Ms Dorothy Hansberry-Biegunska > Hansberry Tomkiel > Warsaw, Poland > Lawyer Profile

Hansberry Tomkiel
UL. CEGLOWSKA 14
M.1
01-803 WARSAW
Poland

Position

Partner

Career

Ms. Hansberry-Bieguńska began her legal career with the Antitrust Division of the U. S. Department of Justice, where she worked from October 1980 to May 1996. As a senior trial attorney for the Division, she investigated and prosecuted violations of the US antitrust laws. Ms. Hansberry-Bieguńska represented the Department of Justice in numerous trials, both civil and criminal, in federal courts throughout the US. She led litigation teams of lawyers, investigators, economists and industry experts.

On behalf of the US Department of Justice Ms. Hansberry-Bieguńska advised and lectured on competition law and investigative techniques to government agencies and competition authorities in Central and Eastern Europe.

After moving to Poland, Ms. Hansberry-Bieguńska worked for a number of years as the general counsel and vice president of UPC Polska, a leading national media company. She went on to acquire invaluable management experience as the chief operating officer of Canal Plus, a DTH and program provider in Poland.

Her list of clients over the years has included a wide range of European, US and Chinese-based corporations and associations. In addition, she has forged strong and seamless working relationships with many international and national law firms as clients or cooperating partners.

She has contributed her experience in litigation and damage assessment to the Firm’s recent private enforcement cases. Hansberry Tomkiel worked closely with the General Counsel to the Republic of Poland, who in December 2019, filed a damage claim on behalf of the largest Polish mining company, which is state owned. The claim sought damages resulting from bid-rigging among suppliers of the company.  Hansberry Tomkiel worked closely with competition economists and the client in assessing and calculating the extent of damages incurred. Beginning in July 2020, Ms. Hansberry-Bieguńska has overlooked the Firm’s defense of Mastercard in a private damage action concerning an alleged overcharge of interchange fees in Poland.

Ms. Hansberry-Bieguńska has been widely recognized internationally and nationally as a leading practitioner in her field by Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers, Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, PLC Which Lawyer, and in two editions of Global Competition Review’s “Women in Antitrust.”

Ms. Hansberry-Bieguńska, who is also Irish and Polish, is a prior Chairman of the Irish Polish Chamber of Commerce.

In May 2019, the then US Ambassador appointed Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska to join the Board of Directors of the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission. In May 2022, the current US Ambassador, Mark Francis Brzezinski, renewed Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska’s term for an additional three years.

 

Languages

English and Polish

Memberships

District of Columbia Bar, Advocates Bar Warsaw (foreign lawyer), Fulbright Scholarship Board in Warsaw,  Board Member of the Irish Polish Chamber of Commerce

Lawyer Rankings

Poland > Competition/antitrust

(Hall of Fame)

Dorothy Hansberry-BieguńskaHansberry Tomkiel

Hansberry Tomkiel ‘is a boutique law firm with a focus on antitrust and competition law‘, and with some of its members’ previous experiences working in competition authorities, it is well placed to support clients with a wide range of mandates. The group is especially adept at litigating competition cases, and its offering includes representation in cases involving cartels, illegal horizontal and vertical agreements, and abuse of dominant positions. Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel, who ‘has unique experience and knowledge’, and the ‘dedicated’ Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska jointly lead the practice.