Ellex Klavins recently announced three new associate partners – Andris Lazdiņš, Sarmis Spilbergs and Mārtiņš Gailis who have joined the partnership team in Latvia forming an executive team of 11 partners as of September 5, 2022. Congratulations to all, especially our Board Member Sarmis Spilbergs.

Attorney-at-Law Andris Lazdiņš boasts a professional experience of more than twelve years of representing and advising clients on various issues of dispute resolution, including “white collar” crimes and criminal cases in business sector. Since September 2019 Andris heads the Dispute Resolution practice at the law firm along with partner Daiga Zivtiņa. The new partner actively engages in projects outside law firm as well – as the Co-leader of the Anti-Corruption, Economic Crime and Shadow Economy Work Group at the Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia (FICIL) and a member of the Supervisory and Monitoring Commission of the Latvian Council of Sworn Advocates. Andris has authored a number of articles on dispute resolution and labour law; furthermore, he frequently presents at various conferences and seminars.

Attorney-at-Law Sarmis Spilbergs joined the law firm in 2005. Sarmis has accumulated an extensive experience in various regulatory sectors, mainly focusing on legal framework governing information technologies and e-commerce, consumer rights, personal data protection, pharmaceuticals and various licencing of business, as well as general corporate issues. Since September 2018 Sarmis heads the Communications, Media and Technology practice at the law firm. The new partner is a member of the International Technology Law Association (ITechLaw), and since October 2021 – a member of the management board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia (AmCham).

Mārtiņš Gailis has been the head of the Intellectual Property practice at the law firm since 2018, and practices at Ellex in Latvia for 17 years already. Mārtiņš has an in-depth knowledge and experience in matters concerning intellectual property rights and competition law. The new partner at the law firm is the leading expert of disputes and litigations with regard to the intellectual property rights and has represented clients in both civil and administrative proceedings in Latvia, before the Board of Appeals of the Industrial Property, as well as the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Mārtiņš Gailis is also a professional patent attorney dealing with trademark matters in Latvia and the European Union Intellectual Property Office. In addition to the expert knowledge in the law governing intellectual property Mārtiņš has a considerable experience in the competition law.

Liga Merwin, Managing partner of Ellex in Latvia, comments on the new changes: “We are truly delighted to watch growth of each and every colleague at our law firm; our greatest ambition is to ensure a working environment where it is possible to reach ever new heights in a career. Three new partners joining the executives is a significant and formidable addition that will certainly contribute to the further development and performance of the law firm. Andris, Sarmis and Mārtiņš have long established themselves as excellent legal experts and colleagues – both in their communications with clients and with employees of our law firm. We wish them an abundance of success and all the best!‘‘

Achievements of the new partners have been appreciated in the legal sector by international legal directories such as Chambers Europe and Legal 500, as well as Who’s Who Legal, World Trademark Review and IP Stars.