Volodymyr DZIADEVYCH
Attorney at Law
Contacts:
Education:
Languages:
ukrainian, russian, english
Volodymyr is a rising star of the legal profession, with expertise and interests spanning international trade, business protection, real estate, taxation, corporate relations, and information technology.
Volodymyr believes that a lawyer for a Client is not just a seller of information, and certainly not merely a "guardian of legality" within a company. A lawyer is someone who performs specific tasks or solves specific problems for his Client, either making dreams come true (prospective aspect) or alleviating pain (retrospective aspect). Additionally, a lawyer serves as an advisor, a trusted person, and a legal partner who leads the Client to success, helping them navigate the ever-changing legal landscape and protecting their interests.
Only by understanding what the Client needs and what can be done for them can a lawyer truly be of service. A specialist who deeply comprehends the Client's needs and goals can provide not just standard solutions, but a tailored strategy based on thorough data analysis, personal experience, and professional knowledge.
To provide the highest level of legal support, Volodymyr has formulated 10 principles that he adheres to in both life and work:
Understand your Client. Learning from Alice's mistakes in the famous tale by Mr. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, it is essential to remember that it is impossible to know where to go without knowing where you need to end up. It is crucial to learn how to determine the goals the Client wants to achieve. Besides understanding the specific task, it is also important to comprehend the Client's business, its mechanics, and its structure. Otherwise, the lawyer risks becoming a hindrance to the Client or suggesting achieving the goal through irrational means, making the business less profitable, or worse, becoming an answering machine that responds to any question with "Your goal is unattainable."
Possess complete information. This is one of the most important resources for a lawyer. Therefore, it is always necessary to keep your knowledge up-to date and stay current. It is essential to systematically form a comprehensive and wide-ranging awareness of legislation and judicial practice. Otherwise, the Client may face an unpleasant surprise if it turns out that the lawyer did not explore and process the entire regulatory field or incorrectly established connections between different areas of law.
Carefully assess cases of non-compliance with legislation. It is important to learn to determine whether such non-compliance carries negative consequences and how serious they might be.
Form strategies and tactics. Clients want concrete solutions for their tasks. Spending time on "you need to file a lawsuit" or "contract amendments are needed" without specifying the exact steps and proposals is unhelpful and will only slow down business. To formulate specific solutions, it is necessary to develop strategies and tactics, identifying the paths to achieving goals and the actions required to implement them.
Implement the plan. Even the best plans and ideas are worthless without efforts to realize them.
Clearly explain your legal position. The ability to properly explain your position depending on the goals and the party to whom this position is explained is one of the most important qualities of a lawyer.
Always tell the Client the truth; practice radical honesty. The task at hand is not always resolved easily or simply. Many specialists do not convey the real state of affairs to the Client, sometimes to avoid "upsetting" them, sometimes to skirt around sharp corners, or out of fear that the Client will go to another lawyer who might offer false hope. Such an approach not only contradicts ethical standards but also directly harms both the lawyer and the Client.
Listen to others, not just yourself. It is important to learn to listen to and hear other points of view, including those of counterparts and other specialists with differing opinions. Ultimately, it is essential to listen to the Client, especially when they ask not for reasons why something "can't be done", but for guidance on "how to do it correctly". This is the only way to find the most effective formula for cooperation and problem-solving.
Consider all sides, not just the Client's side. For a lawyer, it is crucial to apply reflexive thinking, calculating potential risks and predicting possible actions of all parties several steps ahead: Client counterparts, opponents, and other parties in legal proceedings, including the court's stance. Even when drafting a simple real estate purchase agreement, it is wise to anticipate the risks that may arise for the counterpart, the proposals they might make, and how to respond to them.
Work well in a team. A lawyer should not be a "lone wolf" working in isolation from others involved in achieving a common goal. Moreover, they should not position themselves as opposed to other employees or consultants – managers, auditors, developers, and others. It is important to perceive everyone involved in a task as team members and oneself as part of that team. This is especially valuable in a law firm, as the combined expertise of the team is the best the client deserves and allows for a comprehensive approach to solving the task at hand.
On Volodymyr's first day at the Law Firm, his mentor, Ernest Gramatskiy, told him: "You will realize from your own experience that skills do not appear on their own, are not granted at birth, and are not handed out with a diploma. They are developed gradually through hard work and honed over the years. Olympic champions are not born; they achieve success through effort, sweat, and tears, through every 'I don't want' and 'I can't'. You must be able to get up and move forward every day. Results come only from a long track of repeated actions." Since then, one of Volodymyr's distinguishing characteristics has been his insatiable thirst for knowledge, exploring new fields, and implementing effective solutions and tools.
Placing clarity and comprehensibility at the forefront of his professional skills, Volodymyr is a staunch adept of Legal Design and Plain Language. He actively employs these approaches in drafting documents and writing consultations and memorandums, making them logical and easy to understand. The potential reader of the document matters, as a consultation on the same issue for a financial director, a sales manager, a CEO, and a business owner requires four different consultations with varying focuses and approaches to conveying information.
Volodymyr has a passion for the exact sciences, playing musical instruments, cycling, and poetry recitation.
Life creed: "How you do anything is how you do everything."