On October 8th, 2019, Gregory Pelecanos , Senior Partner, spoke at the 6th Taxation Law Forum, in Athens in his capacity of Coordinator of the German-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Industry Legal Group . Gregory stressed that tax reductions although welcome, are not in themselves, a certain tool leading to economic development given Greece’s many structural problems and overbearing debt obligations. Gregory stressed the need to avoid increasing income disparities between the poorer and the more affluent strata of society, safeguarding the middle class as well as the need to adopt new tools suggesting the creation of a “Nudge Unit” in the Ministry of Finance and Economics.
On October 9th, 2019, Gregory Pelecanos was an invited speaker at a Legal Tech and Law Firm Organisation conference organized in the context of the Graduation Ceremony of the Certified Paralegal Program run by Nomiki Vivliothiki, a major Greek law publisher and educational institution. Gregory outlined the challenges faced by the legal profession in Greece in face of globalisation, new technologies and AI in particular and discussed the role of paralegals and administrative staff in successfully meeting the challenges.
On October 17th, 2019, Ballas, Pelecanos & Associates LPC sponsored and participated in the 2nd International Arbitration Forum in Athens, which discussed the general theme “Prevailing principles of fairness, finality and public policy in International Commercial Arbitration”. Gregory Pelecanos was invited to comment on Prof. S. Brekoulakis’ (Kings College London, Chair in International Arbitration) discussion of “A Critical Analysis of the Concept of Transnational Public Policy”. Gregory’s commentary titled “Are Values a proper or even relevant standard of law in International Arbitration” can be viewed by clicking here
On October 25th, 2019, Ballas, Pelecanos & Associates LPC, a member of the Automotive Law Network participated in the Network’s annual conference, the EU Automotive Symposium 2019 in Rome which was hosted at the offices of “Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappeli & Partners” at the magnificent Palazzo Albani. The participants discussed key legal developments pertaining to the automotive industry including competition law, on-line sales, connectivity and access to data. Gregory participated in the “Targets and Rebates” session and presented the EU Commission’s decision on Case AT.40428 (Guess) relating to selective distribution systems, RPM and online sales restrictions.
Finally, on October 30th , 2019, Gregory Pelecanos participated in a consultation organized by the Greek Ministry of Justice, the OECD and the Council Of Europe / Groupe d’Etats contre la Corruption (GRECO) and discussed Greece’s progress on combatting corruption.
