Cristiana Fernbach has left Stratulat Albulescu to set up Fernbach & Partners, which she describes as “the first Romanian law firm 100% specialized in new technologies.”
Fernbach & Partners is, according to a statement released by the firm, “entirely dedicated to technology law, data protection, intellectual property and digital media." According to Fernbach, “the projects of recent years have taken me closer to an industry that, in many ways, stands at the antipode of business law. In time, I have discovered many common features, though, and technology – with all its legal aspects – has become an integrated part of my lawyer identity.”
“Romania is already a sophisticated legal services market," Fernbach explained, "and over the past year we have seen a dedicated new technologies niche taking shape. For now, this is mainly a normal reaction to global tendencies and European regulations that have opened up new business lines (like the European Global Data Protection Regulations – the GDPR that came into force last May). The market is learning on the go, currently borrowing time and resources from traditional practice areas. However, as this tendency will continue, I trust we will see more new tech-dedicated lawyers and law firms in the following two to three years. As far as we are concerned, we will put our experience and long-term specialization, our international exposure and our first-comer advantage to ensure sustained growth and build a portfolio of as many first-time tech projects in Romania as possible.”
Prior to launching her new firm, Fernbach was a Partner and the Co-Head of the TMT practice at Stratulat Albulescu, a role she was promoted to in 2018 as reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 24, 2018. Before Stratulat Albulescu, she worked for Noerr as Senior Associate, Coordinator IP & Technology Practice for Romania.
At the moment Fernbach is working with one associate and with cooperation agreements with an IT services provider and an IP advisor, among others. She reports that her plan is to add another two or three lawyers this year.
