INTELLECT Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary
For a quarter of a century, the law firm INTELLECT has been one of the most outstanding players in the Russian legal services market.
There are not many law firms in Russia with a 25-year history. And even fewer with such a bright history and such a significant contribution to the development of the domestic legal business.
INTELLECT was founded on February 1, 2000, at the start of an economic upswing in the country. A year earlier, the long-standing firm "Bartolius" appeared, and two years later – "Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners". The early 2000s are considered the period when system-forming national law firms focused on business emerged.
Let's take a look at some highlights of INTELLECT's illustrious history:
1. INTELLECT was among the first Russian law firms to have an online presence (since March 13, 2002). There are few long-standing websites: the domain for ALRUD was registered five years earlier, for EPAM – a year earlier, and for "Yakovlev & Partners" – a month earlier. Even the domain name www.yurclub.ru ("YurClub" – the first legal social network) was registered just two months before www.intellectpro.ru, INTELLECT's website.
From the start, the focus was on content, and it's hard to overstate the importance of this decision for further development and promotion: today, INTELLECT is a true content factory, setting it apart from other law firms and making its lawyers well-known.
2. In the early 2000s, many INTELLECT lawyers were members of "YurClub". This online community was the only platform for communication at the time, where current team members first met. Active interaction in this proto-social network, friendships, and offline meetings in various cities over a decade not only expanded INTELLECT's staff and number of offices but also monetized through client referrals. When "YurClub" lost its significance, communication continued on social media, as a professional community is crucial. Referrals from colleagues in the legal business remain a source of new clients.
3. During the same period, INTELLECT launched a free consultation service on E1.RU, the only city portal in Yekaterinburg at the time. Over two years, lawyers answered thousands of user questions. This experience was successful: the firm significantly increased its visibility.
4. In 2004, in collaboration with a client, INTELLECT created its own CRM – "Infocube". This happened in the same year as the launch of ProjectMate by Russian developers, which captured a significant share of the legal services automation market. That is, over 20 years ago, INTELLECT automated client and project management! Later, "Infocube" was transformed into the "Credit-Collector" program for handling overdue debts, and licenses for this program were actively purchased by the first collection agencies emerging in Russia at the time.
5. Speaking of collection agencies, in the mid-2000s, INTELLECT, as one of the first collection agencies in Russia, set standards: thanks to the active work of the firm's lawyers, terms like "corporate collections" and "PR support for collection activities" emerged. At one point, INTELLECT led in efficiency among Alfa-Bank's collection agencies. Clients included VTB and Megafon. In 2011, this successful direction was closed due to the negative public perception of collection activities, which posed reputational risks to INTELLECT's core business.
6. In 2005, INTELLECT began publishing "INTELLECT-PRESS", a newspaper with a circulation of 5,000, which later turned into a magazine. At the time, there was still a culture of reading periodicals – the publication was widely distributed across the country. In 2010, the magazine was recognized as the best corporate media in Russia. The project was closed in 2012 when smartphones finally overtook glossy magazines.
7. In 2006, INTELLECT participated in the creation of the Ural Legal Chamber, the first association of law firms in Russia for noble purposes. The Ural Legal Chamber began hosting conferences for the legal business – in the same year as the Vedomosti newspaper and independently of it. In addition to the "Legal Business in the Urals" conference, the UPP launched "Legal Week in the Urals". These events sparked a wave of regional legal forums across the country, but we were the pioneers.
8. Also in 2006, Arkady Bereshchuk, the founder of "YurClub", joined the firm with his office in Perm. By 2007, there were already five offices, with additions in Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil, and Kamensk-Uralsky – thanks to the collections direction.
9. In 2008, in addition to the Nizhny Novgorod office, INTELLECT opened several offices in Yekaterinburg, partnering with Severnaya Kazna Bank. Business branches of the bank had a window with a legal consultant. By the end of summer 2008, the project closed along with the bank, but it looked quite impressive. Additionally, until 2011, there was a separate direction – the discount registration services "Registrirem.Com".
10. In 2009, INTELLECT organized an internship in the USA, becoming a partner of Lincoln Law School San Jose in Russia. This internship on law firm management became a pride of the company. A truly unique project! About a hundred partners of law firms and heads of various legal departments went to America for the internship.
11. In 2010, INTELLECT set the standard for corporate legal sports by participating in the first regatta. Lawyers began training as sailing yacht helmsmen: at its peak, the firm had 16 trained sailors and helmsmen.
At the same time, systematic rating work began: external evaluation is extremely important! The firm's positions in ratings have only grown over the years. Every second INTELLECT lawyer has been personally recognized by Russian and international ratings.
12. In 2011, offices were opened in Moscow and Novosibirsk. At the same time, INTELLECT's website entered the TOP-10 most cited websites of Russian law firms (according to a rating by the Russian Agency for Legal and Judicial Information – RAPSI), and the firm's internal HR policy was recognized by Legal Insight magazine with an award for personnel development.
13. In 2011, the Pravo.ru portal launched the first sympathy rating among law firms, and INTELLECT immediately took 23rd place. In 2012 – 13th, in 2014 – 11th, in 2015 – 10th. Among well-known Russian and international companies, of course. We improved the result in 2018, becoming 7th! Later, Pravo.ru discontinued this research.
14. In 2012, the firm became a headline advocate against the lawyer monopoly, which added to INTELLECT's fame, both positive and negative. Until 2017, we actively worked on reforming the legal services market alongside other consultants, the Federal Chamber of Lawyers, the Ministry of Justice, and the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
15. In 2013, INTELLECT established and ran for six years the Best Law Firm Website competition. Nominations and a formula for evaluating website effectiveness were created, and a very representative jury was assembled. In 2020, the website competition was handed over to the Pravo.ru portal, where it is now held as part of the marketing award.
16. In 2018, INTELLECT launched an International Desk with a representative in London, and in 2019, it became part of the international network of independent law firms Legalink and opened an office in St. Petersburg.
17. 2019 was marked by a rebranding and a move to a new impressive headquarters in Yekaterinburg.
Also in 2019, INTELLECT supported the incredible journey of Englishman Christopher Blakie from London to Tokyo, across all of Russia, in a vintage Austin 7 roadster.
18. In 2020, we celebrated our 20th anniversary by organizing "INTELLECTual Anti-Readings" – an extraordinarily bright event for which the firm was awarded a marketing prize.
19. The COVID-19 pandemic and other global events launched temporary crisis practices. There were a huge number of articles, comments, seminars, newsletters, and video content. Worth mentioning are the pro bono projects, including high-profile ones like supporting the charity organization founded by Doctor Liza and assisting in the release of films about extreme mountain climbing, "Freeride in the Death Zone".
20. In 2024, INTELLECT's HR policy was once again highly praised by experts: the firm was awarded the Best Law Firm Marketing prize (2nd place in the "Building an HR Brand" category).
We are also famous for our corporate events, holidays, joint travels, and corporate conferences.
...And all these achievements would have been impossible without the cohesive, creative work of the team. INTELLECT's greatest merit is creating and maintaining long-term relationships within the team: clear rules of the game create excellent conditions for the development of talented lawyers both internally and externally – with a real opportunity to build a career up to partner while gaining recognition.
What does INTELLECT mean to you? Here's what the firm's partners say:
Evgeny Shestakov: "INTELLECT is our universe, which emerged in 2000 as a result of a 'big bang'. Inside us – collisions of stars, the birth of new planets, galaxies, cosmic winds, absolute cold, and scorching fire. Over the eternity we've been together, we haven't scattered into atoms due to cataclysms, like others. We haven't been sucked into the black hole of oblivion, nor have we stalled on the event horizon.
Our stars and galaxies, cosmic bodies flying past, influence each other, sometimes attracting, sometimes repelling, made of the same molecules: hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. From the perspective of quantum physics, these distances, forces, mass, and time don't matter individually: we are together and apart, here and nowhere. And there's nothing to be done about it. Life is one, and we live it, and we are in INTELLECT, and INTELLECT is in us.
Taking this opportunity, I want to say 'thank you' to everyone who is here, who was here, who passed by or flew by like a comet, for the support, friendship, and camaraderie, for the shared work, responsibility, faith, and hope."
Alexander Latyev: "INTELLECT for me is family. Big, noisy, regularly replenished and left by its grown children. 25 years – even for a family, that's a lot, a whole generation. But no matter how different 'fathers' and 'children' are, they remember that they are all in it together. No wonder the word 'family' is also used in the mafia."
Svetlana Veresova: "A quarter of a century has flown by! It's so nice to remember these years. And there's a lot to remember: our company at the start of its development, when we were just over 20 years old, our interesting corporate life, fun holidays, events, INTELLECT's development, the path to success and recognition. At the same time, our personal lives were unfolding: we started families, became parents, experienced both sorrow and joy – we know so much about each other and have come such a long way together. And if I say that INTELLECT is my second family, I'm not exaggerating at all. Everything that connects me with the company is truly dear to me, and I deeply love and respect my like-minded colleagues".
Roman Rechkin: "For me, INTELLECT is people: colleagues, friends, lawyers, and partners. Of course, there have been and are courts, projects, victories, and defeats, clients, and much more. But the main thing is people.
All these years we have been engaged in... building relationships. Assembling the Team. We at INTELLECT quickly realized that the main quality of a firm lawyer is not knowledge of the law (you can't beat Garant in that), but the ability and desire to work in a Team, specifically here and with these people. Communicating humanely, helping each other, trusting, not messing up assignments and deadlines, and all that.
22 years ago, I joined INTELLECT, where 6 people worked. 5 of them still work at INTELLECT. Over these years, we've grown to 60+ people, five offices, a bunch of awards, ratings, and more. But the main thing is, we are a Team.
Some changed their minds and left, that's normal. We still communicate and are friends with them. New people came (and will come), with their own knowledge, abilities, and skills, and all together, this is INTELLECT.
And the main result of these 25 years – we are still developing and growing. As a Team, as lawyers, friends, and partners. I think the next 25 years will be the same."
Anna Ustyushenko: "I've been with INTELLECT for 22 years. You could say we grew up together) So INTELLECT for me is always different.
INTELLECT of the past – it's drive, sparks, ideas, movement, and audacity. We were good together, we created what we wanted – we were friends, loved, grew. A special atmosphere filled our INTELLECT, literally infecting everyone involved with its marvelous air. Friends got involved and became colleagues, and colleagues became friends.
INTELLECT today is different: it's fashionably conscious, presentable, calculating, and smart. It's status-filled and reliable, but still dynamic. A strong team – the special heart of INTELLECT. We don't just work, we live our best lives together.
INTELLECT tomorrow? Yes! What will it be like? Strong, significant, changing, relevant, rich. More experience, more confidence. New team members and a solid core, combining, create a synergistic effect. I like tomorrow's INTELLECT, I want to be part of its movement!"
Maxim Labzin: "Back in my youth, someone's phrase stuck with me as a goal: happiness is when you go to work with pleasure and return home with pleasure. And indeed, most people would like to work not just for a salary (even a good one), but where you can be yourself, show your best qualities, be useful, develop, and feel support from those around you. All of this, for me, is INTELLECT. And it has been for a very long time. The largest and best part of my professional life. And my non-professional, social, friendly, personal life too. It's great that this is also part of it."
Dmitry Zagainov: "INTELLECT for me is a kind of collective brain capable of solving various tasks. It's a team of unique and creative people who think outside the box, a place for generating new ideas and projects. Everyone who works at INTELLECT expands their capabilities, becomes more confident, and open to new experiences. Therefore, intellect is an important aspect of collaboration, helping to interact successfully and achieve personal and professional success."
Anastasia Makhneva: "I've been with the company since 2007, and of course, over this time, I've repeatedly asked myself: 'Why am I here?', 'What's the meaning and purpose of my work here?', 'What's the essence of INTELLECT?' – and other Chernyshevsky-Herzen-Tolstoy questions that we were somehow taught to torment ourselves with daily at university instead of getting on with work ('just to avoid working').
Over 18 years of my life with INTELLECT, I've answered these questions very differently: from identifying my identity with the company to variations of 'just business, nothing personal'. But there was one event in our lives that once again revealed these essences to me. In 2022, I thought a lot about why I stay in Russia, continue my work here, and dedicate all my strength and life time to the legal profession, law, and free business – that is, to what in our country is losing meaning, devaluing, and being destroyed every day. And here's how I answered this question for myself. For many years, I, together with the team, tried to create and develop a firm that practices and promotes the principles of conscientious and responsible legal practice and legal business on a daily basis. We believed in these values and promoted them throughout our professional lives. Equality of rights and opportunities within the firm for every team member, building a fair personnel system in the company, respecting the dignity and self-worth of every team member regardless of their position or role in the firm, principled non-participation in corrupt, raider, or other illegal projects and cases, responsible and decent treatment of clients, and the obligations we take on. To work qualitatively and honestly and do our job in accordance with the ethics and spirit of classical free enterprise, described long ago by Max Weber, Adam Smith, and many others. And then, in 2022, I decided that our task is simply to preserve all this for ourselves, here and now, and for our tomorrow. And that, for me, is our INTELLECT and the meanings it creates for me and for my life."
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It's impossible to say that everything is just beginning – but everything is definitely continuing! There are many ideas and opportunities – INTELLECT plans to continue creating, implementing, organizing, and surprising. Happy birthday to us!
Plans include a year-long celebration program. Many amazing events await us. Stay tuned!
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