K&L Gates has successfully represented Chinese construction company China Overseas Engineering Group Co., Ltd in a dispute with a subcontractor involving its commitment to supply acoustic screens for the A2 motorway between Warsaw and Lodz, Poland.
According to K&L Gates, in 2009, a consortium headed by China Overseas won a tender for the construction of two sections of the A2 motorway between Lodz and Warsaw with a total length of approximately 50 kilometers. In mid-2011, the company withdrew from the agreement. Soon after, Poland's General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways followed suit. Since then, China Overseas has been involved in numerous disputes related to the project.
According to K&L Gates, this case, which has been pending before the District Court in Poznan for three years, concerns the subcontractor’s claim for almost PLN 90 million (plus interest from September 2014, increasing the claim to almost PLN 119 million).
On January 28, 2019, the District Court in Poznan dismissed the action against China Overseas Engineering Group. The subcontractor still has the right to appeal against the judgment.
This is not the first case in which K&L Gates represented Chinas Overseas. In 2017, K&L Gates advised the company on the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a settlement with the State Treasury - General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways, ending a dispute which had been pending since 2011 as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 11, 2017.
The K&L Gates team consisted of Senior Associates Dawid Rapkiewicz and Joanna Gasowski and Associates Michal Szumbarski and Lukasz Gembis.
