I’ve known Oleg Efrim for what feels like forever. But I had never crossed paths with his partner at Efrim, Roșca și Asociații. So when Oleg asked, “Our firm is turning five. Would you like to interview Vlad about it?” I immediately said yes. I never turn down the chance to meet someone new—especially when it’s a conversation with a partner of one of the leading law firms in Moldova.

We agreed to have coffee on Saturday at the ERA office.

There are only a handful of old mansions in Chișinău that I privately call “the quiet charm of the bourgeoisie.” High ceilings, lots of wood, and, most importantly, a serene, invisible aura of the past—or even the century before that.

ERA’s office is one of those. A mansion on București Street, not far from the corner with Bănulescu-Bodoni. It has a small inner terrace, and beyond that, a spacious courtyard with a gazebo. You can faintly hear the city noise, but the moment the conversation starts, it fades away.

Saturday, July 25, 10 a.m. A cool terrace. My first cup of espresso for the day. Three days remain until ERA’s five-year anniversary, but on such a slow and lazy morning, we naturally begin talking about something else entirely.

Vlad, I feel like there must be clients who signed a contract with you just for the chance to have coffee on this terrace. It should cost extra.
 I haven’t heard of such motivations yet. But there is one client who regularly reminds me that, should we ever sell this mansion, he wants to be the first to know.

These kinds of houses also make me think of “dynasties”—when children continue the family business. I once dreamed of my daughter joining mine, but it didn’t work out. What about you? Passing down the firm sounds pretty great.
 I have three sons. The eldest has firmly decided he wants nothing to do with law—he’s into economics and chose Business Administration. The second one is still considering law, and the third is in first grade. We haven’t exactly discussed his career plans yet.

And Oleg?
 His son is in ninth grade and plans to go into law, like his father. But it’s a bit early to talk about passing down the firm. We're celebrating five years, not fifty.

The firm is five years old, but both of you have been practicing law much longer. How long have you been in the field? Always as a defense lawyer, or did you work in other areas too?
 Twenty-one years. I’ve never been a prosecutor, not even for a day. Always a defense attorney. You could count on one hand the times I was on the side of the prosecution. Defending—that’s what feels closest to me.

And within law, you also have your specializations. Do you take on both civil and criminal cases? Do you work with individuals and companies? No restrictions?
 I never take on murder or rape cases. Of course, every person has the right to a defense, but I’ve chosen to make that an exception for myself. I specialize in “white-collar” crime—economic offenses, from contract breaches to corruption charges.

In every movie about lawyers, the ethical dilemma always shows up. A lawyer knows their client is guilty, but still finds a legal loophole to get them off. And then the prosecutor gives them that classic judgmental stare in the hallway...
 Let me answer that as a lawyer: “Laws are made to be broken.”

That sounds a little cynical, Vlad...
 I’m just being realistic. If no one ever broke the law, there wouldn’t be a need to write laws in the first place. A lawyer’s job isn’t to tell a client what’s legal or not. If the client can read and has some logic, they can understand the law themselves. My role is to know “what’s possible when it’s not allowed.” Ethics is a very debatable matter. Want a simple example?

I’m all ears.
 Your debtor doesn’t pay you. They clearly owe you, right?

Absolutely.
 But there’s a statute of limitations. You waited too long to sue, and the court tells you, “Sure, the debt exists. But since you missed the deadline, you can’t collect.” That’s not the lawyer speaking—it’s the law.

That’s what a slow Saturday morning allows for—starting a real conversation about society and justice. Because when I read the comments under Moldovan media articles (the ones that still allow comments), it feels like there are only two acceptable punishments in this country: death or life imprisonment with confiscation. For everything—from traffic accidents and corruption to medical errors. But that’s not how we’ll write this interview. So let me ask the classic question for companies with two partners. How did you meet Oleg?
 It was 2006. We had a mutual client—a string of complex civil and criminal economic cases. The client had a serious adversary and didn’t want to take any chances, so they brought together a team of 5-6 lawyers. I was one of them, working independently at the time. Oleg was on the team too—he was then with Gheorghe Avornic’s law office. We had known of each other, but never worked together. After that case, we realized we were a great match. That’s when the idea of working together started.

Talk about a long game! You figured it out in 2006 and opened the firm in 2015!
 We would’ve done it sooner, but Oleg took a break from law to serve in public office. So we waited. By the way, ERA’s name was his idea. He was on a flight during his time as Minister of Justice, playing around with combinations of our names in his head. When he landed, he called me and said, “Vlad, I’ve got it. Efrim, Roșca și Asociații. ERA.”

I looked up the company before our meeting. You’re not a law office, you’re a law firm. Why is that?
 Because we’re not a classic law office. It’s the two of us as partners, but we always have 8–10 lawyers and attorneys on staff. One of our non-negotiable rules is that no case is handled by just one person. Always a team of 3–4 people. The best ideas come from collaboration. So, mornings at ERA—especially in the summer—start right here on the terrace with coffee and a mental warm-up. Around 10 a.m., Oleg arrives from his run and we have our morning meeting. That’s our corporate tradition.

Has Oleg tried to get you into running? That stuff’s contagious…
 We’re different in that. I used to do wrestling and karate when I was younger, but that was a long time ago. Now my “fight” for optimal weight is through smart eating. Oleg runs for the both of us. We don’t impose our interests on each other—that’s one of the pillars of our partnership.

Vlad, 21 years in law. No burnout?
 Not a bit. On the contrary. Nothing replaces the thrill of competition that comes with being a lawyer. Even if I know a case is likely unwinnable, I still go in with excitement. You never know—maybe a window of opportunity will open mid-case, and you can use it for your client’s benefit. My only rule: never lie to the client. They need to know their chances upfront.

ERA turns five in a few days. A decent milestone—but there are firms out there that are twenty years old or more. Can you reflect on the first five years and also give a vision for the next twenty?
 Our goal from day one was to be the best. And I can say that in five years, we’ve become one of the firms people mention when they talk about “top-tier” players. So it’s still a preliminary result. As for the vision going forward—our main principle is that we don’t want to just apply legal precedent. We want to create it. And we’ll keep working to create it.