Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak

Managing Partner: Robert Gawałkiewicz
Senior Partners: Andrzej W Kawecki, Rudolf Ostrihansky, Dariusz Skuza, Jarosław Bieroński, Janusz Siekański, Zbyszko Wizner, Szymon Gogulski, Tomasz Kański, Krzysztof Pawlisz
Number of partners: 25
Number of lawyers: Over 145
Languages: English, French, German, Polish, Russian, Spanish

Firm Overview:
Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak (SK&S) is one of the leading law firms in Poland. Established in 1991, the firm has 25 partners, over 135 attorneys, 29 paralegals and a support staff of more than 100. The firm’s main office is in Warsaw, smaller branch offices are in Poznań, Katowice and Wrocław. The firm’s practice has strong international overtones, with most of its clients being foreign companies with direct investments or cross-border operations in Poland and Polish subsidiaries of foreign investors. In addition to thousands of satisfied clients who have been served by SK&S in 25 years of practice and who, by word-of-mouth, still represent the firm’s most effective marketing tool, SK&S has gained wide recognition in professional legal circles in Poland and abroad.

■ Corporate & M&A
■ Banking & Finance
■ Securities & Capital Markets
■ Litigation
■ International Arbitration
■ Tax, Customs & Foreign Exchange
■ White Collar Crime
■ Environmental
■ Real Estate & Development
■ Intellectual Property, Unfair Competition, Advertising
■ Mass Media & Telecommunications
■ Competition
■ State Aid
■ Public Procurement
■ Energy
■ Infrastructural Projects
■ Employment Law
■ Pharmaceutical
■ Personal Data Protection
■ Private Clients

Main Areas of Practice:
Corporate & M&A:
SK&S corporate and M&A practice covers the full range of legal disciplines, closely working with and integrating lawyers from the firm’s other practice areas, including tax, competition, labour law. SK&S corporate and M&A practice act on a variety of corporate and M&A assignments from simple intragroup reorganisations to complex cross-border M&A and sophisticated corporate issues requiring expert insight.
Contact: Robert Gawałkiewicz
Email: [email protected]
Key Clients: Cargill PLC, Unibail Rodamco Westfiled BV, Złote Tarasy , Sokołów S.A. (belonging to Danish Crown A.S.), Solaris Bus & Coach S.A., Eurocash S.A., Agora S.A.

Dispute Resolution:
SK&S litigation department, one of the largest and longest established in Poland, successfully acts on a full spectrum of dispute, including some of the highest-profile corporate and infrastructural disputes in Poland.
The firm provides advice on dispute resolution before the civil courts, courts of arbitration and the administrative courts. The firm represents clients in all types of proceedings at all stages. SK&S successfully represented clients in international arbitration disputes and managed numerous disputes regarding the protection of foreign investments. Many proceedings conducted by the litigation department concern the protection of intellectual and industrial property and unfair competition.
The firm have also had significant success in administrative proceedings before the Supreme Administrative Court and in arbitration proceedings. The firm’s lawyers are on the lists of arbitrators of Polish and international arbitration
Contact: Dariusz Skuza
Email: [email protected]
Key Clients: Budimex; Pepees; SRB Civil Engineering Ltd, John Sisk & Son Ltd, Roadbridge (Ireland); Consortium Ferrovial Agroman, Budimex Estudio Lamela; Mostostal Warszawa S.A.; Strabag; A2 Strada (A2 Bau Development); Advanced Digital Broadcast Geneva; Auchan.

Banking & Finance:
SK&S banking and finance practice covers financial regulatory, transactional and restructuring work. Their financing expertise includes: acquisition and leveraged financing, derivatives of various types and forms; leasing and asset finance; loan finance of all kinds, project finance in various sectors, securitisations; structured products. The firm has one of the few dedicated financial regulatory practices in Poland, dealing on a regular basis with complex financial regulatory issues, new products, cross-border activity and acquisitions of qualifying holding, including negotiations an disputes with the Polish financial services regulator.
Contact: Marcin Olechowski
Email: [email protected]
Key Clients: PKO Bank Polski S.A.; FM Bank PBP S.A.; Azora Europa; Fiat Bank Polska S.A.; ING Bank Śląski S.A.; Carlo Tassara SpA; MasterCard Europe; Taiga Inversiones Eólicas, S.A., S.C.R. de régimen común; SGB-Bank S.A.; RBS; Volkswagen Bank Polska S.A; Blue City, Blue Office and Blue Parking; Santander UK Plc.

Competition/Antitrust:
SK&S competition practice is a market leader involved in landmark cases, including some of the largest merger clearances, and groundbreaking antitrust proceedings (such as securing the first ever commitment decision in Poland in a price fixing matter). The firm advises on anti-trust controls and provide practical training on the application of competition law. The firm has conducted cases concerning ‘exclusivity rights’ on the media market, exemptions from penalties for failure to give notice of intention to concentrate and a ‘policy of leniency’ towards cartels.
The firm provides comprehensive advice to Polish and foreign clients on all aspects of Polish and European community antimonopoly law and represents them in proceedings before the PCA and civil courts.
Contact: Krzysztof Kanton
Email: [email protected]
Key Clients: Royal Canin Polska; The Swatch Group (Polska); Kronopol; Eurocash; Jeronimo Martins Polska; BSH Group; Unibail Rodamco; Grohe; Górażdże Cement; Nike.

IP:
The IP team specialises in industrial property, advertising law, unfair competition and domain name disputes, patent law, trade mark law, industrial designs law, pharmaceutical law, advertising law, unfair competition, private international and European law, drafting and negotiating licensing agreements, delimitation agreements, joint research agreements and intellectual property right assignment agreements, conducting IP due diligence, advice on marketing strategies and advertising campaigns.
The firm has also extensive experience in litigation involving all IP rights, including patents, trademarks, designs, database rights, unfair competition acts and unfair advertising practices.
Contact: Szymon Gogulski
Email: [email protected]
Contact: Ewa Skrzydło-Tefelska
Email: [email protected]
Key Clients: Cinkciarz.pl, Chopin, Eurocash, Rolex, Tommy Hilfiger

Tax:
The department provides highly specialised advice which includes: the representation of clients before the Supreme Administrative Court and government bodies; planning and assessing transactions concerning their tax optimisation and coherency, conducting tax mediation, assisting in obtaining official interpretations of tax law provisions and binding tariff information and participating in tax audits and the preparation of ‘transfer price’ documentation. Significant projects have included tax planning and investment implementation in Poland.
Contact: Jarosław Bieroński
Email: [email protected]
Key Clients: ING Bank Śląski S.A., Bank BPH/GE Capital Group, Sokołów S.A, Solaris Bus & Coach S.A., Dębica Firma Oponiarska S.A., Arjo Group, Lyreco, Eurocash S.A., Auchan