Category: Poland

SPCG has successfully persuaded the District Court in Gdansk to find for client Talia Sp. z o.o. in a claim against Polska Energia – First Kompania Handlowa sp. z o. o.

According to SPCG, “on March 6, 2020, the District Court in Gdansk, 9th Commercial Department, in proceedings brought in 2015 by … Talia, a subsidiary of Polenergia SA, against [PKH], a subsidiary of Tauron Polska Energia SA, allowed the claim of Talia. In a partial and preliminary judgment, the court determined that PKH’s statements on termination of long-term contracts for the sale of property rights and electricity generated in the Renewable Energy Source – Wind Farm in Modlikowice are ineffective and do not have legal effect in the form of termination of contracts. The court also found justified, as a rule, compensation claims [by] Talia against PKH for non-performance of the property rights sale agreement by PKH.”

According to SPCG, the judgment is not final.

SPCG’s team was led by Partner Krystian Radlowski and included Senior Associate Barttomiej Jarco, Associate Zofia Matyja, and Junior Associate Bartosz Amroziewicz.

Soltysinski Kawecki & Slezak has successfully represented the interests of Polimex-Mostostal before the Court of Appeal in Katowice, Poland, in a dispute against the City of Katowice.

According to SK&S, “the case concerned withdrawal from a contract [executed] on October 3, 2011, for the construction of a multifunctional complex building of the International Congress Centre in Katowice. The court [ruled] in favor of [Polimex-Mostostal] in the amount of [circa] PLN 40.4 million, including interest. The [ruling] of the Court of Appeal is final and binding.”

Soltysinski Kawecki & Slezak’s team included Partner Rafal Waszkiewicz and Katarzyna Paczuska-Tokarska.

Greenberg Traurig has advised Heitman on the sale of the Marynarska Business Park A-class office building complex in Warsaw to Benson Elliot, which was advised by Dentons.

Marynarska Business Park has 46,000 square meters of leasable area and is located in the Mokotow district of Warsaw.

Heitman was established in 1966 and currently has ten offices around the world. The value of the assets it manages is around USD 45.5 billion.

Greenberg Traurig’s team included Partner Agnieszka Stankiewicz, Senior Associate Rafal Siwek, and Associates Wojciech Rzeczyca and Aleksandra Staromiejska.

Denton’s team included Partner Pawel Debowski, Counsel Jacek Jezierski, Senior Associate Magdalena Osobka-Morawska, and Associate Magdalena Witka.

Former Linklaters Managing Associate Marta Bijak-Haiduk has joined Schoenherr in Warsaw, where she will take over management of the firm’s Real Estate practice.

Schoenherr describes Bijak-Haiduk as having “vast experience with various types of real estate transactions, including JVs, financing structures, asset and share deals.” According to the firm, “she has represented clients in negotiations of lease agreements concerning logistics, office and retail buildings as well as in build-to-own development agreements, and advised on the construction process. Prior to joining Schoenherr, she spent seven and a half years at Hogan Lovells, and the last four and a half years at Linklaters.

Also joining Bijak-Haiduk on Schoenherr Warsaw’s Real Estate team are Senior Attorney Dominka Sulak Seyfried (who moves over from Hogan Lovells, where she spent the past three years, after spending the previous seven with BSJP), and Associate Patrycja Czarnecka.

“I am delighted to welcome Marta, Dominika, and Patrycja to our Warsaw practice,” said Schoenherr Warsaw Managing Partner Paweł Halwa. “I am convinced that they are a great fit for our team and that the strengthened real estate practice led by Marta will further boost our growth in Poland.”

Dominika Niewiadomska-Siniecka has joined Vodeno as General Counsel and Head of Compliance.

Niewiadomska-Siniecka started her legal career in 2001 with Clifford Chance, then in 2002 moved to Beiten Burkhardt, where she spent six years before moving to CMS. She joined mobile operator Play in 2009 and became Head of Legal in 2010. In 2018 she moved to Brussels to become the General Counsel of Aion — a subscription-only digital bank.

Niewiadomska-Siniecka explained that “I decided to leave Play to participate in a very exciting project: building a Pan European bank in Belgium — Aion. The project was confidential, so I couldn’t disclose it until its commercial launch, which is now. The project was very complex, starting from the purchase of a bank, the creation of innovative banking products, the digital transformation of the bank, and the process of setting up the commercial launch. After completing my tasks there, I received an offer to become the General Counsel and Head of Compliance of the Vodeno technology company — also a company from the Warburg Pincus group, which provided the Aion technology solution. Vodeno intends to provide the ‘bank in the box’ solution to clinics around the world. My task is to reset all processes in the company, create a legal strategy, and take care of compliance. It seems to be another exciting and currently very trendy project.”

DLA Piper has advised Polnord, a residential development company in Poland, on its EUR 31.7 million public offering.

Polnord issued 64.9 million of shares, with almost 63.7 million subscribed for by Cordia International, an international property company operating in Central and Eastern Europe. Noble Securities acted as the bookrunner and offering agent for the transaction, which has been approved by Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Polnord has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1999.

DLA Piper’s team was led Partner Jakub Domalik-Plakwicz and included Counsel Wojciech Kalinowski, Senior Associate Mateusz Zalenski, and Associate Adam Marszalek.

SSW Pragmatic Solutions has advised V&P sp. z o.o. on the company’s investment policy and investment strategy and represented V&P in proceedings before the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority, resulting in the company’s successful registration as an Alternative Investment Funds Manager.

The SSW team was led by Partner Szymon Okon, supported by Senior Associate Tomasz Kwasniewski and Associate Dawid Brudzisz.

Gessel’s Risk Support and Special Cases team has successfully represented Polish citizen Wladyslaw Frasyniuk against charges he violated the physical integrity of police officers.

According to Gessel, “Frasyniuk was accused of violating the physical integrity of police officers while performing their official duties. These are the events that allegedly took place during the citizens’ counter-manifestation against the Smolensk march in Warsaw on June 10, 2017. Accused by the prosecutor’s office, Wladyslaw Frasyniuk did not plead guilty.”

Gessel reports that, in July 2019, the Criminal Department of the District Court for Warsaw-Srodmiescie, found Frasyniuk guilty and ordered him to deposit PLN 7,000 for the Victim Assistance Fund and Post-Penitentiary Assistance. The court conditionally discontinued the proceedings for one year.

According to the firm, both the prosecutor’s office and Gessel Partner Piotr Schramm appealed the sentence — the former seeking a harsher sentence, the latter requesting recognition of Frasyniuk’s innocence or that the court set the first-instance judgment aside.

On March 3, Gessel reports, “the District Court, Criminal Division, as an appeal court, quashed the verdict of the first-instance court in its entirety … validly discontinuing the proceedings against Wladyslaw Frasyniuk. Therefore, Wladyslaw Frasyniuk remains an innocent person in connection with the final criminal proceedings.

Former PWC Legal Counsel Mateusz Ordyk has joined Deloitte Legal in Warsaw as Partner.

Deloitte Legal describes Ordyk as “a legal advisor and a certified compliance officer.” according to the firm, “he specializes in the law of financial and capital markets, in particular focusing on innovative regulatory solutions based on modern technologies. He has extensive experience in offering investment products and in projects related to raising capital (investment funds, REIT, crowdfunding / investing, ICO / STO, public offers).”

Before joining Deloitte Legal Ordyk spent eight and a half years at PWC Legal, six years at Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka, and three and a half years in-house with Pekao Leasing Sp.

“Mateusz’s extensive experience with the current challenges faced by financial institutions, including FinTech, is directly responsive to the critical needs of our clients and will accelerate significantly the already rapid development of Deloitte Legal’s service offering,” commented Deloitte Legal Partner Zbigniew Korba. “He has hit the ground running and is already delivering impressive client solutions — and that’s what we are all about.”

“Being a part of Deloitte Legal Poland as a partner will allow me the opportunity to continue to be active in the dynamic Polish financial market on an even larger scale in the many international and innovative projects regularly engaged in by our first-rate and standard setting Banking & Finance team,” said Ordyk. “As a legal tech and work efficiency enthusiast, Deloitte is also a natural platform for my clients and me. We are simply well ahead of our competition in these very important areas which will clearly define the winners in the future of legal practices.”

Ordyk graduated from Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin in 2002.

Daniel Kaczorowski, in Warsaw, is the only CEE representative among the 44 Greenberg Traurig lawyers promoted to Shareholder at the firm as part of its global round.

According to Greenberg Traurig, the 44 new shareholders come from 22 offices and 13 practice areas. The firm also announced the elevation to of counsel and counsel of 34 attorneys from 18 offices, practicing in 11 areas of law, including Warsaw’s Maciej Kacmirow, Malgorzata Kercz, and Filip Kijowski.

Kaczorowski focuses his practice on civil and commercial law and securities law, in particular in respect of regulations applicable to listed companies. He advises clients in public and private M&A transactions, including in the TMT and consumer products sectors. Before joining Greenberg Traurig in 2005 he spent two and a half years at White & Case, 12 years at Dewer & LeBoeuf, and two and a half years at Hunton & Williams. He graduated from the University of Warsaw in 2009.

“We are very proud of our 2020 class,” declared Greenberg Traurig CEO Brian Duffy. “Reaching this achievement is founded on hard work, superior client service, and leadership inside and outside of Greenberg Traurig. We have built a law firm around being proactive, creative, hardworking, and delivering quality to clients.”