ABOUT THE COMPANY
The law company “Stepanovski, Papakul and partners Ltd.” was set up in the autumn of 2006 as a union of professional lawyers who had been working for more than 13 years in the law company “Apices Juris Ltd.” and individually. Today the personnel of the company comprises 17 lawyers. 

ALEXANDER STEPANOVSKI, Managing Partner, Director
In 1992 graduated from the Law Faculty of the Belarusian State University with specialization in economic law. Additional education: management course at the British Open University, 2000, finances course at the British Open University, 2002. Member of the Board of the Belarusian Public Association of Commercial Lawyers (BelPACL).

TATSIANA IGNATOVSKAYA, Partner, Head of Commercial Practice
Graduated from the Law Faculty of the Belarusian State University. Additional education: Master’s program at the European Humanities University (Vilnius, Lithuania) with the specialization in the international and European law." From 2006 - a Member of the Adviser Board of the Belarusian Professional Association of Commercial Lawyers (BelPACL).

A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
Alexander Stepanovski: for a start we should clarify the meanings of notions. Lawyer and legal adviser are two absolutely different concepts. Young people who come to us for an interview are frequently unaware of it. To work as a legal adviser in a company and as a client advisor in a law company makes a huge difference. A legal advisor works for only one client – the employer himself who, by the way, is entitled to high quality services. But it is another job. In a law company we don’t just sell our expertise, we render services to clients. For many it comes as a great surprise: will I really render services?!
Staff lawyers are to deal with staff tasks, that is, domestic issues. Unlike them, we tackle situations which are standard for us and not so standard for our client. Let’s assume that a dispute has occurred and the domestic lawyer does not know how to resolve it; in such cases the company turns to us for help. Another example: someone wants to acquire someone else… For them the situation is nonstandard, for us it is a habitual, at times even routine job.

“THOSE “IN SEARCH” ARE NOT FOR US”
Tatsiana Ignatovskaya comments: all applicants for a position in our company should meet standard requirements. We need competent employees who can work with clients on their own and employ modern standards of service in their work. They should have a minimum of three years of experience. Also they should either have a certificate of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus enabling them to render services to clients or be ready to take a certification exam when coming to us. According to the Ministry of Justice it is an obligatory requirement for those who want to render professional legal services. Applicants should also possess a good knowledge of our market. And be thorough in details. As little as a missing letter in a document can compromise your professionalism. A bore at work is not necessarily a bore in life.
Today the problem of shortage of good lawyers really exists. Considering it we came to a conclusion that we don’t need people who are in search of a job. All the CVs which can be seen on the famous tut.by website or elsewhere regularly reappear. People who place them there are quite known as a rule. They are either those in the “grey” market section who are seeking clients for a partial load or those who can’t settle anywhere and are in constant search.

A.S.: I wish working in our company could first of all give pleasure. Personally I do find pleasure in it. I get great pleasure from work and practically always – from communicating with my colleagues and clients. A colleague of ours should strive to be the best in what he does and at the same time fit into our internal and external relationship rules. He shouldn’t be only a professional; he should clearly see the tasks lying ahead of him, he should see his mission. The client is not knowledgeable about jurisprudence and tries to resolve his problem with our help. He can’t assess our professionalism, first of all he judges from the external factors: the way we communicate, the way we put him in the picture, handle his problem, from how polite we are and from the way we are dressed. All those factors influence the assessment of our activity. A lot of applicants do not understand it.

The more successful each of us is the more successful we are all together. Everyone should know how to work in a team, how to work with a client and how to work for the career!

We are ready to teach everything to those whose interest for the work is authentic even if they lack professionalism. Willingness is the key factor. If you realize it is not your cup of tea, if you are not interested – look for something else.

AS GREEN AS GRASS
T.I.: More than three thousand lawyers annually graduate from the universities of our country. I can’t assert that there are no talented or potentially successful lawyers among them. Undoubtedly, there are, still they need good practice and additional training. We take part in the project of the Republican Student Legal Olympiad on the basis of the Law Faculty of the BSU and I take pride in it. This event gathers the best students of the Republic. All the same, the problems are evident: the students don’t know the professional terminology, the Belarusian language, they are at times narrow-minded. In order to improve the situation we took part in master classes held in the framework of BelPACL for the BSU Law Faculty students. It does not matter to us whether they will come to work with us, or will be intelligent public officers with dynamic thinking, or our colleagues whom we will see in front of us during judicial proceedings or negotiations.

A.S.: Abundance of lawyers – lack of specialists! The problem of training of lawyers is quite acute. I agree our theoretical basis is good, however, the serious gaps in professional education concern basic things. In fact, students just don’t understand that a number of subjects are the basis of their profession and they MUST know them and MUST attend them. A colleague of mine once told me a professional joke about the first question asked at an interview which was: “What is a transaction?” – the answer to which can be found in the Civil Code. 80% of the applicants after answering this question are told “thank you for coming” and “good bye”. As a rule, the students don’t have an insight into the importance and value of the basics of civil law. As far as the level and essence of the question are concerned few students know well enough the basic professional theory, let alone the practice. Students graduate from universities without having a slightest idea about, for instance, how to draw up and write a document, unlike European or American law students who study the subject “legal writing” for several years as one of the majors. There is no clear distinction between specializations in the course of studying.

EХPERT IN… HORSES
A.S.: Lawyers who want to achieve a lot in their lives, who live by their work, see goals and ways of their achievement in front of them will succeed without fail. It is possible in our profession, and not just in Belarus – abroad, too, even without legal education. Our numerous colleagues who went abroad made brilliant careers becoming partners of international law companies.

To be not just a successful lawyer but an in-demand lawyer one should be a real expert in the sphere of one’s specialization. Today the number of such spheres is so high and the legislative basis for them is so developed that the demand for narrowly focused experts is great. Achieving a certain status, gaining the image of a unique expert, a lawyer can get to the height of his career.

Here’s an outstanding example. At a foreign conference we were told a story about a lawyer who specializes solely in transactions with… horses. He knows these animals and transactions with them through and through. At first we treated it like a joke – he wouldn’t have many clients! – and then we looked up on a website what he charged for his services… The hourly prices were incredibly high. It’s indisputable that the more narrowly specialized a lawyer is the fewer clients he has, but at the same time the more valuable his consultations are. Certainly, it’s impossible to become a millionaire rendering legal services in Belarus. However, abroad it’s quite realistic. But lawyers there work from 12 to 16 hours a day – that is a norm in our profession. It is the only weak point of our job but we were initially ready for it and now we’ve got accustomed to work like that. Professionalism is a bit of professionalism and a lot of work!

MAKING A CAREER IS NOT A BAD THING
T.I.: Some of our colleagues think that if you start working for a law company you lose yourself as a lawyer, as an expert who develops his individual skills, that you lose your name and work anonymously for this company. Far be it from that! Quite the contrary. Working for a company which has established a good reputation one gets a possibility to develop and “build up” one’s name: where there is a will, there is a way. A company is a platform for participation in any projects and events. I’ve been working as a lawyer for 12 years and I’ve worked for quite a long period individually. But then I realized: however professional one might be as a lawyer, however valuable might one’s professional consultations be major companies will never work with individual entrepreneurs – private legal practitioners. Such companies seek law firms which are recognized on the market (and by reliable international ratings, too), then, they take into consideration the length of service of the firm and its experience in certain projects.
The professional growth of our colleagues is extremely important for us and we welcome ambitious people. Making a career is not a bad thing, at least in our business and in our Company where we attach great importance to relationships. We do our best so that a person coming to us could see a real goal for himself/herself: we offer him/her a position, a worthy salary, prospects for career growth up to participating in partnership. Undoubtedly, to become a partner our colleague should work hard and develop his skills, practice a lot, seek new Clients and help younger colleagues.
Being an experienced lawyer I realize that professional and career growth are directly connected to one’s interest in the job. If one has this interest if the lawyer can see his/her goals he/she stands a good chance of making a good career. I believe that it is working in a law company that offers one the best platform for making a career. It is a widespread opinion, at least. In any case what matters is the goal you set and what sacrifices you can do to achieve this goal. Only people whose hobby and job correspond should work in a law company! And when they cease to correspond one can start working as a legal adviser at some company.