Interview with: Ilias Koimtzoglou, Managing Partner, KBVL

What do you see as the main points that differentiate KBVL from your competitors?

Our firm employs innovative strategies, which eventually create competitive advantage based mainly on the following three pillars:

1)Provision of seamless services

Our customer-centric philosophy combined with our common-shared principles and the use of technology

provides for comprehensive, user friendly and seamless legal services. Clients come to us because of our well-earned reputation for outstanding service, delivered promptly. We approach any single issue by seeking innovative solutions to complex problems that require us to draw on our full range of expertise and experience.

Our billing approach and how we service our clients’ on-going needs reflect our values. No matter how challenging or complex the mandate, we are not satisfied until we have delivered the highest quality and most commercially effective legal advice;

2) Distinctive service offerings

The firm remains dedicated to strengthening our practice primarily through internal growth and creative smart way of thinking. We comprise a growing collection of transaction tools and in-depth analysis of the most important market and regulatory developments in M&A regimes across the globe.  We focus on bringing clarity to the increasingly complex world of cross-border M&A , cross-border M&A databases, informative videos, and access to a library of specialist publications covering the key issues in global M&A;

3) Special Alliances/Contacts Relationships

We enjoy the loyalty of major corporate clients that have allowed us to be exposed to complex, multidisciplinary, cross-border assignments, which has served not only as a challenge for professional distinction but also as an attraction for recruiting talent at the firm.

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

1. M&A: The expected growth of the Greek economy is likely to trigger significant M&A activity;
2. Corporate restructurings: An important number of distressed assets of strategic importance for all the sectors of the economy (Real Estate, Utilities, Hotels, Industrial Operations) is expected to attract investors’ attention.
3. Compliance: There will be increased demand for compliance services given that there is an increasing trend for regulation of all business activities. Key drivers are expected to be GDPR compliance, new corporate governance regulations and transparency tools (AML, KYC policies).

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

We have grown the scope of our legal services of the firm by welcoming new partners, Stathis Bakalis, George Venieris and Michalis Pattakos. Stathis Bakalis is a renowned expert in tax litigation and George Venieris is a highly acknowledged practitioner at the fields of personal tax and estate planning. Michalis Pattakos is an experienced transactional lawyer and is the co-head of our M&A practice group.

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

Definitely yes, and we aspire to always be ahead of any relevant technological developments, the most important of those being the gradual introduction of artificial intelligence in our practice. More specifically in close cooperation with our global network (Deloitte Legal) we intend to introduce AI in a number of our services in the near future.

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

We have played a leading role in the Greek market for compliance with the newly established GDPR regulation. In this respect we have assisted a number of leading domestic as well as multinational companies to implement policies and practices safeguarding compliance with the new legal regime.

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

One of our key strategies is to create and reserve long-term client relationships. Notwithstanding the fact that we are a relatively newly established law firm, we have already managed to create solid client relationships across the entire spectrum of industries in Greece and this will be one of the key drivers for our growth plans.