As 2021 draws to a close we at Elias Neocleous & Co LLC will also be bidding a fond farewell to one of our most distinguished litigators. It is with great pride that we announce that Senior Associate Elena Riga Michael, has been elevated to membership of the Cyprus judiciary. Elena has been a member of the firm’s practice and a star of its litigation department since 2005 and became a senior associate in 2010.
Elena’s main area of practice has been Public and Administrative Law which includes bringing cases before the Supreme Court and Administrative Court in relation to administrative law, public procurement law, EU law and tax law. She also has considerable experience in bringing public procurements cases before the Tenders Review Authority.
Elena’s record as an advocate and a litigator is second to none. Many of Elena’s cases have been both high profile and groundbreaking. Within the past year alone she has headed teams which obtained a landmark ruling from the Cyprus Ombudswoman in favour of 60 female army officers who had suffered discrimination at the hands of the Ministry of Defence, highlighted discrimination against men seeking to obtain a widower’s pension from the state, obtained an annulment of a Ministry of Transport decision which had awarded a contract to ‘Intercity Buses’ and successfully dealt with complaints on behalf of individuals, unions and other entities before the European Commission related to the violation of Community law.
Elena has always exhibited a strong determination to obtaining justice for her clients, no matter how important or powerful the opposition they have faced has been. We can think of no better candidate to take on a judge’s mantle. We would like to thank Elena for all her hard work throughout her career and for the large part she has played in helping to build the best litigation team in Cyprus. We wish her every success in this the next stage of her journey.
