Mrs Izabela Kowalczuk-Pakuła > Bird & Bird Szepietowski i wspólnicy sp. k. > Warsaw, Poland > Lawyer Profile

Bird & Bird Szepietowski i wspólnicy sp. k.
ul. Marszałkowska 107
00-110 Warszawa
Poland

Work Department

Intellectual Property and Privacy & Data Protection

Position

Izabela Kowalczuk-Pakuła is a Partner and head of the Privacy & Data Protection practice and member of the Intellectual Property practice at Bird & Bird’s Warsaw office.

Career

She has been advising clients since 2007 from a wide range of sectors, including IT, food & beverages, spirits, media and financial services. Izabela’s extensive experience includes advising a broad range of private sector entities on privacy & data protection law, as well as professional secrecy. She advises on both the current personal data protection and privacy regulations, as well as the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In particular Izabela represents clients before the Inspector General for the Protection of Personal Data (GIODO), advises on a number of international data transfer issues, including Biding Corporate Rules aspects, assists clients with data protection, privacy and professional secrecy aspects of monitoring of employees, cloud computing, outsourcing, HR data processing, marketing, audits companies on compliance with the data protection rules and proposes remediation and risk mitigation actions and conducts trainings and workshops.She has particular expertise in consumer law issues affecting online providers and e-commerce. Izabela also specializes in IT law, trademark, design and unfair competition law, and gambling law, as well as civil, administrative and criminal proceedings regarding intellectual property. She is an arbitrator at the Permanent Arbitration Court for Consumers at the Office of Electronic Communication, and an expert of the Polish Chamber of Commerce. Izabela is recommended by Chambers Europe 2018, 2019, 2020 in data protection and by Legal500 EMEA 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 in TMT. She was recognised by the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers competition in the category of Intellectual Property. She was also ranked among “Rising Stars Lawyers – tomorrow’s leaders 2015”, by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, a top Polish business daily, and Wolters Kluwer Poland, and obtained the highest position among lawyers specialising in Intellectual Property and New Technology law. She co-authored a Legal Guide for E-business, published by Wolters Kluwer Polska (Warsaw, 2016).

Languages

Izabela is fluent in Polish and English.

Memberships

She is an arbitrator at the Permanent Arbitration Court for Consumers at the Office of Electronic Communication and an expert of the Polish Chamber of Commerce.

Lawyer Rankings

Poland > Data privacy and data protection

(Leading individuals)

Izabela Kowalczuk-PakułaBird & Bird Szepietowski i wspólnicy sp. k.

Bird & Bird Szepietowski i wspólnicy sp. k.’s privacy and data protection practice is praised as ‘one of the best on the Polish market’ and it handles the entire gamut of data-related matters, including both contentious and non-contentious mandates spanning Poland, the EU and further afield. Its offering also covers multi-jurisdictional strategic projects, data breaches, and proceedings before regulators, as well as support with data transfers, cookie compliance projects, and contract reviews. ‘Exceptional‘ dedicated data practitioner Izabela Kowalczuk-Pakuła sits at the helm of the department, and is ably supported by Marta Kwiatkowska-Cylke, who was recently promoted to counsel and has expertise in contract remediation. Of counsel Emilia Stępień is another name of note and frequently represents clients in proceedings before supervisory authorities.

Poland > TMT

Bird & Bird Szepietowski i wspólnicy sp. k. provides clients with a range of TMT-related advice, and its offering includes support with regulatory mandates in the media, gaming, gambling and e-commerce sectors, as well as assistance with new technologies, including fintech, cloud computing, AI and e-identification. Technology-based commercial mandates are also a key area for the group, and these often include contracts, tenders, and outsourcing. Media and entertainment expert Piotr Dynowski jointly leads the technology and communications group alongside IP specialist Paweł Lipski, and they are ably supported by head of the commercial practice Tomasz Zalewski, and Izabela Kowalczuk-Pakuła, who leads the privacy and data protection department.