Legal Services Market in Slovenia

Slovenia's economy has been growing at an unprecedented rate lately, and so has the revenue of the country’s top thirty law firms. Since 2012, it has increased by nearly thirty percent, totalling EUR 140 mln. Only a couple of years ago, a major M&A deal in Slovenia involved 4 or 5 biders. Today, this number is approaching ten or more, meaning that there’s no shortage of those wishing to open a Slovenian company.

There’s no major international law firms in Slovenia, which is hardly a surprise, considering the country’s population of two million people. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the country lacks law firms providing top-notch legal services. By developing their own business models, Slovenian law firms have been able to maintain high standards of legal excellence and ensure the highest quality of service. 

The top ten law firms in Slovenia are either vertically integrated regional companies or subsidiaries of major law firms headquartered in the countries of former Yugoslavia. And it couldn’t be otherwise because potential clients still view the country as part of a single market and seek to get comprehensive legal services. Therefore, it’s only natural for owners of law firms and those seeking to register a firm in Slovenia to provide cross-border advice in various areas of practice for such clients.

New Challenges

Launching a business in Slovenia or opening a corporate account in a Slovenian bank requires keeping track of the latest regulatory developments in the country. Today, Slovenian law firms are operating in an increasingly subtle & complex way. Their clients are becoming more demanding, causing them to be in tight competition with one another.

It is interesting to see how the very nature of legal work has changed and how closely it relates to the state of the economy. Between 2013 and 2015, firms were mainly engaged in financial and corporate restructuring, as well as the sale of NPL portfolios. In contrast, recent years have seen a sharp increase in the number of M&A transactions & real estate deals.

The explosive economic growth has resulted in an influx of strategic investors and private investment companies seeking to invest in new projects in Slovenia. Their market share isn’t that big yet; however, if you’re contemplating opening a company in Slovenia, you should do that ASAP. Once they’ve penetrated the market, competing with them may prove to be an enormous challenge.

Market Destroyers

For the last several years, the Big Four law firms have been trying to penetrate the legal market in Slovenia. However, despite having substantial financial resources, they have been largely unsuccessful in their attempts. It is expected, though, that they may prove to be a serious source of disruption to the country's legal market in the long term.

There have also been a couple of spin-offs from the biggest Slovenian companies - some in the form of small legal agencies and some in the form of individually practicing lawyers. 

What Future Holds in Store

Slovenian law firms have been able to adapt to the country’s tumultuous economic environment; therefore, the next big challenge for them will be to attract & retain talented young lawyers. Only by ensuring good career prospects for them will they be able to compete with major international law firms & pronote further growth of the Slovenian market of legal services.