Romania 2023
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
Head of legal | Romanian Football Federation (Federatia Romana de Fotbal)
Director of legal and public affairs department and member of the executive committee | Up Romania
Central Eastern Europe general secretary director | Danone
South-East subregion legal counsel | DS Smith
Cristina started her career as a litigation lawyer immediately after graduation in a well reputed Romanian law firm. After several years as a litigator, Cristina made a bold move as...
Deputy group legal counsel | Photon Energy Romania
Florina Mariana Homeghiu is the deputy group legal counsel and manages the legal affairs of Photon Energy Group in Romania. She has over 15 years of experience and is a...
Head of legal department | Iulius Group
Iulian Ganju is the head of the legal department for the IULIUS group of companies, a real estate developer and operator specialising in mixed-use urban regeneration projects based in Romania....
Chief legal officer | Teleperformance
Laura Rudnyanszky possesses an LLB in Law, an LLB in Management, and an LLM in International Private Law. Laura is proficient in English, Spanish, and Hungarian. She has been an...
Deputy legal director – head of legal consultancy department | Banca Transilvania
Head of legal and general partner | Roca X Management
Sonia Fedorovici is a general partner and the head of legal at Roca X — the largest privately funded Venture Capital Fund in Romania. Under her guidance the fund’s management...
Group general counsel | E - Infra
Team size:Â 12Â Adina is currently acting as group general counsel for the reputable Romanian infrastructure group of companies, E-Infra Group, as well as a board member of Netcity Telecom (an...
Head of legal and compliance Central Eastern Europe | Danone
Adrian Manole is head of legal and compliance Central Eastern Europe in Danone, leading a team of five countries (Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary). Before moving to Danone,...
Manager, legal and compliance | Booking Holdings Romania
Alexandra Pintilie is manager – legal and compliance at Booking Holdings Romania and she has joined the team in October, 2022, managing the legal and compliance activity. Her role focuses...
Head of legal affairs and compliance | Samsung Electronics
With more than 15 years of expertise in the legal field, Alexandra Padurariu has been handling legal and compliance for Samsung Electronics Romania, ever since the start of company’s activity in our...
Legal and administrative manager | Amromco Energy
Alexandru-Valentin Dinuţă is the legal and administrative manager for Amromco Energy, possessing over 20 years of professional experience and expertise in the legal field for various industries, with an emphasis...
General legal counsel Romania – Bulgaria | Robert Bosch
Alice Radu has served as legal director at Bosch for five years, managing the legal services department in Region Romania – Bulgaria (also covering Moldova). In 2022 she was appointed...
Head of legal | Interbrands Orbico Romania
Alina has more than 15 years of professional experience as in-house legal counsel, she is a well appraised legal professional with extensive expertise in commercial business law, M&A, competition law...
Head of legal and compliance SEE Area | British American Tobacco
Head of legal and corporate affairs Romania | Enel Romania
Alina Dumitrascu is a passionate energy lawyer, with over 20 years of experience and has taken on several leadership positions, including senior roles in public, private and civic sectors in...
Legal and corporate affairs director | Edenred Romania
Ana Busuioc is legal and corporate affairs at Edenred Romani. She also oversees and coordinates legal operations in three other companies within Edenred Group: Edenred Digital Center, Benefit Systems and Benefit...
Legal director | Tenaris Romania
Arina Dobrescu is the legal director of Tenaris Romania. Arina has over 12 years of experience as a general counsel and ten years as a lawyer with several domestic and...
Head of legal | Fepra
Clementina Canel has been director of legal and compliance at Fepra since 2021. She has 17 years of experience in the legal field, in specific areas like environment, business law,...
Executive vice president (deputy CEO) | Engie Romania
Cristian is leading the RES activities and has been head of legal, IT, digital and innovation, and business development of ENGIE Romania since 2021.  Previously, he was managing director of...
Legal director | Transgaz
Cristina Iancu is currently holding the position of legal director within the Romanian National Gas Transmission Company Transgaz. Â Born in 1985, she graduated with a BA in Law at...
Legal director member of the board of directors | RetuRO
Head of legal and secretariat general department | Bucharest Stock Exchange
Head of legal, regulatory and public affairs | MOL Romania
Emanuela has more than 20 years of expertise in the legal field, she has been handling legal and compliance for MOL Romania for almost 10 years and regulatory and public...
Legal, HR, transformation and governance officer | Telekom Romania Mobile
Corporate, external and legal affairs head - Central Europe | Microsoft
Chief legal officer | Tesla Group
Horia Grigorescu serves as the chief legal officer at Tesla Group, where he plays a crucial role in linking legal governance with technological aspirations in the high-tech energy sector. His...
Senior legal counsel | Orange Romania Communications
Lucian Miulescu is a seasoned corporate generalist attorney with a wealth of in-house legal experience. Specialised in dispute resolution, contract drafting, and legal advice across various domains, including Business Law,...
Deputy CEO - head of legal and administrative | BRD - Groupe Societe Generale
Legal department manager | CEZ Romania
Monica Mihaila has been coordinating the legal activities of all CEZ Group companies in Romania as the manager of the legal department since 2017. Monica has 18 years of experience...
General counsel | eMAG
Oleg Roibu holds the position of general counsel of eMAG Group, where he oversees the group’s legal, public policy, and sustainability efforts across Central and Eastern Europe and in Brussels....
Legal and compliance director | Coca-Cola HBC
Raluca Alexandru serves as the legal and compliance director at Coca-Cola HBC Romania, the largest beverage company in the market and the second largest in the local FMCG industry, with...
Head of legal operations and innovation (senior director) | UiPath
General counsel | Nestlé Romania
Roxana Bumbac-Buture is a multidisciplinary lawyer with expertise in both consultancy and litigation. Roxana possesses over 12 years of experience and is a qualified lawyer within the Bucharest Bar. Roxana...
Head of the legal department | Premier Restaurante Romania
After more than 25 years of experience in the law field, Roxana Vasiliu joined in October 2016 McDonald’s team in Romania as Legal director. She started her career as a lawyer member of...
Head of legal | Forte Partners
Ruxandra has been general counsel of the Romanian real estate landmark developer, Forte Partners for the last seven years. She has over 20 years of experience and is qualified in...
Legal and compliance director | Haleon
Accomplished legal professional with over 20 years of experience across the healthcare, FMCG and technology sectors; managing legal operations and leading teams of in-house and external lawyers across multiple jurisdictions...
General counsel Romania and Moldova, compliance officer and board secretary | Holcim Romania
Team size: Seven Veaceslav Grosu has over 19 years of experience gained primarily in a Swiss multinational company.  Veaceslav provides the entire spectrum of day-by-day advice on competition, compliance, labour,...
Chief legal officer | One United Properties
Victor Savi-Nims currently serves as the chief legal officer (CLO) of One United Properties, the leading green investor and developer of residential, mixed-use, and commercial real estate in Bucharest, Romania....
The Legal 500 is delighted to recognise and gather the most exceptional corporate counsel in Romania, a feat only the GC Powerlist could achieve. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the accomplished general counsel who have rightfully earned their places on the final list. We are proud to be able to effectively showcase the full spectrum of top-notch corporate counsel present in the country.
Our in-depth interviews have provided insights into the world of contemporary high-level corporate counsel in the country. General counsel from various organisations have shared their perspectives on a wide range of topics, including the far-reaching effects of technological advancements, the state of legal representation in Romania, and their vision for the future of the general counsel role. Notably, Mateeas Anne Marie, Country Legal Head at Novartis Pharma Services Romania, envisions a significant transformation for in-house legal teams in the foreseeable future:Â ‘In the foreseeable future, in-house legal teams are poised for a substantial transformation. Legal professionals will harness advanced technology to streamline daily tasks efficiently. Emphasis will be on critical areas such as data privacy and cybersecurity, maintaining strict compliance within a constantly changing regulatory landscape. Collaboration will be central as legal teams forge strategic partnerships across organisational departments, aligning their work with broader objectives. Remote work will remain a vital aspect of operations, optimising productivity through digital tools and virtual communication. In this dynamic environment, legal professionals will diversify their skill sets, assume leadership roles in ethical initiatives, and address global challenges adeptly. Exploring innovative service models will enhance cost efficiency, while flexible work arrangements will adapt to evolving professional requirements. In-house legal teams, blending innovation with professionalism, are poised to shape a future where legal excellence and organisational success are seamlessly intertwined.
The dedication of general counsel in Romania to embracing change and digital innovation is evident, George Mihai Popa, Legal and Compliance Director at E.ON Romania, told us: ‘Implementing a simplification tool for developing the contract flow within the organisation by transforming the process from the print approvals stage to the automatic flow, finalised with the extended electronic signature. In the previous company, the legal and compliance department struggled with many documents from which the commercial contracts represented the most relevant part. The aim of the process meant the drafting simplification, verifying and approval flow efficiency, which was developed with the internal IT department. The result consisted of a very efficient method for the company by reducing the time of approving the contracts and, at the same time, better control for the management over these processes. The cost of this solution was reduced due to the involvement of internal resources from legal and compliance departments in cooperation with the IT Department’. Innovation is, of course, key, but the core skill of a top general counsel, alongside legal expertise, is communicating good advice to the businesspeople in their organisations collaboratively, cooperating across the departments.
These interviews provide a captivating snapshot of Romania’s in-house legal community, offering valuable insights into the paths, achievements, and skills that define today’s top in-house legal counsel. I encourage readers to delve further into these conversations to gain a deeper understanding of what makes these professionals stand out.
Thank you to all the in-house lawyers who spoke to us as part of our research into this first-ever Romania edition of the GC Powerlist. Congratulations to all the general counsel who have rightfully earned their place among the top legal professionals in the country.
Sara Maggi| Deputy Editor – The Legal 500 GC Powerlist SeriesÂ
We are delighted to present the most influential in-house lawyers and legal teams in Romania!
The inaugural edition of the GC Powerlist Romania highlights some of Romania’s most experienced GCs who excel at what they do, lead groundbreaking legal work and generally make a significant contribution to the success of their companies. They are not only great leaders, strategists and visionaries, but also valuable legal experts. They are mentors who build a positive culture, empower people to grow and develop, and guide their organisations in an ever-changing business environment. Through their dedication and hard work, they transform law and business every day.
We congratulate all the honourees on the GC Powerlist Romania and we are confident that more and more successful General Counsels and Chief Legal Officers will be recognised in future editions to give an even more complete picture of today’s legal talent.
Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații is proud to be the exclusive partner of The Legal 500 for its first GC Powerlist Romania 2023!
The recent news that elite US firm Sullivan & Cromwell had apologised to a judge over AI hallucinations in a court filing prompted a collective wince from the legal profession.
But while some lawyers remain wary of AI, others are striking a more open-minded note, and at the LexisNexis AI Forum hosted this Wednesday (20 May) by Legal 500 and Legal Business, panelists argued that the risks are far outweighed by the opportunities.
Barbara Zapisetskaya, principal technology counsel at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, made the case that hallucinations and other potential pitfalls can be overcome with a shift in mindset.
‘What makes a difference,’ she said, ‘is empowering your lawyers to take responsibility for AI output – helping them become active AI operators, not just passive AI users. You have agency to decide whether you agree with the output or not.’
Zapisetskaya was among a line-up of leading in-house figures speaking on two panels, which covered everything from practical steps for AI implementation to the key decisions GCs need to be making in the coming months.
Financial Times general counsel Dan Guilford began by stressing the importance of building the right culture for AI adoption. In addition to proactively upskilling himself, Guilford talked about how he had implemented a voluntary weekly ‘show and tell’ meeting for team members to share successful use cases – or an exercise that became a gratifying measure of progress.
Other panelists discussed how increased in-house productivity is altering the dynamic with their external counsel.
While some see the use of AI by law firms as a precursor for reduced fees, Russell Davies, head of global operations for legal and compliance at Dentsu, said that faster results – however they are delivered – are something to be valued.
GSK assistant general counsel Anthony Kenny agreed, saying that while there was an expectation that external counsel would be utilising AI, the focus should be on the value of the output, rather than an overemphasis on identifying AI use as a justification to reduce fees.
Speaking on the second panel, MUFG EMEA general counsel James Morgan stressed the critical importance of education, noting that educating the C-suite on the advantages and risks of AI is just as important as enabling large in-house teams to use these tools.
Shanthini Satyendra, vice-chair of the AI Committee, Society for Computers & Law, CEO and founder of Manisain, offered a reminder of the importance of making the connection between tasks and the purpose behind them, extolling the virtues of identifying use cases for AI that can solve a meaningful problem.
Zapisetskaya concurred, adding that one of the most important tasks for GCs across the next six to twelve months is to create AI playbooks and templates, noting that ‘it is easy for lawyers to see problems – much harder for lawyers to see opportunities.’
There was also broad agreement among panellists that GCs should focus on upskilling their junior lawyers on AI, rather than – as some may expect – cutting back their workforce. As Satyendra summarised: ‘Some people are replacing human capital with AI without thinking about what’s required to make AI work. Retain your people and train them up.’
The panels were moderated by Emma Millington, head of the UK Lexis+ Finance Group, and LexisNexis director of segment management Stuart Greenhill.
