Aapogee: Powering the legal profession forward

Innovation is essential for most businesses. Traditionally, not in the business of law. Innovation in the legal profession has long been held back—by tradition, a lack of vision, and through often-archaic regulations that discourage most independent law firms from pursuing the long-term investments and strategies necessary to improve client service and strengthen stakeholder value at the same time. The business of law needs a new paradigm—one that can power the legal profession boldly into the future.

Enter Aapogee

Aapogee is a new, innovative shared-services platform that provides the backbone business support that independent law firms need to remain competitive going forward in the 21st century. These shared service areas include Technology, People and HR, Risk & Compliance, Business Development, Marketing and similar areas of focus.

Established by the partners of two well-established and leading independent regional law firms—Kinstellar, with offices across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia; and DFDL, with offices throughout Southeast Asia—Aapogee is a “family of law firm brands” that enables its client-facing group firms to streamline efficiencies and further enhance their institutional consistency and quality of legal advice to clients, while simultaneously maximising long-term shareholder value.

Currently comprising Kinstellar and DFDL, the Aapogee model facilitates strategic expansion—both in its existing markets and to new emerging markets worldwide—with the addition of new group firms. Group firms retain their own branding, identity, and day-to-day management while benefitting from the Aapogee “backbone” of shared world-class services and support, the Aapogee platform and “badge” of premium legal services and the synergies and economies of scale that follow.

Aapogee is not a law firm and does not provide legal services. This enables an equity investor/owner model that, while traditional in most industries, is ground-breaking in the legal world.

Group Firms

Kinstellar is a leading independent full-service law firm operating in Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and Central Asia, with fully-integrated offices in Bulgaria (Sofia), the Czech Republic (Prague), Hungary (Budapest), Kazakhstan (Almaty and Nur-Sultan), Romania (Bucharest), Serbia (Belgrade), Slovakia (Bratislava), Turkey (Istanbul), Ukraine (Kyiv) and Uzbekistan (Tashkent). Founded in 2008 as a spin-off of four Central European practices of a London-based ‘Magic Circle’ law firm, Kinstellar has maintained international best practices to the highest standards throughout its expansion and is particularly well suited to servicing complex multi-jurisdictional transactions and advisory requirements.

DFDL was founded in 1994 with the vision to build an integrated high-quality international law firm with in-depth knowledge of South East Asia to provide specialised advisory services to the global business community. The firm has developed a strong presence across the region through its expertise in energy, tax, corporate and M&A and has steadily grown to cover nearly each country and key city in the ASEAN market, including Thailand (Bangkok), Bangladesh (Dhaka), Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City), Indonesia (Jakarta), Myanmar (Yangon), Cambodia (Phnom Penh), Philippines (Manila) and Laos (Vientiane). DFDL is uniquely positioned to grow as the Mekong Region and other emerging markets in South East Asia continue to outperform their global peers.