Services

Representation of clients in litigations is one of the elements that characterise J. Karklins’ Law Firm. Sometimes we are called court lawyers. The team has a notable and regular experience in representing clients in various litigations and arbitration proceedings. We represent our clients at courts of all levels in civil and administrative cases pertaining to most diverse legal disputes. We provide advice to clients on drafting applications and constitutional complaints to be submitted to the Constitutional Court, as well as represent their lawful interests in legal proceedings before the Constitutional Court. If after familiarising ourselves with a client’s case (factual and legal circumstances of the case) we become convinced that a positive outcome for the client is impossible to achieve, we consider it to be our professional duty to point this out at the very beginning, without wasting the client’s resources.

Our team specializes not only in representing clients before Latvian courts and arbitral institutions, but also in international arbitration proceedings. As parties’ representatives or legal experts, we have gained considerable experience before the most prestigious European arbitral institutions, including the Stockholm Arbitration Institute (SCC), the German Arbitration Institute (DIS), the Swiss Arbitration Centre (SAC), the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian CCI (the ICAC). We also provide clients with assistance in the recognition and enforcement of international arbitration awards.

About 95% of J. Karklins’ Law Firm’s clients are entrepreneurs, and therefore the Firm provides a complete range of legal services in company law (commercial law) to Latvian and foreign entrepreneurs alike. The Firm’s lawyers provide legal assistance in various stages of establishing and registering enterprises, convening shareholders meetings, in issues related to adopting and contesting decisions. We provide advice to clients with respect to various issues of business transactions, paying of dividends, acquisition, merging and reorganisation of companies. The Firm’s team has experience in successful litigations regarding issues of ownership of equity shares in raiderism cases, involving unlawful takeover of companies. Likewise, the Firm’s lawyers have extensive experience in resolving shareholders’ disputes, also in judicial institutions.

J. Karklins’ Law Firm’s team has extensive and comprehensive experience in representing clients with respect to immovable property related issues. The Firm’s lawyers have provided advice on issues related to acquisition and sale of immovable property, establishing, amending or revoking rights in rem, for example, of servitutes, dividing or joining properties, legal aspects of joint ownership, issues of property management, rent and lease. Likewise, the Firm’s team is knowledgeable in construction and environmental law.

The Firm’s team has successfully represented our clients’ interest both at the Competition Council and at court, and has also provided advice to clients regarding compliance of contracts with the European Union and Latvian competition law. The Firm specialises in issues pertaining to mergers of market operators and the procedure for drawing up reports and assessment related to it, prohibited agreements and concerted actions, abuse of dominant position, and unfair competition. The Firm’s lawyers have also provided advice to a number of companies by participating in drawing up internal regulations for ensuring compliance with competition law. We also ensure immediate legal support during searches of a company’s premises conducted by competition protection institutions.

J. Karklins’ Law Firm’s team has successfully represented interests of the state and of major Latvian municipalities, as well as interests of private entrepreneurs by providing advice on numerous major public procurements (also in relations with public service providers) in the fields of construction, development and placement of multimedia solutions, advertising, supply of fuel, provision of legal services, operational lease of vehicles, etc. We have provided advice to our clients – subjects of public law – in connection with organising procurement procedures, setting requirements to candidates or bidders, defining the economically most advantageous tender and abnormally low tender, amending the contract, as well as other issues.

J. Karklins’ Law Firm’s lawyers have long experience in drawing up international transport agreements, as well as resolving disputes that have arisen between the forwarder, the transport operator and/ or the recipient. The Firm’s team has been involved in and dealt with situations of complex legal nature in the field of maritime, air and rail transport. Due to our sizeable experience in transport area, we have among our clients not only Latvian, but also foreign transport service providers.

Since the Firm is specialising in commercial law, it has extensive experience in drawing up complex local and cross-border contracts and in aligning these with the other party, inter alia, contracts on company acquisition and sale, reorganisation, real estate development projects, and franchise agreements. We provide opinion on the content of a contract that has been concluded and on its impact upon an entrepreneur’s further commitments by modelling various development scenarios and provide advice on future steps to ensure maximum protection to the entrepreneur’s interests.

One of the areas that the Firm works in is providing legal-scientific opinion to entrepreneurs on various complicated disputed issues, finding all possible arguments that are available to the entrepreneur to reach the desirable outcome in the particular dispute. If a case requests an opinion with specific finding, but the Firm, having analysed the factual circumstances of the case, concludes that it is impossible, the Firm declines providing an opinion to avoid misleading the client.
The Firm has at its disposal extensive database of legal literature and case law, our lawyer’s proficiency in foreign languages allows basing the opinion upon authoritative findings of foreign legal doctrine and judicature.

J. Karklins’ Law Firm’s lawyers provide advice on all aspects in the registration, protection, acquisition and enforcing trademark law, inter alia, provide advice to clients on issues of patent registration and protections. Over the years the Firm has accumulates noteworthy experience in drawing up confidentiality and franchise agreements, agreements on transferring intellectual property, as well as in patent registration and copyright disputes. We also represent our clients in courts with regard to disputes related to intellectual property.

The Firm’s team provides advice on various issues of tax law. We advise our clients on the most optimum solutions for tax planning already during various stages of concluding legal transactions, provide advice to clients with respect to issues in applying VAT. We represent our clients in administrative and legal proceedings related to tax disputes and unfounded administrative sanctions applied by the State Revenue Service, tax surcharges. We help our clients in issues linked to required registrations and submitting documents to SRS, which includes preparing tax returns and dealing with other formalities.

Experts of labour law working at J. Karklins’ Law Firm provide practical and customised solutions for legal labour relationships. The Firm’s lawyers have substantial experience in drawing up employment contracts and various internal legal acts of employers (for example, internal company regulations, rules on confidentiality). We provide assistance in resolving various labour disputes, which includes issues related to termination of labour relationships and reinstatements, inter alia, we regularly represent parties in pre-trial procedures and litigations that are linked to legal employment relationships. J. Karklins’ Law Firm has been the advisor on issues of legal employment relationships to numerous prestigious and recognisable employers for many years.

The Firm’s lawyers regularly represent our clients’ interests in connection with various non-contractual infringements, including damage to property, compensation for lost profit, cases of personal injury, which has caused harm to life, health or liberty, and other complicated tort cases.

The Firm’s team is specialising in issues related to legal insolvency protection, i.e., drawing up creditor’s claims, representation in disputes involving insolvency administrators, representing clients at creditors’ meetings, identifying contestable transactions, drawing up applications for legal protection, out-of-court legal protection proceedings. The Firm’s experience also includes organising insolvency proceedings of natural persons. There is not a single insolvency administrator on the Firm’s team; therefore the Firm’s lawyers ensure even better and more unbiased rights protection.

The Firm has provided advice to a number of credit institutions, providing opinion and also training lawyers of credit institutions in resolving various legally complicated issues. The Firm’s Partner has served as the expert invited by state institutions on issues pertaining to various aspects of legal regulation on credit institutions, including restructuring of banks.

The Firm’s lawyers have extensive experience in resolving legal disputes pertaining to the area of insurance, which includes representing the interests of insurance companies and policy-holders. The Firm’s Partner has served as the expert invited by state institutions on issues pertaining to issues of insurance law.

The Firm’s team has noteworthy experience in providing legal advice in complex construction projects, including drafting of contracts, from construction conception up to commissioning of the project. The Firm’s lawyers have represented clients in various construction related disputes both in out-of-court and judicial proceedings.

The Firm’s lawyers provide advice to clients on matters of administrative law and administrative procedure law. We draw up applications to contest and appeal against an administrative act adopted by an institution, as well as actual actions taken by an institution. We represent our clients’ interests in administrative proceedings in institutions and before courts.