Three firms from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have come together to create a new pan-Baltic brand with over 40 lawyers.
Triniti is the result of the combined forces of Šarka Sabaliauskas Jankauskas from Lithuania, Latvia’s Treilons & Petrovičs and Estonian firm Tamme Otsmann Ruus Vabamets.
All three firms are currently reorganising their activities into cross-border practice groups after working together on a best friends basis for approximately five years.
“The general developments in the market cannot be ignored,” said Tõnis Tamme, an Estonian partner. “International investors see the Baltic countries as one region.”
“Speed and convenience become more and more important for serving our local and international clients,” added Latvian partner Anrī Leimanis. “Pooling the three separate firms and their teams into one cross-border legal brand guarantees that offices of each country turn into a one stop agency, regardless of which of the three countries the client turns to.”
The new venture does not operate a single profit pool at this stage, explained Tamme, adding that each will continue as an individual firm due to regulations.
“For our clients it won’t matter which door you knock on. The input and effort each firm gives to the alliance is more or less equal. All three firms are equally represented. The incoming work from the three different jurisdictions is in same proportion,” Tamme added. He said if the number of pan-Baltic clients increased, a full merger would be a possibility within the next five years.
“We will put our heads together and get this alliance working,” he said.
Šarka Sabaliauskas Jankauskas was founded in 1993 as Šarka, Sabaliauskas ir Partneriai. In 2003 the firm merged with a commercial law practice resulting in Šarka Sabaliauskas Jankauskas.The outfit specialises in corporate law, M&A, private equity, energy and IP.
Treilons & Petrovičs has eight years of experience in business law and focuses on pharmaceuticals, public purchases and corporate governance.
Tamme Otsmann Ruus Vabamets was created through the merger of Tamme & Otsmann and Ruus & Vabamets in 2009. The firm has expertise in M&A, dispute resolution, competition law and IP.
All three firms are members of State Capital Group - a global network of over 145 independent firms with more than 11,500 lawyers in nearly 450 offices around the world.
The move echoes that of the three members of Baltic alliance Lawin -Tallinn-based Lepik & Luhaäär, Riga’s Klavins & Slaidins and Lideika Petrauskas Valiunas ir Partneriai in Vilnius. In September 2010 they announced they were a step closer to a full merger after consolidating their management and creating firmwide practice heads (27 September 2010).
Other pan-Baltic firms include Sorainen, which has offices in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus, and the Borenius Group of law firms, which are represented in Finland and the Baltic states.
