Year 2, Issue 4 CEE August 2015 Legal Matters In-Depth Analysis of the News and Newsmakers That Shape Europe’s Emerging Legal Markets Across the Wire: Deals and Cases in CEE Market Spotlight: Austria and Serbia Experts Review: TMT Interview with The General Counsel of the EBRD CEE BUZZ Hidden Tricks and Features of the CEE Legal Matters Website Inside Insights Law Firm PR in CEE Inside Out The Serbian Beachhead To keep leading, CMS_LawTax_CMYK_28-100.eps make sure you have the best in CEE behind you Top regional player Chambers Global 2015 Moscow Poznan Warsaw Global Prague Kyiv Vienna Top 10 global law firm. Bratislava 17 offices across the CEE. Budapest 59 offices worldwide. Ljubljana Zagreb Belgrade Bucharest Over 4,000 lawyers. Sarajevo Sofia Podgorica Tirana Istanbul www.cmslegal.com Mexico City Rio de Janeiro Preliminary Matters CEE Legal Matters Editorial: Ode to Kasia In-Depth Analysis of the News and Newsmakers That Shape Europe's Emerging Legal Markets Strophe time with calls, e-mails, and (even) SMSes, often well before deals are reflected on firm Why an Ode to Ka- websites. For this vote of confidence in our sia? reach and diligence of coverage. Kasias, we To keep leading, salute you! CMS_LawTax_CMYK_28-100.eps As I was polishing up some of the fi- Epode nal articles for this make sure you have issue I received an e-mail from one of the It is to Kasia, then, that we dedicate this Au- law firm marketing representatives in the gust issue, which contains an Experts Review region – I’ll call her Kasia. Her e-mail read feature summing up expert analysis from simply, “if you are going to report on deal X, CEE jurisdictions on Technology, Media, and the best in CEE we advised party Y, and I will follow-up with Telecommunications, and Market Spotlights details as soon as I have them” – straight-for- on Austria and Serbia. ward enough! We’ve been telling our readers for years now that we depend greatly on their Those Market Spotlights, as always, contain behind you input if we are to keep track of all that is go- interviews with prominent General Counsel The Editors: ing on in the region (and there is plenty!), and (in the “Inside Insight” section) and reviews David Stuckey here was a perfect example of someone lis- of particular industries (in the “Market Snap- [email protected] tening. Implicit in her e-mail was her recogni- shot” section). In this issue, for the first time, Radu Cotarcea tion that, if a big deal is concluded in one of the Market Spotlights also feature in-depth [email protected] the markets we cover, we’ll immediately be- reviews of recent deals of significance, in our gin trying to identify the firms involved and new “Inside Out” section – this time focus- Letters to the Editors: other details of significance. For articulating ing on (for Austria) the financing provided by Top regional player If you like what you read in these that (correct) assumption, which should be Bank Austria and pbb Pfandbriefbank to the shared by all the readers who turn to us reg- Chambers Global 2015 pages (or even if you don’t) we Immofinanz Group, and (for Serbia) SBB’s Moscow really do want to hear from you. ularly to learn who has worked on what legal acquisition of EUnet. Please send any comments, crit- matters in CEE, Kasia, we salute you! icisms, questions, or ideas to us But the issue, as always, is hardly limited to at: Antistrophe the Market Spotlights and Experts Reviews. Poznan Warsaw [email protected] The Buzz offers an overview of the hot dis- But Kasia is not just a person. Kasia is a trend. cussion points among lawyers in CEE, while Disclaimer: Receiving an enquiry recently sent out by my Global Kyiv an article on law firm PR best practices and Prague Co-Editor David, following up on an item pitfalls in CEE illustrates the particular chal- At CEE Legal Matters, we hate boilerplate posted on a firm’s website, one of Kasia’s Top 10 global law firm. Vienna disclaimers in small print as much as you lenges facing those critical providers of law Bratislava do. But we also recognize the importance peers wrote: “You are the best spies ever!” firm support. Another valuable article high- Budapest of the “better safe than sorry” principle. 17 offices across the CEE. So, while we strive for accuracy and hope We appreciate the compliment, but the trick lights some of the lesser-known functional- to develop our readers’ trust, we nonethe- is really fairly simple: With the help of vari- Ljubljana Zagreb less have to be absolutely clear about one ities of the CEELM website, and we feature 59 offices worldwide. thing: Nothing in the CEE Legal Matters ous technologies, we carefully monitor – as Belgrade an interview with Marie-Anne Birken, Gen- Bucharest magazine or website is meant or should we have from the day we launched CEE Le- Over 4,000 lawyers. Sarajevo be understood as legal advice of any kind. eral Counsel of the EBRD, who will be the Readers should proceed at their own risk, gal Matters – the newswires, websites, press Keynote Speaker at the 2015 CEE GC Sum- Sofia and any questions about legal assertions, releases, and other sources of information Podgorica conclusions, or representations made mit scheduled for September in Budapest – in these pages should be directed to the Tirana Istanbul for news and articles of significance. The an event you cannot miss! person or persons who made them. trend that Kasia represents, however, is the We believe CEE Legal Matters can serve extent to which those sources have shrunk as a useful conduit for legal experts, and So … Kasia, enjoy the read! we will continue to look for ways to exap- in significance. Instead, Kasias everywhere nd that service. But now, later, and for all time: We do not ourselves claim to know have been proactively reaching out to us and or understand the law as it is cited in these keeping us apprised of deals in almost real Radu Cotarcea pages, nor do we accept any responsibili- ty for facts as they may be asserted. Any resemblance to persons living or dead should be plainly apparent to them and those who know them, but may be coincidental. www.cmslegal.com CEE Legal Matters 3 Mexico City Rio de Janeiro Preliminary Matters Guest Editorial: Made in Slovakia something to brag about, and people love apart. Rather, you must be a true and sin- statistics (although no one seems to ask me cere fan of your client’s business and their that question anymore). product. You have to be their cheerleader and their advocate, support their nomina- Now a fourth major automotive car man- tions in different awards, their charity if ufacturer, British Land Rover, is eyeing they have one, run and cheer for their team. Slovakia, and it’s not bryndzove halusky And nothing tastes better than their own they’re after. With an investment of 1.5 beverage during a meeting in your office. billion euros, Land Rover plans to build This is what shines through. a plant near Nitra that will employ 4,000 people to produce fancy Jaguars and Land Eleven years ago The New York Times Rovers. compared Slovakia to Detroit in an arti- cle by Mark Landler titled: “A ‘Detroit’ The automotive business in Slovakia is un- for Europe takes shape in Slovakia.” Since deniably booming, as it has been for the that article was published the world has past few years, and we’ve felt it in many ar- gone through a global financial crisis, and eas of everyday life – including in the legal Detroit itself filed for bankruptcy … but practice. no major lasting effect on the automotive It would be almost impossible to write this There are many good law firms in Slovakia, industry in Slovakia occurred. So were we editorial without mentioning the hottest but it’s not just about being good anymore. just lucky? economic topic in Slovakia at the moment: It’s not even about providing that prompt, We see our clients invest in their employ- Land Rover’s intention to open a produc- user-friendly, straight to the point legal ad- ees, strive for continuous improvement, tion plant in Slovakia, which some are call- vice. It’s about everything else. Providing and invest into research and development. ing the investment of the decade in the all that extra to clients, making lives easier And we see that Slovakia is responding too, country. for their managers, supporting them along creating partnerships between schools and their way to success. Knowing the client’s Let me step back. Some 15 years ago, I re- practice, so that the advantages of the Slo- business and the sector they operate in and located to Dublin, Ireland. Along with the vak labor force are not limited only to “low using that industry knowledge to identi- constant rain, I remember how little anyone cost.” Attracting large car producers such fy opportunities and anticipate problems. knew about Slovakia. “Where is it you are as Land Rover is a signal that Slovakia is not Knowing how a client operates and reflect- from? Slov…. Slovenia? Czechoslovakia?” resting on its laurels. ing that in the way you provide advice is the people would ask. “It’s Slovakia, actually. key to building a strong relationship. Going back to my studies in Ireland, I re- In the heart of Europe. No, we don’t live member more often than not being referred by the sea, no, we don’t speak Russian,” I So we have an automotive team at Glatzo- to as “the Eastern girl” rather than the Slo- would answer.