Category: Poland

Wierzbowski Eversheds reported today that the Court of Appeal in Lodz has dismissed the appeal by mBank (formerly BRE Bank SA) in the class action brought against the bank by a group of 1,247 consumers, which it represented.

The court of appeal thus upheld the decision of the court of first instance, which found that mBank unlawfully charged a portion of loan installments from the consumers who are members of the class, and ruled that these amounts must be repaid with statutory interest.

After 2 months of procedural matters relating to the formation and certification of the class following the initial statement of claim against mBank in the Regional Court in Lodz on December 20, 2010, the first hearing on the merits was held on June 19, 2013. At the hearing, the Regional Court rejected the evidence offered by the bank as irrelevant and filed in order to delay the proceedings. The attorneys for both parties then gave their closing statements. The court adjourned the announcement of the verdict to July 3, 2013. On that date, the court issued its judgment, thus concluding the proceedings at the first instance. The court ruled that mBank had unlawfully charged a portion of the loan installments from the consumers who were members of the group, and ordered that those amounts be reimbursed with statutory interest. Finally, on April 30, 2014, the Court of Appeal in Lodz dismissed the appeal on the merits by mBank.

Eversheds Partner Iwo Gabrysiak, who represented the group of consumers, was pleased with the result. “The dismissal of the defendant’s appeal shows that by using the Class Actions Act, consumers can be just as strong as institutions like banks and other large enterprises, and can effectively enforce their rights,” he said, “This is the first ruling of its kind in Poland, considering the scale of the case and the number of plaintiffs in the group. I believe this may facilitate the use of class actions, which were introduced in Poland only quite recently.”

The Dentons Real Estate team in Poland has advised BlackRock’s Real Estate division on the sale of the Rondo 1 office building in Warsaw to Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management’s real estate business.

The Rondo 1 office complex was developed in 2006 and consists of a 40-story glass tower and an associated 10-story building located in the center of Warsaw. 

The Dentons team was led by Partner Pawel Debowski and Senior Associate Maciej Jodkowski. Debowski, Co-Chairman of the Global Real Estate team for Europe, said: “We are pleased to have assisted BlackRock Real Estate on the sale of what is one of the most prestigious office towers in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the entire investment cycle of Rondo 1. Our team advised MGPA on the acquisition of this building from London & Regional in 2006/2007 and we were thrilled that BlackRock Real Estate selected us as legal counsel for this successful exit.”

Dentons has advised Goodman, the global property group that owns, develops, and manages logistics space, on the construction of a new central warehouse and office facility in Poznan (Poland) for the grocery and DIY franchising chain Mousquetaires Group.

The site will dedicate 74,000 square meters to logistics and 8,500 square meters to office space. Goodman signed a 10-year lease with the Mousquetaires Group and delivery is due early next year.

In addition to this deal, Goodman agreed to purchase the existing Mousquetaires Group properties in Poznan, which includes 45,500 square meters of storage and office facilities.

Partner Piotr Szafarz and Counsel Jakub Sobotkowski led the Dentons team on the deal.

The Magnusson law firm has expanded its Real Estate practice in Poland with the arrival of Partner Michal Siwek, who joins with two Associates. Siwek’s experience in Real Estate matters includes planning, construction, and corporate.

He has advised on transactions and development projects, as well as on commercialization and asset management of various types of assets, including office, retail, hotel, and warehouse. He also focuses on real estate restructuring and real estate finance.

From 2006-2010 Siwek was a Partner in the Real Estate department and head of the German desk at Clifford Chance in Warsaw. Before that, he was associated for eight years with CMS Cameron McKenna, where he became a Partner in 2004. He comes to Magnusson after having spent the past few years in his own private Real Estate law practice. 

Siwek bring Associates Norbert Gawor and Piotr Dziwniel with him. Andrzej Tokaj, the Managing Partner of Magnusson in Poland, released a statement saying that: “With Michal Siwek and his team on board, we will further strengthen our real estate practice and broaden services provided to German and French speaking investors.” 

Allen & Overy’s Polish office has advised on the financing of upgrades to power units at Patnow Power Plant I and the refinancing of Zespol Elektrowni Patnow-Adamow-Konin’s existing indebtedness.

Allen & Overy advised mBank, PKO Bank Polski, Bank Pekao, Bank Millennium, and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego on the financing of upgrades to power units 1 through 4 at Patnow Power Plant I and the refinancing of Zespol Elektrowni Patnow-Adamow-Konin’s existing indebtedness incurred for the construction of the flue gas desulphurisation plant at the Patnow Power Plant it owns. The amount of facilities granted was nearly PLN 1200 million.

Tomasz Kawczynski, Partner in Allen & Overy’s Banking department led the team. Kawczynski said of the deal that: “This financing supports one of the few projects in the conventional power sector in recent years. At the same time, it shows that the Polish banking sector is ready to support important investments in the Polish energy sector. We hope this project will pave the way for further projects in this strategic area. We are proud to have once again advised ZE PAK in such a prestigious transaction.”

Karczynski was supported by Counsel Kamil Janielewicz, Senior Associate Agnieszka Lipska, and Associates Justyna Stelmach and Katarzyna Gerlach.

Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka has announced that two of its lawyers, Ewa Kucharska and Michele Le Mauviel, translated the acts contained in a newly published English version of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights and Industrial Property Law.

The collection was published by C.H. Beck as a part of a new series of translations of Polish law into English, German, and French. Kucharska and Le Mauviel have also translated the Polish Code of Commercial Companies, the Civil Code, the Public Procurement Law, and the Pharmaceutical Law, among others. They received “legal consultation” from DZP IP & TMT experts Aleksandra Auleytner, Jaroslaw Konecko and Rafal Kloczko.

Wierzbowski Eversheds has announced that IP attorney Pawel Lipski has been promoted to Partner at the firm and will head the law firm’s Intellectual Property and E-business teams along with Partner Tomasz Zalewski.

Lipski specializes in Intellectual Property and E-business law. His responsibilities as head of the IP and E-business teams will include initiatives connected with Internet Start-Up, the firm’s legal advice program for Internet and high-tech projects, and maintaining the firm’s Intellectual Property and Internet blog.

Lipski has been associated with Wierzbowski Eversheds since 2005, when he joined the team as the winner of the “Grasz o staz” internship competition. In 2006 he interned at the London office of Eversheds in the IT & Outsourcing practice. In 2012 he completed postgraduate studies in Copyright law, with distinction, at King’s College London.

Tomasz Zalewski was pleased to welcome Lipski to the partnership. “Pawel has moved from the position of a starting lawyer at the firm to senior associate, and now will become a Partner. We are pleased because this shows that the firm is a workplace providing opportunities for growth.”

Wierzbowski Eversheds and the European Law Students’ Association ELSA Poland have announced the opening of the 9th edition of the Law Games. Winners of the competitions will receive a one-month paid internship at the law firm.

The Law Games competition is designed for law students in their 3rd to 5th year and recent law graduates. In order to participate, contestants must complete the registration form available at www.elsa.org.pl/lawgames. In the first stage, contestants will be asked to solve one of two case studies—involving civil law or copyright law—in which they will play the role of either plaintiff or defendant. The roles will be assigned automatically at the time of registration. The deadline for submitting solutions is April 6, 2014.

The authors of the best works submitted in the preliminary phase will be invited to take part in the finals, which will be held in Warsaw on May 7-8, 2014. There the contestants will be divided into four-person teams to tackle the task of drafting a joint ruling in the case assigned in the elimination round and to develop four arguments supporting the given position. Then, during a four-minute oral argument, each of the contestants will present one of the selected positions to the panel of judges.

According to Krzysztof Wierzbowski, Managing Partner of Wierzbowski Eversheds, “It is an excellent opportunity for them to test in practice the knowledge they have gained in the classroom. Our staff include former Law Games winners who impressed us during their internship with their knowledge, enthusiasm, and skill at creatively solving difficult issues, who we asked to continue working with us after the internship ended. We hope that will be the case this year as well.” 

The winners of the competition will be announced at the finals in Warsaw on May 7-8, 2014. 

Wierzbowski Eversheds has advised the Polish Insurance Guarantee Fund (UFG) on a multilateral agreement on gathering and providing access to information in the Polish insurance industry, and has represented UFG in negotiations with dozens of insurance companies.  

According to the firm, the purpose of the agreement, which has been joined by 24 insurers — representing over 90% of the automobile insurance market in Poland — is to assure the highest quality of data processing in the Polish database of automobile insurers by: (1) Imposing more rigorous requirements on insurers with respect to the data they provide; (2) Introducing instruments to discipline insurers that do not meet the required conditions; and (3) Modifying the mechanisms for supply of data by insurers and access to the data.

Wierzbowski Eversheds Partner Gerard Karp, the Head of the firm’s Privacy, Information, & Communication Technologies and Electronic Communications teams, was involved in the work on the agreement for UFG. “This project was particularly complex, primarily because of the participation of dozens of insurance companies with whom it was necessary to agree the final wording of the document, reflecting the interests of all of the parties,” said Karp. “Ultimately a compromise was achieved that was satisfactory for the insurance market and for the Insurance Guarantee Fund. One of the key issues was to guarantee the security of the personal data of insureds. These issues play an increasingly important role in the Polish legal system, particularly as a result of the rapid changes in IT and the opinions and recommendations issued in this field by EU authorities.”

According to Slawa Cwalinska-Weychert, Vice President of the Insurance Guarantee Fund, “It has been nearly three years since the prior agreement governing insurers’ use of UFG’s database was signed. We analyzed the database itself, as well as the way it is used by insurance companies, and tried to reflect these conclusions in the new agreement. We hope that this will allow us to eliminate problems with the evaluation of customer risks, and thus allow customers to avoid the requirement to present certificates showing their insurance history.” 

Domamski Zakrzewski Palinka has hired Polish and EU IP/IT specialist Wojciech Dziomdziora for its Warsaw office.

Dziomdziora, who joins the firm as Counsel, is a specialist in copyright, media, telecommunications and new technologies law. He is a former Director of Public Affairs and CSR at Orange Polska, he headed key projects in the TP Group and previously worked for the ITI media group.