms in Ukraine met in Wolf Theiss’s Kyiv office for a CEE Legal Matters RoundTable on the state of the Ukrainian legal market. Moderated by the CEE Legal Matters Editors, the round table included participants from international and regional firms, CIS firms, and firms operating exclusively in the Ukrainian market.

Participants included:

-       Host: Taras Dumych (Wolf Theiss)

-       Anna Babych (Aequo)

-       Armen Khachaturyan (Asters)

-       Mykola Stetsenko (Avellum)

-       Hennadiy Voytsitskyi (Baker & McKenzie)

-       Olexander Martinenko (CMS)

-       Volodymyr Monastyrskyy (Dentons)

-       Serhii Sviriba (Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners)

-       Bertrand Barrier (Gide Loyrette Nouel)

-       Igor Kalitventsev (KPD Consulting)

-       Maksym Lavrynovych (Lavrynovych & Partners)

-       Peter Teluk (Squire Patton Boggs)

-       Andriy Stelmashchuk (Vasil Kisil & Partners)

The conversation touched upon a number of subjects critical to the Ukrainian legal market, including the market slow-down resulting from the ongoing crisis in Eastern Ukraine and the delayed recovery of the European financial crisis, the challenges of maintaining fee levels despite a devalued currency, and the different financial structures and pressures on the international and domestic firms. Participants shared their perspectives and discussed their experience in a candid and often passionate 90-minute conversation.Taras Dumych, managing partner of Wolf Theiss Kyiv, considered the event a success, commenting: "Our discussion confirmed that among Ukraine's best and largest law firms there is a clear belief that 'what does not kill us makes us stronger.' We have all faced the facts of the times and have refined our practices to meet head on the current challenges. Perhaps even more importantly, though, we are all also being more innovative than ever for the benefit of our clients and are actively leading efforts to influence and reform the legal and business environment. These efforts will no doubt make for a better future in Ukraine no matter what.”

The publication was reprinted with the permission of CEELM. For original publication, please follow:http://ceelegalmatters.com/index.php/over-the-wire/item/2237-ceelm-kyiv-round-table-what-does-not-kill-us-makes-us-stronger