Category: CEELM PR

On Thursday, November 30th, leading legal practitioners from across Central and Eastern Europe gathered in Prague to help CEE Legal Matters celebrate its fourth successful year as the leading chronicle of the legal industry in the region, participating in an expert Round Table conversation about the year just concluded and enjoying an evening of dinner, drinks, and bonhomie. 

The round table attendees were:

• Gelu Maravela, Maravela & Asociatii, Romania
• Milos Komnenic, Komnenic Law Firm, Montenegro  
• Uros Ilic, ODI Law, Slovenia  
• Gjorgji Georgievski, ODI Law, Macedonia  
• Tomas Matejovsky, CMS, Czech Republic
• Rastko Petakovic, Karanovic/Nikolic, Serbia  
• Andras Posztl, DLA Piper, Hungary  
• Roman Pecenka, PRK Partners, Czech Republic 
• Damir Topic, Divjak, Topic & Bahtijarevic, Croatia    
• Mykola Stetsenko, Avellum, Ukraine  
• Ron Given, Wolf Theiss, Poland  
• Hugh Owen, former Allen & Overy Slovakia  
• Panagiotis Drakopoulos, Drakopoulos, Greece  
• Besnik Duraj, Drakopoulos, Albania  
• Alexandra Doytchinova, Schoenherr, Bulgaria  
• Karl Paadam, PWC Legal, Estonia  
• Eva Berlaus, Sorainen, Latvia 
• John Apsouris, General Counsel of Hellenic Petroleum Group, Greece 
• Radka Sosikova, Legal Counsel at Generali CEE Holding B.V., Czech Republic 
• Cristina Cretu, Regulatory Manager of UPC Romania, Romania
• Tereza Simanovska, Head of Legal & Compliance, APS Holding

The wide-ranging Round Table conversation covered topics such as the threat of a bubble in CEE Real Estate markets, leading sources of foreign investment, fragmentation of many CEE legal markets (and consolidation in others), and the potential threat to traditional law firm models represented by the reincarnated Big Four law firms. 

As every year, a transcript of the Round Table will be included, along with essays from participants and photos from the evening, in the special January issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine that ushers in the new year.

The heated emotions expressed during the conversation itself were counterbalanced by networking, good humor, and cocktails both during dinner and after the event.

The editors of CEE Legal Matters, who organized and hosted the event, were pleased with the evening. “This was our biggest End of Year Summit yet,” said Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea with a smile. “And it was, again, a real pleasure to see so many of the leading lawyers of CEE come to one room to help us celebrate the end of another successful year. So many of them have become good friends as well — we’re already looking forward to next year.”

His colleague, Executive Editor David Stuckey, was equally enthusiastic. “This event gets bigger and bigger and better and better each year — tracking CEE Legal Matters’ growth. It’s a real testimony to our ability to bring people together, and to create events and opportunities for networking and exchange that didn’t exist before. We’re honored to have so many prominent experts carve out time from their schedules to join us, particularly during this busy time of the year.”

 

The November 2017 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine is now available to subscribers in electronic format, with hard copies on their way as well, weighing down the cars, trucks, trains, and mailbags of Europe and the world.

Highlights from the issue, which is already available to subscribers in electronic format, include:

• Editorial: More Bang for Your Buck
• Guest Editorial by Vladimir Zenin, Partner of CMS Russia
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz Across CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Bosnia & Herzegovina Round Table: A Complicated Situation
• Take the Stage: Pros and Cons of Collaboration with the Big Four
• Marketing Law Firm Marketing: Your Last Job
• Market Spotlight on Romania
• Guest Editorial by Gheorghe Buta, Partner, Musat & Asociatii
• Not Convinced: Romania’s Lawyers Worry That Economic Indicators Paint a Misleading Picture
• Expat on the Market: Interview with Bruno Leroy, Managing Partner at Leroy si Asociatii
• Experts Review: Tax

The publication of the November issue means that the September 2017 issue is now available to non-subscribers in electronic format here. As subscribers already know, highlights from the issue include:

• Editorial: How an Interview is like a Madeleine
• Guest Editorial by Markus Piuk, Partner of Schoenherr
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz Across CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Inside Insight: Interview with Peter Paroczi of Harman International 
• Mastering the Law: A Walk Through an American LL.M. Program
• The Good Fight: A Consideration of Hungarian Pro Bono Culture
• The Corner Office: Your Favorite Question
• Interview: Daniele Iacona of Schoenherr Discusses the ISO 37001
• Market Spotlight on Ukraine
• Guest Editorial by Olexander Martinenko, Partner, CMS
• Ukrainian Round Table: Judicial Reform in Ukraine
• Expat on the Market: Interview with Rob Shantz, Partner at Redcliffe Partners
• Experts Review: Anti-Corruption

If you are not already a subscriber and would like to register to access the magazine you can do so here. 

CEE Legal Matters is proud to announce the introduction of three exciting new events to the CEE legal practitioners’ calendar: The CEELM Deal of the Year Awards, the CEE Legal Matters Annual Banquet, and the Dealers Choice conference.

Dealers Choice and Annual Banquet

The cover of the very first issue of the CEE Legal Matters in February 2014 announced the publication’s mission: “Simply, to be the go-to source of news and information about lawyers and legal markets in Central and Eastern Europe.” As a result, after four years of reporting, interviewing, traveling, considering, and exploring the dynamic and challenging legal markets of Central and Eastern Europe, the CEE Legal Matters magazine and website are widely acknowledged to be valuable, trustworthy, and reliable sources of news about the region’s legal markets, and events organized by CEE Legal Matters are recognized as useful sources of information and productive networking opportunities for legal experts from across CEE.

Accordingly, and consistent with CEE Legal Matters’ popularity and reputation for impartiality and trustworthiness, 2018 will see the introduction of the first ever CEELM Deal of the Year Awards, with winners from across the region to be announced at the new CEE Legal Matters Annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony scheduled for early June. 

In addition, CEE Legal Matters, which already organizes the leading event for General Counsel in CEE – the annual GC Summit, which in 2018 will host 300 senior in-house counsel from across the region – will host its first ever conference and networking event for leading private practitioners, drawing attendees from across the region, the United Kingdom, the United States, and China. 

Both the Dealers Choice event and the Awards Banquet will take place for the very first time in Prague on June 6, 2018

Deal of the Year Awards: Explanation and Methodology

Sophisticated lawyers around the world are aware that many awards in the industry are, essentially, for sale, presented by their creators in return for commercial engagement during the year or by the purchase of an expensive table at the awards ceremony itself. This cynical process renders the awards themselves useless except as baubles and essentially meaningless except to the most naïve. 

The editors of CEE Legal Matters reject this process, and have waited instead for the organization’s reach and reputation to reach a point that would allow them to implement a methodology untainted by the possibility of favoritism or bias. Thus, the winners of the CEELM Deal of the Year Awards will be selected not by the editors or staff of CEE Legal Matters, but instead by a two-tiered panel of leading lawyers from across the region who do not themselves stand to benefit from the final results.

The methodology is as follows: Every law firm in Central and Eastern Europe already has or soon will receive the annual Call for Submissions from CEE Legal Matters inviting it to submit all deals and other client matters for inclusion in our annual Table of Deals. This year the Call for Submission also includes an invitation to submit deals for Deal of the Year consideration, along with an application form to use in making those submissions. The deadline for Deal of the Year submissions is January 4, 2018.

Those responses which satisfy mandatory submission criteria will then be forwarded to our Shortlist Panels: senior partners at leading firms in each CEE jurisdiction who have already agreed to carefully review the submissions and rank them for complexity, size, and market significance. Their review will result in a shortlist of three deals for each market.

That shortlist of final nominees will be announced in mid-February and will be forwarded to our Final Selection Committee, which consists of CEE Legal Matters Knowledge Partners and attendees to our annual End of Year Expert Summit, who will then independently rank the final nominees, allowing us to identify the ultimate winner in each market. Critically, members of the Final Selection Committee will not be allowed to vote on deals their own firms worked on.  

The final winners will be announced at the June 6, 2018 CEE Legal Matters Annual Dinner and Awards Banquet.

Dealers Choice Event

On June 6, 2018, in Prague, CEE Legal Matters will host its first ever private-practice conference, the Dealers Choice event. The Dealers Choice agenda will focus on how leading lawyers make significant and complicated deals happen for their clients, with topics ranging from law firm business development efforts to client management skills, from negotiation strategies and best practices to multi-jurisdictional and cross-border considerations, from cross-selling strategies to post-deal follow ups. 

Speakers and panelists will be drawn from those firms included on the Deal of the Year Shortlist – by definition, those professionals who are expert in how to get and keep clients, obtain valuable mandates, and finalize complex and important transactions.

In addition, leading international firms from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the United States, and China will be invited to attend, allowing the event to function as an unprecedented international networking and referral partner opportunity for the firms of CEE. 

A list of firms who will be attending will be placed (and frequently updated) on the event website. 

CEELM Annual Banquet and Deal of the Year Awards Ceremony

That evening, also on June 6, 2018, CEE Legal Matters will host its first ever annual banquet. The event will be a celebration of the lawyers and law firms of CEE, and of course the centerpiece will be the Deal of the Year Awards ceremony. 

Firms which worked on deals included in the final shortlist for each market will be given first opportunity to purchase seats or tables at the event, with remaining seats made available on a first-come first-serve basis.

The entire event, both Dealers Choice and the CEELM Annual Banquet, will be summarized in the special June 2018 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine.

More Information and How to Participate

More information about the Dealers Choice event and the CEELM Annual Banquet and Deal of the Year Awards Ceremony, including the prices of individual tickets, tables for the banquet, and firm-branded tables/booths for the networking event, as well as information about sponsorship opportunities, will be found on the Dealer’s Choice website. 

CEE Legal Matters is tremendously excited about these new events, and updated information will be provided on the event website, which should be up and running soon. In the meantime, please let us know if you have any questions. We’ll look forward to seeing you in Prague, on June 6, 2018!

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the official date of the Deal of the Year Awards Ceremony and the Dealer’s Choice conference.

We are excited to announce that — with only hours to spare — the special October 2017 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine is now available to subscribers in electronic format and on its way to the printer, from whence it will wing its way to subscribers around CEE and the world.

Highlights from the valuable CEE by the Numbers issue, which reflects the hundreds of hours of focused research on the partnership numbers and gender breakdowns of well-known commercial law firms in CEE , is already available to subscribers in electronic format. If you’re not yet a subscriber, there’s no time like the present to correct that oversight.

And, as always, the publication of a new issue means the issue from two months before is moved from behind the subscribers-only paywall. Thus, non-subscribers can now access the full electronic version of the August 2017 issue here (the .pdf can be downloaded here). Readers will find:

• Guest Editorial by Erwin Hanslik, Managing Partner of Taylor Wessing Prague
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz Across CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Interview: Behind the Curtain: Interview with OPL’s Miklos Orban About the Hungary GC Summit
• Face to Face: Maravela & Asociatii Interviews Former Head of Legal for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services
• Marketing Law Firm Marketing: The Best Professional Development Event
• Inside Inside: A Chief Legal Officer Considers Challenges on the Horizon
• Market Spotlights on the Baltics and Belarus
• Guest Editorials by Irmantas Norkus, Managing Partner, Cobalt Lithuania, and Liliya Vlasova, Senior Partner, Vlasova Mikhel & Partners
• Inside Out: Inside Out: Primus, Cobalt, Sorainen and Ellex Klavins Advise on BaltCap Acquisition of Estonian Classified Portals
• A Baltic Round Table Conversation
• Article: The Belarusian Dilemma: Running a Private Practice in a Public Economy
• Expat on the Market: Interviews with Egons Pikelis of Ellex Klavins and Alexander Liessem of bnt Attorneys in CEE
• Experts Review: Dispute Resolution

Did you know that each issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine is read by over 5000 people and that the CEE Legal Matters website registers over one million unique visitors each month?

That the average article on the CEE Legal Matters website is read over 1400 times a month? That the average banner on the CEE Legal Matters homepage generates over 1800 click-throughs a month, and the average Thought Leadership article published by law firms on the CEE Legal Matters website is read over 1150 times in the month it is published?

Did you know that stories originally published in CEE Legal Matters have been republished or quoted in Newsweek, The Washington Post, the Guardian, the American Lawyer, and Chambers & Partners, among many other prestigious publications?

Did you know that the 2018 GC Summit will be in Prague? That CEE Legal Matters will publish a full special issue dedicated to China and CEE in 2018?

It’s all true. And all this information, and more, can be found on the 2018 CEE Legal Matters Rate Card, released today and available here. Check it out.

In the meantime, those wishing to know next year’s Editorial Calendar but too impatient to review the Rate Card need not fret, as we are prepared to satisfy their curiosity more immediately. To wit: 

• January: Special Start-of-the-Year Issue
• February: Market Spotlight on Serbia and the Balkans, Experts Review focus on Energy/Environmental
• March: Market Spotlight on Austria, Experts Review focus on PPP/Infrastructure
• April: Special Issue: 2018 Corporate Counsel Handbook
• May: Market Spotlight on the Hungary, Experts Review focus on IP/Data Protection
• June: Market Spotlight on Czech Republic and Slovakia, Experts Review focus on Real Estate
• July: Special Issue: The 2018 GC Summit in Prague
• August: Market Spotlight on Russia, Experts Review focus on Banking/Finance
• September: Market Spotlight on Poland, Experts Review focus on Competition
• October: Special Issue: CEE and China
• November: Market Spotlight on Ukraine, Experts Review focus on Dispute Resolution
• December: Market Spotlight on Romania, Experts Review focus on Tax

Individuals wishing to subscribe, to learn about contributing Experts Review articles or Market Snapshots (articles focused on industries/sectors/practice areas in Market Spotlight jurisdictions), or to put together strategic 2018 advertising packages are encouraged to contact us for more information, here.

The September 2017 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine is now available to subscribers in electronic format, with hard copies on their way as well, weighing down the cars, trucks, trains, and mailbags of Europe and the world.

Highlights from the issue, which, in the meantime, is already available to subscribers in electronic format, include:

• Editorial: How an Interview is like a Madeleine
• Guest Editorial by Markus Piuk, Partner of Schoenherr
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz Across CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Inside Insight: Interview with Peter Paroczi of Harman International 
• Mastering the Law: A Walk Through an American LL.M. Program
• The Good Fight: A Consideration of Hungarian Pro Bono Culture
• The Corner Office: Your Favorite Question
• Interview: Daniele Iacona of Schoenherr Discusses the ISO 37001
• Market Spotlight on Ukraine
• Guest Editorial by Olexander Martinenko, Partner, CMS
• Ukrainian Round Table: Judicial Reform in Ukraine
• Expat on the Market: Interview with Rob Shantz, Partner at Redcliffe Partners
• Experts Review: Anti-Corruption

If you are not already a subscriber and would like to register to access the magazine you can do so here. 

With slightly over a month to go until the first Hungary General Counsel Summit — the first ever country-specific GC Summit organized by CEE Legal Matters — on August 29, 2017, three members of the “Building the Legal Function as Integral Business Unit” panel scheduled for the event gathered at the offices of Budapest’s OPL Law Firm to plan and prepare for their discussion.

OPL Partner Miklos Orban — the Chairman of the Summit — welcomed panel participants Tereza Simanovska, the Head of Legal and Compliance for APS Holding; Judit Petko-Szandtner, the Chief Legal Counsel of UniCredit Bank Hungary Zrt.; and Mark Erdelyi, Legal Director of Telenor Hungary to his office (panelists Daniel Szeszler (the Group Legal Director at Magyar Telekom Plc.) and Edit Rosta (the General Legal Counsel CZ, HU, SK, at 3M) were unable to attend). In general, the panel members participating in the planning session explained, the key questions that participants of the Hungary GC Summit can expect to see addressed include the role of legal department in connection to business, how GCs can be proactive, and group vs. local legal departments. Both Simanovska and Erdelyi agreed that, “we will provide the insight how we as in-house lawyers cope with business transformation and innovate in our legal departments.”

The three panelists have their own specific interests as well. “The Hungarian market is super regulated and it wasn’t easy for us to set up operations here, compared to other jurisdictions,” commented Tereza Simanovska, who will moderate the panel. “That’s why this conference is interesting for me.”

“I’m an efficiency champion in the UniCredit group,” laughed Judit Pettko-Szandtner. “My colleagues from CEE are coming to Hungary to learn how to do legal work with such a small team and little budget. But for me the biggest issue is that in-house legal department is considered as a back office.”

Mark Erdelyi explained that a consideration of ways General Counsel can provide value outside of the traditional boundaries of the role is a primary interest for him. “The question for me is really how do you perceive legal function – as a cost center, or do you contribute to business?”

The Hungarian General Counsel Summit will feature panel discussions and presentation within the themes of innovation, business competitiveness and ethics, data privacy, and challenges of sourcing legal services. Please visit the conference website to register and learn more.

We are excited to announce that the August 2017 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine is now available to subscribers in electronic format and is at the printer, where it will be put in the mail and sent on its way to subscribers around CEE and the world.

Highlights from the issue, which, in the meantime, is already available to subscribers in electronic format, include:

• Editorial: Surviving the Dog Days
• Guest Editorial by Erwin Hanslik, Managing Partner of Taylor Wessing Prague
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz Across CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Interview: Behind the Curtain: Interview with OPL’s Miklos Orban About the Hungary GC Summit
• Face to Face: Maravela & Asociatii Interviews Former Head of Legal for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services
• Marketing Law Firm Marketing: The Best Professional Development Event
• Inside Inside: A Chief Legal Officer Considers Challenges on the Horizon
• Market Spotlights on the Baltics and Belarus
• Guest Editorials by Irmantas Norkus, Managing Partner, Cobalt Lithuania, and Liliya Vlasova, Senior Partner, Vlasova Mikhel & Partners
• Inside Out: Inside Out: Primus, Cobalt, Sorainen and Ellex Klavins Advise on BaltCap Acquisition of Estonian Classified Portals
• A Baltic Round Table Conversation
• Article: The Belarusian Dilemma: Running a Private Practice in a Public Economy
• Expat on the Market: Interviews with Egons Pikelis of Ellex Klavins and Alexander Liessem of bnt Attorneys in CEE
• Experts Review: Dispute Resolution

As always, the publication of a new issue also means the issue from two months ago is moved from behind the subscribers-only paywall. Thus, with this announcement even non-subscribers can access the full electronic version of the June 2017 here, and the .pdf can be downloaded here. The amazing content from that issue includes:

• Editorial: Brevity is the Soul of Wit
• Guest Editorial by Daniel Szabo, South-East Europe Legal Counsel, HPE: In-House and Privileged
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz Across CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Article: The Spiraling Controversy of Hungary’s Lex CEU
• Face to Face: Wolf Theiss Interviews 3M
• The Corner Office: Your Least Favorite Thing
• Market Spotlight on Poland
• Guest Editorial by Adam Piwakowski, Head of International & Strategy at Kochanski Zieba & Partners: Poland — The Silicon Valley of Europe?
• Tending the Polish Bar: Interview with President of Poland’s National Counsel of Legal Advisors
• Polish Market Snapshots 
• Expat on the Market: Interview with Daniel Cousens of Linklaters
• Inside Out: Advent International Invests in Integer.pl
• Experts Review: Labor & Employment

We made it, just under the wire. The special July 2017 issue of the CEE Legal Matters dedicated to the 2017 CEE GC Summit and the CEE Legal Matters Market Makers Awards is out now!

The special issue focuses on the two major CEE Legal Matters events from the first half of this year: The third annual CEE General Counsel Summit — the biggest yet — and the Market Makers Awards, our unprecedented celebration of the senior partners who played preeminent roles in the development of CEE’s commercial legal markets. Both events took place from May 31 – June 2, 2017, in Warsaw.

Photos. Special reports. Round Table transcripts.  

Insight. Perspective. Strategy. Best practices. Professional Development. Memories. Advice. 

Networking. Socializing. Laughter.

Readers will appreciate learning about these events and participants will relish the opportunity to relive them — almost as much as we enjoyed organizing and hosting them. The energy surrounding both events was infectious, and we’re still buzzing, already planning future events. But if you didn’t join us for the festivities this year, don’t feel too bad; this special issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine will bring up you up to speed. And next year’s GC Summit, in Prague, will be bigger and better yet!

As always, with the publication of our new issue, the issue from two months prior becomes available to non-subscribers. Accordingly, the May 2017 issue is now available to all. As subscribers have known since May, that issue includes: Highlights from the issue, now available to non-subscribers as well in electronic format here and pdf format here, include:

• Editorial: Hello Prague … and Goodbye
• Guest Editorial by Zoltan Faludi, Managing Partner of Wolf Theiss in Budapest
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz Across CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Article: Maximizing the Match: The Dos and Donts of Working with Legal Recruiters
• Marketing Law Firm Marketing: The Legal Rankings
• Paving the Way: Schoenherr’s Pioneering Payment Services Practice
• Market Spotlight on the Czech Republic
• Guest Editorial from Christian Blatchford, Partner at Kocian Solc Balastik
• Article: Basically Bullish: The Czechs Revel in Good Times
• Czech Market Snapshots 
• Inside Out: Denemo Media’s Acquisition of a 50% Shareholding in FTV Prima from Modern Times Group
• Expert on the Market: Interview with Jeffrey McGehee of Squire Patton Boggs
• Experts Review: Intellectual Property

We are excited to announce that registration for the 2017 CEE Legal Matters Hungary General Counsel Summit, scheduled to take place in Budapest at the Boscolo Hotel on October 5, is now open. 

The Hungary GC Summit is a country-specific conference from the organizers and hosts of the annual region-wide CEE Legal Matters CEE General Counsel Summit, the leading annual event for GCs in the region providing two days of interesting seminars and panel discussions, unparalleled professional development, and valuable networking opportunities. The first such event dedicated specifically to the issues, challenges, and relevant professional developments in a single market, the Hungary GC Summit is a must-attend event for all senior in-house lawyers in the country, in in no small part due to the support of our Chairman Sponsors, Orban & Perlaki Attorneys at Law.

If you are interested in attending the Hungary GC Summit or would like to get involved either as a speaker or sponsor, please let us know by filling in this form. Early Bird Discounts are available for those who register to attend before September 1, 2017.

More information about the event, including the agenda, can be found on the event website here. 

Help us make it better 

You will notice that on the registration form there is an optional box for “Suggested Topics.” So that we can develop a truly added-value agenda for attendees, we are asking delegates to suggest subjects they would like to see addressed at the Summit. Please take a few minutes to help us out by sharing your thoughts.