Svetlana’s Personal Story in Her Own Words…

While many people spend years trying to figure out what to do with their lives, I was fortunate to see into the crystal ball of my future at a very young age.

I was born and raised in the Soviet Union during a time of great political and economic reformation in the 1980s called Perestroika. My father was an attorney who worked as an agent of change during this time. He helped Russian organizations transition from a command economy to a free-market economy. Through my father’s work, I quickly realized the importance of law related to business, and the need for people with the skills to help businesses adjust to new ways, new markets, and new cultures. I was inspired to get my law degree to help businesses as my father did. I started my law firm Primum Law Group in order to be able to support the international business to adjust to new markets and create the legal foundation that allows my clients to stay focused on their business goals and reach their potential.

After earning a Bachelors in Law I worked toward my Ph.D. and took a concurrent internship to gain experience providing full legal support to business. I worked on entity formation, corporate governance, licensing and employment issues, also advising them on mergers, acquisitions and other corporate transactions. I was able to be more than a lawyer to a variety of businesses in this role, and I loved the ability to help them exceed their goals and grow.

I founded the Sovetnik Law Office in 2002, which I grew to a staff of seven full-time attorneys over ten years. While managing my firm I accepted an invitation from the United States government to join a special program to visit the U.S. and learn more about the legal aspects of business from an American perspective. I spent three weeks in California and my life hasn’t been the same since.

I returned to my firm excited to help U.S.-based companies get started in Russia and soon realized an opportunity to help Russian businesses do the same in the U.S. The recession in 2008 created a climate for international investment in America, so I partnered with USBC Business Consulting and Investments in California to assist Eastern European and Russian investors. I also earned a Masters in Business Law from the California Berkeley School of Law to be more effective as a full-service solution provider - not just a lawyer. I put my new education to work helping foreign investors with the development of facilities for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, then moved to the U.S. in 2013 to open a new chapter in my life.

While helping clients with international legal and business issues I quickly understood how much they needed a partner to help them with all aspects of commercial activity. I realized that what they really needed was someone who could do it all, so in 2016 I developed a new legal product with Primum Law Group to address this need.

Primum Law Group is the synthesis of my journey as a professional. With Primum I am putting twenty years of bilingual, multi-cultural legal and business experience to work helping businesses and start-ups succeed in foreign markets. I like to think of Primum as a partner for businesses that holds the legal frame for business owners that can develop the product. As our world becomes more globalized I see great opportunity for this solution and I am very excited to provide it.

When I asked to tell me something surprising about her that most don’t know, she said…

Sometimes it surprises people to know the image or idea I had in mind when I started my practice. I love ballroom dancing. The grace and precision of two dancers creates a partnership that is more than the sum of its parts. But what could ballroom dancing and practicing law possibly have in common? In ballroom dancing, the woman creates a foundation to allow her partner to guide the artistry. In 20 years of practicing law, I have found the same foundational partnership should exist between business owners and their legal counsels. Business lawyers accomplish this supporting role by understanding the business’s “dance” - both the business itself and its strategic goals. In this way, they can move with the company as it grows and evolves.