PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. > Warsaw, Poland > Firm Profile

PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. Offices

PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k.
POLNA 11
00-633 WARSAW
Poland
Visit website 48 22 746 4000

PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. > The Legal 500 Rankings

Poland > Commercial, corporate and M&A Tier 3

PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. frequently assists domestic, foreign, and multinational corporations, as well as Polish state-owned companies, with cross-border M&A transactions, corporate projects, and reorganisations. Sectors of note for the group are broad ranging and encompass the automotive, construction, financial services, healthcare, and energy industries, among others. The practice is led by managing partner Cezary Żelaźnicki, who is capably assisted by deputy heads Beata Kiedrowicz and Wojciech Trzciński.

Practice head(s):

Cezary Żelaźnicki; Beata Kiedrowicz; Wojciech Trzciński

Other key lawyers:

Artur Gątowski; Mariusz Kamiński; Robert Choromański; Jacek Pawłowski

Key clients

Unilab LP

AC Marca Group

General Electric Group

Grupa Żywiec S.A.

VarrocCorp Holding B.V.

Drosed Holding S.A.

Blumenbecker Engineering Polska sp. z o.o.

Sennheiser Global Operations GmbH

Work highlights

  • Advised Medvic S.A.R.L., a member of Unilab Group, on the acquisition of a 75% stake in Health Labs Care S.A., a major distributor of dietary supplements, cosmetics and special-purpose food on the Polish market.
  • Assisted a company from AC Marca Group with the acquisition of the dermo-cosmetic business of Pharmena S.A., which includes such brands as Dermena, Novaja, and Thermi.
  • Advising General Electric Group on its day-to-day operations.

Poland > Dispute resolution Tier 3

Sectors of activity for the commercial and regulatory litigation team at PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. include telecoms, construction, infrastructure and real estate, as well as energy, transport, agriculture, and banking, to name a few. Stanisław Żemojtel sits at the helm of the department with expertise in representing clients in court, administrative, and arbitration proceedings. Artur Gątowski acts for clients in both civil and commercial disputes. Since publication, Kamil Kozlowski has joined from Rymarz Zdort Maruta as head of regulatory and administrative disputes.

Practice head(s):

Stanisław Żemojtel

Other key lawyers:

Maria Strojna; Sebastian Wieczorek; Artur Gątowski; Kamil Kozlowski

Key clients

ORLEN Projekt S.A.

Impel Facility Services s|p. z o.o.

Federacja Przedsiębiorców Polskich

Wechta Inwestycje sp. z o.o.

Trakcja S.A.

ORLEN S.A.

Rabot Dutilleul Construction SAS

Feel Free Investments sp. z o.o.

Bezgluten sp. z o.o.

Work highlights

  • Representing ORLEN Projekt S.A. in five civil court proceedings regarding a construction agreement for a petrochemical installation with a total value of approximately PLN216.5m.
  • Representing Impel Facility Services Sp. z o.o. and Federacja Przedsiębiorców Polskich in a dispute concerning a remuneration increase due to extraordinary changes of circumstance.
  • Representing Wechta Inwestycje Sp. z o.o. in six court proceedings related to investment agreements concluded by its legal predecessor.

Poland > Investment funds Tier 3

The investment funds group at PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. frequently supports investors, investment funds, and investment fund managers from within the firm’s corporate restructurings and M&A department. It is adept at providing corporate and regulatory support, as well as representation before the KNF. Its offering also encompasses advisory work on the establishment of funds regarding real estate assets. Wojciech Trzciński leads the practice with significant experience in corporate and transactional mandates.

Practice head(s):

Wojciech Trzciński

Other key lawyers:

Filip Brach

Key clients

Skanska TFI S.A.

Work highlights

  • Advising Skanska TFI on legal, regulatory, and compliance matters with regard to daily operational activities.

Poland > Private client Tier 3

The private client team at PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. is adept at supporting Polish family businesses with their succession planning, leveraging the assistance of the firm’s strong tax department, and thus offering a ‘one-stop-shop approach’. Establishing family foundations is also an area of increased activity for the group. Jacek Pawłowski and Wojciech Trzciński jointly chair the practice, and they are well supported by counsel Katarzyna Karpiuk, who is praised as an ‘exceptional practitioner who is personally involved in the clients’ issues’.

Practice head(s):

Jacek Pawłowski; Wojciech Trzciński

Other key lawyers:

Katarzyna Karpiuk

Testimonials

‘PwC Legal showed distinctive competitive advantage by their one-stop-shop approach. They have unique capabilities as a professional services firm;PwC Legal, together with tax experts from PwC member firms, offer us a blend of end-to-end assistance, looking at all crucial aspects of projects.’

‘The private client team of PwC Legal specialise in succession planning, corporate reorganisations, commercial law, civil law, investment funds, succession planning, estate planning, corporate reorganisations, and civil law.’

‘They understand that succession is a multi-staged and complicated process that carries a heavy emotional load for its participants. Thanks to their holistic approach, PwC Legal is involved in projects requiring both legal and tax assistance.’

‘We highly value PwC Legal practitioners Jacek Pawłowski and Wojciech Trzciński and Counsel Katarzyna Karpiuk. Jacek Pawłowski connects in-depth legal knowledge with an understanding of business needs. Wojciech Trzciński has valuable current experience in the investment funds area. Katarzyna Karpiuk is an exceptional practitioner who is personally involved in the clients’ issues.’

‘They provided legal services, including, among others, succession advice to me and my wife as the founders with a view to handing over the business to the next generation, legal workshops concerning family succession, and legal assistance in setting up the Polish family foundation. The recommended solutions were customised in order to reflect the unique situation of our family.’

‘PwC Legal lawyers deliver a combination of solid legal knowledge and understanding of business needs. In particular, Katarzyna Karpiuk is a really good legal advisor. She understands clients’ problems and knows how to solve them.’

‘Highly responsive, attentive to details and listens carefully to the client’s needs and concerns.’

‘Very good cooperation, very professional people!’

Poland > White-collar crime Tier 3

At PwC Legal Żelaźnicki sp.k., the white-collar crime practice is well versed in representing its clients in penal, as well as penal-fiscal proceedings. The team’s broad range of expertise spans several sectors, including private equity, retail, pharmaceuticals, banking, real estate and media. The team is led by Michał Rams, who is a key contact for his expertise in penal-fiscal proceedings. Marcin Świderski and Joanna Waśko are also recommended.

Practice head(s):

Michał Rams

Other key lawyers:

Joanna Waśko; Marcin Świderski; Maria Staron

Testimonials

‘The team acted very professionally, with a great service attitude, always responding proactively.’

‘Marcin Świderski – always tries to find good solutions, looks beyond the obvious.’

‘Best in class, value for money service, the team makes itself available whenever required, provides swift responses, gives very practical recomendations.’

Key clients

Likus Family

Abbvie sp. z o.o.

Razom Inc.

AON Polska sp. z o.o.

Velux Polska sp. z o.o.

HUPAC S.A.

Luxoft Poland sp. z o.o.

Graal S.A.

Monting Invest sp. z o.o.

GE Power sp. z o.o.

Work highlights

  • Advised a client on a comprehensive compliance assessment of its operations in Poland and developed a legal risk matrix aimed at ensuring proper risk management of local operations.
  • Assisted a client with the implementation of internal policies and procedures aimed at improving processes related to tax settlements.

Poland > Banking and finance Tier 4

The banking and finance group at PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. has notable expertise in regulatory mandates, especially regarding the implementation of EU law, and ESG and AML-related matters. The team frequently provides Polish banks and international financial institutions with advice on their operations in Poland. Aleksandra Bańkowska sits at the helm of the practice, and her workload encompasses assistance with establishing banks, transforming banks into branches of credit institutions, M&A transactions involving banks, and proceedings before the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.

Practice head(s):

Aleksandra Bańkowska

Other key lawyers:

Łukasz Łyczko; Konrad Frąckowiak

Key clients

Bank BPH S.A.

Nest Bank S.A.

FinTech Poland Foundation

Związek Banków Polskich

Izba Zarządzających Funduszami i Aktywami

Ministerstwo Rozwoju i Technologii

Work highlights

  • Representing Bank BPH S.A. in a process of mass negotiation of settlements with clients holding foreign currency loans.
  • Advised Nest Bank S.A. on the regulatory part of the implementation of its cloud computing technology.
  • Advising Polish Banking Association on the implementation of various regulations.

Poland > Data privacy and data protection Tier 4

The group at PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. handles data transfers, data breaches, and GDPR matters for a range of clients across the financial, pharmaceutical, energy, and technology industries. Counsel Paulina Komorowska-Mrozik heads up the team and she has expertise in personal data protection, and regularly represents clients in proceedings before the Polish Data Protection Authority.

Practice head(s):

Paulina Komorowska-Mrozik

Other key lawyers:

Mateusz Fittkau

Key clients

PKN Orlen S.A.

Benefit Systems S.A.

Booksy International sp. z o.o.

Link Group

Unilab LP

Merck KgaA

Fundacja Drzewo i Jutro

Sennheiser Global Services sp. z o.o.

Leoni Kabel sp. z o.o.

Work highlights

  • Assisted Unilab LP with a comprehensive due diligence review.
  • Advising Link Group on ongoing personal data protection matters.

Poland > Employment

Led by Bartlomiej Wlodarski, the employment practice at PwC Legal Żelaźnicki sp.k. assists clients with the structuring and implementation of complex reorganisations.  

Poland > Healthcare and life sciences

Since the arrival of dedicated specialists Maciej Huzior, Kamil Rzeczkowski and Anna Wilkowska from Czyzewscy Kancelaria Adwokacka, the healthcare and life sciences capabilities at PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. have been expanding rapidly.

PwC Legal Zelaznicki sp.k. > Firm Profile

PwC Legal Poland offers comprehensive support in areas of law relevant to the business.

Mergers and acquisitions, group reorganizations, contracting, employer-employee relationships, functioning in a competitive market, real estate and asset management, disputes resolution, financial services – all these aspects of business activities call for expertise in legal matters. Our lawyers are experts who combine their legal knowledge with their experience of its application in business.

Cooperation with PwC consultants from other lines of service (tax advisory, business advisory, cybersecurity, audit) enables us to offer comprehensive services to businesses, including legal matters.

We combine our legal knowledge with a broad business acumen, taking into account the specific characteristics of our clients’ industries. All under the name of PwC – a well-recognized global firm which provides comprehensive professional services.

We are a community of solvers combining human ingenuity, experience and technological innovation to deliver sustained outcomes and build trust.

PwC legal practices
Corporate law: Corporate advisory comprises full legal support related to business activities in Poland. Pursuing a long-term business strategy, taking into account current legal aspects, is the basis for the effective operation of modern enterprises.  The market environment and legal regime undergo dynamic changes. At each stage of business operations, the support of a legal advisor who has the appropriate knowledge, experience and business approach to assist clients and their needs, is very important.

Merger and acquisition legal services: Merger and acquisition transactions are multi-stage, sophisticated projects which require comprehensive support of professional legal advisors. The role of a legal advisor is to ensure the legal safety of transactions by analysing the legal situation of the target entity and preparing the necessary transaction documentation. It requires an appropriate level of legal knowledge, experience, and understanding of the client’s business needs.

Labour law: The labour law is a part of business operations. Knowledge of the applicable provisions and proposed changes is important for effective management. Our lawyers have extensive experience in advising corporate clients on labour law.

Finance and banking legal advisory: Under our financial and banking practice, we provide advice on legal issues connected with the activities of financial institutions, including banks, insurers, investment companies and investment funds. We offer financial advice in respect of acquisition finance, project finance, financing real estates, debt financing, as well as advice related to seeking capital through the Securities Exchange, through both IPOs and SPOs.

Bankruptcy and restructuring:  Loss of liquidity is a risk inherent to any business activity, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Sometimes it is only temporary in nature, but in many cases it requires specific corrective measures and initiating restructuring or even bankruptcy proceedings. When liquidity is lost or threatened, it is particularly important from the perspective of the company and its managers: first of all, to correctly diagnose the current situation of the company and its forecast for the future; to choose the most appropriate way to get the company out of a state of insolvency or threat of insolvency or to terminate its activity; to prepare the company and its managers for the chosen scenario properly; to duly perform the whole process.

Litigation : Nowadays employing a good lawyer is not sufficient to win in litigation. The specificity of contemporary business and regulatory litigation requires something more. Without the professional support of the best industry specialists – who know the market, the products and services, accounting, valuation and financial experts, business investigation professionals – and without using state-of-the-art IT technologies, the chances of winning a dispute are slim. PwC is a one-stop-shop. We do not have to look for outstanding experts – they are already here. We do not have to implement innovative technologies or systems – they are already in place and functioning.

White-collar crime:  So-called white-collar crime, or economic crime, is an issue that generates many questions and challenges. As a result of the growing number of proceedings in the area of white-collar crime, corruption cases, actions to the detriment of the company, abuses and financial frauds, we have established the Commercial Criminal Law Department, specialized in advising and representing clients of PwC Legal in the field of broadly understood criminal and fiscal proceedings.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) : The General Data Protection Regulation is binding and directly applicable to all entities processing personal data. Therefore, new rules have to be adopted by all businesses processing personal data in the European Union. The regulation replaced the Polish Personal Data Protection Act.  Now, entrepreneurs must care for the ongoing compliance with the regulation, as it is a continuous process, not a one-off task.

Intellectual property: Legal advisory in respect of the protection of copyrights, related rights, trademarks, industrial designs, patents, know-how and trade secrets. Issues relating to intellectual property comprise various business sectors. We take up matters relating to architectural projects, the contents of webpages, computer software for using avatars, graphic elements of trademarks, or the shape of packaging. We also negotiate non-standard agreements, such as stadium sponsoring, providing voices or images for computer games, or the use of a car for promoting computer games. We also analyse the manner and scope of acquiring rights to intellectual property developed by start-ups, created under co-financing with EU funds, or created as part of an academic consortium.

Competition law: Practical application of competition law issues in conducting business activities and risk management. The activities of anti-monopoly authorities are increasing, both at EU level and in individual Member States. The precise and effective application of competition law is becoming of key importance for the effective management of business risk. Competition law requires not only excellent knowledge of the regulations, court judgments and practices of anti-monopoly authorities, but above all the ability to implement such issues in business operations.

New Law:  As businesses evolve and with increasing globalization the traditional model of legal advice does not match the business needs of stakeholders. Our New Law practice is a response to the dynamically changing needs of our clients. The way you use legal services is rapidly changing. Operating in a globalised world and across many legal and regulatory regimes means that your in-house legal or compliance teams face increased pressure from lawmakers and regulators. Together with the  dynamic tech landscape and increasing volumes of data, your workforce can easily get tied up in high volumes of reactive work. Freeing up resources gives you more time to focus on strategic planning, adding value to your practice and proactively looking to the future. At PwC Legal we anticipate your needs and are ready to help you adjust to these challenges through the five pillars of our New Law offering.

Legal CoE (Centre of Excellence) – the engine of our New Law services . CoE offers an innovative service delivery model taking over legal functions (e.g. contract portfolio management) and supporting clients in global reorganizations or multi-jurisdictional coordination of claims recovery processes. The Legal CoE operating model is based on a unique combination of an organizational structure typical of a shared services center with extensive use of modern Legal Tech solutions. This model enables the implementation of global projects in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner, granting. Legal CoE lawyers the opportunity to participate in global projects from across the PwC network on a scale unprecedented on the domestic market. The unique experience gained during such engagements enables the provision of services to Polish clients using the latest technologies and taking into account global trends.

Main Contacts

Department Name Email Telephone
Cezary Żelaźnicki cezary.zelaznicki@pwc.com +48 519 507 081
Aleksandra Bańkowska aleksandra.bankowska@pwc.com +48 519 50 7324

Lawyer Profiles

Photo Name Position Profile
Aleksandra Bańkowska photo Aleksandra Bańkowska PwC Legal Poland Partner, advocate View Profile
Artur Gątowski photo Artur Gątowski Partner at PwC Legal Poland, Attorney-at-Law View Profile
Beata Kiedrowicz photo Beata Kiedrowicz Partner at PwC Legal Poland, Attorney-at-Law View Profile
Małgorzata Mroczkowska-Horne photo Małgorzata Mroczkowska-Horne Partner at PwC Legal Poland, Attorney-at-Law View Profile
Jean Rossi photo Jean Rossi PwC Legal Poland Partner View Profile
Wojciech Trzciński photo Wojciech Trzciński PwC Legal Poland Partner, Attorney-at-Law View Profile

Languages

Polish
English

Diversity


PwC Legal offers comprehensive support in the areas of law relevant to the business

Mergers and acquisitions, contracts and commercial activities, employer-employee relationships, real estates, financial services, inventions and creations, disputes as well as operations on a competitive market – all these aspects of business activities call for expertise in legal matters.

We are a fully-fledged law firm covering the following areas:

  • Corporate and commercial law
  • M&A
  • Banking and Finance
  • Capital markets
  • Real estates
  • Labour law
  • Intellectual property, technology and communications
  • Data protection
  • New Law
  • Antitrust and Competition
  • Regulatory & Compliance
  • Public procurement
  • Dispute resolution and litigation
  • Restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy

PwC Legal Poland’s lawyers address all of the above fields of law, combining in-depth legal knowledge with hands-on business experience providing assistance to clients from various industries. Our culture promotes innovation and fast-moving, tireless dedication to our clients, resulting in practical, business-focused legal services.

As a member of PwC global network, in a number of our projects we work as a multidisciplinary team composed of lawyers, tax advisors and business advisors providing our clients with the strategic legal services integrated into tax and business advisory (“one-stop shop approach”). Close cooperation with other PwC teams enables us to offer a wide range of services to businesses – both large corporations and domestic family enterprises.

In response to market transformation, global digitalization as well as increasing regulatory and compliance pressure PwC Legal Poland established PwC Legal Centre of Excellence (Legal CoE) – its innovative division structured to use new LegalTech technologies (automation, Artificial Intelligence, contract management tools, forensic tools, self-learning algorithms) to effectively service large volume of legal work. Legal CoE has been successfully involved in number of managed legal services projects.

 

MAIN CONTACTS

Cezary Żelaźnicki cezary.zelaznicki@pwc.com

 

LANGUAGES

  • Polish English
  • German
  • French

MARKET EDUCATION AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

PwC Legal Poland initiates and actively participates in educational projects, such as:

      • FinTech studies offered by the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Management. Second edition of the studies commenced for the academic year 2019/2020 with PwC Legal Poland as a key partner;
      • Legal MBA, which is an innovative training program enabling attendees to develop the skills necessary to adapt to the changing legal and business environment. The program is run together with the Polish Association of Corporate Lawyers (PSPP) and the newspaper ‘Rzeczpospolita’ daily, fifth edition has been launched in 2021;
      • LegalTech initiatives, including in particular supporting technology start-ups operating in the area of law (including support to PwC Start-up Collider – a B2B quick scaleup program helping innovative entrepreneurs succeed), educating the market through launching and publication of a report on new technologies and legal market transformation as well as being a strategic partner of two of the Polish editions of the Global Legal Hackathon programming marathon, which aims to develop technological tools for lawyers.

During the COVID-19 pandemia period, PwC Legal Poland launched a free-of-charge helpline for entrepreneurs operating 24/7 to address questions about the legal and tax consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak as well as, together with Business Insider (Polish edition), has been addressing questions from companies and employees regarding functioning during a coronavirus threat as part of the #BIZNESvsCOVID initiative.

PwC Legal Poland has been also focusing on Diversity & Inclusion matters taking care of the organizational culture and diversity management within the law firm – and PwC network. Firm’s mission is to allow its employees and contractors to fully enable their potential through embracing the diversity – for the benefit of PwC Legal Poland and its clients. Promoting diversity aims to strengthen individuals’ trust towards the organization, but also mutual trust between its particular members.

With the new year, the managing partner of PwC Legal Cezary Żelaźnicki took over the new role as Inclusion and Diversity Leader for PwC Central & Eastern Europe. Growing diversity in our societies is a reality that companies around the globe will be engaging with in the coming decades. At PwC we treat diversity & inclusion as a concrete business goal. It’s important to understand that every country and region can get to this goal in a different way.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/joining-conversation-cezary-%25C5%25BCela%25C5%25BAnicki/?trackingId=pGb%2Br9pFGyUkNWCAiQOvcQ%3D%3D

PwC Legal Declaration of diversity

Today’s world is subject to constant changes – primarily due to the ongoing globalization and development of technology. Such evolution brings new chances and opportunities, but also the challenges and difficulties, that our organization is facing.

What is Diversity for us?

Diversity is the understanding that each of us represents unrepeatable set of innate and acquired features, which make us unique. It is respect for features and experiences, that are different from our own. It is building bridges of understanding among people, based on the differences between them. In this way, we can fight with discrimination in PwC Legal together, and strive to achieve common goals.

Why do we talk about Diversity?

Diversity of the community means, that together we can achieve more. However, we need to find answers to the questions, that bother us, about how to implement the principles of gender equality, age, race, religion and other factors, that make us differ from each other. That’s why we need Diversity Management – by taking action to promote greater inclusion of our people from different backgrounds into the organization structure. Thanks to Diversity, we want to do everything, what we can, to enable our people to fully use their potential – for the welfare of PwC Legal and our clients. Promoting Diversity, we hope to strengthen trust in our local community – to the organization, but above all – to trust people in each other.

How do we care for Diversity?

Bearing in mind the above, PwC Legal undertakes to take care of the atmosphere and organizational culture and manage diversity within the organization, in particular through:

  • increasing our people’s awareness of diversity and its level within PwC Poland structures;
  • support for future parents and people bringing up children;
  • promoting the voice of women in the organization and consideration of female perspective on matters relevant to the organization;
  • enabling employees to actively participate in the life and activities of the organization regardless of their position;
  • considerate the position of minorities in the organization – in particular in terms of age, nationality and culture, religion, sexual orientation and disability;
  • equal treatment of individual social groups;