Dr Vera Naegeli and Marie-Cristine Kaptan discuss the evolving ESG legal field in Switzerland and how companies can abide by the new regulations.
Sponsored briefing: ESG in Switzerland
Sponsored briefing: ESG in Germany
Drs Friedrich Gebert, Andrea Panzer-Heemeier and Mirjam Boche give an overview of ESG requirements in the German market
Sponsored briefing: ESG laws in Hungary
BSLAW’s managing partner Robert Szuchy gives insight into navigating the ESG system in place in Hungary
Sponsored briefing: Overview of the Egyptian legal market
Badran Law Office’s Aly Hussein and Ali Kheidr on the key legal issues affecting companies intending to do business in Egypt
WHAT ARE THE EFFORTS MADE BY THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT TO IMPROVE THE INVESTMENT CLIMATE IN EGYPT?
Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Overview of the Egyptian legal market”
Sponsored briefing: Oman: promoting business through the lens of development
The Sultanate of Oman is proudly recognised as a nation founded on political stability with exceptional prospects for economic growth. Much like the rest of the gulf region, Oman and its business sector is far more than simply ‘developing’ and has been dedicated to the diversification of its economy away from oil production. Oman has undertaken a complete renovation of its laws, regulations and policies relative to commercial activity in the aim of creating a more accessible and fluid environment for economic development and foreign investment. Particularly within the last five years, the nation has welcomed a number of legal amendments that aim to uplift the nation’s growing economy, facilitating the introduction of new industries and opportunities. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Oman: promoting business through the lens of development”
Sponsored briefing: Yemeni employment law overview
Abdulla Luqman and Firas Tarbosh explore employment legislation, contracts, disputes and malpractice in Yemen Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Yemeni employment law overview”
Greece focus: Lap of the gods
Greece remains buoyant, despite the global pressures affecting jurisdictions worldwide. Major transnational corporations and huge global players are beginning to adjust their investment strategies and are viewing Greece as a major opportunity for inbound investment. Panagiotis Drakopoulos, managing partner of Drakopoulos Law, remarks: ‘It has been somewhat surprising that a lot of foreign investors (particularly non-EU) see Greece as a gateway not only to just the region, but to Europe itself.’
The country is strategically located geographically, economically, and politically, and is highly attractive to growing numbers of investors that view Greece as a potential hub for their operations. Drakopoulos attributes the shift in part to political factors, noting that ‘the current political climate is very friendly to foreign investment; Greece is in a growth mode.’ Elected in 2019, the Mitsotakis government is self-proclaimed to be avowedly pro-investment and has passed key investment legislation. Continue reading “Greece focus: Lap of the gods”
Sponsored briefing: Doing business in Greece
Theodore Pistiolis, managing partner of Andersen Legal in Greece, examines the benefits of doing business in the Greek market
A sea of opportunities
During the last years and despite adversities, Greece became an investment destination for local and foreign capitals. The perception of Greece as an investment destination is strong, and the country built trust and optimism about its prospects. Greece’s economy recorded solid growth in the first half of 2022, but rising inflation took its toll on growth in the year’s second half. However, the RRF program (Recover and Resilience Facility loans) supported the economy. Government measures cushioned the impact of energy prices on businesses’ input costs and households’ real disposable incomes. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Doing business in Greece”
Sponsored briefing: Outlook for the Greek legal market
Dimitris Zepos, managing partner of Zepos & Yannopoulos, on what the future holds for the legal market in Greece
The Greek legal market has traditionally been highly fragmented and therefore shallow, with freelance lawyers and small family-owned offices making up the lion’s share of the market. To be fair, small-scale business models have not been a particularity of the Greek legal market, but rather a replicate of the average Greek entrepreneurial model. According to the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, 96% of SMEs employ up to nine people and this includes companies without any employees or with just one.
According to data published by the Greek Authority of Public Revenue, the number of individual lawyers has remained steady since 2019, amounting to approximately 35,000 (34,672 for 2021). According to the same data, the total turnover of legal services in Greece amounted to €940M in 2019, out of which, approximately €470M was generated by individual lawyers. This means that 35,000 individual lawyers generated approximately 50% of the sector’s total turnover in 2019. To put things in perspective this amount is equivalent to the annual turnover of one single international law firm, Bird & Bird, which in 2019 was ranked 100th in the world, based on turnover.
The figures in question have started shifting, indicating that the legal market is moving slowly, yet steadily, towards a more mature way of doing business. In 2021, the number of law firms increased to 1,060, compared to 907, back in 2019. The total turnover of legal services reached €1.4bn, growing by 60% compared to 2019. Out of that figure, approximately €940m of turnover has been generated by law firms, whereas the performance of individual lawyers has remained in the range of €500m. In other words, growth in the sector has been fuelled by the increasing number of law firms and their growth.
Fragmentation of the legal market is also evident when one looks at figures concerning headcount. The ten-largest law firms in Greece, based on headcount, employ approximately 600 lawyers in total, out of the approximately 38,000 active lawyers in the country.
At Zepos & Yannopoulos we have always believed that strength derives from teaming up. With a total team of 118 lawyers, 14 economists and 82 other professionals, we are proud to be within the top 3% of employers in Greece. Consolidating practices and people allows us to adapt to the pace of a constantly changing world, to foster legal talent and encourage innovative thinking, all to the benefit of our clients, our people and the community as a whole.
The legal profession in itself is changing. Firms are called upon to cater to a wide and complex range of comprehensive needs. The question is no longer whether the Greek legal market should change to adjust to this new era, but instead how fast it can do so.
For more information, please contact:
Dimitris Zepos,
Managing partner
Zepos & Yannopoulos
280 Kifissias Ave. 152 32 Halandri Athens, Greece
T: (+30) 210 69 67 000
Sponsored briefing: Greece: M&A outlook and FDI attractiveness from a legal and regulatory point of view
Early 2023 held a sweet spot for cross-border M&A activity in Greece, unmuting all those opportunities that had joined a waitlist during the Covid-19 pandemic and have been looking for the right time to be deployed and lead into new business models and scaling deal-making strategies.
In fact, the current market status suggests that deal-makers rebound with a strong intention to radically shift the transactional landscape by throwing into the mix highly sophisticated implementation plans and solid completion strategies, opening up to new industry sectors and playing up to transformational deals that will most definitely impact their core operations and medium-term strategic goals. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Greece: M&A outlook and FDI attractiveness from a legal and regulatory point of view”