Greece and Israel dominate the Southern Europe section of the Euro Elite – and both are jurisdictions where domestic, independent firms enjoy a near-monopoly. In Greece, for example, Athens-based firms seemingly lead the legal market. Despite the continuous detrimental economic consequences arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, lawyers have remained significantly active in the past year due to the high demand of legal services across an array of markets; one of those being projects and privatisations.
Demanding the most attention in Greece is the €8bn Hellinikon Project, set to be the largest urban regeneration project in Europe, with the development replacing the former Hellenikon International Airport. There has been a continuous focus upon the construction, operation and execution of the project, with legal advice coming from an array of firms, including Dryllerakis, Karatzas & Partners, Koutalidis and PotamitisVekris. It is estimated to contribute 2.4% to Greece’s GDP once completed, aiding the significant decline of 9% as seen in 2020. Employment is also set to see an improvement, with 10,000 jobs already filled and 70,000 to follow, facilitating the opening of restaurants, hotels and shopping malls.
The energy sector is also thriving in Greece. Domestic petroleum refiner, Motor Oil Hellas, acquired a portfolio of 12 wind parks with a total capacity of 240MW. The €123.5m transaction, overseen by Bernitsas Law, is the largest energy deal to have taken place in Greece during the pandemic. In spite of the detrimental effects inflicted by the pandemic, lawyers in Greece remain optimistic and believe that the demand for legal services is set to benefit the overall vitality of its economy.
Neighbouring Israel fared better than most in the early stages of the pandemic, and this continued through 2021. GDP grew by 7% across the year, trumping the global average of 5.9%, largely due to the country’s ever-prosperous hi-tech and startup market.
‘When the outbreak of Covid-19 first started, there was a pause and a deep intake of breath for a few months and then, suddenly, since the last few months of 2020, everything was let out and has continued during the entirety of 2021,’ explains Clifford Davis, co-chair of the corporate group at S. Horowitz & Co. ‘I’ve not seen such a strong deal flow or such a high volume of transactions, particularly in terms of hi-tech investments and exits. It’s been somewhat unprecedented.’
Evidence of such buoyancy can be seen in the record number of Israeli companies that have conducted IPOs on the major international markets. Mobile software company ironSource was the pick of the bunch, listing on Wall Street at an $11.1bn valuation following a SPAC merger, but there are numerous other examples including monday.com, which raised over $700m on Nasdaq in June. Both companies were represented by Meitar Law Offices, though the highly-competitive start-up space brought success for many of the leading firms; Goldfarb Seligman (which represented the SPAC in the ironSource IPO), Herzog Fox & Neeman, Gornitzky & Co and Gross & Co all assisted with multiple overseas IPO projects.
Beyond the tech space, some areas of the market took an opportunistic approach to Covid restrictions and prospered as a result. ‘Infrastructure and energy moved even faster during the lockdowns,’ notes Tal Band, IP lead at S. Horowitz. ‘With the approval of the government, they took advantage of the fact that cars were not on the roads to get things done more quickly. So these areas went full steam ahead in 2020 and that continued in 2021.’
The level of activity in the market is such that recruitment is more competitive than ever, as firms across the board look to meet additional demand. Almost all firms included in the Euro Elite bolstered their partner ranks through lateral hires or internal promotions, with the corporate and tech departments being the most popular areas of development.
Going forward it would appear that capturing the most promising talent is going to be the biggest challenge for Euro Elite firms in the region, and the main constraint with regards to building out departments. Competition is not just coming from other law firms either, as Davis explains: ‘Increasingly we are seeing associates leave firms, not to go to other law firms, but to go into the hi-tech sector. We see that sector as being a big competitor from a recruitment perspective; they have a shortage of manpower and lots of money to throw at the problem.’ LB
| Rank (by L500 ranking) | Firm | Region | Total lawyers | Total partners | Promotions | Offices | Partner hires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Meitar Law Offices | Southern Europe | 447 | 139 | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| 36 | Fischer (FBC & Co) | Southern Europe | 280 | 85 | 7 | 1 | 16 |
| 47 | Herzog Fox & Neeman | Southern Europe | 400 | 150 | 15 | 3 | 1 |
| 49 | Goldfarb Seligman | Southern Europe | 300 | 100 | 12 | 2 | 3 |
| 50 | Gornitzky & Co | Southern Europe | 225 | 67 | 1 | ||
| 61 | PotamitisVekris | Southern Europe | 74 | 11 | 1 | 1 | |
| 62 | Bernitsas Law | Southern Europe | 50 | 11 | 1 | ||
| 64 | Yigal Arnon & Co | Southern Europe | 213 | 86 | 2 | ||
| 65 | S. Horowitz & Co | Southern Europe | 200 | 70 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 66 | Karatzas & Partners | Southern Europe | 59 | 9 | 1 | ||
| 76 | Koutalidis | Southern Europe | 56 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 85 | M. Firon & Co | Southern Europe | 274 | 101 | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| 87 | Lambadarios | Southern Europe | 50 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 88 | Dryllerakis & Associates | Southern Europe | 31 | 11 | 2 | 1 | |
| 91 | Naschitz Brandes Amir | Southern Europe | 215 | 73 | 4 | 2 | |
| 93 | Agmon & Co. Rosenberg Hacohen & Co. | Southern Europe | 136 | 52 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| 95 | Gross & Co | Southern Europe | 190 | 70 | 1 |