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 Asia Counsel, based in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam—Aapogee.

Currently comprising Kinstellar and Asia Counsel, 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 Austria (Vienna), Bulgaria (Sofia), the Czech Republic (Prague), Hungary (Budapest), Kazakhstan (Almaty and Astana), 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.

Asia Counsel, in association with Kinstellar Southeast Asia, is a mid-sized, highly regarded law firm with 20 lawyers (a team of 30 people overall), based in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam’s commercial capital. The firm has grown consistently over the last five years assisting multinationals, large international financial institutions, PE and VC funds as well as large cap Vietnamese companies.