The Legal 500

Clients praise CMS Cameron McKenna Dariusz Greszta Spólka Komandytowa’s ‘good value for money, team spirit and appropriateness of advice’. The team specialises in construction disputes, insurance litigation, arbitration, product liability and commercial litigation, as well as business criminal litigation and regulatory affairs. Highlights included advising a major global insurance company on various D&O insurance claims related to a EURO 2012 football stadium. Pawel Pietkiewicz is ‘a first choice lawyer for important litigation’.

Wardynski & Partners represented ArcelorMittal Poland in connection with a demand by Enion for payment of PLN12m and advised a consortium member in relation to alleged improper construction work concerning the Wroclaw stadium for the EURO 2012 football championships. Tomasz Wardynski, Pawel Ciecwierz, Jan Ciecwierz and Monika Hartung are recommended.

Led by Bartosz Kruzewski, Clifford Chance’s experience spans both arbitration and litigation at domestic and international levels. Typical cases have emanated from the oil and gas sector, post-merger and privatisation disputes, investment-related cases, telecommunications issues, and construction and shareholders’ disputes. The team also advises in white-collar cases and contentious matters related to directors’ liabilities. Recent highlights include representing the Government of Poland in a €700m-plus international arbitration instigated by Mercuria Group, marking the third-largest claim ever launched against Poland by an investor.

Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka represented the city of Wroclaw in multidimensional court proceedings connected to the construction of a football arena in Wroclaw and advised Cargill in an investment protection treaty case against the Republic of Poland. Jozef Palinka, Grzegorz Domanski and Pawel Lewandowski are key practitioners.

The ‘competent’ Salans successfully obtained a final refusal of recognition of an award issued by the Arbitration Tribunal in Vienna against Vivendi’s subsidiary, the case concerning Vivendi’s investment in Elektrim Telekomunikacja and Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa. ‘True litigator’ Wojciech Kozlowski is ‘very good at shaping defence strategies’. Piotr Nowaczyk is also recommended.

Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak’s litigation team is headed by Dariusz Skuza. The practice successfully represented the Polish government in international arbitration and frequently manages disputes regarding the protection of foreign investments.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges successfully represented J&S Energy in connection with an appeal regarding a PLN462m fine. PKP was advised on a Warsaw property lease dispute. Andrzej Miklas, Maciej Tomaszewski and Jaroslaw Kolkowski are recommended.

Baker & McKenzie Gruszczynski & Partners Attorneys at Law LP’s Marcin Aslanowicz has acted on several precedent-setting cases in Poland. Contract law and product liability expert Ewa Auleytner joined from Hogan Lovells (Warszawa) LLP.

Chadbourne & Parke LLP represents clients in damages claim proceedings, including litigations against the State Treasury in connection with unlawful decisions issued and proceedings applied by tax bodies. Highlights included representing a Polish trading company in an ad hoc arbitration in Vienna. Sylwester Pieckowski is ‘an excellent lawyer and skilled litigator’.

Dewey & LeBoeuf Grzesiak SP.K. recently welcomed senior associate, Antoni Libiszowski from Weil, Gotshal & Manges. The practice represented PKN Orlen in arbitration proceedings before the ICC Court of Arbitration against Yukos International UK in a high-profile warranty claim. Andrzej Wysokinski, Robert Lis and Maciej Zalewski are recommended.

Drzewiecki, Tomaszek & Wspólnicy Spólka Jawna is frequently rated by market observers. Andrzej Tomaszek represented TVP as a defendant in arbitration.

Offering ‘impressive response times’, FKA Furtek Komosa Aleksandrowicz is noted for banking and competition disputes. The practice advised Bank Millennium in headline toxic option claims and represented Kredyt Bank in arbitration and post-arbitration proceedings against Telekomunikacja Polska. Marek Furtek is President of the Court of Arbitration at the Polish Chamber of Commerce. Co-litigation head Anna Cudna-Wagner ‘understands clients’ needs perfectly’.

K&L Gates LLP’s ‘useful and effective’ dispute resolution practice is the former Hogan & Hartson Jamka sp.k. litigation team. Clients praise the ‘lawyers’ wide business knowledge and a strong arbitration team’. Representative work included advising the Gdansk operator of the seaport in a bet-the-company €20m arbitration at the Polish Chamber of Commerce against foreign tenants. Wojciech Wasowicz is noted for white-collar criminal proceedings and Maciej Jamka is ‘one of the most experienced, and best, lawyers for litigation and arbitration’.

At Kraków-based Kubas Kos Gaertner – Adwokaci spólka partnerska, Andrzej Kubas is recommended for high-profile arbitration.

‘Quality boutique’ Laszczuk & Partners is committed to promoting arbitration as a method of dispute resolution. The practice was co-counsel in representing a European conglomerate against the Polish Government in investment treaty arbitration proceedings related to a multibillion-euro telecommunications investment. Maciej Laszczuk and Justyna Szpara are recommended.

The ‘excellent’ Lesnodorski, Slusarek & Partners is ‘dedicated to its cases and is open-minded about finding solutions’. The practice acts in civil, commercial, administrative, IP disputes, labour law claims, tax cases and antimonopoly law. It also represents clients in proceedings before arbitration courts and industrial tribunals. Maciej Slusarek is ‘smart, quick and reliable’.

Linklaters has strengthened its focus on high-profile international arbitrations, in particular those involving bilateral investment treaties. The practice acted for the State Treasury in an international investment dispute with two companies from the Vivendi group. Managing associate Zbigniew Kruczkowski heads the team and Cezary Wisniewski is praised for his ‘strength in Polish commercial and civil cases, as well as bankruptcy law’.

Led by senior partner Tomasz Kwiecinski, WKB Wiercinski, Kwiecinski, Baehr successfully represented Reiffeisen Evolution Project Development in a property sale contract dispute. The team also represented Wroclaw Municipality in a procurement award procedural dispute concerning the construction of a EURO 2012 stadium.

White & Case – W. Danilowicz, W. Jurcewicz i Wspólnicy Kancelaria Prawna sp.K provides a full range of premium litigation, arbitration and mediation services in Poland. The team represented a client in potential proceedings against Polskie Radio with respect to the payment of remuneration for services.

Wierzbowski Eversheds represented Telekomunikacja Polska in successfully appealing against decisions of the national regulatory authorities imposing financial penalties on management board members for alleged company infringements. Henryk Romanczuk and Malgorzata Modzelewska de Raad are recommended.

Bird & Bird Maciej Gawronski sp.k advised the Kossakowscy family in its dispute with the state regarding the restitution of a property near Warsaw that was nationalised in 1944. Maciej Gawronski and Jacek Wedrowski are key contacts.

Brzezinska, Narolski, Marianski’s principal contact is Dorota Brzezinska-Grabarczyk. Recently, the practice has been busy with unfair competition, copyright and construction disputes. Highlights included successfully defending a case initiated by a bank against the shareholders of a company in relation to an invalid warranty.

Chajec, Don-Siemion & Zyto Legal Advisors’ litigation practice is headed by Krzysztof Zyto. In addition to general commercial litigation, Zyto is also recommended for insolvency work and white-collar crime matters. The practice covers a range of cases, from commercial issues to mobbing. It recently handled high-profile cases for PZU.

DLA Piper Wiater sp.k. was joined by Tomasz Rudyk, an expert in criminal and criminal-fiscal disputes, as well as white-collar crimes and dawn raids. Highlights included acting in shareholder disputes and fraud-related criminal proceedings. Krzysztof Kycia is ‘excellent when addressing the court’.

Gide Loyrette Nouel recently represented BRE Bank in a precedent-setting court dispute against the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection, who had brought proceedings to ban the provisions of a template loan agreement concerning variable interest rates.

Grynhoff Wozny Wspólnicy’s Grzegorz Antonowicz led the team successfully acting for Telewizja Polska in a case concerning the legality of the appointment of the Supervisory Board by the National Broadcasting Council. Krystian Szostak is department head.

Hogan Lovells (Warszawa) LLP’s dispute resolution practice is headed by Marek Wroniak. The team represented BRE Bank, together with its Paris office, in European insolvency proceedings.

Magnusson – Kancelaria Prawnicza is noted for construction and property-related disputes as well as competition cases. The team represented Pameni Polska in a case involving insolvency proceedings and the defence of a title to a shopping mall in Gdansk.