Interview with: Václav Rovenský, Partner

What do you see as the main points that differentiate KŠB from your competitors?

Our firm prides itself on being a fully independent Czech national firm, with a long tradition of the highest standards of professional ethics and promoting the rule of law in the community, whilst simultaneously competing on the same level as the many leading international law firms in the Czech Republic. In 2017 and 2018, Martin Šolc, one of our founding partners, served as the President of the International Bar Association, the only lawyer to date from Central/Eastern Europe to have achieved this highest office in the IBA, which is also a testament to the respect granted to our law firm.

Despite, or perhaps because we are, strongly independent, KŠB has forged a valuable network of long term relationships with law firms around the world, including as a founder member of the World Services Group and also as a long term member of a number of other leading specialty law firm alliances. In this way we can provide seamless and verified truly global service to our local clients and vice versa.

When it comes to client work, our law firm is one of only a few to provide truly integrated tax and legal services which is of great benefit to clients but the many years of expertise of our lawyers and tax advisors means that we have been involved in creating legal solutions on numerous occasions, which can be described as ground-breaking or innovative, and we aim to put these solutions into practice as either the very first law firm or as one of the first. Our client mission is to proactively help a client bring a business vision into clear tangible focus, with the necessary safeguards to make it a working commercial reality.

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

We are focusing strongly on the official rollout and strengthening of our ESG practice this year. ESG matters are becoming increasingly important for business worldwide for several reasons.

Firstly, there is a growing recognition that businesses have a responsibility to consider their impact on society and the environment, beyond simply maximizing shareholder value. As a result, investors, employees, customers, business partners and other stakeholders are increasingly demanding that companies demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, social responsibility, and ethical governance.

Secondly, there is a growing regulatory focus on ESG matters, especially within the EU, with many countries and regions introducing new laws and regulations aimed at promoting sustainability, reducing carbon emissions, protecting human rights, and ensuring good corporate governance. This is leading to increased compliance costs and risks for businesses that fail to meet ESG standards. Within the EU there is now a complex body of ESG focused regulations being implemented, including the EU Taxonomy, the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and the SFRD (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation), all of which present new challenges for clients.

Thirdly, ESG matters are increasingly seen as key drivers of long-term business success. Companies that effectively manage ESG risks and opportunities are more likely to build resilient, sustainable business models, attract and retain talent, and maintain the trust of their stakeholders.

Overall, these factors are driving a growing awareness of ESG matters and the need for businesses to take them seriously. As a result, ESG is rapidly becoming a mainstream legal as well as business issue, with significant implications for companies, investors, and society as a whole and our clients are seeking our legal guidance in how to find their ESG pathway.

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

It’s not only about excellent knowledge and understanding of the law, but staying abreast of new technology and business environment changes is crucial to being the proactive and reliable business minded lawyers that our clients are looking for. High quality in house training on business and technology issues for our lawyers, as well as regular international knowledge updates and best practices exchange by means of KŠB’s close knit global legal networks and specialty seminar attendances are the ways we keep up to date to best advise our clients in a rapidly changing world.

From time to time we introduce new practice areas in response to business environment changes, that will benefit our clients. In recent years this has included the establishment of KŠB accounting s.r.o., our client bookkeeping and payroll service, that complements our dual legal and tax service offerings. This year, as well as developing our ESG practice (as outlined above), we are also making a distinction in our M&A practice group to create a stand alone Private Equity section, which reflects the dynamic growth of venture capital and PE deals on the Czech market.

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

Ever since the introduction of e.g. email, technological advances have moulded and refined the scope of law firm-client interactions. The Covid era brought a quasi-revolution in terms of online video meetings that continue to be embraced today not just for convenience but also in terms of reducing carbon footprint and enhancing face to face time and live document sharing with clients and colleagues around the world. The trends in application of AI technology to the legal environment are enabling us to explore many possibilities of use to benefit our clients, including AI assisted document review for due diligence, contract management systems and specific transaction and regulatory compliance tools, just to give a few examples. Technology and AI seem to expand at an exponential pace, and lawyers should not fear the uncharted future, but proactively embrace it as the only meaningful distinction in the future will be lawyers who know how to harness the benefits of technology and will be able to balance these benefits with legal thinking and experience, and those who can’t and will, most likely, lose out. That being said, I should note that this is increasingly difficult to do for lawyers who have been practicing for over thirty years like myself.

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

Last year we represented one of the world’s leading architectural studios, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) from Denmark, in the preparation and negotiation of the contract for the architectural study, project documentation and related activities for the outstanding Vltava Philharmonic Hall project.

The new Vltava Philharmonic Hall will become an architectural, cultural and community landmark for downtown Prague and become a focal point for visitors from all around the world. Our multidisciplinary legal team was able to provide the client with, in particular, advice on planning and construction law issues, drawing on our experience from our prior work for foreign architectural studiosand also assisting in communication with local government, in a very tight timeframe across the requirements of the international tender competition in order to conclude the contract with due process to lay the framework to implement BIG’s vision. We continue to assist BIG in the Czech Republic, and we believe that in particular advice on sustainable construction, environmental and administrative law issues will be of utmost importance.

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

More than ever before, clients are seeking law firms that truly understand the nature of their business, to give the most pragmatic commercially driven advice. This understanding, along with stability and trust comes, in many cases, from the long-term relationships we have built with key clients. With new clients, trust and understanding are quickly developed, also due to the fact that many of our lawyers have particular industry specializations and are thus fluent in the topical issues of a client’s business.

In my view, clients seek both this stability and trust but also, dynamic strategic guidance, particularly in respect of new business concepts or newly enacted laws that affect them. Finding this duality in their legal advisers gives a client the confidence to move forward in its commercial objectives. Our aim, whether in 3 years or more, is to stay at the forefront of the technology changes impacting the world in order to keep providing our clients with the most relevant legal advice for their business in this rapidly changing world.