Kaupo Lepasepp, head of the Sorainen Competition & Regulatory team in Estonia, will become Country Managing Partner of the Estonian office on 1 April 2021.
Kaupo is a seasoned practitioner in energy, infrastructure, trade and competition law and has represented clients in dealings both with national competition authorities and with the European Commission. He has assisted clients with international investment protection arbitration, legislative initiatives and transactions, both in our region and further afield.
As well as being a legal adviser, Kaupo is an advocate of new technologies and a strong believer in innovation and experimenting. In addition to a legal degree, Kaupo recently graduated cum laude from TalTech (Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia) with MSc in Engineering and IT.
He is a member of the Estonian Bar Association Administrative Law Commission and a military reserve force officer.
“I will continue working on everything that has made Sorainen a successful law firm so far – we aim to maintain a positive working environment where a smart team is dedicated to proactively solving legal challenges from demanding clients while keeping our spirits high. I am grateful to our clients and my team, whose feedback and ideas inspire me every day and help to keep us on track with developing our services and maintaining a friendly atmosphere that promotes team work. I am grateful to Toomas Prangli for leading Sorainen Estonia through the last decade. We have the strong and tight team we have now thanks to his dedication and demanding guidance. Toomas has set the bar high, but I have a strong belief in our team and we will continue going at full speed towards new big achievements. I will also continue working as a lawyer and developing our profession,” says Kaupo Lepasepp.
Having led Sorainen Estonia for ten years, partner Toomas Prangli will now fully focus on coleading the Corporate and M&A practice, as well as the Private Equity & Venture Capital and Startups sector groups in Estonia. “These past ten years have been successful. Sorainen Estonia has grown significantly, we have developed new services and sectors and reinforced our market position. During this time, I played only a small part in the Sorainen management structure. I am grateful to all my colleagues who have made invaluable contributions to the growth of the firm and the Estonian office. We will not stop and will continue surfing the waves of change. In recent times we have learned a lot about how to arrange work even more flexibly and I am sure that many of our recent innovative solutions will become habits. I am sure that Kaupo is the ideal person to take over the responsibility for managing the Estonian office and I wish him great success,” said Toomas Prangli, commenting on the change of watch.
The Sorainen international Corporate and M&A practice, which Estonian branch Toomas co-heads with partners Karin Madisson and Piret Jesse, topped the Baltic M&A league table of legal advisors in 2020 by both the number of deals advised on and by deal value according to the Mergermarket database. Under Toomas Prangli’s leadership, Sorainen Estonia has achieved the highest recognition – for two consecutive years clients participating in the Prospera client satisfaction survey have said that Sorainen has the best legal competence and the best-known brand among top Estonian law firms.
“Both Toomas and Kaupo have risen to the top leadership positions from within the firm – Toomas started in 1997 as a trainee and Kaupo joined the firm in 2006 as senior associate of the Competition & Regulatory team. Both of them are very strong professionals and managers, and uphold our organisational culture outstandingly. As senior partner, I have had very tight and good cooperation with Toomas, and all partners highly appreciate his top-level management. We congratulate Kaupo on his new position,” commented Aku Sorainen, founder and senior partner of Sorainen.
