Head of legal administration | O1 Advisory
In her role as head of legal administration for O1 Advisory, Nicosia-based Adina-Viviana Szemethy is tasked with providing legal support to one of the largest Russian commercial real estate investment...
Head of legal | A.M. Nomikos Transworld Maritime Agencies
Afrodite Dellaporta assumed her current position as head of legal at A.M. Nomikos Transworld Maritime Agencies in September 1997. Understanding that her career path is always a ‘work in progress’...
Head of legal affairs | APIVITA
A Greek-qualified lawyer admitted to the Athens Court of Appeals and with an LLM in international and European law, Afroditi Kanellopoulou took on her first significant legal role in 2006,...
Legal affairs director | OPAP Group
After 15 years career as senior associate in Athens law firms, expert legal professional Alexandra Michalopoulou moved in-house for the first time when she joined OPAP Group, the leading gaming...
Legal and insurance counsel | N.J.Goulandris Maritime
‘My devotion and passion for my work are my driving forces’, states Alexandros A. Pattakos – legal and insurance counsel for N.J. Goulandris Maritime. A renowned legal expert in the...
Group director of legal division on energy regulation | Hellenic Petroleum
A highly accomplished legal professional, Alexia Trokoudi was formerly head of the legal department of the Greek Regulatory Authority for Energy. She explains that this prestigious position – which she...
Legal counsel | Gerolymatos International
Based in Athens, Gerolymatos International is a global healthcare company that can trace its roots back to 1923. With a wide network of affiliated companies, joint-ventures and local distributors and...
Legal counsel – corporate, legal and regulatory executive director | Forthnet
Forthnet introduced Greece to internet and pay-tv and is now the largest provider of bundled home entertainment and communication services in the country. Amongst the company’s 1,200 employees is legal...
Senior corporate lawyer | FxPro Financial Services
Moving in-house at an early stage in her professional career and joining a team at a relatively turbulent time, Andrea Moundi Savvides has been able to develop as a professional...
Head of legal services | Eurobank Cyprus
Andreas Petasis joined Eurobank Cyprus as the sole internal lawyer following its inauguration in 2007, and within three years was promoted to the position of head of legal services, assuming...
Chief legal officer | OPAP Group
A Greek company organising and conducting games of chance and a large regional business, the OPAP Group is served by chief legal officer Anny Ketentzoglou – one of the premier...
Head legal counsel | Macoil International
Head legal counsel at Macoil International since 2007, Anta Chamosfakidi prizes a proactive approach to the challenges faced by her legal team which allows it to deploy its full capabilities...
Legal manager | Interorient Shipmanagment
Anthia Savvidou serves as the legal manager for Interorient Shipmanagement, a company founded in 1979 that prides itself as being one of the leaders in quality ship management and has...
Head of legal and compliance South East Europe | Nokia
Nokia’s resurgence in recent years has been one of the most discussed events in the mobile technology sector, and this promising state of affairs for the company is attributable in...
Legal director (Greece, Cyprus and Malta) | Microsoft Hellas
Antigoni Papanikolaou was hired by Microsoft Hellas in February 2012 as the world-renowned technology company’s first in-house counsel, and consequently set-up and defined the role and scope of the company’s...
Director of legal and compliance | Pharmathen
An in-house lawyer since 2000, Silvana Tsitsirigou progressed through the in-house ranks of Germanos and Olympia Development Holding before taking on her current role, as director of legal and compliance...
Group chief legal and compliance counsel | INTRALOT
Established in 1992, leading gaming solutions supplier and operator INTRALOT has grown exponentially since. The company now boasts a presence in 55 global jurisdictions with a recorded €1.32bn turnover and...
Chief legal officer | Hellenic Bank
As the head of the legal team at Hellenic Bank, the second largest commercial bank in Cyprus, Calliopi Nicolaidou’s responsibilities include managing its legal team of 12 lawyers which advises...
General legal counsel and operations director | Velti
Since joining the Greek mobile marketing company Velti in September 2009, Catherine Karanikola has achieved an impressive operational overhaul of the internal legal department which has resulted in noticeable improvements...
Head of legal department | Cyprus Airways
Since a much publicised cessation of operations in 2015, ending a period of operation which had gone on for almost 70 years, the Cyprus Airways brand has taken on new...
Corporate lawyer and general counsel | Dodoni Ice Cream
The current general counsel at the largest ice cream brand in Greece, Christina Karakosta is a long-serving legal professional with Dodoni Ice Cream, having spent over 13 years at the...
Head of legal and compliance | Commercial General Insurance
Established in 1973, Commercial General Insurance is among the leading companies in the Cypriot general insurance sector, operating branches in all major towns, as well as a large network of...
General counsel - Greece and Cyprus | Unilever
Tri-lingual legal professional Christina Vasilopoulou moved to Unilever in May 2017. As general counsel for both Greece and Cyprus she covers a wide remit and, with a long standing career,...
Executive director and head of legal department | London Capital Group
Leading the legal department for London Capital Group, a global business based in the UK, Diana Luca brings a demonstrated history of working in the legal sector and financial services...
Legal counsel | Terna Energy
Listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, Terna Energy is a Greek renewable energy company that pulls in an annual revenue figure of approximately €160m via its operations in the energy,...
Senior legal counsel | Vivartia
One of the leading food companies in the Greek market, Vivartia was founded in 2006 following a landmark merger and today it produces and markets its products through its well-known...
Head of legal (Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Israel) | Huawei Technologies
Fortune Global 500 listed Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei recently surpassed Apple and became the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, and has relied on the expansion of its...
General counsel | Public Power Corporation
One of the most knowledgeable, experienced and highly-respected lawyers in Greece, Economou Argyris has operated at the upper echelons of both private practice and internal legal roles over the course...
Chief legal and regulatory affairs officer | Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE Group)
OTE Group is the largest telecommunications provider in the Greek market that operates through COSMOTE, its unified brand for all Group products and wholly owned subsidiary. As chief legal and...
Legal advisor and compliance officer | Eurolife
Eleana Spyris was promoted to her position of head of legal at Cypriot insurer EuroLife following a successful two-year stint as in-house counsel at its parent company, Bank of Cyprus...
Legal director | INSS
Elena Bosnidou has enjoyed a number of senior in-house roles in Greece over the course of her legal career which spans over two decades. Between 1997 and 2002 she was...
Senior counsel and board secretary | Titan Cement Company
Eleni Papapanou serves as the senior counsel and board secretary for Titan Cement Company, a large multinational cement and building materials producing firm based in Greece. Serving as its senior...
Consumer products | AB Vassilopoulos (Ahold Delhaize Group)
The current vice president of legal affairs for Greek supermarket chain AB Vassilopoulos, Eleni Providi was an instrumental part of the biggest deal in the history of the organisation, the...
Head of legal | Upstream
Since 2010, Eleni Stathaki has headed the legal function of Upstream, a leading mobile commerce company in high-growth and developing markets. Since joining Upstream as sole the in-house counsel with...
Head of legal department | AstroBank
Highly valued for her strategic business advice in addition to her wide legal knowledge, Elli Photiadou occupies a place on the AstroBank board of directors and is head of corporate...
General counsel | Deloitte Greece
Part of the UK-incorporated multinational professional services network, Deloitte Greece provides audit, tax, consulting, risk advisory and financial advisory services. Since 2010, Emmanouil “Manos” Asikis, has been in charge of...
Director legal affairs and secretary to the board of directors | Athens International Airport
‘Confident, smart and sharp’ according to nominators, Eugenia Papathanasopoulou has served as the director of legal affairs and secretary to the board of directors of Athens International Airport since September...
General counsel | RCB Bank
Eva Shammas has supported RCB Bank – a Cyprus-based banking institution with over 20 years of history and thousands of international clients – for the last three years of her...
General manager legal and regulatory | Mytilineos Holdings
Evangelos Chrysafis has been general manager of legal and regulatory affairs at Mytilineos Holdings, a Greek-based industrial conglomerate whose companies are active in the sectors of metallurgy, energy and EPC....
Legal counsel | Playtech
Market leading gambling and financial trading company Playtech is the world’s largest online gambling software supplier, offering cutting-edge value added solutions to the industry’s leading operators. Serving as its legal...
| Tek Experts Global
Evyenia Kelly Epaminondou took on her current role as senior legal officer at business process outsourcing and IT support company Tek Experts after a seven-year period as a private practice...
Head of legal division - Capital Markets, Investment Banking, Wealth Management | Eurobank Ergasias
A legal professional with 25 years of experience in the banking sector, George Lekkas considers his move to Eurobank, a major Greek bank listed on the Athens Exchange, as one...
Group general counsel | Piraeus Bank
Founded in 1916, Piraeus Bank has grown into Greece’s leading bank with approximately 17,000 employees and operations in seven countries serving just under six million customers. Among its taskforce is...
General counsel | Motor Oil Hellas
George Prousanides is the general counsel of Greek petroleum company Motor Oil Hellas (MOH), which operates the Corinth refinery, the second largest oil refinery in Europe, as well as owning...
Legal manager | OSM Maritime Group
Georgia Demetriou is an experienced specialist with a demonstrated history of expertise in maritime law, arbitration, banking law and European law across multiple jurisdictions. Her in-house career in the shipping...
Legal manager | Intership Navigation
A maritime law specialist, having obtained an LLB and LLM in the field before embarking on her professional career in earnest, Georgina Panayiotou is legal manager for Limassol-based shipping company...
General counsel | Olympia Group
Founded in 1980, the Olympia Group has since developed into one of the leading Greek corporate businesses through the activities of his various subsidiaries. General counsel Georgios Xirouchakis has been...
Managing counsel | Oracle Corporation
Formerly an assistant professor at the University of Leuven and a litigation specialist at the Brussels-based law firm Altius, Hans Brems first moved to Athens in 2001 when he became...
Vice chairman of the board of the directors and legal adviser | Jumbo
Multinational retail company Jumbo has been at the forefront of the Greek child and baby care retail landscape for over 30 years. It has over 50 stores in Greece and...
Commercial support legal director | Hellenic Petroleum
During his first 20 years of practicing as a lawyer, Ioannis Voskos worked in in-house roles for a variety of multinational companies. Since June 2014 he has been serving Hellenic...
Secretary of the board of directors, legal counsel | Fourlis Group
Ioannis Zakopoulos first joined Fourlis Group in 1998 in the capacity of the legal advisor. As part of one of the leading group of companies in Greece and the Balkans...
Group general counsel | Hellenic Petroleum
Listed on both the Athens Exchange and London Stock Exchange, Hellenic Petroleum has developed into one of the leading energy groups in Southeast Europe with a presence in six countries...
Chief legal counsel | LAMDA Development
Part of the Latsis Group and listed on the main market of the Athens Exchange, LAMDA Development is the leader in Greece’s retail real estate sector, with successful diversification in...
Head legal and compliance officer | Pernod Ricard Hellas
Since transitioning to Greece’s in-house market in 2008, John Psomas has demonstrated a high level of technical legal knowledge and business-orientated advice. In December 2013 he joined the Greek branch...
Legal and compliance counsel | SAP Hellas
Legal and compliance counsel for Greece, Cyprus and Malta at multinational software corporation SAP, Katerina Galanopoulou considers herself as more than simply a legal professional: ‘Working closely with SAP management...
Head of legal and compliance Greece | Deutsche Bank
Katerina Papageorgiou is the head of legal and compliance for the Greek operations of world-renowned financial services institution Deutsche Bank. Appointed to her role in April 2012, she has approximately...
Chief legal and compliance officer | Dixons South East Europe (Kotsovolos)
Having worked for it since 1994, Katerina Vracha boasts immense experience of working with Dixons South East Europe (known as Kotsovolos), and is able to draw from an intimate and...
General legal counsel | Aegan Airlines and Olympic Air
Experienced aviation lawyer Katia Avramidou has been a driving force behind the legal department at Aegean Airlines, Greece’s flag carrier and largest airline, for the last 17 years. Currently serving...
Chief legal officer and company secretary | Bank of Cyprus
Katia Santis has a long-standing in-house career having taken up the position of internal legal adviser with the Cyprus Development Bank (CDBbank) in 1991. She spent 22 years there working...
Group general counsel | Archicert Limited
A legal professional with extensive corporate and commercial transaction experience in a number of jurisdictions, in October 2017 Kirill Shein was recruited as managing director and group general counsel by...
Head of legal | VICTUS Networks
Konstantina Schiza is the head of legal at VICTUS Networks, a company that was formed as a 50/50 joint venture between Vodafone Greece and its domestic rival Wind Hellas in...
General counsel | Eurolife ERB
Having served in senior legal positions at various large domestic and multinational financial services companies operating in Greece for well over a decade, Konstantinos Antonakis is extremely well-regarded within Greece’s...
Senior counsel - EU South East Cluster | Papastratos Cigarette Manufacturing Company
Leonidas Tolis first joined Papastratos Cigarette Manufacturing Company as a legal counsel in 1999, and in 2003 when Philip Morris International (PMI) acquired Papastratos, he was assigned the role of...
Legal director South East Europe | Air Liquide Hellas
Formerly a private practice lawyer from 1990 until 1997, Lilian Kontou first went in-house with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Athens as a senior manager in the company’s tax and legal services...
Head of legal and compliance | IronFX Global
Loukia Kanarini joined the rapidly growing business of online trading company IronFX Group in 2012, two years after the company was founded. Initially serving as legal advisor and subsequently promoted...
Chief internal legal advisor | Atlantic Insurance
Nearly 30 years after its establishment, Atlantic Insurance ranks among the largest insurance companies in Cyprus, employing a highly qualified workforce across easily accessible offices in all cities on the...
Associate general counsel - head of South Zone, EMEA | AIG
Insurance giant AIG’s branch in Greece is ably assisted by the talented and experienced associate general counsel Maria Kazamia, who heads legal support across the company’s South Zone, EMEA region....
Legal officer A | Central Bank of Cyprus
Maria Kettirou started her legal career at the Central Bank of Cyprus in 2005 after obtaining an MBA from the Cyprus International Institute of Management. She has been employed as...
Legal, human resources and general affairs manager | LG Electronics Hellas
Fortune Global 500 electronics company LG’s operations in Greece are organised under the LG Electronics Hellas subsidiary, and is responsible for the distribution of LG’s wide range of electronic products...
Legal and corporate affairs director | Nireus Aquaculture
A long-serving employee of the Nireus group – the world’s leading company in the production and trading of Mediterranean aquaculture species – Maria Labrinou has served the company since 1996,...
Head of legal and external affairs | Vodafone
Since her appointment as head of legal and external affairs at Vodafone’s Greek operation, Maria Skagou has made a vital contribution to the company’s “Gigabit” strategy by facilitating the introduction...
General counsel and member of the board of directors | Siemens Greece
German multinational conglomerate Siemens has been active in Greece for nearly 120 years and today continues to offer products, solutions and services that reflect the organisation’s engineering excellence, innovation and...
Legal counsel | ELPEDISON
In July 2013 Marios Andrikopoulos joined ELPEDISON Power and ELPEDISON Energy as legal counsel, subsequent to which the two companies merged in 2015 and formed ELPEDISON, and the company became...
General counsel | Exness
A Swedish national, Martin Thorvaldsson has enjoyed an in-house legal career of over two decades in his home nation as well as Mediterranean jurisdictions namely Malta, Gibraltar and most recently...
Head of legal department | Independent Power Transmission Operator
Since 2011, Independent Power Transmission Operator (known as IPTO or ADMIE) has assumed the role of transmission system operator for the Hellenic Electricity Transmission System, ensuring Greece’s electricity supply in...
Legal counsel, head of legal affairs and secretary to the board of directors | Nea Odos and Odos Kentrikis Elladas
A member of the Athens Bar Association since 1998, Natalie Kedikoglou started her in-house career in 2003, and has operated in the upper echelons of the profession ever since. She...
In-house legal counsel | Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund
Since Nayia Pyridi started practicing as a lawyer in 2003, her career path has involved a mix of assignments taken in private practice, academia and in legal advisory services through...
Head of legal | J&P Group
Joannou & Paraskevaides Group – better known as J&P Group – is one of the leading companies in the engineering field and has a wide variety of EPC and construction...
Legal counsel - head of legal | Intracom
A lawyer with an extensive track record of achievement in managing legal services, Nikolaos Zachos currently serves as head of legal at Intracom, one of the largest multinational technology groups...
Senior legal advisor | Hermes Airports
Hermes Airports manages and controls Larnaka International Airport and Pafos International Airport under a 25 year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) concession agreement made with the Republic of Cyprus in 2006. Odysseas Frenaritis...
Legal director | Coca-Cola Hellas
Having worked within the Greek branch of one of the world’s most recognisable brands for almost 20 years, Olga Papadogianni is the long-tenured and highly respected legal director of Coca-Cola...
Manager of the legal services division | Alpha Bank
Alpha Bank is the fourth largest Greek bank by total assets, and the largest by market capitalisation. As manager of the legal services division for the Forbes Global 2000 listed...
Head of legal and compliance | Skywind Group
A technologically-adept lawyer, Ori Monheit combines a previous role as a software developer with legal expertise to make him ideally placed to operate as an in-house lawyer in the IT...
Legal director | Navarone
With a legal career in Greece that spans over 20 years, Paris Passias is one of the country’s most respected in-house lawyers. In 2015 Passias joined Greek shipping giant NAVARONE...
Head of legal | Fraport Greece
Described by nominators as an ‘experienced in-house counsel with excellent management and communication skills’, Periklis Stroumpos established and is now leading the legal department of Fraport Greece, the local operations...
Director of legal and regulatory affairs | Cyta
Petros Hadjiantoniou serves as the director of legal and regulatory affairs for Cyta, a semi-governmental organisation established with the aim of providing, maintaining and developing a comprehensive telecommunications service, both...
Legal officer | Tototheo Maritime
An outstanding in-house lawyer in the maritime sector, the path to Petros Papaevagorou’s in-house legal career is a varied one, having first begun it in 2014 as a trainee lawyer...
General counsel | Wargaming.net
Roman Zanin has served as the general counsel for award-winning online game developer and publisher Wargaming.net for the last five years. As an extension of its services of delivering authentic...
Head of corporate banking legal support division (performing loans) | Eurobank Ergasias
‘I believe that providing in-house legal support and advice which is secure, fast, practical and business-oriented is an important element for the growth of the corporate banking general division of...
General counsel and head of legal division | The Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA)
Sophia Michelaki assumed her current position as general counsel and head of the legal division at DESFA on March 2007 possessing almost eleven years of managing the legal department within...
Chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel | Coca-Cola HBC
Based in Athens, Coca-Cola HBC is a Forbes Global 2000 listed company that is a major anchor bottler used by the Coca-Cola Company, providing bottling services across a range of...
Legal director | Pfizer
Stathis Mihos’ legal career spans almost three decades, and since beginning his in-house career in 2001 he has built up a formidable reputation amongst Greece’s corporate counsel. As legal director...
General counsel and corporate secretary, insurance and claims manager | Seanergy Maritime Holdings
A shipping law expert with over 16 years of experience in the sector, including more than eleven as an in-house lawyer with US-listed shipping companies, Theodora Mitropetrou has been Seanergy’s...
Head of legal | Tripsta Group
As the head of legal of one the largest online travel agencies in Europe that manages an extensive portfolio of travel-focused websites, Dr Theodore Koulourianos is responsible for some of...
Legal affairs department director | WIND Hellas Telecommunications (WIND Hellas)
Theodossis Tompras started his career at the Greek telecommunications provider WIND Hellas in 2006 following a three year stint in private practice. Starting off as a junior regulatory and competition...
Group legal director | INTRASOFT International
INTRASOFT International is a leading European IT solutions and services group with strong international presence and expertise. Among the Luxembourg-based company’s 1,700 highly-skilled professionals is group legal director Tzina Prokopidou...
General counsel | Leroy Merlin (Greece and Cyprus)
Vassilis Kyriakou joined Leroy Merlin Greece and Cyprus, the subsidiary of Group Adeo, responsible for the Greek and Cypriot markets in 2009 as general counsel. Following his appointment, he undertook...
Senior legal officer | Remedica
An individual that is highly recommended by nominating sources, Yiango-George Yiangoullis has enjoyed a rapid rise in the legal profession, since his career began in earnest over a decade ago....
General counsel, director legal and corporate affairs | Attica Holdings (Attica Group)
Publicly quoted, Attica Group operates international ferry services in Europe through its main trademark names, Superfast Ferries and Blue Star Ferries. Having worked at the company since 2002, general counsel...
Region counsel Greece, Turkey, South Africa and Africa | Hewlett Packard Enterprise - Greece
Yota Kremmida first joined Hewlett Packard as a country counsel for Greece and Cyprus and was then promoted to the position of regional counsel with the additional responsibility of the...
Following the global financial crisis, the economies of Greece and Cyprus have been tackling high levels of government debt caused by the credit crunch and consecutive recessions. Although both jurisdictions continue to face challenges, the outlook is promising with both economies expected to grow over the course of 2018. Whilst Cyprus was one of the fastest growing economies in the Eurozone in 2017, Greece is on the verge of a successful exit from the bailouts which have helped keep its economy afloat.
Austerity in recent times has, however, pushed many companies, particularly those operating in highly cyclical sectors, to cut costs by diverting less resources to their legal functions. Regional GCs, whose roles have evolved in the last few years, now have to navigate legal affairs in an environment of growing cost constraints and reduced headcount.
Despite these difficulties, Greek and Cypriot in-house lawyers have consistently demonstrated remarkable resilience, and have improved their service offering by adopting more prudent legal risk management and establishing better corporate and compliance practices. The role of in-house professionals has therefore become even more relevant across the region, as they now take a central stage in implementing vital organisational change to help their businesses cope with the challenging climate.
In the GC Powerlist: Greece and Cyprus we are pleased to highlight some of the region’s leading corporate counsel. To put together the list, we canvassed opinions from both law firms’ partners and in-house counsel in both countries. We identified lawyers who are not only technically gifted and highly trained, but have also utilised their legal knowledge strategically alongside keen business insight to make a positive impact towards their organisation’s success.
We are delighted to sponsor The Legal 500’s inaugural GC Powerlist Greece and Cyprus together with our friends and colleagues at KLC Law Firm in Athens.
Congratulations to everyone who made the list.
All over the world there is increasing uncertainty and conflict, as people and businesses continue to feel the effects of the global financial crisis. Some ten years after the crisis, which affected people in Cyprus and Greece particularly badly, there has been no return to the prosperity and security of the pre-crisis years and there is scant confidence that the stability of the global financial system has been restored. Many people feel, with some justification, that the current political and economic system is not working for them, and they are losing faith in governments and institutions that they trusted.
Against a backdrop of tight economic conditions and ever-increasing regulation, businesses and the individuals who run them are under enormous pressure to deliver results. Both globally and closer to home there are numerous examples of businesses that have cut corners, taken excessive risks and even, in some cases, engaged in outright dishonesty. General counsel and in-house legal teams play a critical role in the maintenance of business ethics and protecting the integrity of businesses and markets. However far artificial intelligence, technology and new business models may advance, nothing can replace the ethics and integrity that are the hallmark of our profession.
Elias Neocleous & Co LLC is a young firm with a distinguished ancestry. It is built on the solid culture, expertise and client base laid down by our legacy firm over more than fifty years. We succeeded in completing the transition to the new firm with no interruption to the service we provide, and our clients embraced the change. However, our ambition goes much farther than re-creating the old firm. In today’s fast paced corporate world, professional firms must be business advisers – they need to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in order to advise their clients effectively, and need agility and flexibility to respond immediately to clients’ needs. We aim to achieve these goals by modernising our internal processes and harnessing the power of technology to replace traditional ways of working and deliver legal services faster, more efficiently and with more added value. The move to the new firm has given us the freedom to reconsider everything we do, but any changes we make will respect the fundamental values of integrity, commitment and teamwork that have formed the basis for our success and made our firm a great place to work.
Before the global financial crisis the demand for legal services in Cyprus was so great that lawyers could not only survive, but also prosper, without any regard for client service. Too much of the demand was from investors who sought to abuse Cyprus’s status as a reputable financial centre and the facilities it provided. Regulation is now far more rigorous and effective than in the past and the unscrupulous operators are being driven out, a development we greatly welcome.
Our business model is based on providing high-quality, responsive service to our clients which adds value to their business. We aim to provide practical, concrete action-based advice that will help them to achieve their objectives, not inconclusive theoretical statements of the law. We welcome the increased importance and influence of in-house legal departments and we work with them to add value to the businesses they are a part of. We encourage our people to be deal-makers, not to put obstructions in the way of transactions, but instead help them find ways to resolve potential issues and manage risk. We work as a team, and we are an unashamed meritocracy, setting the highest standards for our staff and providing them with the best rewards, training and professional support, and unlimited career prospects.
We have always believed, and the events of the past few years have reinforced that belief, that our good name is our most important asset. Our objective is to be a dynamic, innovative firm with the highest standards of integrity and ethics, working for clients who genuinely share our values.
We look forward to working with you.
It is a great honour for KLC to sponsor The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist for Greece and Cyprus which takes place in Athens for the first time. Congratulations to everyone who made it into this year’s list!
General counsels (GCs) today bring more to the table than just their legal knowledge and expertise. The role of the GCs has rapidly evolved to keep pace with the changing needs of the businesses they support. Acting increasingly as advisors to the CEOs and senior management teams, GCs do not just identify risks and provide legal assessments but contribute significantly to the formation of business strategies and compliance policies. This has been especially the case in Greece during the last years of the grave debt crisis and economic stagnation. Having to cope with complex and diverse issues in a volatile context, GCs have been called upon to maintain a high quality in the procurement of legal services within tight budgetary limits on legal fees.
In such a challenging environment KLC has achieved in maintaining and further developing existing, but also establishing new, strong and long-lasting relationships with corporate clients and their GCs. In particular, KLC has been instructed by and appointed on panels of preferred external legal advisors for multinational groups, international financial institutions, credit institutions, privatisation agencies as well as corporations originating from a variety of industries and jurisdictions.
As a full service law firm, KLC has effectively supported its corporate clients in all practice areas by providing commercially astute advice on contentious and non-contentious matters and contributing to the development of strategic directions within the relative legal and regulatory frameworks. Our client-oriented approach and the coherent internal structure of our team enable us to cater for the needs of our corporate clients in a responsive and efficient manner. KLC’s competitive advantage is the specialisation of our highly qualified and experienced lawyers in various legal areas and at the same time the ability to combine our expertise from various fields and practices in order to provide comprehensive and business oriented legal services.
On the above premises, all practices of KLC have been busy in the last 12 months, engaged in high-profile privatisation and M&A projects, large-scale international arbitrations and commercial litigation cases, complex project finance and debt restructuring transactions. In parallel, we have continued supporting numerous corporate clients by providing on-going advisory services covering all the legal spectrum.
In an ever changing economic and business landscape, our dedication to the legal profession and primary devotion to client service through a well-bonded team of specialised professionals aims at meeting the expectations of our clientele and building a trusting and successful relationship. With this sponsorship of The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist, we hope to draw attention to the outstanding work being done by in-house legal professionals and the sophisticated legal expertise that they develop for their respective companies, which contributes significantly to the legal function and business growth in general.
For the third consecutive year, Legal 500 partnered with Red Legal Iberoamericana to celebrate the very best in-house counsel from across Europe who dedicate their efforts to the vibrant region of Latin America. In fact, these lawyers possess a unique set of skills that enables them to navigate the challenges and diversity of Latin America in an agile and well-versed manner.
The event took place at the Hotel Wellington in the elegant city of Madrid, Spain, on 7th November 2024. Attendees were welcomed by Sara Maggi, senior editor — research and content at Legal 500, who congratulated all the powerlisters for their contributions to business across Latin America and emphasised the importance of recognising such exceptional lawyers.
Julio Veloso, partner at Broseta Abogados, then took the stage. After offering his congratulations, he invited Alejandro Sainz, senior partner at Sainz Abogados, to join him on stage. They reiterated their pride in sponsoring this research and publication, which recognises unmatched talent.
Santiago González Pérez, vice president and senior employment counsel for EMEA at American Express, shared an in-house perspective on the challenges of working in-house and managing client expectations while operating in a business environment. He also highlighted the importance of being recognised by such prestigious publications.
The evening continued with a cocktail reception featuring drinks and canapés, alongside networking opportunities between talented peers. The event was a great success, and we look forward to next year, as we continue to recognise the efforts of Latin American specialists based across Europe.
