Category: On the Move

Former Managing Associates Ondrej Florian and Stepan Starha have become Partner at Havel & Partners.

Both Florian and Starha joined Havel & Partners as junior associates in 2010.

 “With Ondrej’s promotion, we seek to further strengthen our advisory group focusing on private clients,” says Managing Partner Jaroslav Havel, who heads the firm’s Private Clients team. “For many years, Ondrej has specialized in domestic and foreign corporate acquisitions and transformations, which is often the case with family businesses, and in market terms, our experience with handing over and transforming these businesses is unparalleled.”

Starha, who is based in Havel & Partners’ Bratislava office, advises technological and IT companies as well as financial, energy, and telecommunications companies. He started working at the firm as a paralegal/legal assistant in 2009. He specializes in contractual law, intellectual property law, information systems and telecommunications law as well as private international law. In the area of intellectual property law, he focuses in particular on the legal aspects of creating and using copyright works and on the protection of industrial property. In the area of information technology law, he deals especially with aspects of implementing information systems and licensing computer programs.

Baker McKenzie has announced the election of 67 new partners, including Olha Demianiuk in Kyiv, Sergei Lomakin and Kirill Vikulov in Moscow, and Caner Elmas and Duygu Gultekin in Istanbul.

The promotions take effect on July 1, 2018. 

Olha Demianiuk is a Partner in the Corporate M&A Practice and the Head of the Healthcare Industry Group of the Kyiv office of Baker McKenzie. She has over 13 years of experience in advising local and international clients on M&A, private equity, equity capital markets, and corporate matters. Demianiuk primarily advises companies from the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector on domestic and cross-border transactions and regulatory issues. She joined Baker McKenzie in 2005, after obtaining her law degree from Ukraine’s European University Viadrina in 2004 and Kyiv Mohyla Academy in 2003. 

Sergei Lomakin joined the Moscow office of Baker McKenzie in 2006. He has over 12 years of experience, primarily in regulation of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, healthcare, state procurement, and advertising compliance. He studied law at the Cleveland Marshall College of Law and Novgorod State University. 

Kirill Vikulov, the newly promoted Tax Partner, has over 13 years of experience in advising Russian and multinational clients on a range of tax issues, including M&A deals, joint ventures, international holding and financing structures, and various financial and capital markets transactions. His practice focuses on tax planning and restructuring for corporate and private clients, tax advice for M&A and corporate reorganizations, and wealth management. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie in 2007, Vikulov worked as a tax consultant at PwC. 

Caner Elmas, in Istanbul, has over ten years of experience. His areas of expertise include capital markets, corporate finance, and M&A. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie in 2008, he worked at Turkey’s Paksoy Law Firm, Ortak Law Firm, and Denizcilik Mustesarligi. He studied law at Bilkent University.

Duygu Gultekin, also in Istanbul, is Head of Corporate Maintenance and Global Reorganizations in Istanbul, where she specializes in post-acquisition integrations, pre-transaction reorganizations, spin-off and carve-outs, insolvency and bankruptcy solutions, joint venture structuring and corporate governance. She also spent four years in the Tax practice group, advising clients on their Turkish structuring’s tax consequences and how to create tax efficient solutions by using corporate instruments. Gultekin received her law degree from Galatasaray University.

Arda Alposkay has been promoted from Legal Affairs Senior Manager to Head of Legal at DeFacto.

DeFacto is a brands in the apparel and fashion sector in Turkey, established in 2005. According to DeFacto, the company offers “affordable and high-quality products, has managed to include designs that adapt to the world trends.” Currently, DeFacto operates in 24 markets: Turkey, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Egypt, Belarus, Morocco, Kosovo, Albania, Georgia, Russia, Pakistan, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Malaysia, Moldova and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Prior to joining DeFacto in 2015, Alposkay worked with the Kidemli Law Firm, Devres Law Office, and Zorlu Energy Groups. He received his law degree from Istanbul Bilgi University.

Francois d’Ornano, together with almost the entire Budapest office of Jeantet, has left the French firm to launch the D’Ornano Partners law firm, with offices in Hungary, Serbia, and Romania.

In addition to d’Ornano, the Founding Partners of D’Ornano include former Jeantet lawyers Amaury Chautard and Anna Maria Veres in Paris and Balazs Kutasi in Budapest, former Bondoc & Asociatii Senior Associate Cristina Gavrila in Bucharest, and Ana Maric in Belgrade. It is unclear what the affect of Maric’s joining will have on her role as Managing Partner of Belgrade’s MMD Associates law firm.

The Budapest team moved to Jeantet with d’Ornano from Gide Loyrette Nouel in 2015 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 21, 2015, and on November 3, 2015). Maric and Gavrila also worked with d’Ornano with Gide, with d’Ornano overseeing the firm’s Serbian and Romanian offices until Gide withdrew from those markets.

D’Ornano Partners also announced that a Brussels office, “will be set up in the following months and will cover competition and EU-related aspects related to cross-border investments of our clients in France and the CEE region.

Commenting on the departure of her colleagues, Jeantet Local Partner Ioana Knoll-Tudor told CEE Legal Matters that “Jeantet keeps a presence in Hungary and continues its development in the CEE/CIS region.” Indeed, while Knoll-Tudor was set to move to Paris (as reported on by CEE Legal Matters on September 20, 2017), she informed CEE Legal Matters that she will remain in the region to help develop the firm’s presence in CEE in parallel to her efforts to strenghten its international arbitration practice.

Editorial Note: This article was corrected to reflect the fact that Francois d’Ornano had overseen the Gide Serbian and Romanian offices, not Cristina Gavrila as the article originally reported.

Clifford Chance has announced the promotion of 26 lawyers to the firm’s global partnership, including Vladimir Barbolin in Moscow and Milosz Golab in Warsaw.

Barbolin, who joined Clifford Chance’s Moscow office in 2001, specializes in cross border-finance, insolvency, and work-outs. He represents clients in pre-export finance, syndicated lending, secured and unsecured facilities, real estate finance and structured finance, insolvency and work-outs.

Golab advises on refinancing and restructuring of existing financial debt of capital groups, involving various groups of creditors. He also has experience in financing corporate takeovers, asset, and investment project acquisitions. Before joining Clifford Chance in 2008, he worked with Norton Rose and Miller Canfield. He received his law degree at the University of Warsaw in 2005 and was admitted as a Legal Adviser in Poland in 2010.

Matthew Layton, Clifford Chance Global Managing Partner commented on the 26 new partners: “I am delighted to welcome to the partnership a group of particularly talented senior lawyers. Each of them has established their credentials as a go-to advisor for clients by virtue of their well-recognized expertise and excellent client service skills. They share a strong international mindset – 80% of the group has already worked in more than one of our offices globally. The make-up of this group also demonstrates the breadth and diversity that will underpin our future success. I look forward to working with them over the coming years as they help drive our progress in a fast-shifting legal landscape.”

Interlegal has opened a representative office in London, led by Alberto Batini.

According to Interlegal, “the London office will facilitate more prompt and efficient Interlegal legal support both to Ukrainian clients in English courts and arbitrations and to British law firms with the clients in the Black and Caspian Sea basin.”

Interlegal’s Partner Arthur Nitsevych said: “In fact, Albero Batini not only represents Interlegal in London, but he is a voice of all the company’s clients making business in Transport, Shipping, and International Trade governed by the English law system. Both GAFTA, FOSFA, LMAA arbitration rules, and British court rules allow Interlegal experts to protect clients’ interests online. In some unique cases, our lawyers also participated directly in litigation and arbitration proceedings. However, when we found the opportunity to develop a partnership with Alberto Batini and strengthen our arbitration practice, we did not hesitate to take advantage of this step.”

Alberto Batini’s key competencies include maritime law, P&I and H&M insurance, ship arrest, international arbitration, transport and logistics, and maritime cyber security. 

Alberto Batini added: “I am happy to start the new wave of business cooperation with Interlegal. We have known each other since 2005. We have assisted both each other and our clients for many times. Now we are moving towards our partnership development. I moved to London while we launched the next step of our relationship. I am pleased to become Interlegal representative in London. We will create additional value for Ukrainian and European customers due to the benefits of our British-Ukrainian synergy.”

Five CEE lawyers — Eleanor Johnson, Tomas Osicka, Piotr Staniszewski, Konstantin Tretyakov, and Marketa Tvrda — are part of Dentons worldwide partnership round, which included 36 lawyers overall. 

In Prague, Eleanor Johnson and Marketa Tvrda became partners in Dentons’ Real Estate group, while Tomas Osicka became a partner on the Banking and Finance team. Piotr Staniszewski is now a partner in the Real Estate team in Warsaw, while Konstantin Tretyakov is a partner and the Head of Dentons’ White Collar Crime practice in Moscow.

“We are extremely proud to elevate these very deserving lawyers to the next level of their careers at the firm,” said Elliott Portnoy, Global Chief Executive Officer, speaking of all 36 promotions. “They represent Dentons’ rich diversity, our global collegiality, and the excellence embodied in our work.”

Clifford Chance has announced the appointment of Charles Adams as new Regional Managing Partner for Continental Europe, succeeding Yves Wehrli, with a four-year term to begin on April 1, 2018.

Wehrli, who had completed the maximum number of terms he could serve representing the region, will continue in his current position as Office Managing Partner for the firm’s Paris office.

According to Clifford Chance, Adams “is recognized as one of the leading banking and finance lawyers specializing in Italian and cross-border financings. From 2007 to 2014 Charles was the Office Managing Partner for Clifford Chance’s Italian practice, with offices in Milan and Rome, and was a Continental European partner representative on the firm’s former Management Committee from 2013 until 2014. Charles returned to Milan in January, having spent over two years based in the firm’s New York office, supporting the strategic progress of Clifford Chance’s Americas practice, particularly in Latin America. In his new role, Charles will remain co-head of the firm’s Italian Finance and Capital Markets group, and continue to be actively involved in client-facing work from Milan.”

Clifford Chance Managing Partner Matthew Layton commented that: “Yves has done an excellent job over the past four years. While we have always had a well-respected European platform, the combined strength of our capability across offices, practices, and sectors has never been so compelling. Yves takes the credit for driving change in the region, working tirelessly with the other leaders in the region, particularly Peter Dieners, as the RMP for our German practice. Charles takes up the reins with our Continental Europe offering in excellent shape. Charles is passionate about our clients, the firm and how our Continental European team will continue to deliver a service that will make us stand out against the competition in a fast-evolving and important market for so many of our clients regionally and across the globe. I look forward to working with him.”

Yves Wehrli commented: “It has been a real honor and a privilege to have held the RMP post. We have made huge progress over that time, especially in ensuring that our clients and our people globally understand the combined potential of our 16 market-leading offices in the region. I would particularly like to thank the partners in the region for their hard work and support. This has been absolutely fundamental to our success.”

Finally, Charles Adams commented, “Nurturing our position in this strategically important region is a priority for the firm. That includes ensuring that we forge ever-stronger bonds with our colleagues in other regions, notably in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Europe’s future is intertwined with that of the wider global economy, and we are better placed than any other law firm to help clients capitalize successfully on the opportunities that brings. It is an exciting time to take on this role and I look forward to working with our teams globally to reinforce our position as market-leaders.”

Slovak lawyer Zoltan Sarkany has become Head of Legal Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary at the Arval BNP Paribas Group in Prague.

Sarkany reports that the position is new with Arval BNP Paribas, and that previously there was no in-house team in the three Vysehrad countries. He explains that “I am managing all legal issues and outside counsels and working step by step to build a legal team. The role is very dynamic and challenging. I am excited about the new role and delighted to be a member of the Arval family.”

Sarkany founded the Milton & Dawis consulting company in 2009, and from 2011 to 2017 he also served as Of Counsel for the Dr. Juhas Law Firm in Bratislava.

Ece Gursoy has become the Chief Legal Officer at Global Ports Holding plc, the world’s largest independent cruise port operator.

Prior to joining Global Ports Holding, Gursoy served for six years as the Chief Legal Officer, Company Secretary, and Executive Director of Lightsource Renewable Energy Holdings Limited. Before going in-house, Gursoy spent over eight years at international law firms Dentons and White & Case specializing in project finance, infrastructure, energy, and private equity, working on a range of public private partnerships, private finance initiatives, infrastructure, concessions, and renewable projects.

Gursoy is a member both of the Law Society of England and Wales and the Istanbul Bar Association. She holds a LL.M. degree in Corporate and Commercial law from the University of London and a Ph.D. in European Competition Law from King’s College London. She is also a member of the board of the Turkish British Chamber of Commerce and Industry where she served as Company Secretary between 2015 and 2017 and was recently appointed Vice-Chairman.

“GPH is a dynamic company, uniquely positioned as the leading global port operator,” said Gursoy. “This role is a fantastic opportunity which combines the sophisticated features of a LSE listed company and phenomenal growth. I am looking forward to help the company as it delivers on its strategy.”