Everything you want to know about «DE-JURE»: the interview with the founder

The law firm “DE-JURE” is turning 14 years old — and this is at a time when not every private business can last more than a year, let alone during a full-scale war. If “DE-JURE” were a person, it would have received its first temporary passport! On the occasion of the holiday, managing partner, attorney Hryhoriy Trypulsky, recalls how it all began.

Why law? Is it a family story?

• The 1990s were a strange time in Ukraine, when the importance of education was being leveled. There were no lawyers in my family, and I got an idea of ​​the profession from movies and TV shows, where lawyers always looked confident and solid. Looking ahead, I will note that in life our work is not so bright and romantic — although not without interesting situations that are not shown in the movies!

How did you come to open your own law firm?

• At the beginning of my career, from 1998 to 2010, I worked as a lawyer in another company, and later decided to open my own business and invited colleagues from my department. At first there were only three of us, but they believed in me and agreed to the financial terms. There are different types of lawyers: some are more comfortable working in a stable law firm and always have clients, while others are more ambitious and ready to take risks. The colleagues I started the business with, and a few who came later, have now organized their own companies, but we parted ways peacefully and with mutual respect. Today, DE-JURE is the best because we have the best team that is ready to work and win.

Where does the name come from?

• “DE JURE” means “according to the law,” and it may seem like a very typical name for a law firm. But in fact, it is the one we are most recognizable for.

Why did you think that everything would work out with your own company? After all, it is a very competitive market…

• My advantage at the beginning was that I already had anchor clients who ensured our payback. In addition, I considered and consider myself a good specialist. And I worked out the experience of managing a law firm through my own mistakes — at least it was interesting. By the way, one case that we are conducting has been going on since 2010: we are defending a client whose property the prosecutor’s office is trying to seize.

What are you proud of?

• Of course, an important achievement is that for several years now, DE-JURE has been included in the TOP-50 leading law firms in Ukraine and is one of the leaders in the Odessa region. To put it in perspective: there are several thousand law firms in our country, and this does not include private lawyers who work for themselves.

What does DE-JURE specialize in?

• Currently, our leading areas are corporate law (business support), litigation, and real estate. However, DE-JURE employs specialists in all major areas of land, labor, family, medical, military law, etc. We keep abreast of the latest legislative updates and promptly inform our colleagues and clients about all innovations.

Regarding recognition. What interesting things have you heard about yourself?

• There was once a story when disinformation was spread about us in all the major publications and media. It was said that my real name was Zhora and that I was a drug dealer back in school, and that the company “DE-JURE” was involved in a fraudulent scheme to evict pensioners from their apartments together with a registrar whom I hardly knew. Needless to say, it had nothing to do with reality, and then I found out that the whole campaign was led by a person who… had the wrong address and believed that “DE-JURE” was trying to take her assets. That person later realized that we had never had any dealings with her, and apologized.

Why is it better to contact a reputable law firm than a private specialist who will charge less?

• Turning to DE-JURE is the certainty that the case will be brought to an end, and the lawyer will not disappear after changing his phone number. Our motto is guaranteed adequacy, decency and professionalism. That is, we do not involve the client in disputes and other situations that he does not need, and sometimes we even refuse to take actions that will harm him. For example, once we had to prove to the client that a multi-billion dollar contract with an African company was a fraud, despite the fact that he was ready to pay for the lawyers to travel to Africa and draw up the contract.

How much does it cost to contact a company from the TOP-50 leading law firms of Ukraine?

• We have market prices, that is, legal services always cost less than the potential benefit that the client will receive as a result of protecting their rights. Our price list does not depend on the client’s wealth. I will say more: often those who have less money are paid better than conventional VIPs. There were those who gave their last money to the penny in advance, and very wealthy people did not pay a few hundred dollars extra.
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