Category: CEELM PR

A select group of Hungary’s most prominent General Counsel gathered in the offices of Squire Patton Boggs today for a unique Round Table Conversation, which will appear in the February 2017 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine.

The Conversation — the first such Round Table focused solely on in-house counsel organized by CEE Legal Matters in its three years of existence — was hosted and co-moderated by Partner Akos Mester of Squire Patton Boggs.

Attendees included:

• Akos Mester, Partner at Squire Patton Boggs (Host)
• Andras Levai, Head of Legal at Tesco Global Zrt.
• Anna Kis, Legal Director of Auchan Hungary
• Attila Bocsak, Head of Legal for Turk Telecom International
• Daniel Szabo, Legal Counsel South-East Europe
• Judit Pettko-Szandtner, Head of Legal & Compliance at UniCredit Hungary Bank Zrt.
• Szabolcs Gall, Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer at Scitec Nutrition
• Zoltan Fenyi, Head of Leal at Sberbank
• Zsolt Wieland, Director, Advisor to the Deputy Chairman at OAO OTP Bank

CEE Legal Matters’ Managing Editor, Radu Cotarcea, was impressed with the level of insight shared in the Round Table, calling it, “a rare opportunity to hear some of the most experienced and insightful GCs on the Hungarian market share their perspectives about the challenges they face and strategies they employ in their day to day business.”

We are pleased to announce the publication of the January 2017 Special Issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine, available in electronic format — for subscribers to the magazine — here. The magazine is also in the hands of our printers, and hard copies will be mailed out to subscribers soon. 

This Special Issue is, well … special. In addition to important and insightful articles about the year-just-concluded across CEE written by Panagiotis Drakopoulos (Drakopoulos), Mykola Stetsenko (Avellum), Uros Ilic (ODI), and Jean-Francois Marquaire (CMS), the magazine boasts a 65-page Table of 2016 Deals from across CEE, and the transcript of the 2016 Experts Summit, in which leading commercial lawyers from across CEE reflect on 2016 and look forward to 2017 in the region, and consider the changing nature of the legal markets in CEE.

The Table of 2016 Deals is also uploaded and available to subscribers in an electronic and indexed format here, a version that our subscribers can use to search between the deals for specific countries, clients, deal values, law firms involved, and much more. The final 2015 and 2014 tables are here and here, respectively.

This is the best annual kick-off-the-year issue we’ve ever produced, and we know our subscribers will agree. If you’re not in that group yet … isn’t it time you signed up? 

We are excited to announce that the December 2016 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine is out and on its way to subscribers around CEE and the world.

Highlights from the issue, which is available here in electronic format, include:

• Guest Editorial by Kostadin Sirleshtov, Partner, Head of Energy, Projects and Construction for CEE, CMS Sofia
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz across CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Article: Fighting the Good Fight: Schoenherr Dispute Resolution Team Considers the Rise of ADR Across CEE
• Building Blocks of CEE: The Rise of Regional Austrian Firms Across CEE
• The Corner Office: First Clients 
• Market Spotlights on Poland and Czech Republic
• Guest Editorial from Artur Kulawski, Managing Partner of Linklaters Warsaw, and Alexandr Cesar, Managing Partner of Baker & McKenzie, Poland
• Czech Partner Round Table
• Article: Joining the Judiciary: Wolf Theiss Partner Tomas Rychly Joins Czech Supreme Administrative Court
• Czech Market Snapshots from Rovenska Partners (on Real Estate) and Noerr (on Compliance)
• Polish Market Snapshots from Noerr (on Data Protection and Competition), CMS (on Patent Protection), and Wolf Theiss (on Corporate/M&A and Tax)
• Czech Inside Out: Baker & McKenzie Advises Worldline on Groundbreaking Agreement with Komercni Banka
• Polish Inside Out: KZP Helps Echo Polska Properties Acquire Seven Office Buildings in Poland
• Article: Bigger and Better in Warsaw: DJBW Joins Noerr
• Interviews with Pawel Stykowski, Head of Legal at InterRisk, and Vladimira Jicinska, Head of Legal for Czech Republic and Slovakia at AHOLD Czech Republic
• Experts Review: Dispute Resolution in CEE

As always, with the publication of our new issue, the previous issue becomes available to non-subscribers. Accordingly, the October 2016 issue is now available to all. As subscribers already know, that issue includes:

• Guest Editorial by Erik Werkman: A Maturing Legal Press in CEE 
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz in CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Article: CJEU Rules on Liability of Marketplace Operators for Trademark Infringements  
• Interview With Rastko Petakovic, Karanovic & Nikolic’s Newest Senior Partner 
• Industry Report: Private Equity 
• New Feature: The Corner Office: Retreats 
• Market Spotlight on Romania
• Guest Editorial from Bryan Jardine of Wolf Theiss 
• Romanian Round Table: Confidence with Qualifications  
• Market Snapshots from Drakopoulos (on real estate and tax), Wolf Theiss (on infrastructure), Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii (on dispute resolution), and DLA Piper (on tax) 
• Inside Out: Voicu & Filipescu and Reff & Associates Advise on Bel Rom Twelve’s Sale of Land to New Europe Property Investments 
• Interviews with Dana Ionescu (Head of Legal at Adecco Romania) and Andreea Alexandrescu (Head of Legal at Carrefour Romania) 
• Market Spotlight on Ukraine
• Transparency in the Ukrainian Legal Market as a Way to Economic Growth 
• Ukrainian Round Table: A Market Dependent on Reform 
• Market Snapshots from Asters (on energy and arbitration), Avellum (on banking), and Inyurpolis Law Firm (on PPP) 
• Expat on the Market Interview with Graham Conlon of CMS
• Inside Out: Sayenko Kharenko Advises Sberbank and Citibank on Restructuring of Sovereign-Guaranteed Loans to Yuzhnoya’s State Design Office and the Road Agency of Ukraine 
• Experts Review: Labor & Employment

The full electronic version of the October 2016 issue can be found here and the .pdf can be downloaded here.

As a controversial 2016 draws to a close, we want to take the opportunity to alert our readers and subscribers to some of our plans for 2017, and to some of the unique opportunities those readers and subscribers may want to take advantage of in the new year.

First, the subscriber-only CEE Legal Matters magazine will switch from a bi-monthly to a monthly publication, meaning subscribers will receive twice as many issues of the leading publication for and about lawyers and the legal industry in Central and Eastern Europe. (The price of subscriptions will rise accordingly as of January 1, 2017, so if you want to take advantage of the 2016 price, best to contact us soon).

Our editorial calendar for the magazine in 2017 is as follows:

• January: Special Start-of-the-Year Issue
• February: Market Spotlight on Hungary, Experts Review focus on Data Protection
• March: Market Spotlight on Serbia, Experts Review focus on Compliance
• April: Special Issue: 2017 Corporate Counsel Handbook
• May: Market Spotlight on the Czech Republic, Experts Review focus on Patents/IP
• June: Market Spotlight on Poland, Experts Review focus on Labor/Employment
• July: Special Issue: The 2017 GC Summit
• August: Market Spotlight on The Baltics and Belarus, Experts Review focus on Dispute Resolution
• September: Market Spotlight on Ukraine, Experts Review focus on Anti-Corruption
• October: Special Issue: Law Firm Partnership
• November: Market Spotlight on Romania, Experts Review focus on Tax
• December: Market Spotlight on Turkey, Experts Review on Corporate/Commercial

As always, firms interested in contributing Experts Review articles or Market Snapshots (a series of articles on various industries/sectors/practice areas in the Market Spotlight jurisdiction) are encouraged to contact us for more information.

Those familiar with the new CEE Legal Matters website are already aware of its many new platforms, functions, and sources of information. Those newer to the site are encouraged to explore the new Briefings section (featuring legal analysis from prominent law firms and lawyers across CEE), visit the Law Firm Directory, which lists all news and stories by firm, click on the banners of Thought Leaders and Knowledge Partners on the top of the homepage, and otherwise become familiar with our ever-growing offering of news, analysis, and opinion on the legal markets of Central and Eastern Europe. You can explore back issues of the CEE Legal Matters magazine here too!

Let’s move now from the CEE Legal Matters magazine and website to events. The third annual GC Summit has been scheduled for June 1-2 in Warsaw. Following the successes of the first two GC Summits — in Budapest (2015) and in Istanbul (2016) — we’re particularly excited to bring this preeminent gathering of senior in-house counsel from across CEE to the Polish capital this year. More information about the GC Summit will be coming soon, both here on the CEE Legal Matters website, in the CEE Legal Matters magazine, and via direct contact. As always, to keep the focus on the General Counsel for whom the event is designed, the only way representatives from law firms can attend is to sponsor the event. Firms interested in learning more about sponsorship opportunities should contact us immediately, as available premium slots are already dwindling. 

Excitingly, in October 2017 CEE Legal Matters will be hosting its first ever country-specific conference, in dynamic Budapest. Specific dates and details to follow, but sponsorship opportunities — again extended on a first-come/first-served basis — are already available, and inquiries are welcome.

Finally, our annual end-of-year Expert Summit will convene in December 2017 in Prague. A select gathering of our closest friends, Knowledge Partners, and other prominent advisors and experts on the CEE legal industry will be gathering for our annual dinner, Round Table conversation about expectations for the following year, and general revelry. The Expert Summit is, as always, summarized and transformed into the core of the Special Start-of-the-Year issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine. Inquiries welcome, of course. 

The editors of CEE Legal Matters — David and Radu — pride ourselves on producing a personal, open, transparent, engaged, and positive source of information for the lawyers and legal markets of CEE. And we welcome any and all questions, inquiries, suggestions, comments, and (constructive) criticisms … as well as any tips or hints about developments of significance in the region we cover. And we would like to thank you, our readers, website visitors, subscribers, sponsors, advertisers, contributors, and everyone else who has helped make our publication an ever-growing success. We hope you will stay involved, and help us serve you even better, in 2017 and beyond.

A few days in advance, then, from us at CEE Legal Matters:

Happy New Year, CEE!

David & Radu

We’re delighted to announce the arrival of the CEE 2016 Corporate Counsel Handbook, the leading annual report on best practices and strategic operations and preferences among Chief Legal Officers in Central and Eastern Europe. 

This year’s Corporate Counsel Handbook reflects the contributions of 594 General Counsel, Heads of Legal, and Legal Directors from across the CEE region, presenting the results of our annual survey alongside insightful and illustrative commentary from General Counsel taken from the pages of the CEE Legal Matters magazine’s “Inside Insight” section. 

Together with the annual GC Summit, the Corporate Counsel Handbook and CEE Legal Matters Law Firm Directory form key parts of CEE Legal Matters’ commitment to and engagement with Chief Legal Counsel across Europe.

In addition to presenting the results of our annual survey, this year’s report contains the first ever CEE Legal Matters Law Firm Directory, containing the names and contact details of leading law firms across the region.

The Handbook can be accessed online here (e-reader) and here (pdf), with hard copies in the mail and on their way now to subscribers and participants in the survey. 

This year’s Corporate Counsel Handbook was sponsored by DLA Piper, ELIG Attorneys-at-law, Esin Attorney Partnership, Karanovic & Nikolic, and Slaughter and May.

It’s that time of year again — GC Summit time — and the editors of CEE Legal Matters are spending the next two days in Istanbul, hosting the largest gathering ever of Chief Legal Counsel in Central and Eastern Europe. 

We wish you were here in the Queen of Cities with us; we really do. This event is shaping up to be something really special, with over 175 attendees registered from all over the region, speakers from companies like Google, Phillips, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Accenture, and JKX Oil & Gas Plc., and sponsors Slaughter & May, Baker & McKenzie, ELIG, Vasil Kisil & Partners, Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli, the Moral Law Firm, and Turunc. 

We’re excited. This will be the best GC Summit yet. (Ok, so this is only the second one, following last year’s successful launch in Budapest. But it’s true, nonetheless).

In any event, it appears, if you’re reading this, and unless you’re one of the 175 registered attendees, speakers, or sponsors, you’re missing out this time. Too bad, but don’t worry — we’ll update you over the weeks and months to come about what you missed. And now you can start making plans to join us next year!

The conference space is booked and prepared. The hotel rooms are cleaned and ready. The microphones have been checked. The speakers are locked in and rehearsing the presentations. Menus have been selected. The sponsors are primed.  The welcome packs and badges have been finalized and sent off to the printer. The editors of CEE Legal Matters are nervous wrecks.

Istanbul is awash in excitement.

There’s still time to share in the fun. Visit the GC Summit website www.gcsummit.ceelm.com to register today!   

We are excited to announce that the August 2016 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine is now out and on its way to subscribers around CEE and the world.

Highlights from the issue, which is available here in electronic format, include:

• Guest Editorial by Erik Werkman: A Maturing Legal Press in CEE 
• The Summary of Deals 
• The Buzz in CEE 
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region 
• Article: CJEU Rules on Liability of Marketplace Operators for Trademark Infringements  
• Interview With Rastko Petakovic, Karanovic & Nikolic’s Newest Senior Partner 
• Industry Report: Private Equity 
• New Feature: The Corner Office: Retreats 
• Market Spotlight on Romania
• Guest Editorial from Bryan Jardine of Wolf Theiss 
• Romanian Round Table: Confidence with Qualifications  
• Market Snapshots from Drakopoulos (on real estate and tax), Wolf Theiss (on infrastructure), Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii (on dispute resolution), and DLA Piper (on tax) 
• Inside Out: Voicu & Filipescu and Reff & Associates Advise on Bel Rom Twelve’s Sale of Land to New Europe Property Investments 
• Interviews with Dana Ionescu (Head of Legal at Adecco Romania) and Andreea Alexandrescu (Head of Legal at Carrefour Romania) 
• Market Spotlight on Ukraine
• Transparency in the Ukrainian Legal Market as a Way to Economic Growth 
• Ukrainian Round Table: A Market Dependent on Reform 
• Market Snapshots from Asters (on energy and arbitration), Avellum (on banking), and Inyurpolis Law Firm (on PPP) 
• Expat on the Market Interview with Graham Conlon of CMS
• Inside Out: Sayenko Kharenko Advises Sberbank and Citibank on Restructuring of Sovereign-Guaranteed Loans to Yuzhnoya’s State Design Office and the Road Agency of Ukraine 
• Experts Review: Labor & Employment

As always, with the publication of a new issue, the previous issue becomes available to non-subscribers. Accordingly, the June 2016 issue is now available to all. As subscribers already know, that issue includes:

• Guest Editorial by Thomas Hruby: “Anomalies of Justice”
• The Summary of Deals
• The Buzz
• Summary of Lateral Moves and Appointments Across the Region
• Article: Building Blocks of CEE: Baker & McKenzie’s Dan Matthews says Good-Bye
• Interview: “Time to Party: bpv Braun Partners Celebrates 10 Years of Success”
• Industry Report: “In Media Res”
• Market Spotlight on the Balkans: Guest Editorial from Damir Topic from Divjak, Topic, Bahtijarevic in Croatia
• Serbian Round Table: Belgrade and Beyond
• Article: A Checkered Reality: Conversation with Damir Topic and Luka Tadic-Colic About the State of Affairs in Croatia
• Market Snapshots from Drakopoulos in Albania (on bankruptcy) and Vujacic in Montenegro (on renewable energy)
• Interviews with Dino Aganovic (Head of Legal and Compliance at HETA Sarajevo), Anita Pejic Ilisevic (Head of Legal for Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Compliance Representative Adria Region at Henkel), Milan Lomic (General Counsel Adria & Balkan at L’Oreal), Ante Sucur (Head of Legal Affairs at Intesa Sanpaolo Card Ltd), Sandra Simic (Head of Legal and Compliance Officer at Henkel), and Erion Doko (Head of Legal at First Investment Bank Albania).
• Expat on the Market Interview with David Schoch of StartLabs and the Serbian Private Equity Association
• Experts Review: Intellectual Property

The full electronic version of the June 2016 issue can be found here and the .pdf can be downloaded here.