Dmitry Afanasiev, Chairman of EPAM, took part in the first annual conference “Legal Business in Russia”, organized by Vedomosti, one of Russia’s leading business newspapers.

Among the participants at the conference were the heads of legal departments from major Russian and foreign corporations, including Pepsi Co, Gazprom, Aeroflot, Rusal; representatives of the world’s leading law companies, including Baker&McKenzie, Coudert Brothers, Lovells; and Russian law offices.

The central topic of the conference was the current state and future prospects of the legal services market in Russia. Among the issues discussed were: the demand for legal services in Russia; competition and cooperation in the legal market; foreign actors in the market; governance methods in a modern law firm; marketing of legal services, etc.
Dmitry Afanasiev’s report was titled “Patterns of Successful Business. Using the American Business Model in Russia: Partnership Structures, Billing and Compensation, Training of Lawyers”.

In his speech based on ten years experience of managing a law firm, Dmitry Afanasiev focused on the major issues that Russian and foreign law firms need to be aware of in order to operate effectively in Russia. He concluded his report by covering the thorny issue of ethics in the Russian legal market.

“First of all, I would like to thank Vedomosti for organizing such a wonderful forum and presenting us with the opportunity to take part in it. Such events give us a chance to share experience with our colleagues, and to discover something new, which is particularly important for the Russian legal market, since it is still developing”, D. Afanasiev noted.