The Legal 500

Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii from Romania has received the highest score in the 2008 Financial Times’ rankings of Continental European law firms. The firm scored a total of 275 points and was ranked 3rd in the Continental European Firms featured in this year’s Financial Times Innovative Lawyers report.

On the 16th of October, the Financial Times launched its third edition of the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers report, in the presence of 400 lawyers and in-house counsels from law firms and leading companies across Europe.

For the second year running, Romania has been represented among the elite of the European legal industry, alongside well-known firms such as Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, DLA Piper, Linklaters, Freshfields, Eversheds etc. „In this year’s FT Innovative Lawyers report, Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii is the only eastern European firm to be recognised”, stated the journalists from the Financial Times.

The Romanian firm received a total of 275 points for all entries submitted, which marked the highest total report score for a continental law firm.

Based on the total weighted score, Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii ranked 3rd in the Continental European Firms table, after Garrigues (Spain) and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroeck (the Netherlands), founded in 1941, and 1871 respectively. A total of 17 law firms were ranked in the Continental European Firms table from countries such as Germany, Turkey, Denmark, Austria, France, Greece, Belgium, Poland, with scores ranging from 12 to 217 points, the highest being 275 points.

„A consistent performer in the report in the past two years has been Tuca Zbarcea of Romania. Founded only three years ago, the firm has innovated by local standards in every area of its operations”, remarked the journalists from the Financial Times.  

The Romanian law firm was recognised in various categories of the report, thus confirming its unequivocal commitment to apply robust and long-lasting principles of business conduct.

Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii was ranked in the following areas of the report:

• Highly Commended in the Legal Expertise category, for “its groundbreaking work in Romania’s first application of the European Union Electricity Directive”.  The firm advised CEZ company in relation to the implementation of the unbundling requirements, involving the separation of electricity supply and distribution activities with Electrica Oltenia –  the first unbundling project in the energy field successfully implemented before the deadline imposed by the European Commission;

• Commended in the Billing and Fees category, for the implementation of an original risk-sharing method in international arbitration;

• Commended in the Marketing and Public Relations category, in relation to the www.bizylawyer.ro media project;

• Commended in the Responsible Business category, for the firm’s pro bono contribution to the implementation of the first free legal assistance programme for Romanian nationals living in Italy.

Furthermore, in the Environment category, Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii „can claim to be ahead of some established City of London firms on climate change”, commented the Financial Times journalists.

For the first time, a Romanian attorney was nominated for the Legal Innovator of the Year award. Florentin Tuca, Managing Partner at Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii faced serious competition from 30 other candidates. The list was whittled down to 10 nominees of various law firms, such as: Eversheds, Allen & Overy, Slaughter and May, Simmons & Simmons, SJ Berwin, Field Fisher Waterhouse etc.

Commenting on the nomination, Florentin Tuca, Managing Partner at Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii stated: „It has been an incredibly overwhelming night. I was honored to be shortlisted alongside the partners of some of the most powerful law firms in Europe. Our achievement tonight would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our team of lawyers and office staff and I am very proud to see that the merits of these exceptional people have been recognised by the most prestigious financial publication in the world.”

For more information, please visit www.tuca.ro