It can be confusing to try to figure out how to address a servicemember. If you don’t know their rank, you can always use “sir” or “ma’am.” Otherwise, try to follow the guidelines below.
Civilians should not salute servicemembers, since the salute is an official military gesture, but it is NOT disrespectful for a civilian to use proper titles to greet military servicemembers. On the contrary, it is a sign of respect! Keep in mind that retired military servicemembers keep their titles for life, so it is correct to address a retired General as “General Smith.”
And if you’re thinking about retiring yourself, timing is everything. Choosing the right time to retire from the military can be difficult, so we outlined how to make the right decision.
Guidelines for Addressing MilitaryIn general, use the title of address and last name. For example: “Colonel Johnston.” But there are some specifics to keep in mind:
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Though not technically accurate nor appropriate, many abbreviate high ranking, longer titles to the one-word highest rank in that title. (**Use with caution**)
For example, a lieutenant is a lower rank than a colonel, so a lieutenant colonel would be addressed as “Colonel Thompson.”
Note that gendered ranks are no longer used, so instead of “Seaman,” use the preferred term “Sailor.”
Warrant Officers are highly skilled specialists who often work in technical fields like intelligence.
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S. MilitarySkip to content Military Retired How to Address See List of All ‘How To Address’ Posts
On this page:
___How to Address Retired Military (See below)
___Retired or Ret.? – Spelled Out or Abbreviated?
___Retired – In Parentheses of Not?
How to Address Retired Officers or Enlisted Personnel
United States Armed Services
—-Envelope or address block on letter or email:
—-—-(Full rank) (full name), USA/USAF/USMC, Retired
—-—-(Address)
—-—-—-or
——–—-(Full rank) (full name), USA/USAF/USMC, Ret.
——–—-(Address)
—-—-—-
—-—-(Full rank) (full name), USN/USCG, Retired
—-—-(Address)
—-—-—-or
—-——–(Full rank) (full name), USN/USCG, Ret.
——–—-(Address)
——–—-Which looks like ….
—-——–—-Captain Robert W. Thompson, USN, Retired
——–—-—-(Address)
——–—-———or
——–—-—-Captain Robert W. Thompson, USN, Ret.
—-—-—-—-(Address)
—-Envelope, Social:
—-—-
(Full rank) (full name)
—-—-(Address)
—-—-Which looks like …. How To Address Retired US Military
—-—-—-Captain Robert W. Thompson
—-—-—-(Address)
—-Letter salutation both official and social: How To Address Retired US Military
–——-Dear (basic rank) (surname):
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
—-#1) The branch of service designation – USA, USMC, USN, USAF or USCG – and “Retired” or “Ret.
” are used on official correspondence and in official situations when it is important to specify the person is retired and is not on active duty.
—-#2) The service designation and retired are not used on social correspondence or in social situations. Fully retired personnel are orally addressed by rank at their preference in (1) social situations and (2) official situations when their participation is related to their service in the military.
—-#3) In every case the service-specific abbreviation for the (full rank) can be used. These service-specific abbreviations are standard usage within the armed services.
—-#4) Follow this link for how to socially address a military couple.
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
We have been struggling with setting up consistent prefixes and suffixes in our database for our military grads.
—-#1) For retired service folks should we spell our “Retired” or use the “Ret.” abbreviation?
—-#2) Is there a comma after the branch of service or is it “USN Ret.”
–––––––––––––––— Development Office, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
Dear Fund Raiser: How To Address Retired US Military
For official correspondence DOD guides use the comma … and either Ret. or Retired is acceptable. The show two formulas:
——–(Rank) (Full Name), (Branch of Service), (Retired)
——–(Rank) (Full Name), (Branch of Service), (Ret.)
——–Brigadier General Arthur Portnow, USA, Retired
——–Brigadier General Arthur Portnow, USA, Ret.
You may want to consider for your database using the service-specific abbreviations for the ranks:
—-—-BG Arthur Portnow, USA, Retired
—-—-BG Arthur Portnow, USA, Ret.
DOD people like the service-specific abbreviations because they will know a BG is in the Army, and a BGen is a Marine.
All those service-specific abbreviations … for the USA, USN, USMC, USAF and USCG …. are in my book and elsewhere. If you want to use them – do so. If you don’t, just spell out the rank fully.
Note that the branch of service and retired status may not be necessary for what you are doing:
–—-#1) On social correspondence (personal letters, invitations or cards) – active duty vs. retired status – and branch of service … are not pertinent … and thus not suggested in DOD guides.
–—-#2) On official correspondence branch of service and Retired are pertinent — and are used whenever in military environments where active duty personnel are present.
— Robert Hickey How To Address Retired US Military
Regarding your advice to write one’s name when retired.
––––––MSgt Trevor Ross, USAF, (Ret.)
With parentheses as shown above is the correct way to signify for retirees — not as you advise.
––––––––––––––––— T.R.
Dear TR:
Thanks for your note, but the DoD style books disagree with you. Either of these forms is correct if you follow those.
––––––MSgt Trevor Ross, USAF, Retired
––––––MSgt Trevor Ross, USAF, Ret.
Here’s why: DoD stylebooks suggest:
––––––(Rank) (Name), (Branch of Service), (Retired)
––––––(Rank) (Name), (Branch of Service), (Ret.)
Every protocol officer I’ve polled (and that is a large number including the offices of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretaries of all the services) says the DoD stylebook is not suggesting to include parentheses around Ret. anymore than it is suggesting to put parentheses around the (Rank) or (Name).
So while I agree you do see people using the parentheses around Ret. – I present the style suggested by the protocol officers at the top of the Pentagon …. and they all say “no parentheses.
”
— Robert Hickey
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
You can use these forms of address for any mode of communication: addressing a letter, invitation, card or Email. (If there are differences between the official and social forms of address, I will have mentioned the different forms.) The form noted in the salutation is the same form you say when you say their name in conversation or when you greet them.
___What I don’t cover on this site are many things I do cover in my book: all the rules of forms of address, about names, international titles, precedence, complimentary closes, details on invitations, place cards, all sorts of introductions, etc. I hope you’ll get a copy of the book if you’d like the further detail.
—-#1) At right on desktops, at the bottom of every page on tablets and phones, is a list of all the offices, officials & topics covered on the site.
—-#2) If you don’t see the official you seek included or your question answered send me an e-mail. I am pretty fast at sending a reply: usually the next day or so (unless I am traveling.) Note: I don’t have mailing or Email addresses for any of the officials and I don’t keep track of offices that exist only in history books.
—-#3) If I think your question is of interest to others, Sometimes I post the question – but always change all the specifics.
— Robert Hickey
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
Recommended Resources: The Protocol School of Washington (PSOW) and Protocol and Diplomacy International – Protocol Officers Association (PDI-POA) For more information see the Protocol Resources page.
Robert Hickey2021-08-28T14:10:40-04:00Abbess Abbot
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Anatoly Hupenen: “Even during the battles in Vietnam I was not so worried as before my lectures” His services to the Motherland and military science are invaluable. But nowhere is Hüpenen more valued and honored than at the Military Air Defense Academy, which he headed from 1985 to 1991. Here he is called a good genius, a guardian angel. In the VA VKO, legends are already being made about Hupenen and they even dedicated a memorial plaque to him, placed on the facade of the academy. Anatoly Ivanovich congratulates the unique military university on its anniversary and shares with the VKS magazine his memories of the beginning of his teaching career and his participation in the resistance movement against the closure of the academy. nine0004
Vietnam
- Anatoly Ivanovich, before you headed the VA East Kazakhstan region, you were in Vietnam. Then this country was a hot spot on the world map. Please share your impressions of that time.
- I defended my dissertation in 1976, based on the experience I gained while leading a group of Soviet military specialists in Vietnam. The best practice for a military scientist could not be desired! As I remember now: December 19On the 72nd, it is fresh and pleasant in Hanoi at this time. And suddenly an air raid. The Americans carried out the first massive raid, which was based on B-52 strategic bombers. It was a strategic offensive operation Linebacker II, during which the entire American air force in Southeast Asia was used, supported by the Seventh Fleet.
Carpet bombing started the last phase of the air war. From 18 to 30 December it was especially hard.
The Americans wanted to end the war as soon as possible - in their favor. But they were not allowed to do this. The Vietnamese have shown themselves to be a great nation capable of repelling the enemy. The last offensive was remembered by the Americans for a long time.
Then they lost 81 aircraft. Only the B-52 intercontinental bombers, nicknamed by the Americans themselves "stratospheric fortresses", were destroyed over thirty. But when this colossus was undermined, the entire space from the earth to the sky was shrouded in fire and black flame for a second. It's impossible to forget. nine0005
Z. Chanady, Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army, is solemnly welcomed at the academy. On the right is the head of the academy, Colonel-General Anatoly Hupenen
Meeting with a foreign delegation at the academy
First lecture
First lectureAnd you were offered to head the academy. You were not only her boss, but also a teacher. Do you remember your first lecture? nine0004
- I started preparing for it ahead of time, while still being the head of the ZRV. The lecture was devoted to the interaction of air defense and air force in the destruction of cruise missiles - a topic that is still relevant today for the Aerospace Forces.
It seems that by that time I had enough experience behind me, and I knew the subject by heart, and when I entered the auditorium, I saw this forest of officer epaulettes and dozens of eyes looking at me inquiringly, I even took my breath away ... And what’s the most strange: how I prepared for a lecture, how I entered the audience - I remember it as if it were yesterday. I don't remember what I told them. nine0005
I wasn't as excited in Vietnam as I was before my lectures.
And from that very first lecture, I realized that it is necessary to teach not only cadets and students, but also teachers, that I myself, before explaining something, must learn to behave in front of an audience. Know how to properly present the material so that everyone listens to you.
We soon created a special teacher training class at the academy. All lectures were recorded on camera, and then they were shown to the lecturers. Everyone looked at themselves from the outside and drew conclusions: what was right, and what needs to be worked on.
So the entire teaching staff learned from their own and other people's mistakes. And I studied with everyone. nine0005
The tradition of teaching self-education and self-improvement lives on in the academy to this day. Now the educational and methodological department is engaged in this. Today, a lot of devices have appeared, as it is now customary to say - gadgets that make this difficult task easier for them. A good teacher is a piece goods even today. And there should be no limits to the improvement of his skills.
Graduates - excellent students with the Air Defense Commander-in-Chief, General of the Army I.M. Tretyak and the command of the academy after the reception in the Kremlin
Conversation with the president
– Anatoliy Ivanovich, it is your merit that you managed to defend the academy. Defending the VA VKO, you reached the president. Tell us about your conversation with Vladimir Putin.
- Who knows, maybe helping to defend the academy was the main thing in my life. On May 9, 2012, on Victory Day, I was invited by the president to the Kremlin and realized that this was the only chance. My chance is to reach out to senior management. nine0005
After the presentation of awards, a whole line of grateful colleagues lined up to Putin - about twenty people. When he finished talking to one of them, I knew it was now or never. "Vladimir Vladimirovich, allow me to address you not as the President, but as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief." Putin became serious, but smiled: “I allow it,” he says. Here I reported about the academy. The President listened to me and asked: “Why are you contacting me? You have a Minister of Defense - Serdyukov!” And I say: “I turned to the minister, but a young girl answered me, introducing herself as an expert. She said the secretary of defense was busy. And this “expert” himself is unlikely to distinguish a rocket from a locator.
” nine0005
In general, I talked with the president for about ten minutes, until they began to whisper to me from the queue: “Come on, they say, finish it.” Finally, I handed him a note - a report written by hand. Putin put it in his jacket pocket and promised to sort it out.
After that, we fought for the academy for a long time: we signed documents and talked with the Presidential Administration. By the time the new government was established and we learned that Serdyukov was still in it, we were already completely desperate. They thought that this was the end for the VA VKO. But after a conversation with the President and my report to the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Vasilyevich Gerasimov, I still continued to hope that we would win. The truth was on our side. And so it happened. Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu was appointed Minister of Defense. He came to Tver, looked at everything. And I decided: there will be an academy! nine0005
was born on May 25, 1925 in the family of a simple Leningrad worker.
Since childhood, he dreamed of serving the Motherland. The war that Hupenen faced as a teenager, the blockade of Leningrad only strengthened his desire to become a military man.
Immediately after the war, Hupenen entered the Leningrad Artillery Preparatory School and graduated in 1947. In 1950–1963 serves as the head of the weather station, then as the commander of the battery for monitoring and analyzing anti-aircraft missile firing at the Morier training ground and, finally, becomes the commander of the anti-aircraft missile battalion. nine0005
In 1961 he graduated from the Military Artillery Academy. In 1963–1967 serves as commander of an anti-aircraft missile regiment.
1967–1968 - Deputy commander of the 5th Air Defense Division in Petrozavodsk, 10th Air Defense Division.
In 1972 he was appointed senior of a group of Soviet military specialists in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), where he worked until the end of the war. In 1975–1977. - Deputy Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country.
1985–1991 Anatoly Ivanovich works as the head of the Red Banner Military Command Academy of the Air Defense Forces of the country named after Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. nine0005
Anatoly Hupenen was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner of Labour, the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the USSR Armed Forces" II and III degrees and 29 medals. For the fulfillment of international duty - the Order of the Red Banner (USSR), the Order "For Combat Feat" I degree and the medal "For Combat Solidarity in the Victory over the Americans" (DRV).
Home • Knowledge Base • Articles, comments, interviews • “The most important achievement: we have learned how to do legal business in Russia”
For ten years, Pepeliaev Group has been one of the strongest national law firms in Russia. This is confirmed by her numerous awards, as well as the assessment of competitors, colleagues, and the entire professional community.
Last year, Pepeliaev Group topped the Pravo.Ru-300 reputation rating. Sergey Pepelyaev, managing partner of Pepeliaev Group, spoke about some of the results of ten years of work in his interview for Legal Success magazine.
The company was founded in 2002. It was a very favorable period. Our start-up did not start from scratch: by that time I was already a well-known specialist, I had written a number of textbooks, books, articles, and had many regular customers. On the opening day of the company, an agreement was signed with Hewlett Packard, and I will always remember our first client. At the expense of his advance money, we paid the rent of the office. It was such an “experiential” time, and everything new and connected with experiences is very well remembered! nine0005
The period of our development coincided with the years of rapid economic growth in the country.
At first, the company was relatively small, it employed about 40 people: 28 came with me, seven with Andrey Goltsblat, and we hired a few more. Approximately 27 lawyers accounted for 13 staff members. This is a lot, respectively, and the administrative costs were considerable. Any small firm needs to quickly go through this stage of formation in order to ensure stable economic performance and a decent salary for lawyers. Recently, many law firms have been trying to achieve this through mergers with other companies: more lawyers, less administrative staff, less workload. We have doubled the number of our employees every year thanks to the growth in the number of clients and orders, and quickly became one of the largest Russian law firms, overtaking many domestic and foreign companies. nine0005
We have successfully weathered two economic crises. This is an indicator that the development of the company is due not only to a favorable economic situation: during the crisis period, we retained our clients, business and staff.
Probably our most important achievement is that we have learned how to do legal business in Russia.
This question has several aspects. The first one is the knowledge of business organization technology, including the billing system, reporting, etc. In this regard, my work in such large consulting firms as FBK - Financial and Accounting Consultants and KPMG helped me a lot, where I gained an understanding of the process of building a business. Another important aspect is the strategy, i.e. understanding what we want to achieve. I never wrote any formal strategies, the main direction of development is in my head. Now we have a committee that discusses issues of further development. nine0005
World practice shows that firms build their business in completely different ways.
There are network national companies with offices scattered throughout the country. At the same time, there are large expert-level companies, whose office, as a rule, is located in the capital, where clients from different cities apply. So, we are developing in two directions. We have an excellent expert component. I mean partners - tax specialists with whom we have been working for a very long time. For example, with Marina Ivlieva - 20 years, with Rustem Akhmetshin, Ivan Khamenushko, Denis Shchekin, Andrey Nikonov - more than 15 years. They, of course, can be called experts at the federal level. nine0005
We strive to have such experts in other practices, and we have been doing quite well, especially over the past two years. Galina Balandina came to us, the number one lawyer in the customs field, a retired major general, who first headed the Legal Department of the Federal Customs Service, and then the Department of Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Economy. By the Decree of the President, she was appointed among the five experts in the Expert Council within the Customs Union.
The practice of intellectual property was headed by Doctor of Law Valentina Vladimirovna Orlova, who previously headed the Legal Department of Rospatent, she was also Vice-Rector of the Russian Institute of Intellectual Property. Yulia Litovtseva came to us, candidate of legal sciences, who previously worked as a judge of the arbitration court of the Kaluga region, a bankruptcy specialist. Specialists of the antimonopoly group should also be noted: Elena Sokolovskaya, Oksana Migitko. Yulia Borozdna, an expert with fifteen years of experience in the industry, leads the practice of labor and migration law. The practice of administrative and legal protection of business is headed by Elena Ovcharova, who is one of the authors of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, as well as a member of the Expert Council of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. nine0005
Along with the creation of a team of experts, we are busy educating young professionals. This task is closely related to the direction of improving the service for our regular customers. They should always be sure that a lawyer is “at hand”, that within three hours after their call our lawyers will be available for feedback, they will definitely call, write, agree on the procedure and time for the execution of the assignment.
Our St. Petersburg office employs only 20 people, which is quite a lot by St. Petersburg standards. In the early 2000s, almost all orders for St. Petersburg came from Moscow. Now the St. Petersburg office receives most of the projects being implemented independently. As a federal company, we followed our clients (many foreign law firms came to Russia in the same way). In general, we have a very cautious approach to representation in the regions. Too often opening a regional office is just a franchise, trading in your own name. The market quickly understands this, and the client, having applied to the regional office of the company for the first time and received an unsatisfactory service, will never return here again.
Moreover, he may not apply to the head office, believing that there is the same service. We don't want to franchise. nine0005
Another common way to open a regional office is to buy a small local law firm. In my opinion, the successful functioning of regional offices in most cases is a happy accident, albeit a well-prepared one, but a happy accident. The company must have a close-knit team, a common mentality, a unified approach to work and quality standards. How to ensure it? You can, for example, send specialists from the head office on a business trip for a year or two. Then they will become the carriers of culture, and controllers, and "motors", etc. At present, we have one idea regarding Siberia, which we are discussing, we are developing a financial plan. At the same time, we try to approach this without too much fanaticism. nine0005
It happens. Not so long ago, a client who sells household appliances contacted us.
From time to time, consumers make claims to him, in connection with which it is necessary to organize a regional system of protection in consumer disputes. We have identified 16 large centers in Russia with him, in which we have agreed to cooperate with local law firms, and now we are coordinating this work. The result is an economically viable option. There are also one-time appeals to regional colleagues. nine0005
We are building a system of best friends with different companies, including in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan. We have people to work with and in whose timely and high-quality work we are sure, those whom we trust. This form of work is enough for us.
It is worth noting two cases of the Bolshevik factory, which I personally managed to handle in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.
They influenced not only the practice of law enforcement, but also the economic climate in general. The first case is about the recognition of unconstitutional Art. 13 of the Law “On the Fundamentals of the Tax System”, which established prohibitively harsh sanctions for tax offenses: twenty-fold (and in some cases more) compensation for damage caused to the budget. At the same time, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation accepted our position! As a result, the sanction that is now enshrined in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation appeared: 20 or 40% (if there is intent) of the tax amount. nine0005
The second case turned the practice of recovering legal costs. Until 2002, the Code of Arbitration Procedure of the Russian Federation did not contain a rule on reimbursement of legal costs to the party that won the dispute. Director of the factory "Bolshevik" Ya.E. Ioffe, a descendant of Russian emigrants of the first wave, a citizen of France, asked me about the possibility of recovering from the tax authority the amount spent by the factory on lawyers, considering this penalty as a disciplinary measure.
In order to give effect to Art. 53 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation on the right to state compensation for damage caused by illegal actions or inaction of state authorities or their officials, it was necessary to first file a lawsuit with an arbitration court, lose this case, and only then apply to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Once again allocating funds to pay for the work of lawyers, Ya.E. Ioffe uttered a phrase that I remember: "I am ready to invest in the development of the rule of law in Russia." For this, we should all be grateful to him, because as a result, the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated February 20, 2002 No. 22-O appeared. nine0005
By the way, some judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation were very surprised that we were not compensated for legal expenses. According to the statistics of arbitration courts, over the past decade, tax disputes with us were won by 76% of taxpayers, each of which bore the costs and was entitled to their reimbursement.
The tax service, realizing how this threatens the system as a whole, began to actively resist. What was not done in connection with this: for example, the Prosecutor General's Office received a statement about initiating a criminal case against me and Denis Shchekin under Art. 153 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Fraud” (allegedly we agreed with the client on an artificial increase in the amount of our fee, in order to later recover it from the tax service). To the credit of the Prosecutor's Office, the initiation of the case was denied. nine0005
The main result of our work is the appearance in the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation of a new article on the recovery of court costs (Article 110), which has dramatically affected the investment climate in the country, as well as disciplined the tax authorities and helped reduce the number of unfounded claims against taxpayers. Now the Federal Tax Service of Russia is orienting its inspectorates to ensure that in the presence of an unfavorable judicial prospect, not to bring the case to court.
In general, I consider it impossible to put things in order in public administration by administrative methods: by moving from chair to chair, by changing functions or powers. There is one universal disciplining tool for everyone - the ruble. This is a very important legal and political tool, so the work of the Bolshevik factory can be called the most important. nine0005
I would like to note the development of the law on the Olympics and the legal audit of the Russian application to FIFA. We participated in the drafting of the law on the Olympics in several areas: the construction of Olympic facilities, land problems during their construction, customs issues (import of sports equipment, inventory, consumables), visa issues and taxation. We also happened to prepare some internal documents of the Olimpstroy Group of Companies. nine0005
Last year we were approached by FIFA with a request for due diligence of the Russian application.
When a country claims to host the World Cup on its territory, the government must prepare a package of documents with the conditions for holding the event and guarantees. The drafted application corresponded to the legal and political realities, and Russia won the competition. Our expert work in the sports field was interesting and fruitful.
Another completely different, but no less interesting, even unique, project was carried out by us jointly with Alfa-Bank. For the VIP clients of this bank, we provide "fast legal assistance". There are different situations: someone went abroad and was detained at customs, someone got into an accident, someone was searched...
As I said, this is due to the fact that the lawyer follows the clients. The economic crisis is forcing Western companies to look for new markets for their products, cheap labor, raw materials, etc.
This year, despite all the talk about the crisis, its second wave, we are seeing an increase in investment activity: projects related to real business have begun, although they are caused by various reasons, for example, regulatory ones (the government is forcing pharmaceutical companies to locate drug production here). There are also quite real projects. I think this is a good sign for the economy as a whole. Despite numerous predictions of all kinds of economic disasters, we see a real picture of the development of the infrastructure of the legal business, namely, law firms. nine0005
I have already noted that one of the directions of our strategy is expert activity. We are market experts. In order to be so, you need to work very hard on it. It is necessary, firstly, to receive full expert information in time, and secondly, to "cook" in the expert community, to participate in public events, providing expert assistance to the state.
A lawyer cannot always combine this direction with his main work, he has a client in the first place, everything else is carried out according to the residual principle. Therefore, we decided to create an expert group focused on collecting information and GR work, that is, relations with the authorities, the expert and professional community. nine0005
During the year we hold three international conferences: one of them - "Tax law in the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation" takes place in April. Once a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation G.A. Hajiyev suggested that in other countries there is such a form of public control over constitutional courts. The conference organized by us every year for eight years has gained authority. Someone has to prepare such a significant event - that's what our expert group is doing.
Another conference, on antitrust law, is also held in April in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
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The third conference - on the practice of arbitration courts - we traditionally arrange in October or November together with arbitration courts.
In addition, we publish many books written by our lawyers. Every year we publish a collection with a description of the most significant cases, selected by specialists from each practice. We publish two magazines: “Tax Expert” and “Competition and Law”. This work is coordinated by the head of the expert group Vadim Zaripov.
We have a fairly large marketing department. We believe that issues of trust are very important for a lawyer. A lot is built on personal connections, but a great ongoing consulting business cannot be built on personal connections alone. Therefore, marketing performs two important tasks. The first is customer acquisition. A fairly large volume of orders comes to us in this way: clients call, say that they listened to the speeches of our lawyers at conferences, looked at our website, read our books .
.. The second task is customer retention. Let's conditionally call it business development. This is another direction of marketing in a broad sense. nine0187 But of course, the most important thing is the quality of the work done. The majority of new clients come to us based on recommendations received from those who have already used our legal assistance.
The image of a little man has been used by us for quite a long time, since 2006. It is a figment of the artists' imagination, which contains our message. The marketing materials of most firms, as a rule, depict serious men and women with smart faces who discuss the same things, hand over the same papers ... We want to tell our clients: “We are ordinary people, with us deal with. Yes, we are recognized experts, but we are not without a sense of humor.
Feel free to contact us!” nine0005
We had stormy discussions and battles about whether we would seem ridiculous with such symbols, but practice has shown quite adequate perception of it. Moreover, last year they tried to steal our little man. At the Legal Forum of the South of Russia, which was held in Sochi, a company from Rostov-on-Don distributed its tax-themed leaflet, which showed the same man, only dressed or combed differently. This confirms the popularity of our idea, and the little man is already a brand. Of course, it is protected as a trademark. By the way, with that company we resolved the issue amicably, they apologized for their “southern prank”. nine0005
As for the Greek letter "pi" in the degree of ji... A lawyer must be precise. If he says: “On the one hand ...”, “on the other hand ...” - this is just an occasion for jokes. We strive to give advice that is scientifically accurate, which is why we have chosen this sign. Pi is a mathematical constant and a letter consonant with the first letter of my last name, and pi to the power of ji is a huge number, symbolizing the importance of our entire team.
Yes, it's good to have a leader, but a leader reinforced by a team is a geometric progression. This symbolism is not only the fruit of the imagination of designers or marketers, but also of a common work. nine0005
We have 160 lawyers and 100 people in the administrative apparatus, among them cleaners, flower girls, drivers. Some turnover is observed at the reception, but this is understandable: employees with higher economic, marketing or linguistic education are taken there. Most often, university graduates, fifth-year students come. It is natural that well-established girls are eventually invited to work in our other divisions. nine0005
We try to be socially responsible when it comes to personnel. Sometimes I would like to fire an employee, but you think: “Where will he go, after all, he has worked here for so many years ...”, and you try to find something else for him. Of course, this does not always work out, business is business .
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Neither in the crisis year of 2008 nor in 2011 did we have any layoff programs. We told our employees that we had an alternative: either tighten our belts, not increase costs, maybe lose some bonuses, but keep the team and not be nervous about employment, or carry out a series of layoffs. Everyone chose the first path, and it turned out to be justified. When economic development began again, we were able to recover very quickly. nine0005
During the second wave of the crisis, we didn't fire anyone either. Moreover, at that time, freelance lawyers appeared on the market, and very good ones at that (it is not true that foreign firms fired only “ballast”). For example, if firms were engaged in financial matters or M&A (those for which there was no demand at all), then even good lawyers were released. So, over the past three years, about 90 people have come to us, of which about 50 are lawyers.
Fundamentally, but not really.
I am happy that I graduated from Moscow State University - the best university in the country, in my opinion, but we have excellent lawyers who have graduated from other universities, not necessarily Moscow ones. It is clear that if the base is not laid down, then it can no longer be created, and it can be laid down anywhere. The main thing is what a person is like: is he active, inquisitive, thoughtful... At the same time, we pay attention to the base and try to deal primarily with graduates of leading universities. We are looking for active people and help them to work. We have such a number of employees studying and defending, which, probably, no one else has! Such people, firstly, help us develop as an expert team. We have 26 lawyers - candidates and two - doctors of science. We welcome when high-level specialists come to us, and at the same time we create conditions for professional growth for our employees. nine0005
Pepeliaev Group could well become the collective hero of our “Not a Right to One” column, for example, in connection with your unique cultural project “People and Taxes”, within which L.
Verney and J. Beer’s play “School taxpayers”, or in connection with your support of the theatrical production of the same name, the release of the art album “With Pen and Brush about Taxes”. How do you celebrate the tenth anniversary of your company in the "side" field?
We are presenting ourselves and all lawyers (and non-lawyers too) with a very interesting, colorfully designed publication called "According to the law of a fairy tale." This is a fascinating interpretation of Russian fairy tales, in the plots of which legal incidents are quite common. At first we thought that the legal view of fairy tales was a symptom of our professional deformation. However, as we worked on an unusual project, we realized that this was an excellent professional training! The book presents an unusual look at the works familiar from childhood. This is our careful attempt to touch the roots of the famous “oak near Lukomorye” and unravel the “mysterious soul” of the Russian legal system. The idea to look at Russian folk tales through the eyes of lawyers came up with the most creative specialists of Pepeliaev Group.
