Position: Company:
Based:
Nationality:

Athens, Greece

Greek

Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
I obtained the European Legal Studies LLB and the LLM in Maritime Law from the University of Southampton in the UK. I was admitted to the Piraeus Bar Association and have spent eight years in international law firms in Piraeus, Greece. Two years ago, I decided to set up my own law firm with the main hub in Athens. I specialize in shipping, shipping finance, corporate finance, and international trade and commodities.

Understandably, the competition is fierce but our willingness to work hard to reach those levels has already paid off. We recently set up a satellite office in Panama City, Panama, and our innovative products and quality of advice have received great response from the industry members that are recipients of our services.

Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
When the words “credit crunch” were seldom heard, general shipping and shipping finance related legal work comprised the core of our billable hours. The current state of the market however has greatly affected shipping and ship finance; people from the industry now are not witnessing many transactions taking place compared to some time ago.

Nevertheless, being specialized in shipping law is not something you commonly see in the legal market, a handful of practitioners and law firms being able to cater to the legal façade of the industry. It feels good to be one of them.

What are the strengths of your business?
Our youthful enthusiasm, optimism, innovation, hands-on approach to any given problem and common sense.

What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
Aside from the people who are part of this firm, our innovative approach in delivering legal advice. There is a general misconception among the public that lawyers are not really imaginative in assisting their (clients’) businesses in evolving and succeeding.

By this, I am referring to Islamic finance. People would think you were being foolish if you suggested Islamic finance to a Greek ship owner as an alternative source of funding for his ocean ventures.

As we gradually witness the extent of the cracks in the conventional banking system however, Islamic finance and its application to shipping has become a great eye opening alternative to the international shipping market.

What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
First and foremost, I would put scarcity in human resources at the top of the obstacle list. There are just not many legal professionals who would enjoy furthering their education and expertise in areas that the market forces you to diversify into, let alone by one’s own personal curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in, say, the next five years?
Surely not in the position it is right now. Academics and businessmen alike have not yet seen the potential and the magnitude of service Islamic finance has to offer in the international business and social arena.

A contributing factor to this state of affairs is none other than the lack of knowledge and understanding.

To put it simply, the western world remains in the dark when it comes to Islamic finance, a fact that is quite reasonable given that nobody has bothered approaching these people and for starters, advising them that you don’t have to be a Muslim to enjoy these products.

The tide is gradually turning now, where we see a diverse crowd of professionals going for Islamic finance and aiming to get an educative and clarifying message through to the public.

Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance?
A careful marketing strategy in promoting Islamic finance products coupled with a sufficient number of scholars in the industry. As for the legal loopholes still existing in the application and documentation of Islamic finance, these shall be curtailed once Islamic financial products are used more often, the experience gained by seeing them work in practice gradually closing those holes.

The western financial system and its strong legal and regulatory back up were not created overnight. The Islamic financial system has to go through that path more robustly in order to reach the market penetration level the western financial system has enjoyed up to now.