Ukraine has taken several important steps in recent months towards improving the country’s domestic dispute resolution mechanisms. One of those steps was the complete overhaul of the judicial system and the adoption of completely new procedural rules governing domestic litigation.

If one is an example, two is a coincidence, and three is a trend, the three major law firm mergers in Ukraine this past summer demand closer scrutiny.

On July 9, 2018, the CEE Legal Matters website reported the merger of the Avellum and A.G.A. Partners law firms in Ukraine. A month later, the website reported on a second merger, this time between Asters and EPAP, the Ukrainian office of Russia’s Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners. And in September the website reported on yet another merger, between Integrites and Pravochyn. To explore these significant changes in the market, on October 26, 2018, CEE Legal Matters sat down with a collection of prominent Ukrainian lawyers — including several from firms directly involved in the summer’s mergers — at the Kyiv office of DLA Piper.

Currency regulations in Ukraine have always been among the most significant impediments to foreign investments and access of Ukrainian businesses to foreign markets. In 2014, substantial external imbalances, capital flight risks, and panic in the foreign exchange market prompted the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to adopt tight capital controls, a number of which remain in effect. Notwithstanding the alleged soundness of such temporary measures, both foreign investors and Ukrainian businesses have long called for clearer and more predictable currency regulations, as well as safeguards to protect their interests. In July 2018, Ukraine finally adopted the long-awaited “On Currency and Currency Transactions” law (the “Currency Law”) which is intended to replace the archaic currency control legislation. The effectiveness of the new legal framework, however, can only be assessed once the NBU lays out detailed rules in its regulations.

In The Corner Office we ask Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: Who was your mentor, and what was the most important lesson you learned from him or her?

Representatives of more than sixty law firms from across Central and Eastern Europe and from as far away as the United States, United Kingdom, and China came together in Prague on June 6, 2018, for the first ever Dealer’s Choice international law firm conference and CEE Deal of the Year Awards Banquet.

In The Corner Office, we invite Managing Partners at law firms from across the region to share information about their careers, management styles, and strategies. Our question this time: “What mistake do young associates commonly make that is most frustrating for you?”

Ukraine revised transfer pricing rules and introduced new reporting and documentation requirements in 2013. Since then, the rules have been changed every year. And three years after the introduction of the new transfer pricing (TP) rules, we are witnessing an increasing wave of TP audits and the first TP disputes.

On August 17, a gathering of Dispute Resolution experts from many of the leading domestic and international law firms in Ukraine gathered in Baker McKenzie’s Kyiv offices for a Round Table conversation. 

In The Corner Office we invite Managing Partners at law firms across the region to share information about their unique roles. The question this time around: What is your favorite question when interviewing a job applicant, and why?

Combatting corruption has been declared a primary goal in Ukraine following the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. Slowly, but steadily, Ukraine’s reputation as a country with a serious corruption problem is improving.

On Thursday, November 30th, leading legal practitioners from across Central and Eastern Europe gathered in Prague to help CEE Legal Matters celebrate its fourth successful year as the leading chronicle of the legal industry in the region, participating in an expert Round Table conversation about the year just concluded and enjoying an evening of dinner, drinks, and bonhomie. 

In The Corner Office, we invite Senior and Managing Partners at law firms from across the region to share information about their careers, management styles, and strategies. For this issue, we asked them to describe their least favorite part of their jobs. 

Preserving confidentiality is always a top priority for a successful business, especially if you have an advanced R&D department. Taking into account the need to freely transfer information on the one hand and the strict necessity to preserve the safety of personal data and databases on the other, the issue of confidentiality becomes even more important.

The Ukrainian court system saw significant changes in 2016. The first, and probably the most important, was the initiation of judicial reform, which included changes to the Constitution of Ukraine and a truly significant amount of new laws (some of which have already passed through the Parliament, with others still under development). In addition, in 2016, Ukrainian legal community witnessed some unexpected decisions of the Supreme Court of Ukraine affecting the jurisdiction of Ukrainian courts, which contributed to uncertainty in the Ukrainian judiciary.

In The Corner Office, we invite Managing Partners at law firms from across the region to share information about their careers, management styles, and strategies. For this issue, we asked them to describe the first major deal or client matter they generated themselves, and how they did it.