Mr Horia Draghici > CMS > Bucharest, Romania > Lawyer Profile

CMS’ employment practice draws on the wider firm’s sector strengths in financial services, retail, energy and natural resources, and infrastructure, to support a range of multinational clients through both their contentious and non-contentious matters. Its capabilities include complex redundancy cases of senior management members, high-level employee disputes, and major restructurings. The team is co-headed by Horia Draghici and Cristina Popescu. Draghici, who also coordinates the commercial department, combines his commercial and employment expertise to handle commercial litigation for clients both in Romania and globally. Popescu provides ‘invaluable’ assistance to clients, across employment, data protection, anti-bribery and contract advice.

CMS‘ Bucharest office houses a team with an excellent reputation in restructuring and insolvency work. The group advises on matters across the CEE region, often handling financial restructurings, corporate insolvency issues, out-of-court restructurings, and insolvency proceedings. The practice is jointly led by the quartet of Ana Radnev and Cristina Reichmann, who are well versed in advising on pre-insolvency issues and non-performing loans; Horia Draghici, who focuses on insolvency disputes; and corporate restructuring expert Rodica Manea.

CMS‘ Bucharest office handles a steady workflow of disputes for major global companies drawn from a number of key Romanian industries. The team is well known for representing clients before all court levels in the jurisdiction, and is equally strong in handling arbitration. Practice head Horia Draghici focuses on commercial litigation and arbitration, tax and employment disputes. Cristina Popescu is well versed in regulatory matters. Anna Morogai and Andrei Cristescu are names to note.

CMS‘ criminal defence practice in Bucharest is led by May 2023 partner appointment Mihai Jiganie-Serban, who has had a rapid rise to become one of the standout practitioners in the field in Romania. He leads a team whose ‘inter-disciplinary cooperation with other departments enhances its capability‘, working closely with the CMS network in the region to support a prestigious client base of the range of cases under the white-collar crime umbrella. Coordinator of the wider dispute resolution practice, Horia Draghici is a key figure in criminal litigation too, and the practice was boosted by the return of Cosmin Cretu in June 2023, rejoining from Dentons.