Demolishing Myths
It is obviously a more conventional situation for the Ukrainian legal market when legal players from the capital expand into the regions. However, recent events have brought new challenges for regional law firms, forcing them to weigh up options for staying on board and demolishing myths about the passivity of local heroes. Serhiy Matviyiv, founding partner of Matviyiv & Partners, has his own vision on the situation.
UJBL: How the company started?
Serhiy Matviyiv: We began the company in early 2000. At first, it was a small law firm, Quattro Consulting, which was located in a small building in Lvov. Several young people worked to make their dream come true. The law firm Quattro Consulting grew, evolved, accumulated considerable experience in various practices and, ultimately, it trained many professionals, including civil servants.
Even back then we decided that we needed to provide quality services to our clients to cover all areas of their businesses regardless of the priority and complexity of objectives. In other words, some lawyers, attorneys retreat when they face a problem that seems unrealistic. Instead, we have always believed that there were no desperate situations, and we always could and should find the optimal solution for a client. One just needs to carry out a thorough search. Thus, our clients were certain that they were well secured and they stayed with us for many years since the very beginning as their expectations have been met, and I am sure they will continue to be.
UJBL: Who are your clients?
S. M. : We have been providing legal support to our clients for over a decade. These include mining companies, transport companies, restaurant chains, media, domestic manufacturers in various industries, banks, finance companies, foreign companies, and individuals.
UJBL: What are the key practice areas of your law firm?
S. M. : Our law firm provides efficient legal services in all areas of law. We represent our client’s interests at large and in litigations at the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the Higher Commercial Court of Ukraine, the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine, appellate courts and courts of first instances in all jurisdictions, at the International Court of Commercial Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce of Ukraine and in other foreign arbitrations in different categories of disputes, including disputes arising from contractual obligations, non-contractual, corporate, tax, administrative, land, family disputes, bankruptcy, real estate disputes, and intellectual property cases. We have acquired considerable experience in criminal proceedings as our clients have often faced situations when a simple tax audit was transformed in a criminal case as the tax authority charged a huge tax liability.
UJBL: You currently work in a firm of attorneys at law. What was the reason to change the organization? What is your recipe for successful attorneys at law?
S. M. : From the very beginning we knew that we needed to treat legal services as a business — a high-responsibility business to make a high-quality product. In my opinion, an attorney at law means a certain standard. Attorneys should meet higher requirements and higher expectations. We were always ready for that and meeting the characteristics of the legal profession is a sort of test. I believe that such requirements apply both to the entire company and to each of its practitioners. We have the understanding that everyone who works for the company is an individual expert but also a team player. A positive result in our industry cannot be achieved overnight. There should be a combination of several components, including professionalism, integrity and dedication. We believe that the company should not only attract clients but it also need to make sure that its image does correspond to the work performed. And so it is important to combine professional management, which clearly increases the level of productivity of a team, and the high quality and prompt performance of each participant. The well-balanced synergy of these factors enables not only to come to the office every day and see a particular case, but also to tackle a case with confidence and a good mood. We were able to develop a team of associates, who as individuals always work as a single coherent mechanism. When one has such a team, one is not afraid to set even the highest objectives.
We are a company that supports its clients at all times and helps in all matters that partners may have. In health care, they call it a “family doctor”. Our clients are always sure that in any situation at any time their lawyer is available. This promotes our business and that of our clients. I believe this is a recipe for success when the work is mutually beneficial and enjoyable for both parties to the contract.
UJBL: You recently opened an office in Kiev. What was the reason for this step?
S. M. : In our company, we have chosen the strategy of permanent development combined with preservation of the traditions of the profession. One of the steps in this strategy (we can call it a strategic step) is the need to be closer to our clients in Kiev and all over Ukraine. Therefore, opening an office in Kiev is a planned completion of another stage in the company’s history and the beginning of new changes. Apart from that, in western Ukraine, unfortunately, there is a prevailing negative stereotype that lawyers, who work, for example, in Lvov, Ivano-Frankovsk, Lutsk, etc., are of inferior quality compared to their peers in the capital. I think this is a myth. And we want to demolish it. However, those who think that opening an office in Kiev is some sort of an achievement are wrong. We believe this to be just another and not the ultimate stage in our work. We should not underestimate ourselves, we should expand our geography, and it is nothing more than just enlarging the area where we provide our services. And most importantly, we do this primarily for our clients.
UJBL: What goals do you set yourself? What are your plans for the future?
S. M. : We have been able to develop strong expertise and can provide high quality and long-term services to our clients. However, this is no reason to slow down. I believe that a lawyer, who slows down actually takes a few steps back. The purpose of a legal business, like any other, is to earn profit. I believe that it is not enough to simply solve a particular problem for a client from time to time. We believe our clients are our partners. Therefore, it is evident that a diversely developed, self-made specialist as part of the company is more interesting for clients. As a company, we promote and encourage desire and initiative of our team members to develop. In addition, as Mark Twain once said “the secret of success is to make your vocation your vacation”. However, it is important not to forget about the purpose of advocacy as such. When hunting for clients and revenue, you need to remember about the social aspect of the profession. We have several social projects and we plan to implement them in the future. In addition, our portfolio always has a percentage of pro bono cases. Also, I believe that advocacy should be different. Expectations on the part of society have changed significantly. More often, clients are interested in investing, international cooperation, etc. In view of the competition on the legal services market, law firms cannot afford a purely formal approach to solving the problems of clients. It is necessary to analyze a lot more factors, including geopolitical ones. In other words, we need to keep up with the times and develop constantly.
UJBL: What is your attitude toward the coming promised judicial reform? Do you see changes in the legal profession in our country? What are, in your opinion, the key challenges for advocacy?
S. M. : We desperately need judicial reform. But the judicial reform that is only formally embedded in legislation is not enough. Along with the reform of the judicial system, it is necessary to undertake comprehensive reform of the entire law-enforcement system. And most importantly, if not comprehensive reform, advocacy at least needs improvements through amendments to some laws and regulations. Advocates should have access to registers. Advocates should have more rights for the purpose of defense in criminal proceedings. Now we see some progress in this regard but the measures taken so far are not the maximum program that should be achieved. And the atmosphere in the legal profession only confirms that. We participated in the preparation of the Draft On Amendments to the Act of Ukraine On Advocacy this year. We hope the changes will be implemented. Systematic changes, which would take into account the maximum challenges of the times and society, is what we need in advocacy. The positioning of other civil servants above lawyers is unacceptable and contradicts the fundamental principles of the legal profession. It also significantly harms our clients. After all, nobody cares about a lawyer who is weak compared with the system. Unfortunately, sometimes there are situations that are caused by certain prevailing negative stereotypes. We do not like this.
UJBL: How do you see Ukrainian advocacy in 5 years’ time?
S. M. : I think that in the near future legal aid will be even more in demand than it is now. Ukrainian society is becoming increasingly more educated and competent in legal terms. More often, people have a desire to resolve a particular controversial situation by engaging law experts. The more demanding that society becomes, the greater the level of competition on the market. Therefore, I anticipate that advocacy and jurisprudence will improve a lot in general terms. In this regard I believe we need changes to legislation requiring that the interests of clients should be represented only by lawyers. There are various opinions on this matter. Very often, people say it would create an actual monopoly of the legal profession. However, if I may I would say that a lawyer means a certain recognized and confirmed level. It is confirmed by the certificate that is issued based on the qualification exam and internship. I agree absolutely with my peers that we need training of lawyers and periodic attestations of qualifications. After all, lawyers often provide free legal assistance and there should be certain guarantees of their professionalism. In my opinion, the future of advocacy is based on strict evaluation criteria. However, Ukraine has many worthy and qualified lawyers who already meet such criteria. Therefore, I am sure that everything will be fine.
Matviyiv & Partners
Key facts:
- Year of establishment 2002
- Number of lawyers/partners 11/2
- Core practice areas
- Commercial
- Corporate
- Banking
- Tax