Karanović & Partners, the leading legal practice in the region of Southeast Europe, has more than 100 cooperating lawyers in Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia. They all work together as a single team and that is the secret of their success
We have an obligation to invest in our people, in the continuous exchange of knowledge, a top educational programme and targeted training, in order for us to be able to provide the optimal support to our partners and the security, stability and predictability of their business ideas – notes Darko Jovanović, a senior partner at Karanović & Partners.
At the start you only had a vision of creating a world-class team, while today that team really exists. What is among everything that has marked the past 25 years?
A vision is certainly important, but it is actually a framework that can remain as nothing more than an idea without serious planning and commitment. And that’s why the last 25 years have been marked by precisely that – lots of planning, work and dedication. Behind us stands a lot of effort invested in understanding the business context and needs of clients, plenty of commitment to quality, the creating of a team of cooperating lawyers in Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia brought together around a common system of values, alongside the understanding of our engagement as representing opportunities to help our partners, but also the community and environment in which we live.
How did the Karanović & Partners legal practice become a regional leader? What’s the secret?
Being in love with what we do and the idea that we can make our cities, villages and region a better place for us all. It certainly seems that we’ve succeeded in forming a really wonderful team of colleagues in the previous period, which creates among all of us an additional obligation to continue investing in our people, in creating the best possible environment for their further professional and personal development, to enable the continuous exchange of knowledge, a top-notch educational and targeted training programme in order for us to be fully prepared to provide optimal support to our partners and essential protection, stability and predictability of their businesses.
We will all require lots of energy, patience and endurance, because the pace of change in the coming years will be incomparably faster than it was a quarter of a century ago
What do you think the next 25 years will look like and what will this period bring you?
It is interesting to consider how we viewed the world in February last year, what kinds of plans we had and what changes we had to the rules of the game. This experience confirms to me that we must be adaptable, even more serious in planning and more flexible in those plans themselves. Our calling also really implies the constant monitoring of economic and business trends, adapting and seeking ways to respond to the challenges placed in front of us and create the conditions that are essential for the development of business and our economies. It is clear that, in the coming years, the pace of change will be incomparably faster than it was 25 years ago. We will all require lots of energy, patience and endurance.
We will, of course, continue our investments in people, in the smart digitalising of work processes, in optimal analytical and IT infrastructure, in order for us to still be here in 25 years to help all those who want to do business, invest and live in these areas of ours.