“Knowledge, expertise and top quality professional services”, those are in short synonyms for Marić&Co LLC Sarajevo, the largest law firm in B&H fully dedicated to its clients, which keeps them at the top of the list of law firms in the last thirty years.
They deal exclusively with commercial law and those areas of law that companies encounter while conducting business while always guaranteeing the best possible legal service provided to their clients.
Marić&Co is one of the founders of SEE Legal – a group of ten leading national law offices from 12 countries in Southeast Europe.
Thanks to cooperating with the largest law firms in the world, from which they have adopted business practices and high standards of conduct, as well as excellent results, Marić&Co holds a leadership position in Bosnia and Herzegovina for many years.
We talked with Branko Marić, the director of Marić&Co LLC Sarajevo, about the business success that the company achieved and what makes them stand out from the competition, why clients should choose them for cooperation, the projects they implement, as well as about further plans…
Dear Mr. Marić, could you briefly introduce Marić&Co LLC Sarajevo?
“Marić & Co LLC is a law firm beginnings of which date back to 1959, and its current status is the result of more than 70 years of experience in the practice of law. We deal exclusively with commercial law and areas of law that companies encounter in their business practices. The company’s lawyers have extensive expertise in solving all the problems that domestic and foreign investors face when starting and developing their business on the domestic market. The company has almost 30 employees, and we are especially proud of the fact that all lawyers and associates are trained and their skills perfected exclusively in our law firm, which results in the company having a unique culture of professional conduct and treatment of our clients.
The high level of specialization of all lawyers in the company for each individual area of law that we deal with, as well as developed teamwork in multidisciplinary projects, are one of the important factors that enable us to provide services of the highest quality. Our perpetual commitment is to establish long-term business relationships with numerous domestic and foreign clients with the aim of finding the best and the most complete solutions for their needs. In any case, we are proud of the fact that, upon establishment of complete trust in the services we provide, those relationships do not break apart.”
Can you tell us a little more about the types of services you provide on the market and why clients should choose your company for cooperation?
“Services that Marić & Co. provides cover all aspects of business operations on the B&H market: investments, banking, finance, taxes, real estate, corporate law, contract law, intellectual property law, competition law, insurance, labour law, the field of energy, bankruptcy and liquidation and resolution of disputes from of all these areas, either amicably, via court or arbitral proceedings. Bearing in mind that it is difficult to find a smaller country with a more complicated political and legal system, we are fully aware that providing quality advice requires a deep understanding of each individual area of law. We are of the opinion that, in a country where the legislation is created at the state, entity and cantonal levels and without proper coordination, where the same regulation can be applied differently by two different courts, only law firms with specialized lawyers who are well versed in domestic regulations and court practice, can provide serious support to the client’s business.”
Your company was ranked first in its area of practice in the “100 largest in Bosnia and Herzegovina” project. What factors are crucial for your business success?
“The decisive factor is the way we think, work and behave in conducting business. Knowledge, dedication to our clients and establishment of long-term business relationships, without false modesty, have kept us at the top for the last 30 years. Within the framework of what we call commercial law, elsewhere in the world there are about a hundred recognized legal areas, so it was important to start from the fact that the time of all-knowing lawyers with general practice has passed and that in-depth knowledge of all areas of law that a certain company encounters during its conduct of business is necessary. For this reason, our company employs the necessary number of lawyers in order to cover each of these areas with high-quality expertise. It is also important to emphasize that we never provide standardized types of services; they are always individualized according to the specific needs of each client.”
What business results did Marić&Co achieve in the first seven months of 2022?
“Constant improvement of business results is the basic characteristic of our financial operations. This is best confirmed by the fact that the total income for 2019 – before the Covid year was BAM 2,372,760. In 2020, when Covid started, the expected drop was recorded, and the income amounted to BAM 1,900,218. However, in 2021, our income grew to BAM 3,266,593, which compared to 2019, represents an increase of over 40%. In the current year, 2022, we are recording excellent results in the first 7 months and we expect that 2022 will exceed the record revenues from 2021.”
What are your guiding principles and what is your business strategy?
“The basic principle is that the interests of the clients always come first and that it is necessary to step out of one’s own comfort zone in order to always comply with this principle. Every request of the client must be responded to promptly and no agreed deadline for service provision may be exceeded at any cost. Each of the lawyers in the company is always available throughout the day; even during the annual vacation, each of the lawyers in the company has a responsibility to carry a computer with them and to always be available. When this is combined with the constant improvement of the professional abilities of the company’s lawyers and their responsibility and adaptability to the client’s requirements, the client’s satisfaction with the services and the manner in which they were provided is guaranteed.”
What contributes to your leadership position and what makes you stand out from the very strong competition on the market?
“It is difficult to make such comparisons without giving certain negative evaluations, which is something we do not wish to do. We can only underline what we consider essential for the position we have in the market of legal services. We are working on a winning combination of in-depth knowledge of domestic law and court practice, and a greater number of specialized lawyers, who can cover all areas of law with professional expertise, which I have already discussed, on the one hand, and the adoption of the highest standards of practicing legal profession from Western countries, on the other. We have been cooperating with the largest law firms in the world for 30 years, and that time was utilized not only for realizing joint projects, but also for gathering the knowledge they possess and adopting the business practices and high standards that are also a condition of cooperation with them (Not to mention that every lawyer in the company professionally communicates in at least one foreign language).
Only the combination of these two elements enables a leadership position in the profession. Unlike the so-called regional law firms that are present in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we strive to protect the interests of domestic clients abroad, instead of opening branches in other countries (where we would not be able to provide the same level of quality as in Bosnia and Herzegovina), through cooperation with the best law firms in those countries, so we can always guarantee that our clients will receive the best possible legal service. Our company is one of the founders of SEE Legal – a group of ten leading national law offices from 12 countries in Southeast Europe. This group enables us to provide the best advice and representation in these jurisdictions. In addition, as a result of our strong ties with most global law firms, we are able to provide legal services and accompany domestic firms that wish to expand their business anywhere in the world.”
What new projects have you implemented or planned to start their implementation?
“Our projects are always closely related to the business needs of our clients. Clients are the ones who have the right and opportunity to present future projects, while lawyers are always in the background. Fin-tech services have been particularly interesting lately, and one of the major projects we are working on is the establishment of a specific method of electronic payment in the country and abroad, so far unknown on the B&H market.”
What are Marić&Co’s business plans and expectations for 2023 and beyond?
“Law practice is a specific activity and it is difficult to plan our activities for tomorrow. What we can influence and plan is the improvement of our own services so that they can meet the increased demands of clients in new areas of business and constant changes on the international and domestic markets. It is the willingness to face new challenges and the ability to quickly adapt to the needs of clients that guarantee the further development of our company’s business.”
