Adriala is a unique business law firm alliance for the South-East Europe that is distinctive in its approach to clients from any other local law firm or legal network.
Adriala is established by 8 independent premium law firms covering 9 jurisdictions. Adriala provides a full range of legal services across all major industries, sharing the same vision and having the same ambition to deliver measurable benefit to its clients.
WHERE WE WORK
Law firms operating in Adriala network effectively cover the Balkan region: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. Additionally, Adriala law firms have offices in these 10 cities:
Banja Luka, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, Sofia, Tirana, Zagreb.
WHAT WE ARE NOT
Adriala is not a typical law firm alliance. All Adriala law firms are indigenous and independent law firms. This is a huge advantage due to 3 good reasons:
- We know local business and we understand local culture. Most importantly, we do not intend to leave. In short, we are here to stay; the stakes for us are high and we have zero room for mistake.
- We do not believe that strength lies in numbers; however, they may come in handy. We are proud to say that for international projects we can at any time mobilise over 200 lawyers, and thoroughly cover 9 jurisdictions. No local law firm can even come close to this.
- Being independent is a major factor in ensuring quality control. Instead of expansion from one centralised headquarter; we focus on delivering locally while ensuring the highest quality of service in jurisdictions where we operate.
Adriala is not a typical legal network. It took us a great deal of time to come up with a structure that would effectively overcome potential deficiencies of being a typical legal network. There are 3 main characteristics that make us different:
- AII Adriala law firms have the same strategic orientation towards international projects and clients with measurable track record in being very successful in this type of projects. Adriala is designed as an effective vehicle for this type of work across the Balkans.
- We have worked very hard to reach the level where we can proudly say we act in a unified manner. The client may expect aligned quality, terms and delivery throughout the network. The direct benefit from this is that we can ensure one-point-of-contact for the client.
- All Adriala law firms adopted unified terms and policies, similar to those found with leading international law firms, and aligned with EU and local regulations. We believe we are the only network which members have the same (to the extent possible) policies such as “Know-your- client”, “Anti money-laundering”, “Anti-corruption”, “Data protection” etc.
OUR VALUES
“Innovation through emphasis on healthy communication and bespoke service.”
In each firm, organizational structure is fundamentally different from what you would find in local markets – each firm is a premium player in a respective jurisdiction, rather than a ‘commodity’ provider.
Each firm has an organizational structure unique in its jurisdiction, which is one of the reasons why highly sophisticated clients choose member firms for the most challenging legal assignments. What sets us apart from our competition is that the legal teams are mostly composed of highly experienced senior lawyers. In addition, although we have specialized departments, expert practice groups and regional desks, one specific partner always serves as the main point of contact for a client. This rule is applicable regardless of the type of work, geographical spread or mandate complexity.
”Added values derives from multifactorial analysis – something that other firms find intimidating; no aspect, regardless of how seemingly negligible, is overlooked.”
We are not conventional lawyers – we consider both legal and non-legal aspects of our clients’ business.
We do not ignore financial, strategic, operational, organizational, and other non-legal aspects of our clients’ businesses. Many of our lawyers hold business degrees alongside their law degrees, having learned the “tricks of the trade” from domestic as well as prestigious international universities. Some of our lawyers have held managing positions with prominent international companies, while others have worked as partners at leading international and domestic law firms. Individual members of our teams have held executive positions in the public sector as advisors and decision-makers. Finally, we utilize the assistance of respected scholars, university professors and former Supreme Court judges who are engaged on an ad hoc basis when necessary. This “eclectic” team composition makes us truly different in the market, and enables a thorough understanding of our clients’ business, ultimately allowing us to provide valuable, practical assistance.
“Substantive simplicity = clarity of understanding.”
Blackberry Rule: We do not speak or write too much – we give clear advice that you can actually use.
Our principle is to provide concrete, concise, yet comprehensive legal advice and solutions that our clients can use and implement in their business. We apply the “Blackberry” rule whenever we can. By that we mean that the client receives a “yes” or “no” answer, and if the legal situation is unclear, the client can always rely on our advice when making important commercial decisions.
“Instant gratification is an asset in the business world.”
Time is money – maximum efficiency is a requisite.
Time is precious. In business, time is money. We fully understand this. Our business approach is that the client should never have to wait for the answer. Our organizational structure of senior lawyers with considerable experience and knowledge allows us to prioritize adequately, avoiding unnecessary and time-consuming research, essentially leading to efficient results in the form of quality answers.
“Benefit-cost ratio (BCR) should always be greater than expected.”
We measure the ‘value for money’ ratio, keeping it as high as possible.
We quantify cost-effectiveness as the extent to which our service has achieved its results at a lower cost compared with alternatives. We share the same philosophy with our clients, in that shortcomings in cost-effectiveness occur when the service provided is not the lowest-cost alternative or approach to achieving the same or similar outputs and outcomes.
Our organizational structure allows us to be extremely cost-effective – providing premium legal service without running into unnecessary overheads.