Bulgaria has seen its Eurozone and Schengen admission dates pushed back by at least a year, while political instability and frequent elections remain the norm. Still, there is room to hope for better times, according to Hristov & Partners Partner Pavel Hristov, mostly thanks to the vibrant IT, transportation, and logistics sectors.

A high degree of effervescence in the country, with massive legislative updates both taking hold and still in the works – as well as a potential Prime Minister rotation soon to come – is what keeps lawyers talking in Romania, according to Act Legal Romania Partner Laura Estrade.

While Ukrainian law firms have to deal with issues ranging from power outages to effective work distribution, their intellectual property, tax, labor, and corporate law practices remain relatively busy, according to Baker McKenzie Managing Partner Serhiy Piontkovsky.

The country's real estate and energy sectors remain rather resilient, but a crisis is looming in Slovenia’s public sector, according to Kavcic, Bracun & Partners Partner Simon Bracun.

Political uncertainty in Slovakia, with early elections likely to take place in September, has led to an overall slowdown of legislative work at the unfavorable time of a raging energy crisis, according to CMS Partner Sona Hankova.

A significant labor legal landscape overhaul in North Macedonia, with a long-awaited and long-debated new law being adopted, is what is dominating legal discourse in the country, according to Tosic & Jevtic Managing Partner Ana Tosic Cubrinovski.

With criminal charges brought against Bulgarian crypto platform Nexo, while everyone is waiting for the MiCA regulation, the country's latest developments will potentially have far-reaching implications worldwide, according to Mikov＆Attorneys Managing Partner Konstantin Mikov.

A paradigm shift in Romania’s labor law granting additional powers to trade unions will likely liven up the area and lead to an increase in related mandates, according to Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii Partner Serban Paslaru.

A growing number of employment and consumer protection-related disputes are on the horizon in Hungary, while revised arbitration rules promise swift and more efficient alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, according to Smartlegal Schmidt & Partners Managing Partner Richard Schmidt.

A busy legislative start to 2023 is in store for Poland, with significant changes made to the consumer protection and electronic communication frameworks, as well as amendments to the Legal Advisors' code of ethics being introduced, according to Traple, Konarski, Podrecki & Partners Senior Partner Xawery Konarski.

Green energy and ESG will be a significant focus in the coming year in Austria, with a slight upward trend expected in restructuring, alternative finance, and regulatory work, according to Wolf Theiss Banking & Finance Partner Andrea Gritsch.

The Czech legislature has been recently working on several new laws and amendments, including adopting whistleblowing and energy price cap-related regulations, according to Kocian Solc Balastik Partner Sylvie Sobolova.