The inaugural CIS Local Counsel Forum was held in Kiev in June 2006 and was the first ever wide-scale meeting of the international legal community with the best Local Counsel law firms from the CIS economic region, representing Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Since then the CIS Forum has evolved into an informal network of managing and senior partners of CIS law firms, meeting annually in different venues chosen by the delegates. The second CIS Local Counsel Forum was successfully held in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 20-22, 2007, hosted by the prominent Azeri law firm Fina LLP, which demonstrated perfect organization and offered extraordinary hospitality to the Forum's delegates.
The Forum meetings bring together more than 130 leading business lawyers from 30 countries, with an approximately equal split between representatives of the international legal community and of the CIS legal community. The delegates share the Mission of the Forum - "Bringing together the CIS and international legal communities with the aim of creating joint business opportunities and long-term cooperation". This Mission reflects the 21st century reality, in which global investors view the CIS countries as a broad and dynamic economic region with intertwined business connections and comparable legal systems. The motto of the Forum is "Know Your Local Counsel - Recognize an Opportunity".
Zafar Malikov, Managing Partner at “GRATA” Law Firm and Zhibek Karamanova, Lawyer and Representative of “GRATA” Law Firm in London, took part in the Forum and met with the representatives of the leading law firms participating in the forum; partner firms and those interested in launching joint projects in the Central Asian region.
