The Legal500 EMEA 2020 ranks INTEGRITES in all 12 practice areas and grants Tier 1 to Energy and Dispute resolution. Three practices – Employment, International trade and Private clients – enter Tier 2 of the ranking from the very first submissions. Six practice areas prove their established positions and remain among the leaders of the national legal market.
This year Energy practice at INTEGRITES joins the leading teams in the field in Ukraine and obtains Tier 1. The ranking notes that the team has been increasingly active in energy matters, with expertise in the renewable energy sector and the wind power market. Oleksiy Feliv, Managing Partner and Head of Energy at INTEGRITES, is recognized as a Leading Individual. The team’s efforts in supporting large-scale projects in renewables are highly appraised by the clients who say:
‘They are able to not only support the contract negotiation but to guide us in the Ukrainian energy industry’
‘The team’s capacity to work at an international level makes them very valuable for our company’
‘At different layers and branches we had same professional treatment with individuals being available 24/7 with 100% of their attention on clients’ cases and needs, which raises the bar for sure’
INTEGRITES Dispute resolution practice joins Tier 1 to become a distinguished leader in Ukraine. The ranking highlights the size of the team and its growing presence in both domestic and international cases accompanied by the expansion of the client base with large Ukrainian companies and foreign investors.
The ranking mentions ‘high standards, accuracy and diligence’ of the firm, as well as its ‘proactive thinking and responsive approach’. For several years in a row partners Olena Perepelynska and Dmytro Marchukov have been recognized as Leading Individuals and Counsel Serhii Uvarov – as Rising Star in this area. The team receives extensive positive feedback:
‘Olena Perepelynska is definitely the best arbitration practitioner on the Ukrainian market with very good negotiation skills and strategic thinking…’
‘Olena Perepelynska is very active in the arbitration practice and has achieved a lot. She is well known and appreciated by her peers’
‘Dmytro Marchukov is vastly experienced and thinks outside the box’
‘Dmytro Marchukov stands out with his eagerness to help and creativity in developing practical and commercially sensible solutions’
‘Serhii Uvarov is definitely a rising star who is involved in both litigation and arbitration. He is a name to remember’
This year the firm’s Commercial corporate and M&A team improves position by moving up into Tier 2. The ranking mentions the expansion of the team together with the head of practice Illya Tkachuk and growing workload in M&A, corporate advisory, governance matters and JV transactions. The team advises international companies from energy, pharmaceutical, construction, healthcare, retails and IT sectors. Clients appreciate efforts of the team giving the following feedback:
‘The team is highly commercial and has provided sound advice not only on legal matters, but also on negotiations and managing relations to sellers and their advisers’
‘What makes the co-operation special is that the firm becomes a real business partner, whose perspective is broader than just a legal opinion’
‘We have worked with Illya Tkachuk and his team for many years. He has strong legal knowledge and he is very proactive and innovative. This helps us in finding the best business solutions’
Notably, Employment, International trade and Private client teams at INTEGRITES obtain Tier 2 from the first ever submissions.
Employment team reinforced its capacity after Partner Illya Tkachuk took the lead. The firm handles share options and benefits programmes, redundancies, dismissals, employee transfers and trade union negotiations. Clients note that the firm is ‘very efficient and always quick in providing clear answers’.
International trade receives recognition together with its head and firm’s Counsel Sergey Lakhno who is a Leading Individual in this field. He frequently acts for domestic companies in protecting their interests in foreign markets. He also increasingly advises foreign companies on doing business in Ukraine. One client highlights that he ‘has diverse and extensive experience in the field of international trade law’. The firm’s key area of expertise is anti-dumping investigations.
Private client practice at INTEGRITES led by Viktoriia Fomenko and Dmytro Marchukov, experts in tax and litigation respectively, is recognized by the ranking as Tier 2. The team handles domestic and cross-border litigations, asset tracing and recovery, estate planning, personal tax and investment structuring for high-net-worth individuals.
Six practices at INTEGRITES confirmed their well-established positions from the previous year by obtaining Tier 2 for Banking, finance and capital markets, Competition, Tax, White-Collar Crime, Real Estate and Construction and Tier 3 – for Intellectual Property.
The ranking mentions the expansion of Banking, finance and capital markets (Tier 2) team and its input into high-value project finance matters for sponsors in the field of renewable energy. Oleh Zahnitko, Partner, is recognized as a Leading Individual. One source says: ‘Oleh Zahnitko has profound knowledge and expertise, which allows him to provide sound guidance and recommendations in the best interests of the client, while maintaining goal-oriented attitude’. Olena Savchuk, Senior Associate, is recognized as Rising Star. ‘Olena Savchuk is a very diligent lawyer with a well-developed professional track record, including several complex and unconventional deal structures’. The ranking also mentions input of Igor Krasovskiy, Partner, into practice development. Clients say that he ‘understands what we need in terms of style of advice and key issues, and he is both professional and highly competent…’
Competition (Tier 2) team at INTEGRITES handles merger clearances, concerted practices, abuse of dominance investigations, unfair competition cases, competition litigation and regulatory matters. The ranking mentions Serhiy Shershun, who is ‘a true professional in his field’, and competition dispute and enforcement expert Vyacheslav Korchev. One source says: ‘The interests of the client and their unconditional protection are the main principles of the firm’.
Real estate and construction practice is in Tier 2 for a solid portfolio of high-value real estate and construction matters stemming from the active energy and natural resources department. The practice is strong in land issues, construction matters including EPC contracts under FIDIC standards, as well as advises on commissioning, permitting and regulatory issues. Oleksiy Feliv is recognized as a Leading Individual together with Gennadi Roshchepii, Counsel, who is recognized as Rising Star in this practice area. The team receives the following feedback:
‘Integrites stands out among other law firms because of its industry specialisation and solid experience in energy. The firm provides professional legal advice in an efficient and amicable way. I would recommend the firm to companies looking for a legal partner with exceptional expertise and portfolio’
‘The lawyers are reliable, positive, devoted to their work and very experienced’
‘The team handles complex projects in quite a skillful and balanced manner’
‘Oleksiy Feliv is a very knowledgeable real estate expert, probably the best in Ukraine lawyer in real estate’
‘Gennadii Roschepii is a knowledgeable and client-oriented associate in the real estate practice’
The ranking recognizes Tax practice at INTEGRITES (Tier 2) with the newly promoted partner Viktoriia Fomenko who leads a sizeable practice that handles advice on Ukrainian tax and customs legislation, international tax structuring, tax and customs disputes, transfer pricing and compliance. Tax team is among pioneers in the field of transfer pricing, having played a key role in one of the first disputes in Ukraine related to the application of transfer pricing methods. The team also advises new clients on entering the alternative energy market, which requires sophisticated tax and customs advice.
White-collar crime practice at INTEGRITES is recognized as Tier 2 for representing corporates and their officers in cases of tax evasion, fraud and other offences. Partner Oleksandr Onishchenko leads the practice which acts predominantly for international companies in such key industry sectors as retail, agriculture, aviation, energy and natural resources.
Intellectual property practice of the firm demonstrates consistent development obtaining Tier 3 this year. The team focuses on copyright disputes, trade-mark infringement, audits, pre-trial and court proceedings, and internet-related matters. Senior associate and practice head Dariya Ganzienko is particularly experienced in domain name disputes, she represents both plaintiffs and defendants in trade mark and copyright infringement cases.
*The Legal500 is the world’s leading legal directory providing comprehensive performance analysis of law firms in more than 150 jurisdictions. The research is based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading private practice lawyers.