The Moldovan legal market might be relatively static at the moment, but beneath the surface, notable trends are reshaping its dynamics, according to Melnic | Bercu Partner Vlad Bercu, who points to the rise of AI-driven smaller firms, political turbulence around the legal profession’s independence, growing interest in IT, renewables, and labor leasing as developments worth watching.
"The market remains quite static overall, with relatively few new transactions given the small size of Moldova’s economy," Bercu begins. Still, there are some interesting dynamics. "We’ve seen several new law firms being established, often by former associates of leading Moldovan firms. Thanks to the increasing use of AI tools, these smaller firms are managing to compete more effectively with established players, as AI allows them to handle heavier workloads at lower cost. It’s an evolving trend that will be interesting to follow, and the question will be whether they can sustain this level of competitiveness long term."
Shifting gears to the political and regulatory environment, Bercu indicates that tensions remain high. "The legislature recently attempted to amend the law regulating the legal profession without public consultation. The proposal sought to introduce government representatives into the self-governing bodies of the bar association, something lawyers understandably opposed as it undermines the independence of the profession. This led to a 3-week strike, after which the President refused to promulgate the law. Against the backdrop of parliamentary elections later this year, and strong external pressures influencing local politics, the environment is quite unstable," he explains.
As for the key trends to observe in the business sector, Bercu mentions that there is "movement in the IT sector, which benefits from Moldova’s privileged 7% income tax rate for companies registered in local IT parks. This incentive continues to attract foreign players, and I expect it could eventually encourage larger international law firms to enter the Moldovan market, whether through partnerships or local branches." According to him, so far, "only a handful of international firms, like Schoenherr and Vernon David, have managed to establish a lasting presence."
Energy is another hot area, Bercu says, with growing demand for renewables, particularly photovoltaics and solar panel imports. "Since the war in Ukraine, Moldova has faced energy security challenges, and there’s a strong interest in developing renewable capacities to boost independence," he says.
"Another emerging trend is labor leasing: recent amendments to labor legislation introduced the concept of 'temporary agency work,' creating a formal market for staff leasing. A new agency has already been set up to outsource employees to companies that lack the capacity or flexibility to maintain full-time staff – a model we expect to expand," Bercu reports.
Finally, focusing on the broader legal framework itself, Bercu says that "frequent political turnover means constant shifts in the legal landscape, with each new government bringing its own vision of reform. This creates uncertainty. A telling example is the Civil Code: after a sweeping 2019 reform that overhauled roughly 90% of the text and introduced a new inheritance regime, aggressive lobbying has now swung the pendulum back. The inheritance provisions have largely reverted to their pre-2019 template generating policy whiplash and a two-steps-forward-one-step-back oddity for civil-law systems everywhere." Bercu, however, remains upbeat about the financial-services market in the broadest sense. “We’ve seen a range of financial products take shape: both on the lending side and in capital-raising. The 2023 crowdfunding law already has two 'beneficiaries' working on fintech products, and one of our clients will likely be the third," he adds.
