Tomislav Pedišić is the managing partner of Vukmir + Associates, a full-service law firm founded by Mladen Vukmir in 1991 and one of the ten largest in Croatia. He joined the firm as a trainee in 2007 and has been there for 18 years — making him one of the first second-generation managing partners in the Croatian legal market. Before law, he served as a professional soldier for four years. He holds specialist expertise in technology, M&A in regulated industries, and capital markets, and recently spoke at Legal Tech Talk, the largest legal technology event in Europe.
I asked Tomislav about his journey from trainee to managing partner.
"Mladen and Carla put a lot of trust in me, and they were really supportive," he told me. "That was quite a lot — it was not that usual on the Croatian market."
Most Croatian law firms are still managed the way they were at the beginning — by the founding partners, with limited transparency about advancement. The result is talented people leaving to start their own firms.
"We are one of the few law firms that did not have spin-offs," he said. "I believe that the main reason for this is that on time we recognized the need to recognize the younger colleagues and to give them a chance."
When he took over as managing partner, he built the infrastructure the firm needed to sustain that. He introduced formal compensation and advancement policies, rebuilt the firm's presence in legal publications — returning it to tier one and tier two rankings across all major practice areas — launched a university recruitment program, created RivetNet (a regional network of well-established firms), and secured ISO 27001 information security certification, making Vukmir + Associates the first Croatian law firm to achieve it. Over four years, the structural changes he put in place drove revenues up by nearly 80%.
The culture he has built is equally deliberate. The firm's office is set in a residential building surrounded by embassies and green space — a setting Mladen chose after his time in California, and one that shapes how people work. Teams go mountaineering together. Movies are screened in the conference room. The environment is built to keep people connected to each other and to the work.
Mladen gave him one piece of advice when he took over. "Managing lawyers is like managing a pack of stray cats." Tomislav laughed — and recognized it immediately as true. Lawyers are opinionated. They give their views freely. But when a decision has to be made, the managing partner stands alone.
"When you have to make a decision, sometimes there is nobody there — then there is only Tomislav. In a way, it's a lonely role."
He has made peace with that. The firm is stronger for it.
Are you a multinational or startup looking for sophisticated IP, commercial, or corporate legal counsel in Croatia? Connect with Tomislav Pedišić and check out VUKMIR + ASSOCIATES, LLC.