Kordzadze Law Office, one of the leading law firms in Georgia, has been given the Golden Brand award for the fourteenth time.
Throughout its history, Kordzadze Law Office has gained a reputation as a reliable, ethical and highly professional law firm.
In this interview Zviad Kordzadze, the managing partner and attorney at Kordzadze Law Office, talked about what led the company to this unchanged recognition from over 100 experts and 2,000 customers involved in the Golden Brand survey.
Q. This year is the eighteenth Golden Brand award ceremony, and in which Kordzadze Law Office has won a fourteenth time. How have you managed to keep this recognition for so many years?
A. Victory in this category has become a tradition for Kordzadze Law Office, although obviously this victory does not come automatically. This is the result of the hard work of the office’s employees, each lawyer year after year, and we are happy that our work is appreciated.
Q. Golden Brand is given to the companies following the previous year’s activities. Please summarize 2022.
A. 2022 was significant and peculiar not only for business, but for humanity in general, as it was a year of complete liberation from the pandemic. Last year it became obvious that in 2023 business would also return to pre-pandemic levels.
Our business depends on the inflow of investments into the country, how much the businesses need legal services, etc. When there are no investment activities, there is no need for legal services.
Like many other companies in Georgia and the whole world, we also faced difficulties during the pandemic; with a crisis situation and nothing happening in the world, investors tried to save money and were less engaged in business, so the work of lawyers also decreased.
2022 was important for our office as a very interesting new niche was identified — medical law, in particular services related to assisted reproductive technologies, including gamete donation and surrogacy, which is led by firm partner Nino Bogveradze.
Q. What are your expectations for 2023?
A. Expectations for 2023 are positive, we think that business will become more active, and more people will need legal support. We have several ideas we’re planning to put forward. We want to offer several new products to the market, which I will not talk about in detail now, but I will tell you that the importance of these products is in their uniqueness.
Q. Your legal work is connected to a number of high-profile cases. How difficult is it to work on similar cases in Georgia, when in some cases you actually have the government as the “respondent” party?
A. There is only one thing that causes cases to become public — when proper justice is not done. This is what distinguishes high-profile and non-high-profile cases, otherwise it requires the same effort from the lawyer.
At such times, there are contradictions that are not related to law, and this is the biggest complaint against the court. It’s when someone games the system and places themselves above the law.
Speaking of our office’s high-profile cases, I cannot avoid mentioning the Khazaradze-Japaridze case. The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into possible money laundering on 2 August 2018, summoning TBC Bank’s founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze to charge them with laundering $16,754,000. Last year Khazaradze and Japaridze were found guilty of fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison by Tbilisi City Court, but due to the statute of limitations their prison time was waived.
Even in that situation, the result was a great success and achievement. It is difficult, but we are not going to stop even at this satisfactory result, and if we run out of leverage within the framework of Georgian justice, we will use the leverage of the European Court of Human Rights. By the way, I would like to mention that the mood of the client is very important in this whole process. When they are willing to participate in such a long battle, it is an additional incentive and tool for us, lawyers, to successfully complete the case.
Q. The use of modern technology in the justice system — what do you think about this issue? How realistic is it that artificial intelligence will one day replace the lawyer’s profession?
A. In general, people perceive everything new as a threat. Ultimately, those who do not perceive technological innovations as a threat use them as a means and move forward accordingly. Back to your question, I don’t think artificial intelligence will ever be a threat to the legal field, and I have arguments for it. It will be an additional tool, like the internet, Google, etc. It will simplify the performance of technical operations.
It is certainly a very useful aid in the process of giving form, sorting, and searching for evidence, but artificial intelligence will never replace the process of making decisions in jurisprudence. A process in which the moment of subjectivity is important, which is related to emotions, inner beliefs and such sensations that are characteristic of a human being. Certain professions will no longer exist years from now and will be replaced by artificial intelligence, but lawyers and judges cannot be replaced by any technology.
Q. Kordzadze Law Office has been actively involved in art support and various social projects for years. What is your company’s involvement in similar projects, and in general, what is the company’s charity strategy this year?
A. Our support to theaters is visible because these theaters always announce us as a partner in presenting performances; and we are engaged in other social activities, such as pro bono cases. Still, I don’t think it’s right to use it for PR. The office will continue such activities to the best of its ability.
One thing I can say is that it is very important that the beneficiary people or groups are correctly selected within the scope of the social responsibility activity and that the aid is directed correctly and not to serve only PR. For example, we cooperate with non-governmental organizations who know people’s needs and give us the right direction. In general, sympathy towards other more vulnerable groups is very important and we must remember that if we want to be part of the European community, this is the benefit and advantage of this community.
