LSW Bienkowski, Laskowski, Lesnodorski, Melzacki and Partners has announced it hired eight new partners – Filip Badziak, George Havaris, Marcin Huczkowski, Piotr Leonarski, Krzysztof Marzynski, Adam Piwakowski, Aleksandra Polak, and Piotr Szelenbaum – all coming from B2RLaw, alongside a group of associates, administration, and marketing support.
Badziak, specializing in Banking & Finance, was a Counsel with B2RLaw, where he spent the last three years. Before that, he spent five years with Crido Legal between 2015 and 2020, and three more with Deloitte Legal.
Focusing on Corporate/M&A and Banking & Finance, Havaris was a Partner with B2RLaw, which he joined in 2020. Earlier, he spent six years with JSLegal and seven years with Linklaters in Warsaw, London, and Moscow, between 2005 and 2012.
Another former B2RLaw Partner, Huczkowski specializes in TMT/IP and Data Protection. He joined B2RLaw affiliate Zieba & Partners back in 2019. Before that, he spent almost two years with Kochanski, one with SPCG, and six years with WKB Lawyers. He also spent a year and a half with Gessel, between 2007 and 2009, and started out with Kuczek-Maruta in 2006.
A former B2RLaw Counsel, Leonarski is a Tax specialist. He spent four years with B2RLaw, which he joined after two in-house year-and-a-half stints with the Ministry of Finance of Poland and Narodowy Bank Polski, as a Chief Specialist in the VAT Department and Senior Tax Specialist, respectively. Earlier, he spent a year and a half with Crido and another year and a half with Greenberg Traurig.
Real Estate, Infrastructure, and Construction expert Marzynski spent almost three years with B2RLaw as an Of Counsel. Before that, he spent three years with Crido as a Partner and Head of Real Estate and Construction, seven with Dentons between 2010 and 2017, and three with Clifford Chance.
Piwakowski, a Partner at B2RLaw for the past five and a half years, was in charge of strategic development, business management, training and hiring, and international clients. Earlier, he spent five and a half years with what was at the time Kochanski Zieba & Partners, three years in-house split evenly between Libertis and LV=, and three and a half with Clyde & Co in London, between 2006 and 2009. He spent another two years with the UK’s Plexus Law and started out with MTA Solicitors in 2002.
Specializing in Corporate, M&A, Private Equity, and ESG, Polak was a B2RLaw Partner for the past four years. Before that, he spent two and a half years with Rymarz Zdort Maruta, another two and a half with Kochanski Zieba & Partners, and two more with Greenberg Traurig starting in 2012.
Szelenbaum focuses on Capital Markets, M&A, and Private Equity. He was a Partner but only spent a year and three months with B2RLaw. Earlier, he spent four years with SPCG and four more with White & Case, starting out as a Local Partner in 2013 and making Partner in 2014.
“By hiring the team, and in view of their very strong background at international law firms,” Co-Founding Partner Boguslaw Lesnodorski commented, “we hope to expand our international offering by supporting our clients as they conduct business abroad and, at the same time, advising more global companies and funds investing into Poland at a time when the recent geopolitical changes in Poland have very much encouraged greater foreign investment.”
“LSW is a fantastic firm with a very strong Polish client base,” Szelenbaum added. “The team that has joined has a particular focus on advising on cross-border transactions and the fact that this is something that LSW wishes to push more into, made the prospect of working together very much interesting.”