Category: On the Move

Timea Bana, Radoslaw Goral, Marceli Kasperkiewicz, and Michal Wasiak have been promoted to Partner as part of Dentons’ recent promotion round that also included the recently reported promotion of Tomasz Zwolinski to Partner (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 28, 2022).

Former Counsel Timea Bana has been promoted to Partner with the firm’s Budapest office in the TMT, IP, and Data Protection practice. Prior to joining Dentons in 2016, she spent over eight years with Weil Gotshal & Manges as a Senior Associate. Bana holds a JD degree from the Pazmany Peter Catholic University and an LLM degree from the University of Westminster.

Radoslaw Goral, a dispute resolution expert, has been with Dentons’ Warsaw office since 2013 when he joined as a Senior Associate. He was promoted to Counsel in 2016 and Managing Counsel in 2020. Before joining Dentons, he spent six and a half years with legacy firm Salans as a Senior Associate and, earlier still, almost two and a half years with Chadbourne & Parke. Goral holds JSM and SJD degrees from Stanford University.

Marceli Kasperkiewicz, also a former Managing Counsel, has been with Dentons’ Warsaw office M&A and Private Equity practice since 2004. Starting as an Associate, he was promoted to Counsel in 2016, before reaching the position of Managing Counsel in 2020. Kasperkiewicz has an LLM degree from the University of Warsaw.

Michal Wasiak, a member of the M&A and Private Equity practice as well, joined the Warsaw office of Dentons in 2010 as an Associate. In 2013 he was promoted to Senior Associate and in 2018 to Counsel, before making Managing Counsel in 2020. Before joining Dentons, he spent over three and a half years with Clifford Chance.

Following CMS’s recent global promotion round, Nevena Radlova, Michal Andruszkiewicz, Cristina Popescu, and Olga Shenk were promoted to Partner, with Partners Gabriela Staber and Andrea Potz becoming Equity Partners.

Former Counsel Nevena Radlova, who made Partner in the firm’s Sofia office, focuses on commercial and regulatory matters. Radlova has been with CMS since 2008, starting as a Junior Associate. She was promoted to Associate in 2010, Senior Associate in 2015, and Counsel in 2019. Before joining CMS, she spent almost four years with the Stoeva, Kuyumdjieva & Vitliemov law firm as an Associate.

Former Counsel Michal Andruszkiewicz, who made Partner in the CMS Poznan office, focuses on energy and projects. Andruszkiewicz has been with CMS since 2011, starting as an Associate. He was promoted to Senior Associate in 2016, before becoming Counsel in 2018. Before joining CMS, he spent almost three years with Wardynski & Partners.

Former Senior Counsel Cristina Popescu, who became a Partner in the firm’s Bucharest office, focuses on commercial and regulatory matters. Popescu first joined CMS in 2004, as an Associate, before leaving the firm three years later to join Eversheds, where she spent almost eight years. In 2015, Popescu rejoined CMS as a Senior Associate and was promoted to Senior Counsel in 2019.

Former Counsel Olga Shenk, who made Partner in the CMS Kyiv office, focuses her practice on litigation and arbitration. Shenk joined CMS in 2015, as a Senior Associate, and was promoted to Counsel in 2019. Before that, she spent over nine years with Baker McKenzie.

Vienna-based Gabriela Staber, a new Equity Partner, has been with CMS since 2013 when she joined as a Senior Associate. She was promoted to Partner in 2018. Staber’s practice focuses on life sciences and healthcare and intellectual property.

Andrea Potz, who also became an Equity Partner in CMS’s Vienna office, has been with the firm since 2010. Potz became a partner in 2019. Her practice focuses on employment law.

Linklaters and Borenius have announced they are closing their Russian offices in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, respectively, while the two London-based Partners of Russian firm Ivanyan and Partners have announced they are resigning from the firm and the office will be closed.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is reprehensible and it is right that we stand together in condemning it,” stated a Linklaters press release with the firm announcing it will wind down its operations in Russia and close its Moscow office, which was first opened in 1992. The firm noted it “will wind down existing work in accordance with our legal and professional obligations” and “will continue to assist international clients in dealing with the implications of the current crisis and in unwinding their Russian business interests.”

“We condemn Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and its people, and we are deeply shocked by the atrocities taking place in Ukraine,” a Borenius press statement announced, with the firm set to close its Saint Petersburg office, originally opened in 2013. “The war will have wide-reaching and long-term implications and, in the new reality caused by the aggressive actions Russia has undertaken in Ukraine, it is no longer possible for us to continue our operations in Saint Petersburg,” the firm added, while also noting: “While withdrawing from Russia, we will carefully take the needs of our clients and personnel into consideration.”

Russian firm Ivanyan and Partners is losing its London office with Managing Partner Baiju Vasani and Partner James Dingley announcing they are leaving the firm.

Former Senior Associate Mia Kalajdzic has been appointed Partner and Head of the Employment practice area group at CMS Croatia, while former Senior Associate Sasa Sodja was appointed Partner and Head of the Corporate and M&A practice at CMS Slovenia.

Specializing in employment law, Kalajdzic joined CMS in 2012 as an Associate and was promoted to Attorney-at-Law in 2015. She graduated from the University of Zagreb in 2012.

Sodja specializes in corporate, M&A, and tax law and has been with the firm since 2010, having first joined as a Tax Lawyer, and later moving to the Corporate and M&A practice in 2017. Prior to that, she was a Senior Tax Advisor at EY, between 2005 and 2010, and spent a year as Adviser with Slovenia’s Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities.

“With these promotions, we are acknowledging high motivation, exemplary know-how, team spirit, innovative mindsets, and a client-focused approach – the qualities CMS is looking for in their future leaders. Congratulations to [both] of them,” CMS Croatia and CMS Slovenia Managing Partner Gregor Famira commented.

“I see my promotion to the position of Partner as an honor and a responsibility, both towards our clients and my CMS team,” Kalajdzic said. “I very much look forward to my future path in the firm and am excited about the challenges ahead.”

“I see my appointment as a Partner not just as an honor but also as recognition that I have the trust both of my team as well as my superiors and the wider CMS network,” Sodja added. “I’m ready for the future: I expect to see changes in the way law firms operate and, having become a Partner, I am delighted that I will be able to play an even greater part in this.”

Nedeljko Velisavljevic, Head of CMS’ Dispute Resolution practice in Belgrade and Podgorica, has been promoted to CEE Partner.

Velisavljevic, a former Local Partner, has more than 20 years of legal experience in all areas of dispute resolution, according to CMS. His new role as a CEE Partner will see him expand his focus to “developing CMS business in the CEE region.”

Velisavljevic holds LLB and LLM degrees from the Faculty of Law of the University of Belgrade. Before joining CMS in 2004, he spent two years with Jankovic, Popovic & Mitic.

“My guiding principle was always to encourage the team to achieve success for each and every client,” Velisavljevic said. “Recognizing the true value in each of my team members and developing their unique skillset has always been my imperative. This is how we have built the basis for our remarkable accomplishments, both locally and regionally.”

“Nedeljko is an exceptional lawyer who embodies all the qualities promoted by CMS – client orientation, extensive know-how, strong motivation, a deep sense of responsibility, and unwavering loyalty,” CMS Belgrade, Podgorica, and Skopje Managing Partner Radivoje Petrikic added. “His leadership and mentorship style has been recognized as a genuine attribute and added considerable value to the team’s success.”

Sorainen has promoted nine new Partners in three different countries. Estonia’s Kaido Kunnapas and Katlin Krisak, Lithuania’s Simonas Skukauskas, Monika Malisauskaite-Vaupsiene, Evaldas Dudonis, Kazimieras Karpickis, and Indre Sceponiene, and Belarus’ Ann Laevskaya and Kirill Laptev have all joined the Sorainen partnership at the beginning of 2022.

According to Sorainen, Kunnapas “helps clients on a variety of topics relating to taxation, including taxes in M&A deals, designing employee incentive plans, tax structuring of investment funds, and cross-border employment taxes. Adapting novel business models, such as crypto businesses and digital economy operators, to the existing tax rules is an everyday task for him.” Kunnapas has been with Sorainen since 2017. Prior to that, he spent almost five years with the MAQS law firm.

According to the firm, Krisak, Head of the Finance & Insurance team in Estonia, specializes in capital markets and has also been involved in most of the team’s fintech and cryptocurrency-related projects. “Katlin has helped many clients to raise capital on the stock market, taking them through the process of drafting a prospectus and registering with the state authority, as well as advising on corporate governance, disclosure, and listing.” Before joining Sorainen in 2017, Krisak had spent over two years with SA Oigusteenuste Buroo and almost nine years with Eipre & Partners.

According to Sorainen, Skukauskas “is a versatile real estate lawyer with extensive experience of large-scale real estate transactions, and development and construction projects, as well as prominent real estate disputes. He is one of the few lawyers in Lithuania who specialize in the field of cultural heritage.” Skukauskas, a former Counsel, has been with Sorainen since 2016. Prior to that, he spent five years with Borenius.

Malisauskaite-Vaupsiene is, according to the firm, “among the leading competition law experts in Lithuania, heading the office’s Competition & Regulatory team. She also covers advertising and consumer-related questions, manages compliance projects, and participates in TMT and IP cases.” Malisauskaite-Vaupsiene, a former Counsel as well, has been with Sorainen since 2015. Before that, she spent almost four years with Borenius.

Dudonis is, according to Sorainen, “an experienced expert in corporate governance field and has successfully led the Sorainen firm-wide corporate workstream. With considerable experience in projects covering all three Baltic States, he advises local and international clients throughout businesses’ life cycles. He has advised a large number of foreign investors on launching or developing their business in Lithuania.” Dudonis has a master’s degree in Law from Vilnius University. Before joining Sorainen he spent over eight years with Magnusson.

Karpickis heads the Insolvency & Restructuring practice in Lithuania and, according to Sorainen, is known for his excellent skills in bankruptcy matters. “He has worked on many insolvency proceedings involving Lithuanian banks and credit unions. As a litigation professional with the firm’s Dispute Resolution team, [he] has represented clients’ interests in a wide range of disputes, including those resolved by the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Supreme Court of Lithuania.” Karpickis has been with Sorainen since 2018. Before that he spent three years with Leadell and four years with Balciunas & Grajauskas.

Sceponiene is, according to Sorainen, a “well-known tax advisor and an experienced negotiator. She boasts a track record of successfully defending client interests during tax administrator audits and of winning practice-changing cases. Her former position as a senior official at the tax authorities makes Indre the go-to person during tax audits and other control procedures.” Sceponiene has been with Sorainen since 2013. Before that, she spent two years with the Insurance Supervisory Commission of the Republic of Lithuania and over seven years with the State Tax Inspectorate.

Laevskaya is the co-head of Sorainen’s Finance & Insurance team in Belarus. According to the firm, she “assists clients with structuring and implementing financial transactions, preparing and negotiating security instruments, and advising on banking and financial services regulatory matters. She also leads legal teams during M&A projects, especially in the banking sector.” Laevskaya, a former Counsel, has been with Sorainen since 2008. Before that, she spent over a year with Arzinger.

Laptev is the head of the Competition & Regulatory team and head of Sorainen’s TMT group in Belarus. According to the firm, he “supports clients, especially from the IT, telecom, and media sectors, with the most complex matters that they face in their business. [He] has represented clients in arbitration cases at the world’s top arbitration institutions, such as ICC, SCC, VIAC, and LCIA.” Laptev has been with Sorainen for almost ten years, having joined as a Legal Assitant in 2012. 

“We carried out this record round of promotions for three main reasons,” Managing Partner Laimonas Skibarka said. “First, we see that clients and our own people expect more partner attention and we aim to be the market leader in terms of client satisfaction and staff engagement. Second, in recent years and largely thanks to our structured career development system, we have developed a strong group of new generation leaders. Third, we have achieved strong growth over the last two years and aim to accelerate it further in 2022 and beyond.”

“With this new energy, we aim to further strengthen our core practice and sector groups and client service,” Senior Partner Aku Sorainen added. “Without doubt, these promotions will also enable us to continue fulfilling our core purpose, which is to grow prosperity in the Baltic states and Belarus by helping clients succeed in business. I am especially glad that this group of new partners are all “home-grown” and that we have also been able to increase the proportion of female partners in the firm.”

White & Case has completed a new round of firm-wide promotions, appointing 28 Local Partners and 40 Counsels. Among these were new Local Partners Jakub Gubanski, Aleksandra Oziemska, Bartosz Smardzewski, and Pawel Zagorski in Warsaw, Gokce Uluc in Istanbul, and Marianna Galusova in Prague.

Former Associate Marianna Galusova, based in Prague, has become a Local Partner with White & Case’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice. According to the firm, “she advises international and Czech clients in the real estate and manufacturing sectors on real estate and collective investment law, including investors, developers, financial institutions, and state entities on corporate due diligence, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions.” Galusova holds a Master’s degree in Law from Charles University in Prague. She has been with White & Case since 2010.

Warsaw-based former Counsel Jakub Gubanski has also been named a Local Partner in the firm’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice. According to White & Case, “he advises clients in a variety of sectors on mergers and acquisitions and competition law, including the antimonopoly aspects of cross-border transactions and competition law in the EU and Poland, the acquisitions of public and private companies, privatizations, internal reorganizations, and the formation of joint ventures.” Gubanski has a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Warsaw. He’s been with White & Case since 2007.

Former Counsel Aleksandra Oziemska, based in Warsaw, has been promoted to a Local Partner in White & Case’s Global Commercial Litigation Practice. According to the firm, “she advises clients on corporate compliance matters, government and internal investigations, and criminal litigation, with experience in the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other anti-corruption laws, including creating and assessing compliance and training programs, as well as conducting anti-corruption due diligence and compliance in relation to mergers and acquisitions.” Oziemska had spent six years with CMS prior to joining White & Case in 2011.

Bartosz Smardzewski, a former Counsel, has been named a Local Partner in the firm’s Global Capital Markets Practice. According to White & Case, Smardzewski, based in Warsaw, “advises clients on corporate and capital markets transactions in Poland, including acquisitions of shares and enterprises, mergers, privatization schemes, public offerings, and bond issues.” Smardzewski holds a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Warsaw. Before joining White & Case in 2010, he spent over four years with Allen & Overy.

Former Associate Pawel Zagorski, based in Warsaw, has been named a Local Partner in the firm’s Global Debt Finance Practice. According to White & Case, “he advises clients on banking, capital markets, and financial restructuring and insolvency, including arrangers, issuers, and bondholders on establishing issuance programs, borrowers and lenders on financing transactions, and creditors and debtors on debt restructurings.” Zagorski has spent over a year with EY Law, a similar amount of time in-house with the Aegon Capital Group, and almost seven years with Clifford Chance, before joining White & Case in December 2020.

Former Senior Associate Gokce Uluc, based in Istanbul, has also been named a Local Partner in White & Case’s Global Debt Finance Practice. According to the firm, “she advises multinational corporations and financial institutions on investments and projects in Turkey in a variety of sectors, as well as Turkish sponsors and banks on a range of financings including project finance, acquisition finance, corporate finance, and asset finance.” Before joining White & Case in 2015, Uluc spent over nine years with Gide.

“With 68 lawyers across 29 offices and 12 global practices who represent a breadth of skills, experience, and backgrounds, these promotions are a demonstration that White & Case is a truly global and diverse law firm which invests in its people for the long term,” said White & Case Chair Hugh Verrier. “These lawyers are successful in their careers because they have exceptional ability, are dedicated to providing clients with the highest standards of service, and have a commitment to the continued success of our firm.”

Schoenherr has announced the appointments of Austria-based Miriam Simsa, Bulgaria-based Alexandra Doytchinova and Czech Republic-based Vladimir Cizek to Equity Partners. The firm also promoted Austria-based Dominik Hofmarcher and Slovakia-based Sona Hekelova to Partners.

The appointments are effective as of February 1, 2022.

Simsa specializes in insolvency, restructuring, banking, and finance. She joined the firm as an Associate in April 2008, starting her career in the M&A department. Later she was promoted to Attorney-at-Law and Partner in Schoenherr’s Vienna office in 2014 and 2017 respectively. According to a Schoenherr press release, “in Austria, Miriam regularly advises national and international financial institutions on all aspects in connection with distressed borrowers, including refinancings and loan sales. She also advises lenders and borrowers on finance and refinances transactions.”

Starting her career with Schoenherr Austria, Doytchinova later moved to Schoenherr’s Sofia office in 2004 and has been leading the firm’s Bulgarian operations ever since. Doytchinova focuses on corporate M&A. According to the firm, “her ability to work to international standards blended with a thorough local understanding of clients’ business and strategic, legal and commercial needs, was key to establishing Schoenherr’s leading position in Bulgaria.”

Cizek has been with Schoenherr for over eight years, having first joined the firm in 2013 as a Senior Associate and later promoted to Partner in 2015. Before that, he spent more than six years at Hogan Lovells. According to Schoenherr, he specializes in M&A transactions, corporate, banking & finance, capital markets, technology & digitalization, as well as white-collar crime & compliance.

Hekelova joined Schoenherr in 2012 as an Attorney-at-Law and was later promoted to Partner and to Managing Partner of the firm’s Bratislava office in 2014 and 2017, respectively. Hekelova specializes in M&A and finance transactions in Slovakia. According to the firm, “she has a strong track record in the energy, automotive, and financial sectors. Apart from many years of rich experience, she is known for her strong client-oriented approach and commitment to mandates.”

Hofmarcher has worked at Schoenherr for over nine years, first joining as an Associate in 2012 and later promoted to Attorney-at-Law in 2015. Since 2020, Hofmarcher has been a Counsel in Schoenherr’s Vienna office. “He specializes in IP and unfair commercial practices with a focus on copyright, trademarks, B2B competition, and trade secret,” according to the firm.

“Each one of these lawyers has over the years proven to have excellent entrepreneurial and legal skills leading to high local market recognition,” Schoenherr Managing Partner Michael Lagler commented. “It is a pleasure welcoming them in their new positions. I am sure that they will have a significant impact on the future development of our firm.”

“We have followed a clear strategy over the past years with the ultimate goal being to strengthen our firm from within by building upon a new generation of Schoenherr lawyers and lifting next-generation talent into our senior ranks,” Schoenherr Partner Alexander Popp added. “Looking at the skilled individuals who will be promoted in February, I see proof that this strategy is already paying off.”

Istanbul-based Derin Altan and Ates Turnaoglu, Warsaw-based Marek Sawicki, and Prague-based Jan Stejskal, together with Paris-based Russian lawyer Olga Fedosova, have been appointed Partner at White & Case, as part of its global promotion round.

Altan is part of the Global Capital Markets practice and has been with the firm since 2008, when he joined as an Associate. He had been a Local Partner since 2015.

Turnaoglu is part of the firm’s Global Debt Finance Practice. He has been with GKC Partners – the White & Case associated law firm in Turkey – since 2009, when he joined as an Associate. He became a Local Partner in 2019.

Part of the Global Mergers & Acquisitions practice, Sawicki has been with the firm since December 2017, as a Local Partner. He joined from DLA Piper where he was a Counsel. Prior to that, he was a Counsel with Clifford Chance and an Associate with Baker McKenzie.

Stejskal, part of the Global Mergers & Acquisitions practice, has been with the firm since 2011, having been promoted to Local Partner in 2018.

Part of the Global Capital Markets practice, Fedosova has been with the firm since 2019. Before that, she was a Managing Associate with Linklaters, a firm that she first joined as an Associate, in 2003.

Effective as of January 1, 2022, the five promotions are part of the 59-strong Partner promotion round.

Dispute resolution lawyer Cosmin Cojocaru has been promoted to Partner at Zamfirescu Racoti Vasile & Partners.

Cojocaru has been with the firm since 2010 when he joined as an Associate. In 2013, he was promoted to Senior Associate to later be appointed to Managing Associate in 2017. Before he joined ZRVP, Cojocaru has spent over five years as a Legal Advisor with the Romanian Authority for State Assets Recovery.

According to ZRVP, “Cojocaru will have an active role in expanding the mandate portfolio in construction disputes, being specialized in disputes entailing from works contracts, including construction projects (FIDIC), national and international commercial arbitrations.” According to the firm, he has, over the past ten years, been “contributing valuably to the consolidation of the litigation practice in constructions, both in front of common law courts and in front of arbitral tribunals.”

“My promotion to a partner stands for a natural confirmation of my activity with the law firm and of my level of experience, materialized in the results obtained,” said Cojocaru. “Certainly, such a position comes with a series of challenges generated by its related responsibilities, but, when one practices law with passion, such challenges do nothing else but naturally spice one’s professional evolution.”