Yannis is the managing partner of Kelemenis & Co. He was born and raised on the Greek island of Chios before moving to Athens for his undergraduate studies. He holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Athens (LL.B.) and from the American College of Greece (B.A.), and postgraduate degrees from the University of Oxford (M.Phil and D.Phil). He studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, one of the world’s most prestigious scholarships. At the final stage of his doctorate, he was supported by a scholarship from the A.G. Leventis Foundation (Cyprus). Upon the completion of his postgraduate studies, he was recruited by the international law firm Herbert Smith to work in its London office.

Yannis is a corporate and disputes lawyer advising corporations, investors and financial institutions on complex corporate, commercial and regulatory matters. His practice encompasses corporate and commercial law, banking and finance, corporate taxation, complex real estate transactions, insolvency and restructuring, as well as litigation and arbitration. He is regularly trusted to advise on matters combining sophisticated legal issues with significant commercial and regulatory implications. He has extensive experience in high-value M&A, strategic investments and complex commercial transactions, advising domestic and international clients on acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate restructurings and large-scale investment projects. His work frequently involves the structuring and execution of transactions across multiple jurisdictions, the negotiation of sophisticated commercial arrangements and the management of complex legal and regulatory issues arising in regulated and capital-intensive sectors.

He has developed sectoral expertise in energy, tourism, capital markets, education, retail and food and beverage, advising clients on both transactional and regulatory matters. His work in these sectors often involves large-scale projects, complex regulatory environments and multi-party commercial arrangements. Parallel to his private practice work, Yannis has been involved in numerous legislative and regulatory reform projects relating to the approximation of national legislation with the European Union acquis. In this capacity, he has advised governments, public authorities and international organisations in Greece and across Eastern Europe on the design and implementation of legislative frameworks, regulatory policy and institutional reforms aligned with EU law, including the preparation of draft legislation, legislative gap analysis, regulatory strategies and institutional reform measures.

Yannis represents clients in high-stakes commercial and regulatory disputes, acting in complex litigation and arbitration involving shareholder disputes, contractual claims, corporate governance issues, regulatory matters, and disputes arising from major investment and development projects. He appears regularly before the civil and administrative courts, including the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court (Areios Pagos) and the Council of State (Symvoulio tis Epikrateias), and advises on and occasionally handles financial crime matters before the criminal courts.

Over the past 30 years, he has acted for leading international and Greek corporates, financial institutions and public authorities, including the European Commission,  Chevron, General Electric, Metaxa, Coca-Cola, Absolut Vodka, Bacardi, University of York, China Development Bank, Barclays Ventures, J.P. Morgan, UBS, Bank of Cyprus, ΚΚR, Lloyd’s, Swiss Life, Tokio Marine Insurance, Imperial Tobacco, The Athlete’s Foot, Hanesbrands, Mastercard, Stryker, Data4, L’Oréal, Bioderma, Emirates, Jet2Holidays, FTI Touristik GmbH, Granarolo, the Greek Transmission and Distribution Operators (IPTO and HEDNO), the Greek Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP), World Fuel, Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), Eco Atlantic (Oil & Gas), Veolia, Statkraft, Sunpower, Endesa, Eurofins, the Hellenic Defense Systems (HDS), and numerous other Greek and international tourist/hotel operators, energy and insurance companies, and credit institutions. In the past 25 years he has been repeatedly selected by the EU Commission, the World Bank, EBRD, the Energy Community Secretariat and the European Agency for Reconstruction to advise on the legal approximation of Eastern European economies with the EU acquis communautaire. In doing so, he has advised governments and regulatory authorities in Greece, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Georgia.

Yannis has been consistently recommended for M&A, corporate and commercial work, energy and dispute resolution in all leading international legal directories. He has authored several articles and chapters in edited volumes including the Greece chapter for Sweet & Maxwell’s leading loose-leaf publication “Energy Law and Regulation in the EU”, as well as the Greece chapter on Greek commercial law for the Digest of Commercial Laws of the World published by Oceana of the Oxford University Press. He is the author of “Greek Business Law: A Handbook for Businesses and Legal Practitioners” published by Greek law publisher “Nomiki Bibliothiki”. He also writes on legal and business developments and is regularly invited to speak at seminars and conferences on the Greek legal and investment environment. He has served on the boards of directors and advisory boards of several companies and institutions.

When not working, Yannis and his wife are busy with their son and three daughters.