The legal firm “Counsellor” (Sovetnik) was founded on 8 October 2004, but the main group of lawyers working at the firm now has formed earlier, during team work in legal offices.

From the moment of it’s incorporation, the firm had a goal not only to provide consultations to legal persons on particular legal issues, but to provide the whole range of services in field of legal accompaniment of business activity. Due to this concept of work, the firm earned authority in business circles of Russia, and now is one of the leaders on the market of legal services.

Experienced and educated collegues are working at the firm -lawyers, economists. The stuff of the firm is contrantly increasing. Now 12 collegues are working here, including 10 lawyers and 2 economists.

We are espessially proud of our rich legal library which has been collected during several years, and now is constantly enlarged. There are official publications of state agencies of the Russian Federation, training, scientific, methodical literature on different legal fields, economy, accounting, etc., books of local and foreign legal academics, including works of russian pre-revolutionary civil law experts. Besides, we have quite a lot of original and translated materials concerning foreign legal doctrines and systems.

Privatization

Providing legal support during privatization of state enterprises into open joint stock companies. The Company drafts the necessary documents, supports and coordinates these documents with appropriate governing state agencies in the Russia. Our Company cooperates with the Ministry of Economics, which is the main state agency dealing with privatization in Russia.

Corporate Law

The Company consults the clients in the field of incorporation of joint ventures, enterprises with foreign investments, local companies. The Company acts in the clients’ interests in industrial, trade, banking sectors of the russian economy. Besides, the company provides the clients with full legal support in incorporation and further activity of representative offices of foreign companies on the territoty of Russia. The Company also represents interests of its clients in re-organization process, merger, division of enterprises and their liquidation. Sovetnik consults its clients on questions regarding conduct of shareholders’ meetings, participants’ meetings, drafts the necessary documents, coordinates these drafts with the state governing and executive bodies, if necessary.

Trade Law

The company has a huge experience in consulting clients on trade law. Lawyers draft trade contracts, including international, provide consultations on issues of usage of payment instruments, represent clients’ interests in the course of conclusion of contracts and perform control for their performance in due order.  During a calendar year, our lawyers examine about 3000-4000 contracts of our clients.

Taxes

The company provides consultations on all range of issues related to taxation of enterprises and individual enterpreneurs. Lawyers represent clients’ interests in the course of examinations by tax agencies of our country, have huge experience of court proceedings on recovery of taxes and application of measures of tax liability. In this field our company has a very good connections with the Ministry on Taxes and Collections of the Russian Federation, which always allows to obtain answers on clients’ questions which are not regulated by the legislation.

Customs Law

Sovetnik provides consultations to its clients regarding customs registration of goods, rules of import and export, and application of different customs procedures. The company is always ready to recommend its clients a number of licenced customs agents who always would help to perform the customs registration on practice. Sovetnik lawyers have a huge experience in participation in court proceedings related to violation of the customs legislation of the Russia.

Banking and Finance

The company provides consultations on issues of making international payments, practice of application of international means of credits’ security on the territory of the Russia. The company’s connections in the banking circles, established in 5 years, allow to provide our clients with the most beneficial means of financing of the projects they accomplish.

Securities

Sovetnik provide consultations to clients on issues of purchase and sale of large stocks of russian enterprises, including state ones.  Special and Anti-dumping Investigations of Non-trade Character

Pre-arbitral and Pre-court Preparation of Cases, Representation in the Economic Court

Sovetnik has a large experience in representation of clients’ interests in the course of court proceedings. We represent large companies, as well as minor enterpreneurs. Except court proceedings, our company practices application of extrajudicial means of dispute settlement that very often save our clients time and money. Lawyers of the company has experience not only as representatives in the court, but as private arbiters. Motto of our company: “we do not only win cases, we secure execution of the court decision”.

Labor Relations

Russia is a country with strict system of protection of employees’ rights. In these circumstances Sovetnik has been working in the field of providing consultations to employers and maximum protection of their interests. We have experience in releasing personnel from their positions, dispute resolution in labour arbitration, extrajudicial settlement of labour disputes.

Participation in Drafting of Normative Acts

Experienced lawyers of our firm are often invited to draft legal acts. In particular, drafts of legal acts regulating investment activity, including foreign investments, issues of incorporation and activity of legal entities, etc. had been prepared with participation of our lawyers.