Asem B. Bakenova assists clients with all aspects of corporate law matters, infrastructure transactions, and intellectual property (IP) matters. She helps clients draft and negotiate agreements and other supporting documents, including fixed price, cost reimbursable, and hybrid engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) arrangements for complex infrastructure and industrial projects in and outside of Kazakhstan; chemical feedstock and offtake agreements; and trademark protection, copyright, and technology licenses. Asem has also represented our clients in numerous joint ventures arrangements, including new machinery production facilities.
Before joining Morgan Lewis, she was an associate in another international law firm. Prior to that, she worked as in-house counsel for a leading local engineering firm in Astana, Kazakhstan. Asem is a native speaker of Russian and Kazakh and fluent in English.
Asem is entitled to represent the clients in AIFC Court and is admitted to practice as a patent attorney in Kazakhstan.
Ranked, Corporate & Finance, Kazakhstan, Chambers Global (2024)
Ranked, Corporate & Finance, Kazakhstan, Chambers Asia-Pacific (2024, 2025)
Highly Regarded; Women Leaders, Kazakhstan, IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate Central Asia Guide (2023)
Recommended, Banking, Finance and Capital Markets, Kazakhstan, The Legal 500 EMEA (2019, 2023, 2024)
Recommended, Commercial, Corporate and M&A, Kazakhstan, The Legal 500 EMEA (2023, 2024)
Recommended, Dispute Resolution, Kazakhstan, The Legal 500 EMEA (2023, 2024)
Recommended, Energy and Natural Resources, Kazakhstan, The Legal 500 EMEA (2023)
Recommended, Real Estate and Construction (Including Projects), Kazakhstan, The Legal 500 EMEA (2023)
Highly Regarded, Kazakhstan, IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate Guide (2021, 2022)
Rising Star, Kazakhstan, IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate Guide (2019–2020)
Member, Law Firm of the Year, Energy/Projects: Power (including Renewables), Chambers USA (2018)
Member, Practice Group of the Year, Energy, Law360 (2016)
Member, Energy Law Firm of the Year, US News & World Report/Best Lawyers (2015)
Notable Practitioner, IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate (2018)