About

What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years?

I have been involved in the investment process regarding “Młyn Maria” – a development located in the heart of Wroclaw, on the Oder River Island of Młynska and Piasek. The location of the buildings on the shore of two islands gives the development a unique character. The complex is bound together by connecting elements above the water level. The complicated location creates many legal intriguing issues.

The spaces in Młyn Maria will be tailored to customers needs, thus the interiors will be equipped with hi–tech devices what also demands an open minded approach to the legal issues relating to the new technologies.

As head of legal I was supervising, from the legal perspective, all stages of the investment process such as an agreements with construction companies, architects, authorities managing the Oder River, also the agreements with the buyers of the premises. I was conducting administrative proceedings relating to building permit, perpetual usufruct fees, water law permits, change of use of buildings.

The specific structure (historical heritage of the buildings) of the investment also required a new creative approach to the issue of financing the investment by the bank, including the appropriate adaptation of the content of the loan agreement (LMA standard) to this specific investment of Młyn Maria.

How important have “soft skills” or personal attributes outside of technical legal skill been to the team’s success, and which “soft skills” do you feel are most important for an in-house lawyer to possess?

Soft skills play a key role in managing a team of lawyers. From my perspective and gained experience the most important is the ability to motivate members of the team and the proper delegation of tasks according to the skills possessed by lawyers.

Appropriate communication skills between team members is also invaluable because it helps to save a lot of time and increases the efficiency of works. This is basic duty of head of legal to provide an appropriate communication between the lawyers involve in the same project. It is very important to organise cyclical team meetings where the members can discuss together all complicated issues related to the project.

What are the main qualities you look for in a potential new hire?

During the recruitment process, first of all, I pay attention to experience in real estate. It is caused by the necessity of conducting difficult cases with complicated investment processes which our company deals with. Creativity and the desire to constantly development and ability to gain the technical knowledge are also very important and helps to understand the needs of investors in the investment process.

In every year each lawyer is obliged to fill and discuss with head of legal an appraisal in order to determine the goals which were completed or uncompleted and goals to be achieved in the next year.

What advice would you give to any peers or colleagues working in the Polish market for the first time?

I am in the opinion that nowadays, when we have a very complicated and extensive legal system in Europe, it is important to emphasise legal specialisation. After completing general practice, a young lawyer should direct his further development to a specific field of law.

I would recommend to young colleagues to start their first job in a law firm because it allows young lawyers to learn about many areas of law, because there is a possibility to work in various specialised departments. International firms are recommended since they gives to the young employees possibility to work in international environment and in various jurisdictions.

What can law firms in Poland, and the wider CEE region, do to win more business from you?

Very often law firms are hired due to trainings that they organise and are able to interest in difficult topics from the real estate industry that interests us.

I believe that an important way to build a strong relationship between a law firm and a development companies is also to keep together in permanent touch, even by sending newsletters that contain important news relating to the real estate legal environment.

FOCUS ON… THE REAL ESTATE MARKET

The legal environment of the real estate market is changing very dynamically. Many new regulations are emerging. Such changes pose a challenge for in house lawyers in this industry but are also the basis for continuous skill development and personal development. It gives great satisfaction, however also creates a many risks for lawyers because the regulations are adopting by the authorities very fast and they are a low legislation quality (risk of different interpretation of the law).

It should be noted that many new regulations were adopted in the Polish legal system. The aim of such regulation is to protect a potential buyers before the insolvency or bankruptcy of developer companies. For example there is a necessity to open in the bank a specific bank account for each buyer (individual escrow account). Such solution creates an additional costs for investors, and formalises a process of withdrawal of funds deposited on the escrow account by the buyers.

In the Polish tax system there are new, very restrictive, regulations relating to the constructions works and they have a significant and direct influence into the business activity conducted by developer company (i.e. split payments regarding VAT tax payments).