IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

CONTEXT AND TRENDS Over the last 12 months the Greek legal market has been characterised by unprecedented flux and transition. "The storms of change....

CONTEXT AND TRENDS

Over the last 12 months the Greek legal market has been characterised by unprecedented flux and transition. "The storms of change...we are at a new dawn, we must learn to adapt to survive" says one partner.

Fears of an imminent Greek exit from Europe subsided when pro-bailout parties successfully formed a government following the second national election in six weeks. "For months we were holding our breath" explains one partner "returning to the drachma was economic suicide...we all knew it. At least with political stability we can stop standing frozen, just waiting. Where we are moving to no one knows but it's better than wait-and-see."

2011 and the first half of 2012 saw firms turn to the raft of restructuring and insolvency work. For a few of the leading firms this involved working on the Europe's first and the world's biggest sovereign debt-restructuring deal of €206 billion, which was finalised in February 2012. "As a citizen I am devastated of course but as a lawyer this is monumental. We were working every hour in the night to deliver a solution for Greece. The pressure was unbelievable. I didn't see my family. I didn't eat. The future of Greece was hanging in the balance" explains one partner.

As illiquidity remains the main theme in the Greek market, Greek banks have found it increasingly difficult to provide financing to corporations. Or as one partner explains: "There is no money so yes capital markets is dead. Of course M&A is dead too – even distressed work. There is no corporate service left. We are really having health issues here."

The most active firms are those with foreign clients as one partner explains "In terms of deals taking place there is no such thing. The new finance minister is right though, we are very marketable but it is a matter of political will and there are a lot of conflicts of interest between financial groups and rich and powerful families in Greece who are trying to bank on the current situation. Everyone has a personal agenda and it is tragically shortsighted. For example with privatizations, concessionaires are trying to block transparency."

Two areas that have remained buoyant despite the turmoil are renewable energy and the shipping sector. "One of the few sectors that Greek banks are still able to finance is renewable energy projects that have power purchase agreements with the PPC (Public Power Corporation)" explains one lawyer.

Meanwhile, the leading five firms have been "incredibly busy" working on privatisation mandates which were shared among them (in accordance with specialism) by the Greek state. The Greek government incorporated the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) which privatises through the structure of a Greek Societe Anonyme (limited company). With a life span of six years this program aims to raise approximately €50 billion of funds, in an attempt to decrease Greece's deficit. The first stage of unbundling has all but finished and now firms have moved onto stage two."This is where the fun begins" explains one partner "whether there are buyers and finding them is the next challenge, and it is a political hot potato too. To who[m] do we sell off most of our country?"

Other partners are more optimistic, especially in light of recent political calm. "We had an awful lot of interest but until investors know we are staying in the euro they will hold back…many of the big US funds and not just vulture funds are phoning up and asking questions. They are serious. We have some very good companies and business here."

The legal market has remained remarkably versatile and resilient throughout the economic turmoil and this is due to the presence of a less specialised legal culture than that found in larger jurisdictions. "We are not experts in only one area...Greek lawyers have a multidisciplinary approach and so are more flexible and robust to the changing demands of the market," says one partner.

Under austerity rules Greece committed to a thorough overhaul to improve the efficiency of the commercial community, the political system and the courts. This has meant rapid changes in the law and provided a wealth of regulatory and advisory work for the top Greek law firms. "They are churning out new laws and regulations every day. It's crazy. You can't just make up the law this quickly without mistakes and big problems...so we amend the amendments...regulate the regulations. It's crazy," says one partner.

Greek lawyer's tend to agree that austerity measures have "a positive side" in forcing through structural reforms aimed at the improvement of Greece's business environment, service markets, labour and the judicial system.

One change to the Greek legal market appears to be evolving from within the firms themselves, a process described by one partner as "a long overdue move away from the antiquated family firm notion." Another partner agrees "you don't get Mister Clifford Chance or Mister Allen and Mister Overy. Of course not because Mr Overy might a bon vivante and Mr Allen a dilettante and Mr Chance stupid or lazy and it would be rubbish and wiped out generations ago by market forces."

One leading firm has taken this approach further by refusing to allow partner progression to relatives, which a senior partner joked "has greatly annoyed my son".

Many however still support the family firm model, as a system more suited to the small Greek market. Either way, through a combination of strategy and circumstance things are evolving. The death of a number of senior founding figures in some of the top firms has forced a re-organisation towards the partner model. The move away from the appearance of nepotism and the "inevitable corruption of quality and talent" some say this engenders has been underway for years, first signalled when the firms dropped lists of surnames in their title in favour of an acronym.

Each country in Europe is looking to Greece to understand its own future and fate. Successful elections have stabilised the political and economic landscape and one partner insists "we will survive. Everything will be used up and contracted and there will be no jobs but we will survive...we are lawyers."