Interview with: Dr. Giorgi Tsertsvadze, Managing Partner

Manging Partner Dr. Giorgi Tsertsvadze explains how the firm is adapting to clients’ changing needs.

 

1) What do you see as the main points that differentiate J&T Consulting ICC from your competitors?

The legal market In Georgia is quite competitive. Today, it is challenging for anyone to stand out with specialized knowledge or experience, yet we still manage to do so. Interestingly, clients often choose us over others when asked, recognizing us for several reasons:

• Flexibility – Our clients, mostly non-residents of Georgia or with specific connections to international businesses, operate in various time zones, regions, and sectors. We are available to them 24/7, including weekends and holidays, both late at night and early in the morning. They recognize and greatly appreciate this flexibility.
• Pragmatism – We never prioritize only the pursuit of victory for ourselves and never impose our own needs on the client. They recognize this. Our primary focus is not just formal success but the solution they receive through our service. We never offer clients standard routes to solve their problems and achieve their goals. The decisions we make are not based on lengthy, cumbersome procedures, but on efficiency and effectiveness.
• Functionality – We often navigate through various legal directives. What one legal directive permits, another prohibits, or regulates differently. Clients recognize that we can best represent their interests in these labyrinthine legal frameworks by fulfilling their requests and protecting them, but in a way that minimizes their exposure and maximizes what is most desirable to them. Our clients understand that while results are not always guaranteed with us, what is guaranteed is a top-tier effort on the highest level of competence.
• Stability – The most important change we offer to clients is that our approach to our tasks changes less frequently, providing them with more stability. For example, our Italian client, whom we assisted six years ago initially and who still knows, six years later, that our commitment should remain the same and everything will be as he remembers and enjoys in our business. On the other hand, in such an unstable region where we operate, we are never afraid of changes that should not be. We view any change as an opportunity, which should be used for the benefit of our clients. This principle does not change. The rest is already a matter of technique.

This implies that whoever comes to us never regrets it and even dissuades others from engaging in business with us. Often, this is what distinguishes us most from others.

 

2) Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

We consistently find ourselves in fields that are underdeveloped, resulting in limited choices for clients. For example, only we can engage not only in legal services but also offer services of Georgian legal experts involved in international arbitration discussions. With our experience in assessing the complexity and costs of their procedures, we have extensive experience in Georgia’s legal and business landscape, continually growing and becoming more sophisticated in handling legal and competition disputes. In both spheres, the risk to clients is significantly higher, and they more frequently require assistance in managing these risks. Finally, I would like to highlight the activation of personal data protection in the sphere of service provision, which is subject to regulations similar to GDPR in Georgia.

I am confident that these areas will become increasingly relevant in the coming year in terms of our existing and potential clients.

 

3) What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

With the involvement and request of international donor organizations and the World Bank, FIDIC contracts are frequently employed in large infrastructure projects. Through this method, our partners have already acquired both practical and theoretical knowledge. We represent clients in DAB, offer consultancy to clients during the process of nominating members for Dispute Adjudication Boards (DAB), and our partners possess full competence and capability to deliver DAB services to clients. We believe that utilizing FIDIC contracts in large infrastructure projects will make this approach more and more relevant and beneficial, and this approach will be active for our firm.  In Georgia, the implementation of the Personal Data Protection Law, mirroring the GDPR principles, signifies a significant step forward. Our partners are deeply engaged in guaranteeing adherence to the Personal Data Protection Policy and associated documents to maintain complete alignment with the law. Furthermore, our company is committed to staying updated on any revisions to the legal framework, ensuring that our clients receive high-quality service consistently. This dedication underscores our firm’s commitment to protecting personal data and delivering excellence in service provision.

 

4) Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Without technology, we would not be who we are. We can confidently state that we are one of the most digitized law firms in our region. Our office is paperless, meaning we don’t store client files in physical form.  We have a strict policy of never keeping any documents belonging to our clients.

All employees, to whom the client has given the necessary documents, instantly scan them and store them in our electronic database within a maximum of 24 hours. Our employees operate remotely, using work laptops, phones, and electronic documents. We don’t mandate physical presence at our office; however, if client interests necessitate it, we ensure availability, whether at our office or elsewhere globally. Our electronic databases are highly secure, equipped with comprehensive backups to mitigate any risk of data loss. Supported by  specialized teams, we ensure protection. One of our current projects aims to enhance our online visibility, facilitating easier search engine access for J&T Consulting LLC.

Finally, we are actively exploring the integration of AI into our operations, confident that it will not replace us. Additionally, given the specialized nature of our service, automation is highly impractical. We closely monitor progress in this field and aim to be regional pioneers in AI implementation.

 

5) Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

We will provide two examples to illustrate:

One of our clients, who employs over 4,000 workers, has faced numerous labor disputes over the years, making their business particularly high-risk. After a quick and thorough evaluation, we addressed multiple fronts concurrently: a) Successfully negotiated with the parties involved in disputes, securing optimal outcomes for our clients. b) Decreased the number of ongoing disputes. c) Enhanced and managed the company’s internal regulations concerning employee relations and activities. d) Implemented internal mechanisms for early-stage dispute prevention and resolution, significantly reducing the likelihood of prolonged court proceedings. In the rare instances (only a few cases in 2023) where disputes proceed to court, the company’s well-founded and consistent position typically results in favorable outcomes. Accordingly, the customer risk, which has been a significant concern for years, has been effectively mitigated.

Another example, which seems to be an indicator, involves a client whose issue was the over-diversification of their business into six different companies. The client managed these businesses himself, but they involved various partners, significantly complicating the management process. Disputes among partners were frequent, posing a real risk of arbitration or litigation. Following immediate analysis, our team suggested that the client sell shares in four of his companies, thus reducing risks and generating free cash flow. b) Enhanced the client’s stake in the remaining two companies, empowering him to make independent decisions. c) Introducing statutes and regulations to foster confidence among the client’s partners and minimize the risk of disputes between them. d) Ensuring smoother operations in case of a dispute while increasing predictability in its outcome. e) This enabled the client to reinvest the cash received into the remaining companies, thereby rapidly boosting their value. We continue our partnership with the client, with future plans exceeding our previous achievements.

We believe these two cases best illustrate the specifics of our service. If anyone has additional questions regarding this matter, they will receive an answer from our team in the shortest possible time.

 

6) Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

The current era and the geographical area we operate in are more unstable and uncertain than ever before. Therefore, it’s not surprising that clients expect stability and risk minimization especially from us.

We can also briefly outline our company’s plans for the next few years. Our team aims to maintain our flexibility and pragmatism while further expanding the geographic scope of our activities. Since last year, we have established regional representation in Batumi, a city renowned as a seaport and the second-largest in Georgia. Over the next three years, we aim to improve accessibility to J&T Consulting services in neighboring countries such as Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. Whether we will establish our offices in these countries or pursue a different model remains to be seen.