On June 20, 2017 Russia’s leading business publication Kommersant published the results of the annual international ranking Best Lawyers 2017. According to the guide, EPAM is the leader among Russian law firms by the number of lawyers recommended for various practice areas. EPAM also became the only Russian law firm among the top-10 law firms by the number of lawyers recommended. Ilya Nikiforov, the Firm’s managing partner, has been recommended more than any other lawyer: 13 times for various areas of his expertise. In addition, the member of the Partners' Committee Dimitry Afanasiev gained personal recommendations in 6 categories, including litigation, antitrust and corporate law, international arbitration, investment, mergers and acquisitions.
This year, Best Lawyers recommends 41 lawyers of EPAM, both in Moscow and St Petersburg; this is the best result among Russian law firms. All in all, the Firm’s lawyers have won 102 recommendations for various practice areas, making the firm an absolute leader among the national market players. In addition, three of the Firm’s lawyers have been named Lawyer of the Year for Bankruptcy and Reorganization (Partner Sergey Kovalev), Investment (Senior Associate Sergey Strembelev) and Aviation (Partner Andrey Porfiriev). In addition, the Firm was twice awarded the Law Firm of the Year in its key practice areas – Competition and Dispute Resolution.
In Antitrust law, where EPAM has been awarded as the best legal advisor of the year, Best Lawyers recommends 9 of the Firm’s lawyers: Head of Practice Natalia Korosteleva, Partner Anna Numerova, Counsels Evgeny Bolshakov, Maria Kobanenko and Elena Agaeva, as well as Senior Associate Alexey Rodionov.
The Firm’s lawyers gained 24 recommendations for International Arbitration, Arbitration and Mediation, and Litigation. The directory ranks Partners Evgeny Raschevsky, Dmitry Dyakin and Dmitry Stepanov. Counsel Ilya Tur has been recommended in International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution. Managing partner Ilya Nikiforov, this year’s leader by the number of recommendations, has been recommended for the three above categories. The directory also recommends partners Sergey Kovalev (for Arbitration and Mediation), Robin Wittering (for International Arbitration), Denis Arkhipov, Valery Eremenko and the St Petersburg office Managing Partner Ivan Smirnov (for Litigation). Senior Associates Alexey Rodionov and Alexey Ryzhkin, as well as Counsel Igor Serebryakov have also been highly recommended for Litigation.
5 lawyers of the Firm have been recommended for Bankruptcy and Reorganization, including Partners Sergey Kovalev, Arkady Krasnikhin and Ivan Smirnov, Counsels Ilya Tur and Vladimir Pestrikov. Sergey Kovalev has also been awarded the Lawyer of the Year in this category.
For Corporate law and M&A, Best Lawyers has recommended partners Dmitry Stepanov, Natalia Korosteleva, Arkady Kransnikhin, Dmitriy Glazounov and Robin Wittering. In St Petersburg, the directory praises Ilya Nikiforov, Elena Agaeva and Associate Anna Kukli. Dmitry Stepanov is one of only a few experts on the market to be recommended for Corporate Governance.
For Banking and Finance, the guide gives a top ranking for partner Dmitriy Glazounov, Counsel Roman Malovitsky and Head of Tax Practice Sergey Kalinin.
Partners Yury Savvin and Elena Gavrilina as well as Senior Associates Anton Alekseev and Sergey Ustalov are listed among prominent experts for Real Estate, Construction and Land Law. In St Petersburg, the directory acknowledges Ilya Nikiforov, Head of Construction and PPP Olga Mischenko and Senior Associate Sergey Strembelev.
Deputy Head of Environment and Technical Regulation Practice Anastasiya Boytsova has been ranked in the Environmental Law category.
Best Lawyers highlights the Firm’s Partner Taras Rabko for Government Relations. Partner Anna Numerova is the only lawyer in Russia recommended for Public Policy category.
Ilya Nikiforov has been recommended for Project Finance and Development.
Best Lawyers also recommends partners Dmitry Dyakin, Ilya Nikiforov, and Arkady Krasnikhin, Counsel Roman Malovitsky and Sergey Strembelev for investment. The latter has been additionally awarded Lawyer of the Year in this category.
The guide top ranks Partners Victoria Burkovskaya and Ilya Nikiforov for Criminal Law.
Counsel Igor Schikow has been recommended for tax.
For Intellectual Property, Best Lawyers lists Head of the Practice Pavel Sadovsky, Partners Denis Arkhipov and Ilya Nikiforov. In addition, Best Lawyers recommends Pavel Sadovsky and Denis Arkhipov for Telecommunications and Media, just as Counsel Alina Kudriavtseva. For IT, the guide also recommends Ilya Nikiforov and Pavel Sadovsky, who has also been listed among the leading experts in Entertainment Law.
Head of Employment Law Anna Ivanova (also marked out for Migration Law category), as well as Ilya Nikiforov and Anna Kukli have been ranked the leading Employment lawyers.
Ivan Smirnov and Senior Associate Vladimir Talanov have been recommended for Trade Law.
Partner Andrey Porfiriev has been ranked for Aviation law awarded as Lawyer of the Year in the category.
