Moscow, 22 January 2009 – Dmitry Stepanov has joined EPAM. The new partner is a highly regarded expert in corporate and securities regulations. Dimitry has also been actively involved in legislation drafting.
Dmitry Stepanov is one of the leading Russian experts in corporate law. His professional activities and research include legal regulation and case law related to the following fields: mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, corporate disputes, legal safeguards against bad faith techniques for takeover of corporate assets, liability of directors and controlling owners, challenging of resolutions taken by executive bodies at JSCs/LLCs etc. Furthermore, Dmitry has a background in consulting on securities related issues, including: shares trading, theft and recovery of stock certificates, protection of interests of securities owners, relationship between issuers, registrars and stockholders, lawsuits for damages etc.
In addition to his practice as a lawyer, Dmitry Stepanov has been actively involved in legislative activities. Namely, for six years, he coordinated work on amendments to the Federal Law “On Limited Liability Companies” (Federal Law “On Amendments to the Volume 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and some statutes of the Russian Federation” No. 312-FZ dd. 30 December 2008). He was one of the key researchers working on the Corporate Law Development Guidelines up to 2008. He advised the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation on development of bills “On Reorganization and Liquidation of Commercial Companies”, on amendments to the Federal Law “On Joint-Stock Companies”, “On the Securities Market”, “On Insolvency”. Currently Dmitry is leading a team working on the improvement of Russian rules of civil procedure to reduce the number of corporate disputes and hostile takeovers.
“I am very pleased to have joined Russia’s leading national law firm. I am confident that my knowledge and expertise in corporate law and securities regulations, as well as my experience in legislative activities will be beneficial to both our clients and my colleagues. Together we can do more,” commented Dmitry Stepanov on his new employment with EPAM.
“We have known Dmitry Stepanov both as our partner and our friend for more than 10 years. Dmitry is a leading expert in his field. Having him as part of our team will further reinforce our capacity as a law firm to protect the interests of our clients during the global financial crisis,” said Dimitry Afanasiev, the Chairman of EPAM.
Dmitry Stepanov was born in 1977. He graduated cum laude from the Vologda branch of the Moscow State Law Academy (MSLA) in 1999. In 2001 he obtained the Master of Private Law degree (Masters Course in the Private Law Research Center under the President of the Russian Federation), and undertook an internship at the Leiden University (Netherlands). In 2004 he completed a postgraduate course at the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation and obtained a PhD on ‘Services as an Object of Civil Law’. Before joining EPAM Dmitry was employed in a number of Russian law firms. Dmitry is the author of two monographs and numerous articles on corporate and liability law and securities market regulations in leading legal publications.
EPAM is a leading national law firm in Russia with offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg and an associated office in London EPAM LLP. Founded in 1993, the firm combines extensive emerging markets experience with international professional standards. It regularly represents international companies doing business in Russia and Russian companies going international. EPAM regularly acts for the Russian Federation in transactional and litigation matters. The firm also frequently serves as Russian counsel to leading international law firms.