Category: On the Move

The NGL Symbio law firm alliance has announced its creation in five countries of CEE, and its plans to be fully operational by January 1, 2021.

NGL Symbio’s founding members include Poland’s NGL Legal, Hungary’s Erdos⎜Katona, the Czech Republic’s Rowan Legal, Slovakia’s HKV, and Romania’s Biris Goran.

According to a statement released by NGL Symbio, “we’re moving forward and we are very proud to share that we have cemented our alliance of independent law firms with five partners in the CEE and we have just signed our RoC – Rules of Cooperation – based on our TRAQ values. This team becomes the heart of our alliance and we aim to offer support to our local and regional clients in the global economy. We strongly believe that our model will help regional clients to optimize management processes by making them more transparent, lean, and cost effective. Signing the RoC marks a significant milestone on our way to become fully operational on January 1, 2021.”

“I firmly believe NGL Symbio offers a solution that is unique on the market as this alliance structure is built to respect the independence of each member, but at the same time, we are putting in place processes and tools that will allow to us create an organization that will have integrated services necessary to conduct cross-border projects,” commented NGL Legal and NGL Symbio Managing Partner Krzysztof Wiater. “In that way, we will create an alternative choice for international law firms. Our offer is directed towards large and mid-market clients operating either locally and/or in the CEE/BBA (Baltics, Balkans, Adriatics) region. Additionally, we are working on an offering for start-up companies which will address specifics for this type of business. Recently, we have formalized our alliance in the CEE with our partners in the Czech Republic – Rowan Legal, Hungary – Erdos⎜ Katona, Poland – NGL Legal, Romania – Biris Goran, and Slovakia – HKV Law Firm, supported by NGL Services in all operational aspects. We believe such a formula is quite innovative itself as alongside the integration of services we are equally focused on building efficiency in operation and project management. Aside from CEE we also developed strong ties in the BBA region, and we are well connected in other jurisdictions (EMEA, APAC).”

Jeantet Local Partners Ioana Knoll-Tudor and Bertrand Barrier have been promoted to Global Partner at Jeantet in Budapest and Kyiv, respectively.

According to Jeantet, Knoll-Tudor’s “resolutely international career path has led her to develop recognized expertise in international arbitration for both commercial and investment matters, facilitated by her capacity to represent clients in five languages (French, English, Spanish, Italian and Romanian). Ioana has been acting as counsel and arbitrator on cases arising from complex cross-border transactions and construction projects for both French and international clients. Her in-depth knowledge of the Central and South-Eastern Europe region enables her to intervene often on issues related to this region. Ioana has been managing Jeantet’s Budapest office since 2017.”

Knoll-Tudor has an M.A. from the College of Europe in Natolin and a Ph.D. in International Law from the European University Institute. Before joining Jeantet, she spent eight and a half years with Gide Loyrette Nouel.

Bertrand Barrier joined Jeantet in 2015 as Local Partner and manager of the firm’s Kyiv office. According to the firm, “for nearly 20 years, Bertrand has been assisting international promoters and foreign investors with their mergers & acquisitions in both France and Ukraine within the framework of their cross-border investment projects, as well as transactions involving the implementation of complex contracts in key sectors such as aviation, energy, and retail.”

Barrier has an LL.M. from Avocat au Barreau de Paris. Prior to joining Jeantet, he spent almost two years at HHP in Paris and over 13 years at Gide Loyrette Nouel.

“This decision, taking into account the particular economic period, reflects Jeantet’s determination to pursue its development, particularly through internal promotion,” commented Jeantet’s Co-Managing Partner Karl Hepp de Sevelinges. “We are proud of our two new partners who were coopted thanks to their solid skills and brilliant careers within the firm.”

After operating under the brands Andersen Tax, Andersen Legal, and Andersen Tax & Legal, the member firms of Andersen Global in Europe, will now operate under a single brand: “Andersen”.

According to Andersen, similar brand changes in other regions around the world will follow throughout the year, and the firm reports that the decision to simplify the brand “demonstrat[es] the unified and seamless approach of the global tax and legal firm.”

According to Andersen, “this announcement comes on the heels of the U.S. member firm’s transition of its brand from ‘Andersen Tax’ to ‘Andersen’ last year. In total, member firms in 12 European countries — Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom — will adopt the Andersen brand. The transition of OrienTax and Szabo Keleman & Partners [which joined Andersen Global a year and a half ago, as reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 14, 2019] marks the debut of the Andersen brand in Hungary. Additionally, B.A. Tax Accountants will adopt the brand as it joins the team in Luxembourg.”

Within Europe, Andersen Global also has a presence in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Republic of Kosovo, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine through its collaborating firms. and the firm reports having “plans to expand its regional footprint in Central and Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.”

“Our common brand, Andersen, is reflective of our ‘one firm’ culture and encompasses all that we do as a global organization,” said Mark Vorsatz, Andersen Global Chairman and Andersen CEO. “It signifies our ability to provide best-in-class service and our deep commitment to investing in our people. Each of the member and collaborating firms that are a part of our organization promote stewardship and maintain transparency. Our global expansion continues to be driven by client needs and the recognition that we can best serve clients with independent and synergistic services.”

Andersen Global is an international association of legally separate, independent member firms. The organization began in 2002 when 23 former Arthur Andersen tax partners created the tax-only firm WTAS. In 2014, the group adopted the brand Andersen Tax. According to Andersen, “the European region began with just two locations in 2013 and has since expanded to more than 50 locations, nearly 2,000 tax and legal professionals, and over 300 partners today.”

Austrian lawyers Clara Gordon, Matthias Schimka, and Robert Wagner have been promoted to Partner at Wolf Theiss Vienna, and Croatian lawyers Dora Gazi Kovacevic and Sasa Jovicic made Partner at Wolf Theiss Zagreb.

According to Wolf Theiss, “Gordon advises large Austrian and international corporations as well as medium-sized companies and investment companies on complex domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, joint ventures and corporate structuring” She has a Masters’ and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna. Prior to joining Wolf Theiss in 2013, she spent almost half a year at the District Court in Vienna. 

“Matthias Schimka is a member of the Banking and Finance team in Vienna and specializes in restructuring and financing advice,” reports Wolf Theiss. He too is a graduate of the University of Vienna. Prior to joining Wolf Theiss in 2010, he spent three years as a Research and Teaching Assistant at Wirtschaftsuniversitat Wien.

Wagner is “an expert in EU and Austrian Competition law as well as State Aid law,” according to Wolf Theiss. “His practice includes cartel investigations and leniency applications, abuse of dominance cases, distribution and cooperation agreements, merger control, and private enforcement of competition law.” He is a Magister of the University of Vienna and has an LL.M. from the College of Europe. Prior to joining Wolf Theiss in 2009, he spent two years as an Academic Assistant at the College of Europe.

Dora Gazi Kovacevic “represents companies in cross-border corporate, M&A, and HR restructuring projects and heads the Employment team at Wolf Theiss’s Zagreb office,” the firm reports. She has LL.M.s from the University of Zagreb and the Technische Universitat Dresden. Prior to joining Wolf Theiss in 2008, she spent over a year with the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Relations and European Integration and almost three and a half years with Posavec, Rasica, Liszt & Partners.

Sasa Jovicic, who joined Wolf Theiss in 2011, “heads the Projects team at Wolf Theiss’s Zagreb office as one of Croatia’s most renowned lawyers for infrastructure and energy projects,” according to the firm. “He focuses particularly on clients in the energy and transport sectors and advises on all stages of project development.” He has an LL.B. from the University of Zagreb. 

“Especially in times of rapid economic and social development, we are happy to promote our talented young lawyers and share responsibility with them,” said Andrea Gritsch, Managing Partner of Wolf Theiss. “With their commitment to our clients, our new partners already make an important contribution to our success and actively help to shape the future of our firm.”

Romanian lawyer Zsuzsa Csiki, Ukrainian lawyer Iryna Nikolayevska, and Czech lawyer Karla Rundtova have been promoted to Partner at Kinstellar.

Zsuzsa Csiki has spent her entire career at Kinstellar (and legacy Linklaters, before Kinstellar was formed following Linklaters’ from Bucharest in 2008). According to the firm, she has over 12 years of experience “advising Romanian and international companies on corporate mergers and acquisitions and other cross-border transactions/restructurings, including joint ventures and business transfers, covering various sectors such as financial services, banking, automotive, agriculture, forestry, retail, and technology, media and telecommunications.” According to the firm, “her expertise also extends to capital markets transactions and financial regulatory matters, coordinating teams locally and cross-border.”

Iryna Nikolayevska is Head of Corporate/M&A and CRSI in Kinstellar’s Kyiv office. According to the firm, “her practice focuses on advising local and international clients in M&A, corporate, private equity, capital markets, compliance and employment matters. Her industry expertise includes agriculture, aviation, financial institutions, FMCG, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, real estate, oil & gas, and IT / telecommunications.” Prior to joining the firm four and a half years ago, she spent two and a half years at Baker McKenzie and almost three years at Avellum. She holds a Master’s degree from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

According to Kinstellar, Karla Rundtova, who joined Kinstellar when the firm was created following Linklaters’ withdrawal from the Czech Republic in 2008 (after spending eight years at Linklaters and two at Noerr) focuses on M&A and corporate law, “in particular share deals, joint ventures, mergers and demergers, corporate restructurings and foreign direct investments.” According to the firm, “she also has broad-based experience advising and representing leading Czech and foreign companies on a variety of greenfield investments and company establishment and joint-venture structures, including regulatory and licensing matters across various industry sectors.” She graduated form Palacky University Olomouc.

Alan Ragueneau, the former Legal Director Market Operations and Sales EMEA at Whirlpool, has joined Nextlaw In-House Solutions, Dentons’ global legal operation advisory, as Europe Managing Director.

Ragueneau studied at Cardiff University, the University of Nantes, and the University of California School of Law. Prior to joining Whirlpool in the spring of 2018 he was European Chief Counsel at Mondelez International and served as Global Head of IP at Galderma.

According to Dentons, “throughout his career, he has had a passion for developing and optimizing legal operation strategies and solutions across various legal practice areas – including intellectual property, transactional/M&A, antitrust, privacy, and compliance.”

“I am delighted to welcome a professional of Alan’s calibre to lead our European team,” said Chris Pinnington, CEO of Nextlaw In-House Solutions. “With more than two decades of experience in the legal departments of large multinationals, he has a deep understanding of the most pressing challenges facing general counsel, as well as innovative solutions to address them.” 

“In my new role for Nextlaw In-House Solutions, my main focus will be to help clients bring innovation to their legal departments, improve their operational strategies, manage spending, implement new management systems, as well as lead and engage their teams,” said Ragueneau, of his new mandate.

Six CEE-based lawyers — Agnieszka Skorupinska, Jakub Podkowa, and Jakub Wieczorek in Warsaw, Natalia Kushniruk in Kyiv, Roxana Fratila in Bucharest, and Artashes Oganov in Moscow — are among the 41 worldwide that CMS has promoted to the firm’s partnership as part of its 2020 round.

Agnieszka Skorupinska, who heads CMS CEE’s and Poland’s Environmental Law Practice, joined the firm in 2016 after six years at Dentons and three at WKB Wiercinski, Kwiecinski, Baehr. She graduated from the University of Warsaw in 2007.

Jakub Podkowa and Jakub Wieczorek, who both specialize in Banking/Finance matters, both moved to CMS in 2018 from Dentons, where Podkowa had spent over 11 years and Wieczorek four (Wieczorek also spent six years at Clifford Chance). Podkowa graduated from the Marie Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin in 2004 and Wieczorek from the University of Warsaw in 2008.

Ukrainian lawyer Natalia Kushniruk specializes in Real Estate and Construction. She has spent the past 13 years at CMS, and obtained her law degree from Ukraine’s National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in 2005.

Romanian lawyer Roxana Fratila, who heads CMS’s Real & Estate and Construction practice in Romania, joined CMS in 2006 after spending one year at Musat & Asociatii and four years as a lawyer with Ernst & Young.

Russian lawyer Artashes Oganov, who heads CMS’s Real Estate practice in Russia, joined the firm in 2017 after spending ten years with Dentons and legacy Salans and two years as an associate with Beiten Burkhardt. He received his law degree in 2005 from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

“Demonstrating the firm’s ongoing commitment to nurturing and promoting female talent,” a CMS statement declared, “women account for half of the new partner promotions in the UK and over 40% of all new partners globally.”

“We are very pleased to recognize the great talent and skills we have across the firm,” commented Penelope Warne, Senior Partner of CMS UK. “We are also delighted by the strong representation of women joining as new partners and are very committed to investing in all our people and empowering all of them to reach their full potential. We would like to congratulate all our new partners on their well-deserved promotions.”

Lucia Regecova, former Head of Corporate Services at MOL Czech Republic, has rejoined Glatzova & Co.

Regecova, who joins the firm’s Prague office as Counsel, spent six years at Glatzova & Co. as Managing Associate and Head of Slovak Branch before leaving in 2015 to become the Head of Legal, Procurement and Asset Management at MOL Czech Republic. She received degrees from the Catholic University of Lublin, in Poland, and University of Trnava in the Slovak Republic.

“We highly appreciate Lucia for her professionalism and we are very happy to have her back in the office,” said Founding Partner Vladimira Glatzova.

Two Turkish lawyers and six Polish lawyers have been included in Dentons’ 20-person global partnership round.

In Istanbul, Ozge Akman (Litigation and Dispute Resolution) and Mahmut Karyagdi (Intellectual Property and Technology) were promoted to partner. In Warsaw, Agnieszka Kulinska (Energy and Regulatory), Karol Laskowski (Intellectual Property and Technology), Agnieszka Lipska and Bartosz Nojek (Banking and Finance), Jakub Sobotkowski (Real Estate), and Dariusz Stolarek (Tax) were promoted as well.

Ozge Akman holds an LL.B. from Marmara University and an LL.M. from Istanbul Bilgi University. Prior to joining Dentons in 2010, she spent four years with Akman Law, two years with Bener, a year with Fora, and another year with Akman Law.

Mahmut Karyagdi has an LL.B. from Istanbul University. Prior to joining Dentons in 2010, he spent almost two years with the Mustafa Unal law firm and almost six years with the Akman Law Firm.

Agnieszka Kulinska has a Master’s degree in law from the University of Warsaw. Prior to joining legacy Salans in 2010 she spent four and a half years with Wardynski & Partners.

Karol Laskowski, who is the Head of IP/TMT at Dentons Warsaw, has a Master’s degree in law from the University of Gdansk and an LL.M. from Tilburg University. He’s been with Dentons since 2011.

Agnieszka Lipska has a 2004 Master’s degree in law from Warsaw University. Before joining Dentons in 2016, she spent almost four and a half years with CMS Cameron McKenna and almost eight and a half years with Allen & Overy.

Bartosz Nojek joined Dentons immediately after receiving his Master’s degree in law from Warsaw University in 2009.

Jakub Sobotkowski has a 2004 Master’s degree in law from Warsaw University as well. He spent 10 years with legacy Salans before it merged and transformed into Dentons in 2013.

Dariusz Stolarek has a Master’s degree in law from the University of Lodz and a Ph.D. from the University of Warsaw. He joined legacy Salans as a Tax Associate in 2006.

Dentons reports that six out of the 20 lawyers promoted in eight different countries were women.

“In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to stay true to our strategy and our values, and that includes developing, nurturing, and recognizing top talent,” said Tomasz Dabrowski, Dentons Europe CEO. “I am delighted to congratulate these outstanding lawyers on reaching this important career milestone. Their well-deserved promotions reflect the strong performance of our business over the last year and our long-term optimism for the future.”

Tsvetelina Stoilova-Valkanova has joined Popov, Arnaudov & Partners as Senior Associate Partner and Head of Banking & Finance.

Popov, Arnaudov & Partners cites Stoilova-Valkanova’s “extensive practice in the areas of Corporate and Commercial law, Mergers & Acquisitions, Energy, Real estate and Construction, Maritime law and Transport.” She graduated from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski and began her career as a legal advisor to the Ministry of Transport Executive Agency for Maritime Administration. Prior to joining Popov, Arnaudov & Partners, she spent five and a half years at Dobrev, Kinkin & Luytskanov and six and a half years at Kinkin & Partners.