In “The Corner Office” we ask Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: What was the most difficult or unpleasant experience you had terminating someone’s employment?”

Artificial Intelligence is, after distributed ledger technology, the new frontier for legal scholars, and many are working to define how important and significant its future development is and how it is going to shape our legislation, affect our judiciary, and transform our societies. Many are striving to outline new legal definitions of AI, propose novel legal subjectivity and liability for AI’s defects or damage, or reframe ethical principles that AI has to follow, once we finally create it and release it to the world.

It has been over a year since the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation became mandatory across Europe, marking a seismic shift in the way that companies collect, process, and handle personal data. Countries across the European Union and beyond have adapted their national laws to meet the requirements of the GDPR – with many introducing local derogations as permitted by the GDPR.

This time, our law firm marketing friends across CEE considered the following question: “What one part of your job would you most appreciate having more help with – not in terms of training or capability, but simply in terms of time?”

I am often asked by my foreign colleagues and clients about how the Czech Republic is doing, and my answer is that we are doing fine. Putting aside the political situation, which is similar to many other countries, economically we are doing very well; there was strong GDP growth of 4.6% in 2017 and almost 3% last year. Part of this growth is clearly attributable to our strong, maturing startup and investor community, which is pushing the country forward. Czechs have a talent for improvisation and finding solutions that work well, using innovation, research and development, and technology. We have invented many tools that have changed the world in fields such as nanotechnology, chemistry, and engineering. At the same time, we now have a pool of investors who are able to invest in new startup companies and back up the research and development that is done.

The Czech Republic was one of the first countries in Europe to allow the use of cannabis for medical purposes. This was achieved in 2013 by means of an amendment to the Act on Pharmaceuticals, which was subsequently implemented by the “Cannabis Regulation.” Despite this, access to medical cannabis still remains difficult for many patients.

The tobacco products market is heavily regulated in the Czech Republic, as it is across the European Union. A key document is the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU), which sets out a uniform, detailed framework for all EU member states. The TPD thus provides substantial direction regarding tobacco regulation, tobacco products, and electronic cigarettes, as well as novel tobacco products. It includes comprehensive definitions of various types of tobacco products and regulates their labeling and packaging, mandatory health warnings and security features, and how to place them on the EU market.

In The Corner Office we ask Managing Partners across CEE about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: How do you do performance reviews, and how important are they to the planning and management of the firm?”

Having been a foreign lawyer abroad for a significant part of my career so far – this last decade in CEE – I can say that the past couple of years have been the most interesting, and I mean that in the Confucian sense.  Not because of local market developments or interesting deals – though there have been plenty of both – but because of the events of 2016 and a certain painful embarrassment and anguish I feel when a well-meaning acquaintance, colleague, or client, in genuine bewilderment, looks me in the eye and asks me, in my capacity as a British citizen and English lawyer, “what on earth is going on?”

Establishing a real and sustainable energy mix is a crucial task for every democratic state. In addition, any energy mix that has been chosen and put in place may change. Indeed, it has to, if the terms and conditions on which it was established undergo important changes. This, of course, applies in the Czech Republic as everywhere else.

After the first industrial revolution, which involved the discovery and use of steam power, the second, which involved the discovery and use of electricity, and the third, which involved the use of electronics and information and communication technologies such as computers, the fourth industrial revolution has now dawned. This one involves the digitization and interconnection of computers, machines, and people. Examples of this new development are cyber-physical systems: Computer-monitored-and-controlled mechanisms, such as vehicle assistance systems, that support drivers in driving or completely replace them altogether (this is known as “Smart Mobility”), thanks to communication and interaction with other vehicles or stationary devices in the vicinity.

The Deal: In May, 2018, CEE Legal Matters reported that Linklaters, Kocian Solc Balastik, the BLC Law Office, Paksoy, and Tsvetkova Bebov Komarevski had provided advice on Czech, English, Georgian, Turkish, and Bulgarian law, respectively, to Energo-Pro a.s. on its EUR 250 million Eurobond issue in London. Allen & Overy, BGI Legal in Tbilisi, Boyanov & Co. in Bulgaria, and Turkey’s Gedik & Eraksoy advised the joint bookrunners, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets Limited and J.P. Morgan Securities plc, and the Trustee, Citibank, N.A., London Branch.

In The Corner Office we ask Senior and Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: “What is the one skill, ability, or characteristic that fresh law school graduates in your country most commonly lack?”

With the world becoming increasingly globalized, it is easier for taxpayers to make, hold, and manage investments outside their countries of residence. Vast amounts of money are kept offshore and untaxed, to the extent that taxpayers fail to comply with the tax duties of their home jurisdictions. Co-operation among tax authorities is critical in the fight against tax evasion.

In this age of intricate transnational ties, the international business community is placing an ever-increasing emphasis on the swift and economic settlement of disputes. Major arbitral institutions are adopting rules on expedited proceedings, promoting mediation, and/or embracing summary disposition procedures. All these initiatives are focused on managing the process and the taking of evidence: the focal points of procedural efficiency.

In 2013 the SNR Denton, Fraser Milner Casgrain, and Salans law firms merged into one entity: Dentons. The firm capitalized on its momentum by merging two years later with China’s Dacheng law firm, making it the largest law firm in the world. On the occasion of the firm’s 5th anniversary, CEE Legal Matters reached out to Dentons Partner and Europe Chief Executive Officer Tomasz Dabrowski in Poland and Dentons Partner and Global Vice Chair Evan Lazar in Prague to ask about the first five years and to see what’s next in Denton’s strategy for Europe and CEE.

Less than 30 years after the wholescale introduction of computers into the legal profession, we find ourselves on the brink of a 4th industrial revolution. Today, we have cars that can drive on their own, we can print almost anything (including entire buildings and human body parts) on a 3D printer, and the Internet of Things is becoming a natural part of our everyday lives. All these tools are making our lives easier and more comfortable. And as the business world adapts to this new era, the legal profession obviously cannot stay behind.

The Prague-based European Centre for Career Education focuses on providing students a practical and complimentary education, focusing on kinds of practical experience and inspiration they rarely receive in their university studies. After they complete the program, ECCE helps participants obtain useful internships with companies such as Siemens, Unicredit, Exxon Mobile, T-Mobile, and Lego, and with law firms including DLA Piper, Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, and Dentons.