Michael Wilson & Partners, Ltd. (MWP) is a full service law firm with offices in both Almaty and Baku covering Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Central Asian Region and the Caucasus. MWP was established in Almaty in 1998 and in Baku in 2003. Today it is recognised as one of the leaders in the Central Asian Region and the Caucasus, combining years of collective experience in the CIS.
Michael Wilson is a Director. Before founding MWP, Michael had been the regional founding partner of a major international law firm with offices in Almaty and Tashkent. In order to meet the needs of multinational and local clients for premier quality legal advice and know-how, he decided to establish a fully independent international law firm, Michael Wilson & Partners, Ltd., operating through offices in Almaty and Baku and being totally focused upon the whole of the Central Asian and Caucasus area.
As a result, MWP has a unique ability to meet its clients’ real needs in legal services especially when approaching and dealing with the most important business opportunities that exist not only in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan but also throughout the whole of Central Asia and the Caucasus.
However, MWP is not just a law firm; it also takes pride in partnering with its clients in relation to their business opportunities, challenges and obstacles. In doing so, MWP provides creative, timely and practical solutions specifically tailored to meet its clients' requirements, deadlines and budgets.
Client Commitment
Michael Wilson & Partners, Ltd. (MWP) is a professional law firm with a variety of clients including major multinational and national corporations, private businesses, government agencies and individuals. In meeting the diverse goals and expectations of its broad client base, MWP provides creative, timely and practical legal and business solutions in an effective manner.
Because of its commitment to the Region, its experience, its clients and its highly professional staff, MWP is continuing to expand and is the leading law firm in Almaty today.
Whether it is in the oil and gas, mining, energy or any other industry sector, MWP has a track record of successfully assisting investors in the region - from feasibility to funding, ideas to implementation and registration to repatriation of profit.
Winning in Central Asia and the Caucasus
Operating as a fully autonomous international law firm, MWP’s focus is on Kazakhstan (since 1998), Azerbaijan (since 2003) and other countries of the Central Asia and Caucasus, the former Republics of the Soviet Union, including Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.
Doing business in the former Soviet republics is unlike anywhere else in the world. Even twenty years after independence, they are a combination of the inscrutable east, Soviet-style bureaucracies, and a get-rich-quick mentality at street level. In short, business is carried out very differently from Europe, North America, Australasia and Japan. In order to maximize your chances of success in this region, there are two vital components: experience and cultural understanding.
As a truly independent international law firm, with no formal links to any international law firms, MWP is well placed to provide the legal services specific to such an emerging region where a cultural understanding and appreciation of the Central Asian and Caucasus approach to legislation and business is vital to commercial success. Furthermore in contrast to many firms, MWP works with its clients to adopt an appropriate payment plan and is prepared to consider retainers, fixed fees, success-fees, bonuses or premiums, discounted billing arrangements, all of which can be agreed on a case by case basis to suit our client and their needs.
Our offices work as one body, thus, enabling MWP to deal with clients interests across the region: should a client have a potential complex multi-jurisdictional acquisition which requires due diligence throughout the region, we are able to handle such out of one office. This is also often the case where a client would like to register their trademarks throughout the region. This allows the client the ability to only have to instruct one law firm within the region as opposed to having to deal with multiple firms of lawyers.
We will also dedicate one of our senior lawyers to deal with the clients needs throughout the region enabling the client to have one point of contact. This allows us to keep our costs competitive and efficiently run our clients transactions. The majority of MWP's people are bi-lingual, and all are sensitive to and understand the business and cultural needs of the region and its various industry sectors. In Kazakhstan, with the increased use of the Kazakh language in business, our firm has Kazakh staff who are capable of speaking, writing and translating to and from the Kazakh language into Russian and/or English. In Azerbaijan, the Russian language is no longer used in official business, although still spoken widely. Our local lawyers and translators are all fluent in Azeri and English.
MWP is a unique law firm for this unique situation. Not only do we have unparalleled experience in this region, but through our extensive network of contacts we can help you create the right partnerships to make your business plans a reality. Using our extensive information databases, we can help you locate projects that are right for you, and we can provide reassurance and assistance during the various stages from initial negotiations through to signing and successful implementation.
