Litigation in Estonia
I had the great pleasure to visit Estonia this year and, while I enjoyed the brisk cool weather, ate too many kohuke snacks, and tried some Vana Talinn, I did not get the chance to visit any Estonian courts. I did get to meet some very impressive lawyers and learn about Estonia’s history and position in global commerce. And I was lucky enough that Maksim Greinoman, the principal of Advokaadibüroo Greinoman & Co. in Talinn, was kind enough to let me interview him about what litigation is like in his country.
Why should you continue reading this post about litigation in Estonia?
You want to learn more about Estonia than the fact it came close to winning the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest with Tommy Cash’s “Espresso Macchiato.”
You’re in Helsinki and you want to take a two hour ferry ride, but you don’t know where to go.
You want to hear about a country where most cases reach the country’s highest court and take four years or more to conclude. But you also want to hear about a place where, sometimes, lawyers dress casually in court.
Maksim Greinoman, the principal of Advokaadibüroo Greinoman & Co. in Talinn. This interview was lightly edited.
Can you tell me about the kinds of disputes you handle in your legal practice?
Mainly commercial, insolvency and execution proceedings cases as determined by the clients’ business needs.
My most famous case so far was representation of an Estonian company in the first ever case heard by the Board of Appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities (SV Capital OÜ v. EBA). This case was the subject of a special conference by the Max Plank Institute.
What type of clients do you generally represent in disputes?
Small and medium businesses and their owners.
Besides Microsoft Office, what software do you use in your practice?
Estonian ID-card freeware, which is government created software (1) to give electronic signatures, which have the same standing as handwritten signatures, and (2) to encrypt and decrypt documents.
What books and websites do you use for legal research?
Free state database of legislation and case law (www.riigiteataja.ee) as well as Eur-Lex (https://eur-lex.europa.eu), an official database of EU law, and the European Court of Justice website (www.curia.eu). There is a small number of commentaries of Estonian legislation, some of which are available on paper and some online.
Do Estonian litigators ever cite the laws of other countries in disputes?
Very infrequently and mainly in cases concerned with application of international conventions such as the New York [Arbitration] Convention and the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods. It may be any jurisdiction, which suits the lawyer, but most likely an EU country or the UK.
Image credit: https://et.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maakohus#/media/Fail%3AViru_maakohus.jpg
Do you electronically file pleadings with the court? Or must you send paper copies of them to the courthouse?
Lawyers are statutorily obliged to submit pleading only through the electronic court portal, though in practice the court accepts submission of pleadings by email. It is very rare the lawyers would submit pleadings or other documents on paper.
Does Estonia have specialized courts that only hear commercial cases?
No, Estonia is such a small jurisdiction, that general courts hear all civil and commercial cases, even though certain types of cases allocated to certain judges.
Estonia has promoted the country as a center for new tech businesses. Has this effort made any changes to the way it handles commercial lawsuits?
Yes, in the sense that the litigation is paperless and parties may appear through videolink.
Who decides the facts in a commercial case? Is it a judge or a jury?
A judge. There is no jury. Only in criminal cases and only for serious crime, the professional judge sits the case together with two lay judges.
Generally speaking, how many pages are the complaints or initial pleadings you see in your work?
There is no statutory limit on the number of words or pages and lawyers are free to choose fonts and spacing. This allows lawyers to play with formatting, but I would say the initial pleadings may be from 5 to 20 pages.
Here is an example of a claim I was not involved with, but that is in the public domain.
Generally speaking, how long does it take for a case to go from complaint to judgment?
In contrast to many other legal traditions, most cases go to the appeal and then to cassation appeal stage. It may mean 4 to 6 years from the moment the case was filed until the judgement becomes final.
Generally speaking, how is evidence exchanged between the parties before trial? Do you get to interview the opposing witnesses before the trial?
There is no discovery process, so evidence may be obtained through publicly available information or by seeking a court order, which is not easily granted.
If you win, does the other side reimburse your attorneys’ fees?
Yes, alongside states fees and expert witness costs.
Are the Estonian courts open to the public? Can ordinary people watch a commercial trial?
Yes, but since many cases are determined without hearing and the public does not have access to file, open court is rather a formality.
The court of the highest instance broadcasts its most important hearings via YouTube and the hearings can be viewed retrospectively as well.
Do you believe that Estonian courts have a particular strength for resolving commercial
Perhaps a lack of bribery.
How about a weakness?
The judges seem to be overwhelmed with work and do not have enough time to go into every detail of the case. Unfortunately, this means a lot of appeals, which, in turn, slows the whole system down.
How often do you go to the courthouse?
During the high season it may be once or two times a week.
When you are there, do you need to wear a special robe or wig?
Lawyers do not wear a robe and should instead wear formal business dress, though sometimes they dress casually.