EPAM breaks away from its competitors and remains an absolute leader in Russia by the total number of references according to the annual Best Lawyers 2015 ranking. The Firm furthers its positions by increasing the number of listed lawyers and expanding the quantity of recommended practice areas.
This year Best Lawyers recommends 42 lawyers from the Firm’s Moscow and St. Petersburg offices, with a total of 202 references for various areas of law. It is a remarkable year as EPAM not only doubled the last year’s result of total recommendations but increased the total number of lawyers listed, while 11 experts keep their top positions in the ranking for the seventh year in a row.
Additionally, three experts have taken the Lawyer of the Year status including the member of the Partners' Committee Dimitry Afanasiev (Investment), Managing Partner Ilya Nikiforov (International Arbitration) and Head of Real Estate Practice in St. Petersburg Sergey Strembelev (Real Estate).
Best Lawyers recommends the Firm’s lawyers for its key practice area - Competition/Antitrust. It distinguishes the member of the Partners' Committee Dimitry Afanasiev, practice Head Natalia Korosteleva, partner Mikhail Kazantsev, counsel Anna Numerova, Evgeny Bolshakov and Maria Kobanenko, and senior associate Alexey Rodionov (Moscow), and counsel Elena Agaeva (St. Petersburg).
EPAM keeps its leading positions in the Dispute Resolution and contiguous categories: the member of the Partners' Committee Dimitry Afanasiev, Managing Partner Ilya Nikiforov, St. Petersburg Managing Partner Ivan A. Smirnov, partners Denis Arkhipov, Dmitry Dyakin, Valery Eremenko, Evgeny Raschevsky and Dmitry Stepanov, counsel Mark Rovinskiy, Igor Serebryakov and Ilya Tur, senior associates Alexey Rodionov, Alexey Rizhkin, are recognized among leading Litigation experts. For International Arbitration Best Lawyers recommends Dimitry Afanasiev and partners Dmitry Dyakin, Evgeny Raschevsky, Dmitry Stepanov and Robin Wittering. For several years running Ilya Nikiforov has been honored as Lawyer of the Year in this area. Moreover, Ilya Nikiforov, Dmitry Dyakin, Sergey Kovalev, Evgeny Raschevsky, Dmitry Stepanov are highly recommended for Arbitration and Mediation.
The source ranks an impressive number of lawyers for Corporate Law, namely partners Arkady Krasnikhin, Natalia Korosteleva, Dmitry Stepanov and Robin Wittering, as well as Dimitry Afanasiev and St. Petersburg-based Ilya Nikiforov and Elena Agaeva.
The list of lawyers specializing in Mergers and Acquisitions includes Dimitry Afanasiev, Ilya Nikiforov, partners Dmitriy Glazounov, Dmitry Stepanov and Robin Wittering.
The Firm keeps its status of the best legal advisor for Investment projects, which was recently proved at The Lawyer European Awards ceremony 2015 where EPAM took the prize for European Energy, Infrastructure and Projects Deal of the Year for its work related to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Now, Best Lawyers has named the member of the Partners' Committee Dimitry Afanasiev Lawyer of the Year in Investment category, whereas Ilya Nikiforov, Dmitry Dyakin, Mikhail Kazantsev, Arkady Krasnikhin and senior associate Roman Malovitsky are also top ranked for this area of law.
For Land Use and Zoning Law the source recommends partners Elena Gavrilina and Yuri Savvin, senior associate Sergey Strembelev and associate Anton Alekseev. Elena Gavrilina, Yuri Savvin, counsel Mark Rovinskiy, St. Petersburg-based senior associates Olga Mischenko as well as Sergey Strembelev who is also named Lawyer of the Year are recognized in Real Estate. Among leading Construction Law experts - Ilya Nikiforov, Elena Gavrilina, Yuri Savvin, Olga Mischenko, Sergey Strembelev and senior associate Sergey Ustalov.
For Intellectual Property the source lists Head of the IP/TMT Practice Pavel Sadovsky, Ilya Nikiforov and Denis Arkhipov. Pavel Sadovsky and Ilya Nikiforov are also distinguished as Information Technology Law specialists, while Pavel is the only expert recommended for Entertainment, Media, Technology and Telecommunications Law.
The Firm also has remarkable presence in the area of Insolvency and Reorganization: Sergey Kovalev, Arkady Krasnikhin and counsel Vladimir Pestrikov and Ilya Tur are recommended.
For Labor and Employment Law Best Lawyers recommends Head of Employment in Moscow Anna Ivanova, Ilya Nikiforov and Elena Legashova in St. Petersburg.
For Trade Law the source ranks senior associate Vladimir Talanov and two leading experts in St. Petersburg including Ivan Smirnov and Elena Legashova.
Partner Victoria Burkovskaya and Ilya Nikiforov are recognized as the Firm’s leading Criminal Defense experts.
Best Lawyers also remarks the Firm and its experts including Dimitry Afanasiev and Anna Numerova for Government Practice, while partner Taras Rabko is recommended for Government Relations Practice.
Further to the above mentioned, among other recommended experts - Anastasiya Boytsova (for Environmental Law), Andrey Porfiriev – (for Aviation), Senior associate Roman Malovitsky (for Banking & Finance), Head of Tax Practice Igor Schikow (for Tax Law), Elena Agaeva (for Corporate Governance & Compliance), Mikhail Kazantsev (for Energy and Natural Resources), Elena Legashova (for Customs and Excise and Regulatory Practice), and Ilya Nikiforov (for Project Finance and Development).
