Our Legal Focus

As a boutique law firm, we are specialized in several interrelated Practice Areas centred on international corporate and business law, taxation, including business set up and corporate counselling, investments, dispute resolution, litigation, purchase and sale of real estate assets, leasing and commercial transactions. These specialties then vary according to the legal domain of each office. For example in the UAE, we have to consider Sharia law as well as the more conventional federal law that applies.

 

Our Core Values

We firmly believe in the following.

Building long-term lawyer/client relationships built upon candour and trust

In every engagement, we aim to achieve client goals in a cost-effective and proper manner

Exceeding our clients’ expectations with service and value

Maintaining our reputation for good business

 

History

Strohal Kretschmer Rebasso dates back to 1870 and has its roots in Vienna, Austria. Emil Strohal was the original founder, a highly skilled legal scholar who taught at the Universities of Graz, Leipzig and Göttingen. He was considered as the founder of the Austrian land registry law and his family has been active in the practice of law ever since that time.

Dr. Theodor Strohal started his legal career in Vienna where he founded his first chamber in 1979. It has rapidly expanded to become one of the most reputable boutique law firms since that time.

In 1987, Dr. Wolfgang Kretschmer gave his name to the firm and Mag. Erich Rebasso became partner in 2002. Rebasso, who is fluent in Russian, advises mostly Russian investors in their business ventures in central and Western Europe. The Vienna Chamber is presently headed by these two lawyers.

Together, we are fluent in eight languages including German, French, Italian, Russian and Spanish and we have associates who speak additional languages, including Arabic.

In 1994 we opened our Singapore office serving South East Asia and clients dealing with the ASEAN countries as well as China and Taiwan. In 2005, we established our UAE office, putting us in the unique position of being the only international law firm in the Northern Emirates with close contact and experience with decision makers in Ras Al Kaimah. This emirate is currently enjoying the status of being one of the most rapidly emerging free zones in the Middle East.

Today, Strohal Legal Group- International Legal Consultants enjoys a well established reputation across Europe, South East Asia and the Middle East / GCC region with a strong focus on international and cross-border business and real estate work.

 

Why Choose Us

Choosing a law firm that you trust can be challenging, whether you are an individual hiring for yourself or an in-house lawyer or executive hiring for your company. There are literally thousands of law firms in the marketplace - telling the difference between them is tough. Here are some things that often set us apart.

•         We are a boutique firm and as such, we do not employ hundreds of lawyers - we compete based on the value that a highly focused firm can offer. Rather than practicing as "generalists", we have chosen a set of related Practice Areas and as a result, our lawyers develop strong familiarity with certain areas of law.

•         We are responsive - and generally available throughout the day by phone. If we have long meetings, or are participating in mediation, our policy is to respond to clients the same day. This is not the case with many lawyers.

We conduct ourselves ethically and professionally towards our clients, opposing counsel, tribunals and others by practicing law with civility, integrity, candour, diligence, respect, courtesy and competence.

We respect clients’ legitimate objectives We ask clients to rely on our independent legal advice which is always geared towards minimizing our client`s risk and maximizing the value.

•        We charge reasonable fees. We have priced ourselves competitively and reasonably, taking into account the nature of our boutique practice, the focus and knowledge of our lawyers, and the value they bring to legal transactions and proceedings. At the same time, we are not the low-price leader. You can find cheaper lawyers. However, we don’t believe that you will find better value

•         We do not hide fees. Unlike many lawyers, we publish our hourly rates on the Internet.

We keep clients informed and involved in their legal matters. In fact, we consider ourselves to be "partners" with our clients - informing them of significant developments and asking them to participate in decision making. In short, we take a collaborative approach to the practice of law.

We maintain client privacy - an ethical obligation that we take very seriously. We believe that lawyers must respect the unique fiduciary relationship between themselves and their clients. We always do.

We are your experienced, local, international consultants offering legal counsels across Europe, South East Asia and the whole Middle East.

If you would like to discuss a particular legal matter, then please feel free to contact us.

Legal Fees

Legal advice should be cost-effective. The fees for our services are dependent on the engagement. We believe in the importance of matching the billing method to the client.

Ultimately, our goal is to charge reasonable fees for our services. That may mean billing by the hour or project ("lump sum") or by agreeing on an alternative arrangement. We pride ourselves on flexibility in determining the appropriate method. Our fees will be discussed and agreed upon during the first meeting or telephone conversation with a prospective client and, provided it does not take too much time and without going into depth in terms of legal consulting, this is free of charge.

Hourly Fees

Hourly fees are more favourable if the value exceeds approximately 100.000 €. The lawyer’s hourly fee covers all work done by our staff in the office and elsewhere, except out of pocket expenses and value added tax. Only the lawyer’s time is recorded to the minute.

The fee of the lawyer is AED 2000 for seniors and AED 1500 for juniors. If you are a new client you will be asked to make a deposit for our fees, which are thereafter charged per month. .

Project Fees (‘Lump Sum’)

Sometimes we work by the project or for a "lump sum", where the legal work can be defined with a reasonable degree of specificity. This may be the case for certain non-contentious work. We charge a lump sum of AED 25.000 for a Free Zone company set up in the GCC, AED 30-50.000 for setting up an onshore company and AED 15.000 for an offshore company in the GCC including the fees raised by the authority.

Retainers

A retainer is simply a lump sum paid on a monthly or quarterly basis for legal services and represents a sound investment for a settled amount per month or quarter. In this respect organization’s employees are encouraged to regularly contact us via phone, email or fax to discuss matters with our lawyers as they arise, thus avoiding problems that could develop further at a later stage. Naturally, a retainer engagement must be tailored to the individual client. It is not appropriate in all circumstances.

We usually charge AED 30.000 for 25 hours per month as a retainer fee. Additional services will be charged at AED 1200 per hour.