SOPHIE PANJIKIDZE

44 Kote Abkhazi Street ● Tbilisi 0105 ● Georgia

Email: s.panjikidze@gvinadzeandpartners.ge or spanjikidze@llm17.law.harvard.edu
Mobile: +995 577 400402 / Office: +995 322 438970
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiepanjikidze/

EDUCATION

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, Cambridge, MA, USA

– LL.M., 2017

TBILISI STATE UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Tbilisi,
Georgia
– DIPLOMA OF LAWYER WITH HONORS, 2005

THE HAGUE ACADEMY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, The Hague, Netherlands

– CERTIFICATE, 2006 (General Course in Private International Law)

UNIVERSITY OF OSLO, INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL, Oslo, Norway

– CERTIFICATE, 2004 (Course in Contemporary Problems in Government and Politics; International Relations
and Foreign Policy)

BODO REGIONAL UNIVERSITY, SUMMER UNIVERSITY, Bodo, Norway

– CERTIFICATE, 2002 (Course in Conflicts Management, Cross-Cultural Communication and Minority Issues)

WORK EXPERIENCE
PARTNER, GVINADZE & PARTNERS LLC; 2017 – PRESENT
• Practice general business law; implementation of the firm’s policies and procedures; co-management of the
firm
SENIOR ASSOCIATE, GVINADZE & PARTNERS LLC; 2010 – 2016
• Specialize in corporate, M&A, labor, intellectual property, competition law and dispute
resolution/international arbitration; pro bono work

ASSOCIATE, DLA PIPER GVINADZE & PARTNERS LP; 2005 – 2009

• Advised clients on wide range of business law matters, including corporate, banking and finance, contracts,
intellectual property, real estate, labor and competition law; pro bono work

TRAINEE ASSOCIATE, ERNST & YOUNG LEGAL (EY LAW); 2003 – 2005
• Advised clients on Georgian business law matters

LEGAL ASSISTANT, GEORGIAN CONSULTING GROUP – LAW OFFICE; 2002

• Legal research, corporate drafting, due diligence

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

National Representative for Georgia of the Young Lawyers’ Committee of International Bar Association (April
2017 to Present)
• Facilitate communication between young IBA members within a jurisdiction and the Young Lawyers
Committee of the IBA thereby strengthening the links among national and local young lawyers associations
and the international community.

Lecturer of intellectual property law, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS /
Rondeli Foundation) (September 2017 to Present)
1
• USAID/Governing for Growth (G4G) in Georgia supported project: “Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade
Area (DCFTA) Awareness Raising Trainings for Journalists and Civil Society Organizations”

Associated Trainer in the field of intellectual property law (September 2015 to Present)
• Provide IP training at the Diplomatic Training Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia

IP Expert, EU-Georgia Business Council (EUGBC) Council of Experts (September 2014 to Present)
• EU Project: Raising Awareness on Association Agreement/DCFTA in the Private Sector of Georgia

Arbitrator (2012-2015)
• Tbilisi Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Annual Pre-Moots

Judge (February 2013, January 2015)

• Client Counseling Competition for Law Students, organized within the framework of East-West
Management Institute’s Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (EWMI-JILEP)

Judge (June 2013)

• Georgian National Arbitration Competition for Law Students organized by the Tbilisi State University
National Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• Member of the Georgian Bar Association

• Patent and Trademark Attorney, National Intellectual Property Centre of Georgia – Sakpatenti
• Board Member, Harvard Women's Law Association (elective office; 2016-2017)
• Member of the Commission of Rule of Law and Judicial Reforms, Georgian Bar Association (2014-2017)
• Member of the Independent Review Panel (Bid Challenge System), Millennium Challenge Account Georgia
(MCA-Georgia) administering MCC’s (a bilateral US foreign aid agency) $140 million Compact to Georgia
• Member of the Board of Directors, Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC)
• Advisory Board Member, US Government Exchange Program Alumni Association of Georgia (EPAG)
• Member, Harvard International Arbitration Law Students Association (2016-2017)
• Member, Harvard European Law Association (2016-2017)
• Member, IP Commission, ICC Georgia
• Member, International Bar Association (IBA)
• Member, Young Arbitrators Forum of the International Chamber of Commerce
• Member, Young ICCA (International Council for Commercial Arbitration)
• Member, Young International Arbitration Group of the London Court of International Arbitration
• Member, International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) Young & International
• Member, The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)
• Member of the Steering Committee & Panel Manager, Harvard European Conference 2017

PRIZES

Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program Scholarship granted by the US Department of State (2000)

Close Up Foundation Scholarship to attend Government Studies Program in Washington DC (2001)

International Bar Association Young Lawyer’s Scholarship Award (2015)

LANGUAGES

Georgian (native), English (fluent), Russian (fluent), French (intermediate)