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With a keen eye on the evolving dynamics of entrepreneurship and law in Romania, Alex Teodorescu – a former Olympian and the Founder and Managing Partner of Teodorescu Partners – offers a fresh perspective on business and investing, the entrepreneurial spirit within the legal profession, and some noteworthy recent regulatory developments.

Transformative changes are sweeping across Poland's legal and political landscape after the 2023 parliamentary elections, according to KWKR Partner Lukasz Wieczorek, while the jury is still out on the new government's efforts to address longstanding issues in sectors like green energy, technology, and the burgeoning field of ESG initiatives.

It is a time of transformative change for the Baltic region, according to Spridzans, Snipe & Hramcenko Partner Ansis Spridzans, considering important developments like the Rail Baltica project connecting Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius in the Baltic states with Central Europe, the growth of fintech and cutting-edge finance, and the impact of ESG on the Latvian banking and finance sector.

Against the backdrop of a turbulent legal landscape, Krehic Law Office Managing Partner Tarja Krehic underscores the recently ended strikes by commercial court judges and the subsequent impact on court proceedings and business registrations as the hot topics on the docket for Croatia, with women's participation in executive roles as the next big issue.

Lithuania is looking at a hectic year, with three scheduled elections: presidential, parliamentary, and EU parliamentary, according to Ilaw Lextal Partner Lina Siksniute-Vaitiekuniene, while also celebrating the 20-year Anniversary of its entry into the EU and NATO.

Bulgaria is nearing the home stretch of its Eurozone integration and OECD accession plans, according to CMS Partner Elitsa Ivanova, with renewables, ESG, fintech, and digitalization the hot topics for lawyers and bankers alike.

CMS Poland Managing Partner Andrzej Posniak and CMS Croatia Partner Tamara Jelic Kazic discuss the complexities and opportunities inherent to the region’s tax landscape.

Discussing how the energy markets are evolving – diversifying, moving away from dependence on Russian gas, and becoming ever-greener – CMS Partners Horea Popescu, Blazej Zagorski, Thomas Hamerl, and Maria Orlyk take a deep dive into the dynamic shifts in the energy landscape post-2022.

In our Looking In series, we talk to Partners from outside CEE who are keeping an eye on the region (and often pop up in our deal ticker) to learn how they perceive CEE markets and their evolution. For this issue, we sat down with Slaughter and May Partners Jonathan Marks and Richard Jones.

An in-depth look at Iva Miskovic of Miskovic & Miskovic covering her career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about her as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

An in-depth look at Armen Khachaturyan of Asters covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

David Hanis joined Oppenheim in Budapest to specialize in energy fresh out of law school, and has never looked back. 15 years later, just before Christmas 2023, CEE Legal Matters reported on his appointment to a Partner position at the same firm. Demonstrating you can move forward by staying in the same place, he shares his story below.

On November 21, 2023, corporate/M&A and private equity experts from Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkiye, and Ukraine sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the key developments in the field over the past decade.

On November 10, four Banking & Finance experts from Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss banking consolidation, financing availability, the effects of high interest rates, bank capitalization, green financing, the specter of loan restructuring, and the other challenges the sector is facing.

Hosted by Penkov, Markov & Partners, nine lawyers from Bulgaria – six working in-house and three in private practice – sat down for a round table conversation to discuss the EU Whistleblowing Directive and how it will impact companies in the country.

On July 7, four leading lawyers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Ukraine sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the increasing prominence of ESG issues and their impact on M&A transactions, due diligence procedures, and the role of the lawyers themselves.

On July 12, four leading lawyers from Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the latest in ESG developments with a focus on green financing, its regional and local drivers and roadblocks, its impact on non-financial reporting, and what it all means for the legal profession.

On March 9, 2022, four leading Estonian lawyers sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the current state of the startup environment in Estonia and analyze its main drivers, the local startup ecosystem, and the regulatory environment shaping it.

With a private practice background spanning over 20 years, John James McVeigh is the CEO and Head Trainer at Nixedonia – a business development company he established in 2015. He shares some of his insights on business development in the CEE legal world.

ChatGPT, an AI that claimed to be able to write an answer or even a brief article on any topic, became the talk of the year 2022. Copywriters, PR professionals, and marketing experts will all benefit from it greatly. But should we be scared?

In Part 1, I talked about the dilemma facing most lawyers when asked to involve themselves with business development. If you want to be good at BD, it helps a lot to be an optimist. But, since most lawyers are uber-pessimists, we struggle with BD and find ourselves with practically zero persistence.

Lawyers know that business development requires a handful of sales skills, a pinch of luck, and a boatload of persistence. Freaking BD persistence… it’s a serious problem for all of us. We didn’t go to law school to do sales.

When you get up to present at a conference, what is your goal? Since lawyers are addicted to billable hours, you are probably gambling some non-billable time with the hope of landing some legal work. To accomplish this, you want to sell yourself to potential clients as a competent, trustworthy, and mildly entertaining lawyer.

Although in most respects the law firm business in Central Europe is on par with other sophisticated practices in the rest of the world, coaching is one thing that has not been as widely adopted as elsewhere. This article addresses the questions of what coaching is, what it offers lawyers and law firms, and whether it should be more widely embraced by the legal profession in Central Europe.

With a keen eye on the evolving dynamics of entrepreneurship and law in Romania, Alex Teodorescu – a former Olympian and the Founder and Managing Partner of Teodorescu Partners – offers a fresh perspective on business and investing, the entrepreneurial spirit within the legal profession, and some noteworthy recent regulatory developments.

Transformative changes are sweeping across Poland's legal and political landscape after the 2023 parliamentary elections, according to KWKR Partner Lukasz Wieczorek, while the jury is still out on the new government's efforts to address longstanding issues in sectors like green energy, technology, and the burgeoning field of ESG initiatives.

CMS Poland Managing Partner Andrzej Posniak and CMS Croatia Partner Tamara Jelic Kazic discuss the complexities and opportunities inherent to the region’s tax landscape.

In The Debrief, our Practice Leaders across CEE share updates on recent and upcoming legislation, consider the impact of recent court decisions, showcase landmark projects, and keep our readers apprised of the latest developments impacting their respective practice areas.

In antiquity, it was commonplace for people to sacrifice a goat to the gods – sometimes to pacify them but many times to simply bring good fortune. It took millennia to overcome the post hoc ergo propter hoc thinking of “something good happened to me after I killed a goat, therefore killing a goat got me something good.” Accurate or not, certain ideas, once set in our brains, have a nasty habit of sticking around way past their prime.

In an era of unprecedented challenges, the legal profession in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is at the forefront of navigating these turbulent times. We face a vast array of challenges, including wars, the rise of nationalism, global tensions, energy crises, economic uncertainties, pandemics, climate change, and the rapid pace of digital transformation. Each of these significantly impacts both our lives and profession.