Our firm’s roots reach back to the 1990s, when Vitaliy Batryn established a private legal practice in Uzhhorod, the centre of Ukraine’s Transcarpathian region.

His legal career, however, began much earlier. Before entering private practice, Mr Batryn graduated with honours from the Kharkiv Law Academy, then one of the leading law schools in the Soviet Union.

He subsequently spent many years in public service as an investigator, eventually becoming Head of the Investigation Department of the Uzhhorod City Police.

Following Ukraine’s independence in 1991, Mr Batryn made a decisive professional transition. He voluntarily left public service to enter private legal practice and became one of the first registered private advocates in the region.

By the early 2000s, the practice he had established had developed into a recognised legal team in western Ukraine.

Yet Mr Batryn’s contribution extended well beyond building and leading his own practice. He was actively involved in training and mentoring a new generation of lawyers, representing the regional Bar at the national level, and promoting high standards of professional conduct within Ukraine’s legal community.

Mr Batryn’s untimely passing was a profound loss to his family, colleagues and the wider Ukrainian legal community. He nevertheless left behind a professional legacy founded on legal excellence, independence and commitment to the profession — a legacy that the next generation was determined to carry forward.

In 2012, the family legal tradition entered a new chapter in Kyiv with the establishment of the practice that today operates as Lions Lawyers. Led by the founder’s sons, both qualified Ukrainian advocates, the firm has developed into a practice focused on complex commercial disputes, international matters and cross-border work for businesses, investors and institutions.