London, early 70s: “Tell us a few words about your law firm”, a partner of a large English law firm asked the young, then lawyer Tryfon Koutalidis. “What would the lawyer say about their ‘brand’? Three lawyers, all of them, crammed into two small rooms together with a clerk sitting behind a typewriter.”
But he had a passion for law, vision and ambition. He had also studied at the “Onassios University”, next to Aristotle Onassis – and later collaborating with Konstantinos Karamanlis, Christos Lambrakis, Yiannis Kostopoulos and other great people, while he offered his legal services, among others, to DOL.
The two rooms became one floor, “business was booming, the office was growing and new lawyers were getting jobs there. “The lawyer and his team chose the new ones very carefully. Education, morals and appearance played an important role.” The six lawyers became ten later twenty and today seventy-five and a total of one hundred with the administrative staff, housed in the company’s new offices in the state-of-the-art and emblematic Orbit building, on Kifisias Avenue.
“The lawyer not only believed in the law, but also in its future.” He passed away in 2012 at the age of 77, active in law until the last minute. His closest associate and current managing partner Nikos Koritsas, together with a group of worthy partners, continued his vision for the organization, structure and operation of international standards and the way of thinking bequeathed by the founder to the company by providing high-level legal services to Greeks and its foreign customers.
Last Thursday’s autumn evening, Koutalidis Law Firm, in a glittering event, in the presence of hundreds of its friends and associates, celebrated its 50 plus years of presence in Greece, its recent award as Greek Law Firm of the Year for 2024 by Chambers & Partners as well as its new initiatives to empower young lawyers and support start-ups.
Those who were at Fuga, in the garden of the Athens Concert Hall, realized that the future of the company, founded by the late Tryphon Koutalidis and continued today by his then close associates together with the younger generation of worthy lawyers, is certainly bright.
*All phrases in quotation marks are from the book “The Lawyer” by Tr. Koutalidis (Hestia bookstore)
#Koutalidis #Law #Firm #celebrated #distinction #Greek #Law #Firm #Year
