Interview with: Adrian Chirvase, Partner

Partner Adrian CHIRVASE of Popescu & Asociatii explains how the firm’s multidisciplinary approach and deep sector expertise are helping clients navigate the increasingly complex legal and business environment in Romania and the wider region.

 

What do you see as the main points that differentiate POPESCU & ASOCIATII from your competitors?

Popescu & Asociatii is widely recognized for the depth of perspectives it brings to every mandate. A key part of that is our multidisciplinary approach. In practice, this means that when a client comes to us with a problem, we do not look at it strictly from one angle. We bring together expertise from different areas of law at the same time, which is something that genuinely adds value and saves the client both time and resources.

Beyond that, we invest heavily in understanding each client’s business. We do not treat mandates as isolated legal exercises. We are always making a concerted effort in order to understand the industry, the commercial logic, the risks that are specific to that client’s context. This allows us to give advice that is not only legally correct but also practically very useful. And of course, the quality and the expertise of our team matters enormously. We have people who are experienced, dedicated, and who genuinely care about and follow through the achievements for our clients.

 

Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

There are several areas where we expect significant growth.

The development of the public infrastructure system in Romania is gaining momentum, with major projects making visible progress and creating the premises for accelerated modernization, a sign that the country is gradually catching up and aligning with European standards.

In a related sector, the defence sector in Romania is consolidating at a sustained pace, its development gaining an increasingly visible impetus, through sustained investments, modernization of capabilities, consolidation of strategic partnerships and strengthening of the legal framework, which supports transparency, efficiency and alignment with allied standards.

Moreover, Romania is increasingly strengthening its capacity to attract European funds from structural development and security programs, by improving administrative mechanisms, maturing projects and better aligning with pan-European strategic priorities, a process in which lawyers play an essential role in the legal structuring of projects, ensuring compliance and facilitating complex partnerships. Therefore, M&A and foreign investment attraction will probably continue to be important, as Romania remains an interesting destination for capital looking for opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe, despite the last year national struggle to achieve a much-desired fiscal stability.

Energy and natural resources also remain a strong growth area, particularly given the geopolitical situation in the region. The war in Ukraine has had a direct impact on supply chains, on energy security discussions, and on how investors think about the region. We also see increased activity in transport, logistics and real estate, partly for the same reasons. The conflict in Iran and the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz have added a further dimension to the energetic sector. The crisis is a reminder that Europe cannot rely on distant and fragile supply routes, and it makes Romania’s own resources more strategically important than ever. This creates significant legal work across the whole chain, from concession and offtake agreements to regulatory compliance and cross-border transactions.

The scale of investment activity, public spending and regulatory change described above also brings with it a heightened exposure to white collar risk. Criminal compliance will remain firmly at the top of the agenda, as the new government has set a very clear direction in terms of fiscal enforcement and anti-corruption. Companies and individuals need to have better understandings of their possible exposure and to have proper compliance frameworks in place.

 

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

At Popescu & Asociatii, we create legal strategies that deliver clear, measurable value to our clients. It is difficult to point to a single change, as we continuously adapt our approach to reflect evolving market conditions and client needs, in a world where everything changes at an amazing speed.

One of the changes is, without any doubt, digitalization. Over the past couple of years, we have made a real effort to modernize how we work internally and how we interact with clients, moving to digital workflows for document management, communication, and case monitoring. The practical effect is faster response times and a more transparent relationship with our clients.

When it comes to artificial intelligence, we are following developments very closely, but with a great deal of caution. AI is a genuinely useful tool, and it is moving at a speed that is difficult to keep up with. But for lawyers, it is a double-edged sword. The accuracy of AI tools, the protection of client confidentiality, and the legal liability for advice given with AI assistance may pose difficult challenges. Even those building these tools have acknowledged that AI advancement is outpacing the legal frameworks, oversight mechanisms and constitutional protections meant to govern it, creating situations where existing laws can be bypassed or rendered ineffective. This is not a problem confined to any one country, it is a global reality, and Romania is no exception. As lawyers, we cannot simply adopt powerful tools because they are fast or efficient. There must be clear legal limits, clear ethical boundaries, and clear accountability. We are watching this space carefully, and we will adopt what we are confident is responsible to adopt.

That sense of responsibility also shapes how we organise our work internally. Each mandate is handled by a deliberately small team, built around a single coordinator who owns the matter from start to finish. This does not mean narrowing the expertise brought to bear. It means being deliberate about how that expertise is deployed, so the client gets depth without unnecessary weight. The result is less friction, lower costs, and a relationship with the client that is transparent and unambiguous at every stage.

 

Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Yes, in much the same way that technology is reshaping every other sector, from business and communication to data and travel, it is reshaping how we work with our clients. Communication is faster, document sharing is more secure, and clients have a much clearer picture of where their matter stands at any given moment. This is all positive.

Where it gets more nuanced is on the question of what technology can do for the actual substance of legal services. There is real potential, but as I said, we have to be careful. Technology can help us process larger volumes of information faster, identify relevant case law more efficiently, and spot patterns across complex regulatory frameworks. But the judgment, the strategy, the responsibility for the advice, the depth of analysis and observation of the deep meaning of things, those remain entirely with the lawyer. Clients need to know that when they receive advice from us, a human being with full professional accountability stands behind it. That reassurance is something technology cannot replace, and frankly, our clients expect it.

 

Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

A good example involves a Romanian construction group that has been active for nearly three decades and has grown into one of the more significant players in civil engineering and public infrastructure in the country, with projects covering roads, public buildings, and urban development, many of them financed through public funds.

The mandate was genuinely complex. We were dealing with high-value contracts, well above one hundred million euros in aggregate, with litigation and arbitration proceedings running in parallel, with criminal aspects that required very careful handling, and with compliance and fraud prevention measures that had to be put in place quickly. In the public infrastructure sector in Romania, these dimensions very often come together, because the environment involves public procurement, state institutions, and significant sums of public money, all of which attract scrutiny and risk.

What made this work particularly meaningful is that we were not just reacting to problems as they arose. We were helping the client think structurally about how to protect the group’s interests, maximize its resources, and operate in a way that was both legally sound and commercially sustainable. This is exactly the kind of work that illustrates what a multidisciplinary approach means in practice. It was not one team doing litigation and another doing compliance. It was a coordinated effort, with one shared objective for the client.

In practical terms, this is what multidisciplinary work actually delivers: not just legal coverage across different areas, but a coordinated effort that helps the client make better decisions, protect their margins, and keep their projects on track.

 

Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Absolutely. Clients who are serious about growing their business are not looking for a lawyer that simply reacts to problems when they arise. They are looking for a partner who helps them anticipate issues, who provides strategic input when important decisions need to be made, and who is there consistently over time. This requires a relationship built on trust and on a genuine understanding of the client’s business, but also has to be a concern on the part of clients to organize themselves on business models that include a strong legal team in their development. I think the best law firms today are moving well beyond pure legal advice and into genuine business assistance.

As for where we see Popescu & Asociatii in three years, the direction is clear. We want to consolidate and deepen the practices where we are already strong, develop our junior lawyers into the next generation of the firm, and bring in talented professionals who share our values. We want to grow our client portfolio in both number and complexity of mandates. We want to continue to be the firm that sophisticated clients in Romania turn to when they have something urgent, difficult and important to manage.