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I n t r o d u c t i o n
Dear visitor:
Welcome to the web site of V&Co. On these pages, it is our hope to provide you with a succinct introduction to the history and philosophy of the firm and to the experience and expertise that we can offer to our clients.
It was suggested over a century ago, and has since often been repeated, that the law is a “seamless web,” in other words a whole of smoothly interconnected features and principles. Time and again this paradigm seems a distant reality to corporations, entrepreneurs and lawyers working in an international context, caught in a web of multiple jurisdictions, varying legal traditions, unknown business climates and unfamiliar social cultures. V&Co was formed to fill an obvious need of clients for assistance in navigating this maze in the context of international business between the developed economies of North America, Western Europe and Asia on the one hand and the Czech Republic and other post-Communist nations of Central Europe on the other.
On a personal note, I was born in Prague, with generations of Czech lawyers and judges on both sides of my family. The Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia precipitated a lengthy stay in the United States, during which I graduated from the Yale Law School [www.law.yale.edu] and spent nearly a decade practicing law in New York at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett [www.stblaw.com]. With the fall of communism, which took place during my law school studies, I immediately took a renewed interest in my homeland, with a range of activities ranging from democratization projects such as CEELI [www.abaceeli.org] and USAID’s Rule of Law Initiative [www.usaid.gov] to legislative projects for the Czechoslovak environmental ministry. With an increasing number of commercial projects in Central Europe during the later 1990s, ranging from investment funds to renewable resources, my focus definitely shifted to Central Europe with the turn of the millennium. After several years as Managing Consultant with the Central European Advisory Group (CEAG), I decided in the fall of 2004 to leave CEAG and form my own firm and V&Co. was born in the spring of 2005.
The core concept behind V&Co. is to build on the combination of my Yale Law School education and New York “Wall Street” experience on the one hand and my intimate knowledge of the Czech Republic and Central Europe on the other hand. By assembling and coordinating a team of sophisticated international and local attorneys, a number of whom have worked together since the early 1990s, V&Co can cost-effectively offer legal services on the level of the best international law firms – and successfully stand against such firms – be it for foreign clients seeking representation in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Central Europe (with the cooperation of our colleagues in other jurisdictions) or for Czech clients venturing into international business transactions. With its local and regional focus, V&Co also serves clients as the local member of a broader team of advisors, working cooperatively with other counsel and consultants to craft comprehensive advice or untangle multifaceted obstacles.
It is an exciting time in Central Europe, with a complex business climate that holds its share of opportunities as well as pitfalls. We at V&Co are relishing the opportunity to be a part of this scene and to play a meaningful role in our client’s success. In the event that we could perhaps contribute to your success, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your visit.
Tomáš Vachuda
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