kw:public.logo_text

LEADING LAW FIRMS IN ESTONIA, LATVIA AND LITHUANIA MERGE AND ADOPT COMMON NAME TARK GRUNTE SUTKIENE

13.09.2010

On 10 September 2010, the partners of the law firms Tark & Co in Estonia, Grunte & Cers in Latvia and Sutkiene, Pilkauskas & Partners in Lithuania signed an agreement merging the three firms into a single, fully integrated law firm named Tark Grunte Sutkiene, which now has over 80 lawyers practicing in offices located in Tallinn, Tartu, Riga and Vilnius.

The aim of the merger is to jointly strengthen the position of the firm in the rapidly integrating Baltic legal market. The merging law firms have been intensely integrating their practices already for years.

“I started one of the first private law practices in the Baltics, Tark & Co, in 1991 and today I am proud to be a member of a truly integrated law firm in the Baltics. The merger is the result of an organic process which started back in 2004,” commented Estonian Managing Partner, Mr. Aare Tark.

Continuing global economic integration increases the need of corporate clients for high-quality legal services with respect to cross-border transactions, commercial and regulatory matters and complex disputes. The sizeable and smoothly functioning joint work of teams within the new firm helps to meet growing demands of its clients throughout the region.

Tark Grunte Sutkiene core values are clarity, speed and precision. The firm aims at providing its clients with premium quality care and service and these values are shared by every member of the firm’s team that now numbers over one hundred persons.

“Although we have worked in cross-border teams since the very beginning of our cooperation, our new organisation is made up of practice groups consisting of lawyers from Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian offices. All three firms had very strong M&A, banking & finance, corporate, regulatory and dispute resolution practices. But together we are much stronger,” said Latvian Managing Partner, Mr. Ivars Grunte.

Mrs. Eugenija Sutkiene, Managing Partner in Lithuania, who started the Vilnius office of McDermott, Will & Emery, a major US firm which was the first private law firm in Lithuania, added: “We are very satisfied that we made this bold move and that the integration distinguishes us from the brand franchises we commonly see in the market. We have invested a lot of energy in unifying services, adopting consistent quality standards, integrating processes and cross border transaction procedures to become one firm.”

With over 80 lawyers practicing in offices located in Tallinn, Tartu, Riga and Vilnius, Tark Grunte Sutkiene is one of the largest and most experienced law firms in the Baltic States. The firm will continue its long term strategic cooperation with the largest Belarus law firm, Vlasova Mikhel & Partners.

Fact sheet:

• The firm is a full-service commercial law firm with proven strengths in transactions and dispute resolution;
• Over 80 attorneys, including 15 partners;
• Total staff over 100;
• Offices in Tallinn, Tartu, Riga, Vilnius;
• Services are provided in Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, English, Russian, Polish, Finnish, German and French;
• Tark & Co was founded in 1991;
• Grunte & Cers was founded in 1992;
• Sutkiene, Pilkauskas & Partners was founded in 2003 on the basis of McDermott Will & Emery, a US firm operating in Lithuania from 1991 till 2002;
• In 2008 three law firms founded TLS Alliance, a Pan-Baltic business law partnership;
• Tark Grunte Sutkiene is in strategic cooperation with law firm Vlasova, Mikhel & Partners in Belarus.

Back  |  Disclaimer