The month of August is usually law firms, big and small, take time off. Given that fact, it is quite baffling of the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance to announce the tender for the “Procedural Representation and Legal Advice in International Arbitration Cases” at the end of July and have the deadline to submit the documentation on Sept. 16. In essence, this all means that even if the large global firms had wanted to participate, they probably decided against it, given the short time to apply and the enormous amount of documentation required. And that’s why Bulgaria ended with a very limited choice – Arnold & Porter, Hiaring Smith, Vinson & Elkins, White & Case and Lalive. All five firms have presented paperwork proving their success record in arbitration proceedings, with only Vinson & Elkins pointing out that their contracts are confidential and will elaborate should the Ministry need to know more.