Interview with: Kyriacos Scordis, Managing Partner

What do you see as the main points that differentiate SCORDIS, PAPAPETROU & CO LLC from your competitors?

At SCORDIS, PAPAPETROU & CO LLC we like to excel especially when the going gets tough; whether it is dealing with acrimonious (local or international) disputes, difficult M&As or handling challenging client affairs in difficult times. At present as the global economy is being hammered by Covid-19, clients will seek to engage lawyers who can meet the challenge. I strongly believe that the breadth and depth of our firm’s expertise coupled with our energetic and adaptive teams and ethos sets us apart and allows us to be a forerunner in any challenge.

We align the services of our firm with the demands and interests of our clients. We are innovative and we have the capability, resources and willingness to embrace new ways of doing things for the benefit of our clients in changing times. This has proved to be a winning formula in extraordinary times, such as the period of dissolution of the Soviet Union, world economic crisis of 2008-2009 and the banking crisis which ensued in Cyprus in 2013. We are confident that it will continue to be a winning formula during this Covid crisis.

Our firm is small by global standards but has a global perspective. This allows us to get intimately involved with and to understand our clients’ business in depth whether big or small, local or international and to use our size, flexibility and expertise to our clients’ maximum advantage. Our core characteristics are an individual client-need-adapted service and a relentless commitment to advance our clients’ business by providing solid solutions with loyalty and respect. We focus our service on things our customers value, we build strong cooperations, and we innovate in the pursuit of client success.

Thus, we have built and provide a multi-disciplinary practice in house, as well as collaborate seamlessly with other professionals (service providers/ bankers/ professionals in industry) both in the local and international markets with the aim of tackling problems and providing a comprehensive professional all round service to our clients in a world where artificial divides separating services/industries are becoming increasingly blurred.

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

At the moment there is a focus on Covid-19 affected areas (such as shutdowns / compensations / damage mitigation / labour law issues) but we expect that this will continue in the post Covid-19 era when businesses will need to adapt to the new market demands and needs, such as:

Distressed Asset Sales / Financing

M&A in the retail sector

Dispute Resolution (especially to address supply chain disruptions / business failures)

Debt restructuring

Nationalisations / Governmental bailouts

Labour disputes / employment law

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

Increasing use of technology, both in terms of communications, collaboration, work ethics and security. Technology has allowed us to develop synergies and pool and utilise our knowledge base more effectively. In addition, we are following the international trend of multi-disciplinary practices and have put together multidisciplinary teams or created multi-disciplinary task forces / collaborations both locally and on an international level. This allows clients to engage us on a one-stop-shop basis in relation to various tasks, and have the benefit of unitary, uniform and synchronised response to their affairs and requests.

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

Technology, in all its forms over the last few decades, is a concept that is well understood by our firm and implemented at a very early stage. We welcome and embrace new technology and processes, whether it is automation, computerisation, digitalisation or artificial intelligence. Access to data driven information has been fundamental to the way that our firm functions in order that we have access to faster data and information analysis. We continuously adjust our sevices with technology at the core for the benefit of servicing our clients, often possessing services and tools before our clients have implemented equivalent solutions.

As an example, in response to the Covid-19 crisis we rolled out our business continuity plan that included off site operations and remote access, equipped many of our staff (not only key persons) with portable devices, enabled remote access with enhanced security safeguards and robust online collaboration tools. At the same time, we approach technology with requisite respect, paying particular attention not only to the benefits but the risks preferring trusted, robust solutions that are secure and adhere to industry best practices as opposed to open source or cheap and untested alternatives.

At the same time technology has made the availability of public source information more accessible to both lawyers and clients alike. In turn, accessibility has also meant that clients are more focused / knowledgeable and more demanding in their requests, who in turn are more appreciative of law firms such as ours with the breadth, depth, specialisation and expertise to handle such more- informed requests.

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

Part of our daily routine involves adding value to our client’s matters. For example, in a labour law case involving a very well-known Cypriot financial institution, our advice to limit our client’s exposure to claims or demands, run counter to the advice of in-house and multiple external lawyers but was upheld by the Court when challenged with a resulting benefit worth millions to the institution as well as avoidance of public embarrassment in relation to what was a particularly publicity sensitive arrangement. Limiting exposure or extracting commercial benefits exist in all areas we advise on and represents one of our primary objectives, be it M&A, litigation, corporate/commercial, shipping, tax, intellectual property or others.

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

Basing a decision on a solid legal foundation is the starting point of any commercial decision. We therefore strongly recommend that clients involve their lawyers early on in any decision-making process, while at the same time advocating that any lawyer must remain independent and objective. Obviously it is not for lawyers to comment on commercial strategies or to take commercial decisions, but the engagement of an experienced and seasoned lawyer, who combines the benefit of g a strong legal background and experiences in the sector can and often does allow the identification and rectification of issues, or changes of strategy and commercial direction earlier and more effectively (in all respects) than a less proactive approach (of only engaging a lawyer once a problem arises).

In the aftermath of Covid-19 and the resulting market shock, as well as the inevitable cost and budget cutting, we see our firm consolidating its client base and securing more engagements from clients who wish to have solid and reliable advice from lawyers they can trust and who can draw on the benefits of a wide multi-disciplinary practice. We also see a further consolidation of the sector, as well as the inevitable collapse of practices who are over-reliant on particular sectors of the economy.