A practice built on
reading the whole file.
Better Call Kamilya is a fictional boutique practice in Almaty, created for this educational demonstration. The story below is invented — but the way it describes legal work is not.
Founded on a refusal
to be a factory.
The practice began in 2017 with a simple refusal: no matter would be handed to a junior the client had never met. That decision capped how many files the firm could take — and it is the reason clients still call the same number years later.
Almaty is a city where international business and local reality meet in the same room. A contract drafted in London has to survive a Kazakh court; a family business has to be restructured without breaking the family. Our work sits in that gap, translating between legal systems and between what a client wants and what a court can actually give them.
We remain deliberately small. One partner, a small bench of trusted counsel, and a network of correspondents in six jurisdictions. Nothing more than the matter requires.
Kamilya Zhanibekova
Founder & Managing Partner
Fourteen years between
the courtroom and the boardroom.
Kamilya advises companies entering Kazakhstan and Kazakh companies going abroad. Her practice is split between corporate structuring and commercial disputes — a combination that means contracts are drafted by someone who has argued them.
She is known for a direct style: clients hear the weaknesses of their own position before they hear the strategy. All details on this page are fictional and part of the demonstration.
Education
- LL.M., International Dispute Resolution — London (fictional)
- LL.B., KIMEP University, Almaty
- Certificate, ICC Arbitration Academy
Admissions
- Almaty City Bar Association
- Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce arbitrator panel
- Registered foreign-law consultant (fictional)
Working languages: Kazakh · Russian · English
Four commitments, kept quietly.
Discretion
Most of what we do never becomes public. Files are compartmentalised, communications are deliberate, and nothing leaves the practice without your instruction.
Transparency on fees
You receive a written scope and a fee estimate before work begins. If the estimate changes, you hear it from us first — not from an invoice.
Direct partner access
The person you meet in the first consultation is the person who signs the strategy and appears at the hearing. There is no handover.
Bilingual by default
Kazakh, Russian and English are working languages, not translation services. Documents are drafted in the language they will be enforced in.
A short, deliberate history.
2011
Called to the Almaty Bar
Kamilya Zhanibekova is admitted to the Almaty City Bar Association after graduating from KIMEP University.
2014
International secondment
Two years with a London disputes team, working on arbitration seated under ICC and LCIA rules.
2017
The practice opens
Better Call Kamilya is founded as a deliberately small practice: one partner, direct access, no layers.
2020
Corporate and cross-border focus
The practice formalises its corporate and international desks, advising inbound investors and local founders.
2024
Recognised for dispute work
Listed in a regional legal directory for commercial dispute resolution — a fictional recognition for this demo.
Every figure, date and recognition on this page is invented for an educational demonstration.
How we work