Nestor: Investments will become much healthier

Ion Nestor, managing partner of Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen (NNDKP) law firm, believes the economic situation abroad will not stand in the way of Romanian market development, with speculative investments to be the only ones hit.
At the opposite end, strategic projects will stand to gain the most in a global context where Romania represents a less risky alternative.
"Future investments will be much healthier and may offset the overheated economy (...)," explained Ion Nestor.
With an increase of above 10% in the number of employees over the past three months, the law firm founded by Ion and Manuela Nestor shows the domestic business environment has not yet suffered as a result of the world crisis. On the contrary, the 12 employees who joined NNDKP's team in February have the role to sustain the rising volume of legal services requested by companies.
"Owing to the significantly higher volume of business registered in the past 12 months and as outlooks regarding the trend of the Romanian economy remain positive, we faced mounting pressure from customers, which pushed us to reconsider our recruitment policy in the sense of raising the number of staff," stated Ion Nestor.
Whereas in late 2006, NNDKP had 75 lawyers, in early May the firm reached 107 in the wake of an aggressive recruitment policy.
The firm is experienced in established fields, such as banking & finance or corporate, as well as in emerging practices, such as environment or intellectual property.
In 2007, NNDKP posted revenues worth 12.6m euros. "Each year, the legal market has witnessed unusually high growth rates, as have most fields in Romania. So far, they have been triggered by a certain context, which allowed for such increases. We do not target spectacular growth rates, with a level of 10-15% being just reasonable," explained Nestor, who thinks NNDKP may have 115 lawyers at the end of 2008.
Law firms' performance can also be influenced by the economic environment and in the second half of 2008 turmoil on western financial markets can be felt more intensely in Romania. "This year's biggest bet is not to miss the new inflation target, which may generate a significant imbalance (...)," added Nestor.