Advocacy is a family profession in “Sardaryan Brothers” Law Office. According to the founder of the company, Karen Sardaryan, the Head of the Chair of Theory of Law Department at the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University, only universal advocates work in this office. Mr. Sardaryan also said that “Sardaryan Brothers” law firm wins 90 percent of the total cases. What is the secret and what are the principles to which this office keeps? Details in the regular interview of the “Armenian Law Firms” series.
Mr. Sardaryan, please, introduce “Sardaryan Brothers” Law Office.
Our organization is called “consigliere” which means a consultant. We decided to take this name on the assumption that consultancy had a large place in the content and volume of the work. The company opened 4 years ago.
How was your office founded and what activities do you perform?
The organization was originally founded by us: the two brothers and our current Director Vahe Mnatsakanian. My brother Arsen Sardaryan and Vahe Mnatsakanian have graduated from the course of Armenian-Russian Slavonic University and were my students. I have been working in the law department for already 9 years, first as a Dean and currently I am the Head of Chair of Theory of Law Department. Initially, the idea to open a law office was stipulated by the organization of the practice/internship of the students. I was considering this issue as a dean, a professor and chair of the department. I had the aim to establish a professional structure which will provide services, ensure income, as well as solve the problem of the practice/internship of the student. And this is the explanation of circumstance that our current partners are the graduates of Slavonic University.
What are the fields of law which your Law Firm is specialized in?
Our objective was to create a universal law office. I believe that the practical law, in particular the advocacy activities, is simply impossible to strictly separate according to branches of the law, because the cases that occur in reality his life are different as a rule. It is impossible to find correct solutions without knowing and understanding all branches of law, the common approaches and specificities. Today there are many cases which from the first glance may seem civil, but after a detailed analysis it turns out that there is corpus delicti. At the same time there are also many cases which are initiated as criminal, and then we have an acquittal decision because the court finds that it is a civil case and do not include corpus delicti. In my opinion, the advocate should equally understand and be able to work in all sphere of the law. Personally, my biography also contributed to it. In 1996, I graduated from YSU, and I worked as an investigator in the prosecutor’s office specializing in criminal law; then from 2001 I worked in City Hall as the deputy Head of the Legal Department, where I specialized in different branches of law.
Variety in fact is the first among the sectoral principles, and which is the guiding principle in your work with the citizens?
The first principle is that a person who applies to our services shall be satisfied with our service, we need to use all the means provided by law to achieve the desired outcome. Everything that is useful for the client is moral for the advocate. We need to do everything so that the client receives the expected results. In addition, we attach importance to professionalism. Selection of the employees is rather strict.
Do you work in international market; do you have cases which are in other platforms?
We have clients from foreign countries, and provide them services to the Republic of Armenia. We also had customers, for whom we provided services in foreign countries, particularly in Russia. In Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University the students study the RF as well as the RA laws, our staff consists from the graduates of this university; our lawyers are experts of Russian and Armenian legislations. We have attorneys who have a good command of English and are able to protect the interests of the English-speaking clients. Our potential enables us to provide sterling services to our client in the foreign countries as well.
What success have you recorded in 4 years?
If we shall consider from the point of view of all cases, our success in civil cases is more than 90 percents, of course they do not have a large percentage in criminal cases, but nevertheless they are also considerable. That is for the conditions in Armenia
Which is the secret?
The secret is that advocacy has become a family profession. Since our father was a well known professional lawyer, we lived with this profession since childhood; me, my brother and my sister. In addition, the person need to constantly work at deepening both the theoretical and practical knowledge.
Interview: Gevorg Tosunyan
Photos: Zakar Iskandaryan
Author of the idea: Karen Zadoyan
Other interviews of the series:
The Profession of a Lawyer is obliging Morally as well։ Grigor Minasyan
The lawyers of “Legal lab” decided to build a working culture in the legal field
“We work on case as a team and hold responsibility as a team”, – law firm founder
