The world became so small even before the pandemic. We’ve seen trends of exodus to and from different countries, especially after the Marx’ era vanished. For us, humans, it can be traumatic to strongly believe in something or someone and then watch how that faith crushes down right in front of us. We also like to think that we are very different. Be it born in the middle of New York or somewhere in an Eastern European village. We like and tend to believe that our country was the worst, that our politicians were more corrupt, that the country we were born in was just unbearable. We like to consider ourselves as victims, because that’s probably the only role model we’ve encountered in our “homes of origin” when in fact these are just crucibles that each of us has to face and they are nothing but life circumstances that help us grow. I also believe that we are more prone to be influenced than our ancestors because we are not in tune without our family of origin, for many different reasons. And I say that because I myself sometimes wonder about where it is ok to feel at home in New York, so far away from where my family of origin lives. You may wonder what this intro has to do with Virtual Law in the Eastern Europe? Well, look at law as the family of origin. It is an amalgam of traditions, values, history; all of these which makes law so hard to break. And the breaking I am referring here has nothing to do with the idea of demolishing the roots, but more like making room for growth. Because we were told that things have to be done in a certain way, we became afraid to act, to change the status quo and stay vulnerable throughout that process. What the Pandemic did to the law, and not necessarily in the Eastern Europe, because I came to believe that Americans are as conservative; it made it vulnerable and vulnerability is that space that allows the light to get through. Our research on Russian’s legal market proved us the obvious, which means that it remained stable. In my view, stability in the light of the most current events does not associate with something positive because we all know how much change was needed. Despite that, the market’s need for embracing digital transformation came to fruition and law firms and Russian courts adjusted successfully to working remotely. Additionally, the tech sector remained a main source of work for firms across a wide range of practice areas, including corporate and commercial law, tax, competition and IP. In Russia, the pandemic fueled an increased demand for restructuring, while the employment teams were busy dealing with the vast breadth of matters thrown up by the pandemic. We’ve also taken some time to look at Ukraine and how lawyers in this East European country embraced this time of extreme diversity. We did see, what was expected, that lawyers have encountered issues relating to working remotely and having to make quick decisions about which work to put on hold during this part of the pandemic. If in the US, for example, the transition to remote work meant significant expenses cuts, hence lower legal fees, in Ukraine it happened quite the opposite; we’ve actually seen an increase in the legal fees. The good side of that is that, the pandemic promoted lawyers to make greater use of the internet and different online networks. Additionally, they’ve practiced creating their own channels in the social network.
The development of practices associated with the pressures of law enforcement and fiscal authorities on Ukrainian business reaps stable profits. Additionally, in their search for new markets, law firms have actively tried to engage in non-traditional practices, not limited to representing them only in criminal proceedings. This very small act tells us that Ukranian legal professionals responded rather than reacted in the light of the adverse events, which gives me hope that now more than ever, we are ready to embrace the "change". This change brings the need for boutique firms to develop associated practices such as judicial, tax or criminal. Additionally, they will have to provide the closest possible work with clients, which will minimize or eliminate the need to transfer their clients’ cases to outsourcing. Change is here and is happening. Are you embracing it, rejecting or being suspicious about it? If yes then what are you afraid of?
by Galina Barbascumpa