B.C. Toms & Co.
We have written numerous articles on Ukrainian law, including as the principal author of the ICC book “Doing Business in Ukraine”, which are available to clients.Please contact Bate Toms or Taras Dumych if you would like to discuss our services. We are always pleased to consider a matter at length on a no-obligation basis to determine whether we may be of some assistance.B. C. Toms & Co is a multinational law firm of Ukrainian and Western lawyers specialising in Ukrainian law. We were the first Western law firm to open a Kyiv office, having focused our practice on Ukraine at its independence in 1991. Our Firm has a broad corporate, tax and litigation law practice. We have handled the legal work for many of the largest commercial transactions and most important lawsuits in Ukraine, and are now among the largest Law firms in Ukraine.The principal areas of legal practice of our firm include:- project finance- corporate and investment Law, including handling corporate acquisitions and other investments, as well as establishing subsidiaries and joint ventures- banking and securities taw, including loans and other bank financings and all types of secured transactions and capital markets transactions- tax advice (including for international tax planning) as well as tax litigation- real estate, including acquisitions, sales and leasing and commercial and residential property development- litigation and arbitration- construction- oil and gas and mineral law, including for exploration, development, production, pipeline and refinery projects- electricity regulation- telecommunications- environmental law- privatisation- antimonopoly law- trade law, including structuring barter transactions- bankruptcy- labour and immigration- administrative law- franchising, distribution and sale of products- intellectual property lawOur Firm prepares, for example, joint venture agreements, oil and gas joint activity agreements, production sharing and license agreements, construction contracts, project financing documentation, private placement and syndicated credit agreements, real estate purchase documentation (including for exchange transactions), leases and corporate acquisition, agency, distribution, franchise and licensing contracts. We can also assist with practical commercial advice on how to set up a Ukrainian subsidiary or joint venture.Legislative and administrative practiceOn behalf of our clients, we often intervene before government ministries and committees. We are also involved in legislation and Legal reform. In addition. from time to time, our lawyers have acted pro bono as special counsel to Parliamentary committees to assist with law reform projects.COMMITMENT TO OUR CLIENTSResult directed, timely serviceOur legal practice is based on our commitment to client service. We organize our practice in teams around our clients to respond to and understand fully each client's needs. We efficiently deliver timely work and keep clients regularly informed of our progress on a matter.QualityWe are committed to quality. This has earned us a widely-known reputation for quality in Ukraine based on the consistently high quality of our work. We practice law in the same way as the best legal practices in London and New York. All of our work is appropriately supervised. Junior lawyers do not "train" without guidance on assignments. Instead, we involve senior and junior lawyers so as to achieve the most cost-effective mix of expertise consistent with high quality legal services.TeamworkOur Firm practices law as one unified team, composed of the over-lapping teams that are responsible for particular clients together with our other legal specialists. We are not a collection of individual fiefdoms which happen to practice law at the same address, but rather a closely unified team developed through many years of practicing together.InnovationUkraine's legal system contains many inconsistencies and other special problems as it quickly develops, which make many types of transactions particularly difficult. We do not leave clients ignorant of these special problems, and we do not just tell our clients what they cannot do.Instead, we pro-actively find innovative solutions for our clients. For most of the special legal risks presently inherent in Ukrainian legislation, we have or can develop solutions. Over the years, starting in 1991, we have introduced Ukraine to many forms of documentation that have since become commonplace as well as created innovative litigation strategies. We can provide many examples of such solutions.ConfidentialityOften our clients bring to us extremely confidential matters, for which secrecy is essential for success. Everyone in our Firm is committed to the integrity of our practice and, thus, to keeping each client's business completely confidential. We carefully protect this confidentiality, with measures such as 2-4 hour security services and strict control of access to our offices by third parties.Our firmOur Firm was founded by Bate C. Toms, a lawyer with substantial previous experience practising in the US and Western as well as Eastern Europe. He studied Soviet Studies at university and law at Magdalene College, Cambridge University and Yale Law School, from which he graduated in 1975. At Yale, he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. Prior to establishing the Firm and handling, initially, a project financing for one of the largest European companies, Mr. Toms was a partner in the London office of one of the largest US based multinational law firms. Our other western lawyers have similar backgrounds, and our Ukrainian lawyers have all graduated from leading Ukrainian law schools, with excellent academic records and significant study or practice abroad, usually in the UK or US for one or two years on Chevening or Muskie Fellowships, before being trained in Ukrainian legal practice by our Firm. In Kyiv. our offices are located in a landmark building in the heart of the central business district.Our clientsOur clients include many of the largest multi-national companies and banks, as well as international and multinational organisations, foreign governments and their credit guarantee agencies, smaller companies focused on Ukraine and some significant individual investors.Due diligence and information servicesWe often undertake due diligence examinations, including on a preliminary basis to evaluate potential business partners. In connection with our legal practice, we can usually develop useful, practical information, as needed, to help guide our clients for their business in Ukraine. This practical guidance can sometimes be essential to make the best use of our legal services.We can litigate to back-up our adviceWe have one of the most active and successful litigation practices in Ukraine, including in appellate practice before the Supreme Court of Ukraine. In recent years, for example, we have succeeded in obtaining the removal of over USD$ 20 million in tax and related claims and penalties against western companies and their Ukrainian subsidiaries and affiliates. Given the many legal loopholes and problems with Ukrainian legislation, as it develops from the Soviet period to respond to the present needs of a market economy, it is essential in Ukraine for any significant investment not just to have legal documentation and advice of the highest quality, but also to be able to rely on this advice in the event of a dispute. Our advice is backed up by our capable litigation team.

practice areas

Administrative LawAgricultural LawAlternative Dispute ResolutionArbitrationBanking LawBankruptcyEnergyEnergy RegulationEnvironmental LawGovernmentGovernment RelationsInformation TechnologyIntellectual PropertyIntellectual Property LicensingLitigationMergers and Acquisitions and DivestituresMining and MineralsNatural ResourcesReal EstateTax PlanningTaxation

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