Mr Rafał Stroiński > B2R Law Jankowski Stroinski Zieba > Warsaw, Poland > Lawyer Profile

B2R Law Jankowski Stroinski Zieba
Czerniakowska 87A
Warsaw
00-718 Warsaw
Poland

Work Department

Corporate & M&A | Private Equity | Corporate Advisory | Venture Capital | Equity & Debt Capital Markets | Capital Markets

Position

Senior Partner | Warsaw

Career

Rafał is an advocate registered with the District Bar Association in Warsaw and a US-qualified attorney admitted in the state of New York. He holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. in Law from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. He was also a Fulbright Commission and Polish Science Foundation Visiting Scholar at Stanford Law School. Rafał is one of the three founding and senior partners of B2RLaw. He has over twenty years of experience in the practice of law.

Prior to establishing B2R legacy firm JS Legal, for several years he was a partner at the Warsaw office of a leading international law firm where he set up and managed the capital markets practice and was one of the leaders of the private equity practice. Rafał has held positions on various Supervisory Boards (including Vice Chairman of PFRVentures, the largest Polish fund of funds (2016-2018)), and is a founding and board member of the Harvard Club of Poland.

Corporate & M&A | Private Equity | Corporate Advisory

Rafał is regarded as one of the leading M&A and private equity lawyers on the Polish market and is regularly highly ranked by local and international rankings.

Rafał has represented buyers, sellers, and target companies including major Polish, CEE and international private equity houses, investment funds, entrepreneurs, management and financial advisors and institutional investors. Transactions on which he has advised include M&A, joint-ventures, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts/buy-ins and privatizations, as well as the international expansion of Polish and other EU businesses into non-EU jurisdictions.

Rafał has been repeatedly listed in the major international legal ranking, “Chambers Europe”, as one of the leading and most efficient private equity lawyers in Poland.

Venture Capital

The Polish and wider CEE markets have seen a growth in venture capital transactions, and Rafał is one of few Polish lawyers that has been a catalyst of this growth. He is a pioneer in venture capital in Poland and the wider CEE, and is, in part, responsible for what is now a blossoming market. He acts as a director at the US-Polish Trade Council (USPTC), a California-based non-profit organisation that deals with strengthening trade and scientific relations between Poland and Silicon Valley.

Equity & Debt Capital Markets | Capital Markets

Rafał set up and managed the capital markets practice at one of the leading international law firms. His experience covers public and private offerings of financial instruments, and acquisitions of qualifying holdings in public companies.

Languages

Polish, English, Portuguese, Spanish

Memberships

– Member of the District Bar Association in Warsaw and the New York Bar. Director at the US-Polish Trade Council (USPTC),
– Member of the New Technologies Committee at the Polish National Chamber of Commerce and an advisor to the Polish Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, including the Corporate Governance Committee and the Innovations & SMEs Committee. Founding and board member of the Harvard Club of Poland.

Education

– Stanford Law School (Fulbright and Polish Science Foundation Visiting Scholar) (2006)
– Ph.D., Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw (2001)
– LL.M., Harvard Law School (1999) Master’s degree in Law (with honours)
– Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw (1996)
– Master’s degree in Iberian Studies, Institute of Iberian and Ibero-American Studies, University of Warsaw (1995)

Lawyer Rankings

Poland > Private equity

B2R Law Jankowski Stroinski Zieba is highly regarded for its expertise in venture capital mandates, and it frequently advises clients on technology-based transactions in Poland and across the wider CEE region. The group is highly adept at assisting major local and international private equity funds with their investments and divestments, in addition to advising on fund formations. Rafał Stroiński chairs the team with a broad client roster encompassing major Polish, CEE-based, and international private equity houses, investment funds, entrepreneurs, management and financial advisors, and institutional investors. Aleksandra Polak left for LSW Bieńkowski, Laskowski, Leśnodorski, Melzacki and Partners sp.k. in June 2023.

Poland > Commercial, corporate and M&A

B2R Law Jankowski Stroinski Zieba‘s corporate and M&A team is well versed in handling a range of transactions, including venture capital, private equity, and public-listed M&A mandates, which often involve cross-border elements. The firm is also skilled in advising clients on entering the Polish market. Rafał Stroiński spearheads the practice.