VILGERTS

The firm’s core focus is M&A. Our M&A team is continuously highly praised by both clients and peers in the marketplace. Our M&A team is highly specialised with rich experience and focuses on practical knowledge. We have assisted a breadth of clients across a wide range of different industries in the largest Latvian and pan-Baltic M&A projects to date. The team has a hands-on approach and will guide you all the way from the drafting of the NDA until Closing.

VILGERTS’ competition practice is recognised and highly demanded for its breadth and depth of experience, as well as solid track record of excellence across both non-contentious and contentious matters both locally and cross-border. The team regularly advises clients on all aspects of EU and local competition laws, with a particular emphasis on abuse of dominance, private damage claims, complex merger control proceedings, cartel matters, state aid, compliance and vertical restraints. Our highly experienced team has assisted clients on many high profile and complex cases before the local and EU courts, as well as before the European Commission and Latvian Competition Council. The team has a depth of practical knowledge in assisting and representing clients in cartel investigations before the Latvian Competition Council. We have extensive expertise in handling state aid cases, including before the European Commission and EU courts. The breath of our merger control experience extends to obtaining clearances from both the European Commission and Latvian Competition Council. We eagerly represent clients against the Latvian Competition Council, including litigation against unfavourable decisions. Due to our depth of experience and knowledge in handling complex competition matters, our clients enjoy a new learning curve every time. Our Competition team is recommended by WWL- a reputable international legal directory that identifies leading lawyers and law firms across various fields of legal practice. VILGERTS is proud to be recognized by Global Competition Review (GCR) as one of the highly recommended law firms in Latvia for competition law.

Corporate practice is more than knowing law. There are details that only practitioners are aware of. Our lawyers combine both academic and practical knowledge to provide clients with the best solutions in various corporate law matters. VILGERTS team’s work is highly rated each year in prestigious global legal directories such as Legal500 and Chambers & Partners. We assist clients with corporate governance, board responsibilities, reorganizations, shareholder rights, and other issues. We stand out in the market as a full-service corporate law team with significant experience and expertise to handle the most complex contentious and non-contentious issues.

Our banking & finance practice is renowned in the marketplace for complex non-contentious and contentious matters. We are notorious for acting on behalf of corporate clients rather than the banks.  Such an approach was chosen deliberately, and due to that VILGERTS’ banking and finance team is recognised in the private sector as a highly valued representative of counterparties in disputes with banks. The team’s daily workstreams generally involve non-contentious matters concerning, regulatory frameworks, licensing applications before the Bank of Latvia, financing or refinancing projects, leveraged buy-out financing projects, liquidation or dissolving of companies, financial or credit institutions, as well as the preparation for the enforcement of sureties. In recent years, our team has emerged as one of the market leaders in Latvia concerning private and public bond placements, acting on behalf of either issuers or bondholders in the Baltics, as well as frequently acting as collateral agents. Within the fintech sector, our team assists clients on matters generally concerning regulatory issues and M&A deals. Established financial institutions also typically engage our team due to an excellent track record in public procurement, GDPR and general litigation matters.

We help brokers and insurance companies mostly with contract work and disputes. We have developed in-depth knowledge of personal injury litigation and cargo insurance.

For example, we assist with: Insurance Disputes, Insurance Products Distribution, Marine Insurance, Life Assurance, Cross-border Insurance Activities, Insurance Contract Disputes, CMR Liability Litigation, Insurance M&A, Competition and Regulatory Advice, Portfolio Transfers, Cargo Claims & Defence, Public Procurement of Insurance Products, Regulatory.

Our expertise and invaluable experience stretches across a broad-spectrum of real estate & construction matters, being viewed by clients and peers as the go to firm in Latvia.

We assist clients on all aspects of high-profile and small non-contentious and contentious real estate & construction matters in Latvia and cross-border.

The firm’s real estate & construction practice is called upon daily by a range of different clients, including professional developers, private investors and equity funds.

The team’s blend of expertise across both contentious and con-contentious matters primarily covers new construction projects, disputes with construction companies and FIDIC-related matters.

The firm’s clients include the largest local and cross-border real estate developers & construction companies, large shopping malls, investment funds and insurers­. The firm also acts as collateral agents in the largest commercial property developments in Latvia.

For example, we assist with: Commercial Leases, Construction Contracts, FIDIC, YSE, Greenfield Investments, Office & Retail Lease, Real Estate M&A, Commercial Real Estate, Private Real Estate transactions, Detail Planning, Forward funding, Infrastructure projects, Planning & Zoning, Real Estate Project Finance.

We mostly act for corporates in early stages of employment disputes and we do litigate if the situation requires protection of our clients from unreasonable demands of the employees. Our assistance to HR departments is efficient, creative and immediately available.

For example, we assist with: Agents, Employment Contracts, Equity Incentives, Staff Outsourcing, Asset Management Outsourcing, Employment Disputes, Executive Compensation & Taxation, Trade Unions.

VILGERTS' Dispute Resolution team is recognized for being able to handle several high-profile cases with very efficient resources. Our goal is to help the client limit the exposure to risks and to reach a favourable outcome as quickly as possible. Team members also hold academic posts and regularly publish practice-specific articles. The academic background and team efficiency delivers a unique benefit for clients in complex litigations.

For example, we assist with: Administrative and Public Law, BIT / ICSID Arbitration, Competition Litigation, Employment Disputes, Insolvency, IPR Disputes & Litigation, Product Liability, Real Estate & Construction Disputes, M&A Disputes & Litigation, ADR, Class Actions, Commercial Arbitration & Litigation, Injunctions, Insurance Litigation, Multi-jurisdictional Litigation, Professional Negligence, Enforcement of Foreign court orders, Arbitration in Swedish Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Institute.

When business is not doing well, our team of lawyers are ready to offer scenarios for soft landing. We work for shareholders, management, suppliers of merchandise, banks and other creditors to save the business and protect the assets.

For example, we assist with:  Corporate Restructuring, Debt Restructuring, Cross-border insolvencies, Creditor Representations, Insolvency Litigation, Bank insolvencies.

Immigration matters are more than just legal procedures – our Immigration team understands the personal value of receiving rights for employment, residence and travel permits. With practical expertise and the relevant know-how, VILGERTS’ immigration team provides clear step-by-step support for our clients across such matters. Every case is treated individually and tailored to the needs of our clients and their families. 

For example, we assist with: Temporary Residence, EU Blue Card Residence, Annual registration process, Invitation Procedure, Permanent Residence, Visas, Change of employer, employment type, position or field for an ongoing Residence Permit, Approval for short-term Business Travel to Latvia via the LIAA.

VILGERTS Intellectual Property Rights team is widely recognized on the market for its high-profile litigation cases in the fields of trademark, patent and copyright protection, both at the national courts and also at the European Court of Justice.

Our team represents major domestic and international companies from various industries helping to develop protection strategies for their IP, to required registrations at national, regional and international level, as well as to protect the clients’ IP rights against violations.

For example, we assist with: Anti-Counterfeiting, Copyright, Designs, Litigation, Trade Marks, Broadcasting, eBusiness, Outsourcing, Brands, Database, IP Transactions, Patents, Advertising, Data Privacy, IT, Technology contracts.

Our team helps IT & Telecom companies with all kind of matters, including protection of intellectual property, GDPR, public procurement, employment and contract work. Our fintech and finreg lawyers are available. Our strength in related practice areas (public procurement, IPR, GDPR, competition law) has naturally created a base of clients from the media and entertainment sector. We act for local and foreign TV channels, cable companies, ticketing, internet and telecom companies, artists, opera and theatres in protection of the most valuable assets that they have – copyright, reputation and market share.

For example, we assist with: Broadcasting, Electronic Media, Data Privacy, IT Outsourcing, Software Licensing, Technology Transfer, eBusiness, Data Centres, Domain names, R&D Agreements, Software Protection.

VILGERTS' Dispute Resolution team is recognized for being able to handle complex Civil and Human Rights cases. Our goal is to help the client limit the exposure to risks and to reach a favourable outcome as quickly as possible. Team members also hold academic posts and regularly publish practice-specific articles. The academic background and team efficiency delivers a unique benefit for clients in complex litigations.