Former White & Case Local Partner Tomas Scerba and Michal Hink – previously Dentons’ Czech Republic Managing Partner – have joined DLA Piper’s Prague office as Partners. Alongside the two, Leo Javorek also joined the firm as a Counsel.

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.

Contributed by DLA Piper.

On January 18, six leading real estate lawyers in Romania sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea. The conversation focused on the current state of affairs in the real estate sector, looking at who the main players are, the hottest assets, deal-making trends in the sector, and more.

The Hungarian financial market finished 2019 in a strong position. Intrigued by what many have described as a “special” year, CEE Legal Matters sat down with several of the nation’s leading Banking/Finance lawyers at Lakatos, Koves & Partners’ offices in Budapest to learn more.

If one is an example, two is a coincidence, and three is a trend, the three major law firm mergers in Ukraine this past summer demand closer scrutiny.

On July 9, 2018, the CEE Legal Matters website reported the merger of the Avellum and A.G.A. Partners law firms in Ukraine. A month later, the website reported on a second merger, this time between Asters and EPAP, the Ukrainian office of Russia’s Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners. And in September the website reported on yet another merger, between Integrites and Pravochyn. To explore these significant changes in the market, on October 26, 2018, CEE Legal Matters sat down with a collection of prominent Ukrainian lawyers — including several from firms directly involved in the summer’s mergers — at the Kyiv office of DLA Piper.

Start-Ups represent a unique subset of clients for major law firms, as they are often unable to pay the fees those firms generally require, but – particularly in the tech sector – hold out the potential of significant profitability down the road. Intrigued by the unique challenges and opportunities for law firms offering their services to these cash-poor but potential-high clients, we invited partners from four prominent law firms in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to share their strategies and experiences with Start-ups with us in the offices of Kocian Solc Balastik in Prague. KSB Partner Christian Blatchford moderated the conversation. 

The Hungarian real estate and housing market is experiencing golden days. Although the market took a serious hit during the financial crisis in 2008, today enormous sums are again being invested in office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, residential areas, and retail. In order to map the underlying reasons behind the market’s boom, and to better understand how the country is dealing with the high demand for development lands and properties, CEE Legal Matters sat down with six Hungarian lawyers specialized in Real Estate & Construction and a Legal Counsel from Prologis, a Real Estate & Supply Chain Logistics company. 

On Thursday, April 19, 2018, CEE Legal Matters hosted a round table discussion at the Dentons office in Budapest with leading real estate experts in the market.

On August 17, a gathering of Dispute Resolution experts from many of the leading domestic and international law firms in Ukraine gathered in Baker McKenzie’s Kyiv offices for a Round Table conversation. 

On July 26, 2016, a cross-section of eminent lawyers from leading law firms in Ukraine gathered at DLA Piper’s Kyiv office for a wide ranging Round Table conversation about the state of the Ukrainian economy and legal market and their expectations for both going forward.  

On Tuesday, July 11, 2016, ten senior Romanian lawyers gathered at the Bucharest office of Wolf Theiss for a CEE Legal Matters Round Table to discuss the state of the Romanian economy, the Romanian legal market, and their expectations for the future.

Experts from top tier local and international firms gathered on July 26 at the DLA Piper office in Kyiv to discuss the current state of the Ukrainian legal landscape.

A select group of prominent Hungarian lawyers gathered at Dentons’ Budapest office on April 6, 2016, for a CEE Legal Matters Round Table conversation about the state of and prospects for the Hungarian economy and the Hungarian legal market. The 90-minute conversation touched on topics including the encouraging signs of recovery, the effects of the “soft nationalization” carried out by the Hungarian government in various sectors, fee trends, and changing expectations of the new generation of lawyers.

On the evening of December 10, 2015, experts from law firms across the region gathered in Prague for an exclusive and select invitation-only Round Table conversation on business and political realities across CEE, the changing nature of CEE legal markets and increased visibility of regional law firms, and much more.