Anastasia Davis Bondarenko’s Path from Law Firms and Hedge Funds to Building an Innovative Dispute Advisory Practice
“Coming from the legal world, I knew I needed to upskill in finance and business strategy to leverage opportunities in front of me. The EMBA then gave me the tools and the space to reflect, and ultimately became the catalyst to finally start my own firm.”
After over 15 years representing and advising clients on international arbitration, litigation finance and enforcement, Paris-based lawyer Anastasia Davis Bondarenko is stepping into her next chapter: launching her own consulting firm. Armed with the HEC Paris Executive MBA, she is transforming her legal expertise into an entrepreneurial venture offering litigation finance consulting, enforcement strategy, and dispute advisory services.
For someone whose career has been rooted in legal practice, Anastasia began considering an Executive MBA as her role evolved from pure legal work into the strategic, commercial, and investment side of international disputes. “I joined the HEC EMBA to grow,” she explains. “As my responsibilities expanded, I realised technical legal excellence was no longer enough – I needed business, financial, and leadership skills to shape decisions, not just advise on them”.
“I was given a seat at the table with some of the world’s best and most sophisticated financial engineers and investors and I quickly understood what that opportunity truly represented”. “Women fight incredibly hard to earn a seat at the table. I was fortunate to have one – and I wanted to make the most of it”.
Determined to speak the language of capital and value creation, she chose the Making the Right Financial Decisions specialization, equipping herself to bridge law, finance, and strategy as she prepared the next stage of her career.
Surprisingly, what she found in the EMBA was not just new knowledge and skills, but something she didn’t realize she needed: time. Time to step back, reflect and think critically about the direction of her career.
“The EMBA gave me the time and space to really think about where I was going. When you’re constantly working, you don’t always stop to take stock,” she explained. “In the EMBA, you’re surrounded by people discussing leadership, challenging ideas, asking difficult questions. There’s a lot of introspection. Where do you want to go? How are you going to get there? It forces you to take these blocks of time for yourself, to think.”
This regular rhythm of reflection helped solidify her next steps. She began applying classroom lessons directly to her planning process and evaluating her long-term goals. The leadership modules, in particular, pushed her to identify what kind of impact she wanted to make and what kind of professional life she wanted to build.
What started as a course assignment eventually became the blueprint for one of the core services in her new company. Months of questioning and refining her idea, along with guidance from her mentor, advisor and the juries who challenged her work, helped her shape the company she is now building. “The final capstone was definitely pivotal,” she shared. “I had always wanted to one day start my own company, and the EMBA was very much a catalyst for it.”
Anastasia’s career transformation through the HEC Paris EMBA highlights the power of continuous learning, thoughtful reflection and how the right specialized support can empower you and give you the confidence to move into the next step in your career.
