Despite the challenging times witnessed by the Indonesian legal industry since the outbreak of the pandemic, smaller law firms have punched above their weight in terms of work handled and services delivered. In its annual list, ALB is spotlighting 10 such firms which have overcome obstacles and continue to make an impact on the market.
The list is in alphabetical order and some firms have been profiled.
Armila & Rako Law Offices
Established in 2017, Armila & Rako Law Offices has three partners, including managing partner Eva Armila Djauhari, and a total of 17 fee-earners. The firm recently opened an office in Bali and has also recruited three junior associates.
Armila & Rako provides a comprehensive range of legal and professional services for clients – both local and international. These include public and privately held companies, large and emerging businesses, as well as public sector entities. While the firm focuses on corporate and commercial matters, the principal industries that they represent include energy, mining, electricity, oil and gas, plantation and forestry, infrastructure, financial technology, consumer products as well as other manufacturing industries.
The firm says that its objective is to provide timely and cost-effective solutions in contracts and transactions. Knowing the clients, their businesses, their industries, their goals, and even their competitors is how they are able to provide comprehensive yet practical legal solutions for clients.
According to Armila & Rako, the revenue of the firm has been steadily increasing at a rate of around 20 percent per year, surpassing $1 million in 2020.
The firm’s strategy is to focus on human resources as the biggest asset of the firm. Moreover, it believes that inclusiveness, togetherness, commitment towards all the clients and making the best use of technology, is the main formula for its growth.
Regarding Armila & Rako’s plans for the next 12 months, the firm says that they envision growing rapidly despite the pandemic and expanding their practice areas and targeting more established companies as clients.
DKMS Lawyers
a member of One Asia Lawyers Network
DKMS Lawyers was established in 2013. Currently, the firm consists of 12 fee-earners including two partners.
The firm’s major practice areas include corporate and commercial transactions and infrastructure and energy projects. Yet, the firm also serves client in other areas such as banking and finance, employment, property and real estate, intellectual property rights, and litigation and dispute resolution.
Since its establishment, DKMS Lawyers has advised numerous clients in various industries. Some of the notable assignments include but not limited to representing Batam Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam) on the expansion of the new Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam through a public-private-partnership (PPP); representing BP Batam on 3500 Litre per second Water Supply Project; counselling the National Planning Boards in delivering outline business cases for a number of PPP projects such as street lighting project in East Java, marine research project, bus stations in Lampung and East Java province, ducting project in Bali and prison project, also in East Java; and representing a number of Waste-to-Energy (WTE) developers in initiating their WTE projects in several regions.
A key member of the firm is founding partner Donke Kahfi, who tries to keep
innovating and improving the business for the firm. He is also responsible for work relating to major infrastructure and energy projects.
Another key member is managing partner Ryan Mandela, who looks after the internal affairs of the firm and is responsible for most of the retainer clients as well as safeguarding the corporate commercial works.
Besides them, the firm is also guided by of counsels Ruth Hannah Simatupang and Marlindah JA Sumampow.
Talking about the firm’s growth strategy, DKMS believes in cooperation instead of competition and upholding trust principles. The firm also believes in maximising the benefits of media which they will start developing, public appearances and utilising the power of word of mouth.
Karna Partnership
Karna Partnership was established in April 2020. Despite being only a little over a year old, the firm already has seven fee-earners including three partners.
The firm’s main practice includes general corporate and commercial, mergers and acquisitions, company restructuring, capital markets, venture capital/private equity deals, digital economy and emerging growth businesses, content and entertainment, and commercial dispute.
From the firm’s establishment, it has represented more than 70 clients and deals to date. It provides legal services to entities of any size, in any stage of development, from burgeoning start-ups to large public companies as well as to one of the ministries in the Republic of Indonesia with various scopes of assistance. Its services range from the general scope of advisories to transaction-specific assistance both from buying-side and selling-side (or investor-side and investee-side) and litigation.
It was involved in some notable cases. It represented a client in the acquisition of one of the biggest gym chains in Indonesia. It also represented a foreign investor in negotiating a waste to energy public-private-partnership project with a regional government, as well as representing a client in restructuring shares ownership in a public company. The firm’s sport and entertainment practice is also attention-grabbing. It has been advising a sports team, which is an affiliate of one of the most growing entertainment groups in Indonesia, and provided commercial-legal assistance to a movie production team.
Karna Partnership regularly represents clients in their business operation and expansion -whether through partnerships, investment, or divestment.
It has been representing some venture capital and private equity firms on their fund structure and capital disbursement activities. The firm also has delivered advisories in digital economy financial services. The firm aims to go beyond providing legal solutions and compliance by helping clients craft powerful strategic ideas that are supported by strong legal foundations to achieve their business goals.
Partners and co-founders – Rizki Dwianda Rildo, Alvin Saptamandra Suryohadiprojo,and Aditya Bagus Anggariady – are the key members of the team. “We believe that the ability to manage our clients and employees are keys to our growth. As a young firm, we want to deliver as much and valuable as we can, but we have to acknowledge our strengths and challenges. Therefore, our approach to clients is to avoid ‘over-promise' but ‘underdeliver’, so we have to manage their (and our) expectations. As for our team members, especially during this pandemic we still have to prioritise productivity but never disregard empathy and health,” the firm says.
Despite the unpredictable situations that prevailed last year, and which still remain, the firm recorded a 52.02 percent growth revenue in the first half of this year (January 2021 – June 2021) compared to the second half of 2020 (June 2020 – December 2020).
THE LIST
|
ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS |
|
ADREM LAW FIRM APRILDA FIONA HENDRONOTO SOESABDO LAW FIRM ARMILA & RAKO LAW OFFICES BRAVA & RIZA ADVOCATES BUDIDJAJA INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS DKMS LAWYERS FITRISYAH WINATA & PARTNERS FKNK LAW FIRM HARVARDY MARIETA & MAUREN ATTORNEYS AT LAW KARNA PARTNERSHIP LATIEF & CO NURJADIN SUMONO MULYADI & PARTNERS RESOLVA LAW FIRM SIREGAR & DJOJONEGORO UMBRA |
To contact the editorial team, please email ALBEditor@thomsonreuters.com.
