Corporate law
Setting up and running companies, relations between members and restructurings, with documents that hold up through growth and disagreement.
Law firm · Belgrade
Legal advicethat endures
A document is good if, ten years on, someone who wasn't at the table can understand it.
Vestige Law advises companies, their owners and their families. We take our time where thought is needed and move fast where delay costs.
- ICorporate law and transactions
- IIDisputes and arbitration
- IIIReal estate and family wealth
The firm
A firm for what takes years to build
Vestige Law was founded on one idea: that legal advice for a company and for the family behind it should come from the same team, one that knows both.
We work with fewer clients than we could, so that every matter has a partner who truly leads it.
- Practice areas
- 10
- Working languages
- 2
- Reply to an enquiry
- 1 day
Practice areas
Ten practices, one firm
Every practice has a lawyer who leads it, and complex matters get a team drawn from several.
01 02 Mergers and acquisitions
Buying and selling companies and assets, from legal due diligence to closing, with a clear view of the risks at every step.
03 Banking and finance
Loan facilities, security and compliance with financial regulation, for borrowers and lenders.
04 Dispute resolution
Commercial disputes in court and arbitration, and the negotiations that often make them unnecessary.
05 Real estate and construction
Buying, leasing and developing commercial property, from title checks to registration and contracts with contractors.
06 Tax law
Tax aspects of business decisions, tax audits and disputes with the Tax Administration, together with the client's accountants.
07 Employment law
Employment contracts, internal rules, dismissals and employment disputes, with solutions that protect the employer and respect employees.
08 Intellectual property
Trademarks, copyright, designs and trade secrets: registration, licensing and protection against infringement.
09 Administrative law
Proceedings before public authorities, permits, inspections and administrative disputes.
10 Private clients and family wealth
Succession planning, family assets and passing the family business to the next generation, discreetly and for the long term.
Principles
How we work, without exception
In writing, not just in words
Every piece of advice with consequences is also given in writing, dated and reasoned.
Risk before argument
Before we start, we tell you what could go wrong and what it would cost.
A partner on every matter
Every matter is overseen by a partner, from the first meeting to the last document.
Discretion as a rule
We don't discuss clients or matters in public, even where we would be allowed to.
Team
The lawyers who lead your matter
Profiles are illustrative: the firm is fictional and serves as a demonstration.
- Sample profile
- Sample profile
- Sample profile
- Sample profile
Process
From the first conversation to the engagement
- I
First conversation
We listen to what happened and what you want to achieve, and check for conflicts of interest.
- II
Review of the documents
We read the contracts, correspondence and registers and establish the facts everything rests on.
- III
Written assessment
You receive an assessment of risks, possible steps, timing and costs, on one or two pages.
- IV
Engagement
We agree the scope, the team and the fee basis, in writing and before work begins.
- V
Delivery and reporting
We see the matter through and report after every significant step.
Testimonials
How clients describe working with us
Before signing we received one page with the risks ranked by importance. For the first time we understood what we were actually buying.
Managing director of a family companyAcquisition of a share in a competitorIllustrative example The assessment of our prospects was more candid than we expected, and because of it we settled the dispute.
Board member of a manufacturing companyCommercial dispute with a supplierIllustrative example
The testimonials on this page are illustrative examples written to demonstrate the website, not statements by real clients.
Insights
Notes from practice
Companies6 min read
Five clauses a shareholders' agreement shouldn't skip
A shareholders' agreement is written while everyone agrees and read when they don't. Five clauses that most often decide the outcome.
Disputes5 min read
The arbitration clause: when it is the right choice and how to write it
Real estate5 min read
Buying commercial premises: what to check before the deposit
Private clients6 min read
When the owner of a family company plans for succession
Questions
Before the first meeting
The founding documents contain what the law requires and what is registered. A shareholders' agreement covers relations you may not want to make public or set out in detail there: share transfers, pre-emption rights, deadlock and confidentiality.
A single-member company usually doesn't need one; as soon as there are several members, we recommend it.
It depends on the size of the company and how well its records are kept. For a smaller company with orderly records it is usually a few weeks; larger groups take longer.
We agree the timeline at the start, after reviewing the document list, and keep the client informed with a weekly summary of open issues.
At the first meeting we listen to what happened and what you want to achieve, review the documents you've brought and tell you honestly whether and how we can help.
Afterwards you receive a short written summary: the open questions, the possible steps and an estimate of the costs.
Fees are charged under the Serbian Bar's tariff or by written agreement: hourly, a fixed fee for a defined piece of work, or a monthly retainer for ongoing advice.
Before work begins you receive a written estimate, and we tell you in advance about any significant change.
It depends on the type of matter and whether it is settled by agreement or decided by a court or authority. Contracts and corporate changes usually take weeks; court proceedings take months or longer.
At the start we give a realistic estimate and explain what it depends on.
Yes. A lawyer must keep secret everything a client entrusts to them, and that duty applies even before an engagement is agreed.
For security, we still recommend that you don't send confidential details through the website form but raise them at the meeting.
Consultation
Tell us what lies ahead
The first conversation is for us to understand the question and tell you honestly whether and how we can help.