08.45 - 09.30

Registration

Welcome tea & coffee

09.30 - 09.45

Opening

Akira Kawamura, IBA President

09.45 - 11.30

Plenary Session 1
A New Era for the Russian and CIS Legal Market

Panel Discussion

• How have recent economic and political developments affected the legal market in Russia and the CIS?

• What is the forecast for the next two to five years: optimistic, pessimistic, or cautious?

Moderator:

Vassily Rudomino, ALRUD Law Firm, Senior Partner (Russia)

Key Report: Russian and CIS Market in the Global Marker: Trends and Challenges

Alan Hodgart, Huron Consulting Group, Managing Director (United Kingdom)

Invited to speak:

Andrey Gorodissky, Andrey Gorodissky and Partners, Managing Partner (Russia)

Mathieu Fabre-Magnan, Salans, Managing partner of Moscow office

Irina Paliashvili, RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group, Managing Partner (Ukraine)

Sergey Pepeliaev, Pepeliaev Group, Managing Partner (Russia)

11.30 - 12.00

Coffee break (Conference Hall foyer, 2nd floor )

12.00 - 13.30

Plenary Session 2.1

Law Firm Partnership Structures for the New Era

Law firm partnerships are becoming larger and many firms are moving toward a pyramid organizational structure. They are also expanding to more locations.

• How are these structural developments affecting the operations, financial performance, and professional cultures of law firms?

Moderators:

Aku Sorainen, Sorainen, Senior Partner (Estonia)

Invited to speak:

Oleksiy Didkovskiy, Asters, Managing partner (Ukraine)

Oleg Makarov, Vasil Kisil & Partners, Managing Partner (Ukraine)

James Tsolakis, Royal Bank of Scotland, Head of Legal Services (United Kingdom)

Commentator:

John Cussons, Huron Consulting Group, manager (United Kingdom)

12.00 - 13.30

Parallel Session 2.2

Social Networking: Opportunity or Fad?

• What can social networking sites offer to law firms?

• Do sophisticated purchases of legal services really care about those tools?

• Should social networks be a major part of a law firm marketing or are they only secondary communication tools?

Moderator:

Olga Romanova, RATUM, Managing partner (Russia)

Invited to speak:

Olga Binda, RAPSI, Leading expert on operating with law sector (Russia)

Carole van Kesteren, Lustrous Law, Partner (The Netherlands)

Alexander Moskovkin, Ïðàâî.Ru, BD Director (Russia)

Eugene Shestakov, INTELLECT-S, Managing Partner (Russia)

13.30 - 14.30

Lunch (Veranda Restaurant 2nd floor )

14.30 - 16.00

Plenary Session 3.1. (Part 1)
Strategies for Law Firms in a Changing Economic Environment

How should law firms plan for sustainable success in a rapidly changing, and possibly uncertain, economic environment? What strategic planning concepts, methods, and tools have been most reliable? How should firms approach difficult questions such as:

• Staying strong in a niche or local market or embarking on broad-based expansion?

• “Strategic contraction” to control costs or aggressive investments to improve revenue?

• Remaining independent or merging?

Having made the tough strategic decisions, haw can law firms measure the results accurately and reliable as the firm changes to changing strategic challenges in the future?

Moderators:

Stephen Denyer, Allen & Overy, Global Markets Partner (Germany)

Alexander Khvoshchinskiy, Legal Stratagency, (Germany)

Invited to speak:

Denis Kachkin, Kachkin & Partners, Managing partner (Russia)

Peter D. Maynard, Peter D. Maynard & Co. | PPID, Managing partner | Chair (Bahamas)

Gianmatteo Nunziante, Nunziante Magrone, Managing Partner (Italy)

Irina Peskova, Civil Compensation, Managing partner (Russia)

Yuri Pustovit, Advocates Bureau Yug, Managing partner (Russia)

Mikhail Safarov, VEGAS LEX,  Director for Regional Development, Partner (Russia)

Tomasz Wardynski, Wardynski & Partners, Founding Partner (Poland)

In Part 1 of the discussion, we should focus on the following questions:

1) How would you currently define your strategy within 3 minutes? Use this opportunity to briefly introduce your firm. Conclude your presentation\answers in the short summary of your strategy within 3 sentences. Then do the same in one sentence.

2) How do you communicate your strategy (including your core values) to your team members (partners, associates other staff), as well as to your clients? In what form does this communication run? How do you make certain that your strategy and core values are truly shared by everyone involved?

3) How would you see the key strategic risks that your firm is facing now? What are the current ‘heads-up’? How do you prepare and manage these risks? What are your Plan B’ strategy, if any? In particular, do you give any consideration to the possible aftermath of ‘big ones’ in the world economy/politics for your firm (e.g. possible Euro failure, US debt crisis, any kind of possible new wave of ‘interregional springs’ in the CIS countries)? Would the ‘big ones’ have an impact on your strategy?

4) What indicators (or the groups thereof) do you regularly monitor in your firm so, that they would help assessing the implementation of your strategy? What do you do, if the indicators show that the strategy is not being implemented in due course: reconsidering the plans or revising the strategy?

14.30 - 16.00

Parallel Session 3.2

HR: New Battles in the War for Talent

The competition for talent in the new era is often more fierce that the competition for clients. This session looks at three focal points of the competition:

• Where do we find best talent?

• How do we persuade lawyers, business managers, and administrative staff that our firms is an attractive place to work?

• Do visions and values matter to the best candidates? If so, can they be communicated persuasively to a competitive, skeptical market for talent?

Moderator:

Yulia Meshcheryakova, Muranov, Chernyakov & Partners Law Firm, Organisational and Business Development Director, Member of the Board (Russia)

Invited to speak:

Hermann Knott, Luther, Partner (Germany)

Marina Lushechkina, Moscow State University Legal Department, Professor, Legal Insight, Deputy Editor-in-Chief (Russia)

Evaldas Rapolas, NORDIA BAUBLYS & Partners, Partner (Lithuania)

Andrey Sychev, VOLGA LEGAL, Managing Partner (Russia)

Alexandra Timoshenkova, Timoshenkova and Partners, Managing Partner (Russia)

16.00 - 16.30

Coffee break (Conference Hall foyer, 2nd floor )

16.30 - 18.00

16.30 - 18.00

Parallel Session 4.2

Business Development: Developing New Business Under Changing Market Conditions

How can law firms efficiently and economically achieve these critical, but difficult business development objectives:

• Identifying for what particular skill and knowledge the firm is known in the market

• Recognizing and anticipating existing and expected market needs

• Developing or strengthening of required substantive expertise with focus on relevant industries

• Building a credible track record of verifiable expertise

Moderator:

Tatiana Kamenskaya, Kamenskaya & Partners, Managing Partner (Russia)

Invited to Participate:

Ekaterina Gorchakova,  Allen & Overy, Head of BD & Marketing Department (Russia)

Irina Minulina, Baker & McKenzie, CIS BD Director (Russia) (TBC)

Felix Prozorov-Bastians, Graf von Westphalen, Partner (Germany)

Evgeny Solodko, Solodko and Partners, Managing Partner (Ukraine)

Dmitry Sherstobitov, Sameta, Director of Business Development (Russia)

18.00 - 18.30

Tie-Break Session

Stephen Denyer, Allen & Overy, Global Markets Partner (Germany)

Tatiana Kamenskaya, Kamenskaya & Partners, Managing Partner (Russia)

Alexander Khvoshchinskiy, Legal Stratagency, (Germany)

Yulia Meshcheryakova, Muranov, Chernyakov & Partners Law Firm, Organisational and Business Development Director, Member of the Board (Russia)

Olga Romanova, RATUM, Managing partner (Russia)

Aku Sorainen, Sorainen, Senior Partner (Estonia)

Vladislav Zabrodin, Capital Legal Services, Managing Partner (Russia)

18.30 - 19.30

Closing Reception