The Legal 500

Work Department

Litigation and Arbitration; Insolvency.

Position

Ioana Hrisafi-Josan is partner at Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii and co-heads the firm's litigation and arbitration practice group, the largest department within the firm. She has successfully covered a wide range of commercial cases, including complex bankruptcy proceedings, competition law related litigations, labour disputes, contentious and administrative disputes, including tax disputes. She has also dealt with a variety of real estate litigation including claims on restitution of nationalized properties and expropriation. A former President Judge of a Bucharest district court, Ioana Hrisafi-Josan is a pleading lawyer before Romanian courts of all levels, including in front of the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Constitutional Court. In addition, she has been involved in complex domestic and international arbitration files. Ioana Hrisafi-Josan is a frequent lecturer at various local and international conferences and author of numerous articles in leading publications on litigation, restructuring and insolvency matters. Ioana is also an insolvency practitioner and associate in TZA Insolventa S.P.R.L., a specialized unit which manages liquidation and insolvency projects.

Career

In addition to her extensive expertise as a pleading lawyer, Ioana Hrisafi – Josan was also a judge, vice-president and president of the 5th District Court in Bucharest for seven years. Since January 2008, she is one of partners at Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii and co-heads the firm`s litigation and arbitration practice group. She has been directly involved in some of the most important projects taking place on the Romanian market, including the following ones: coordinator of the legal team assisting and representing Alstom group of companies in challenging public procurement procedures for the award of contracts exceeding EUR 65,000,000; coordinator of the legal team representing BRD – Groupe Societe Generale in various disputes with the Romanian Consumer Protection Authority for ascertaining the abusive nature of some of the clauses of the loan agreements concluded by the bank; successful assistance to Colgate – Palmolive Romania in the court proceedings during the first instance court and then during the appeal proceedings in front of the High Court of Cassation and Justice against the decision of the Competition Council which imposed a fine of EUR 3,000,000; successfully representing the OMV Petrom in a EUR 7,000,000 litigation arising from tax exemptions for exported products; coordinator of the legal team retained CEZ in connection with a set of court disputes arisen out of the interpretation and application of the collective bargain agreement concluded with the trade unions of the company; coordinator of the legal team retained by a Foserco services and related activities in a EUR 1,000,000 tax dispute, regarding the enforcement of a debt restructuring convention; representation thereto during both administrative and court proceedings; coordinator of the legal team retained by a major Romanian bank for the preparation of an internal legal audit on all the litigation cases in which the bank was involved at the moment.

Languages

English.

Member

Bucharest Bar Association; National Union of Insolvency Practitioners of Romania.

Education

University of Bucharest (LL.B., 1995); National Union of Insolvency Practitioners of Romania (Insolvency Practitioner).