Sayenko Kharenko is reporting that it is in negotiations with Ukrainian lawyer Yevgeniy Solodko about potentially joining SK and merging his team with SK’s criminal law practice. ”The most critical point in the negotiation process is verifying the absence of any conflicts of interest and [conducting] thorough KYC checks of each client,” SK stated.
SK Partner Nazar Chernyavsky comments: “Over the last few years, we have managed to build a fully-fledged white collar crime practice out of our existing anti-corruption compliance practice. The arrival of Mr. Solodko, who is deemed one of the top experts in this area in Ukraine, at this point would add significant value to SK’s offering, both to local and foreign clients through providing more complex and practical solutions.”
Partner Sergiy Smirnov adds: “We expect soaring demand for sophisticated legal support in the field of white collar crime defense, including from local clients, due to the emergence of new law enforcement agencies in Ukraine and reform of the judicial system. This is why it seems to be the perfect moment for the leading team of criminal defense attorneys led by Mr. Solodko to join SK.”
Yevgeniy Solodko reports that, “being a part of a large law firm definitely provides more opportunities and support for our team, which will raise the level of services even higher and make it possible to provide clients with the international standards offered by SK. We all very much look forward to the next stage of our professional growth.”
Last year Vladimir Sayenko participated in a roundtable discussion on the matter of mergers in the Ukrainian market (as previously reported by CEELM on January 18, 2019). Sayenko then stated that mergers are “a sign that the current market place is becoming more mature,” but added that SK would not consider a merger “unless there is no other way to acquire a particular expertise.”
