We are very pleased to announce five lawyer promotions in B2RLaw in its 2022/2023 promotion round.
The lawyers that have been promoted are:
+ Jakub Kutyła (Counsel)
+ Inka Kalista (Senior Associate)
+ Joanna Markowicz-Maciocha (Senior Associate)
+ Konrad Czernecki (Associate)
+ Krzysztof Judasz (Junior Associate)
We are glad to have such talented lawyers in our team. We are confident that all promoted individuals will blossom (like spring) in their new roles and play a key role in our clients’ success.
We wish you further success!
We are proud to announce that in this year’s edition of The Legal 500 we have been recommended in 6 categories and 12 lawyers are recommended, including Bartłomiej Jankowski listed in the elite “Leading Individuals” group and Andrzej Zając listed in the “Next Generation Partners” group.
Construction – Tier 3
The construction team at B2R Law supports public authorities, municipalities and private businesses throughout the lifecycle of projects involving transport, power and urban regeneration. Its work ranges from advising on the drafting of tender and project documentation to representing clients in dispute proceedings with subcontractors, employers, and public bodies. Kraków-based public procurement specialist Paweł Gunia leads the team alongside senior partner Rafał Zieba, who is based in Warsaw. Another key group member is of counsel and real estate lawyer Krzysztof Marzyński.
Dispute Resolution – Tier 4
Under the guidance of founding partner Bartlomiej Jankowski, the ‘problem solvers’ at B2R Law handle a wide range of disputes – spanning corporate and commercial litigation, arbitration, criminal law and investigations – on behalf of long-standing local and international clients. Human rights cases are a niche specialism; a recent highlight involves representing a private individual following their unjustified detention during a protest against LGBT discrimination in Poland.
‘The team is very organised and focused on business needs. Problem solvers.’
‘High level focus and great at the details. Always bring desired deliverables.’
Employment – Firms to watch
Established in 2020, the employment team demonstrates particular expertise in assisting clients with their entry into the Polish market. Anna Cichonska and Roman Iwański jointly lead the practice.
Private Equity – Tier 3
B2R Law is best known for assisting with technology-related deals across Poland and the wider CEE region, and has a successful recent track record operating in the area of convergence between venture capital and private equity investments. Away from transactional work, the firm is also very active in the fund formation space. Rafał Stroiński – whose client base spans buyers, sellers and targets – heads up the practice.
‘Very good understanding of clients’ goals.’
‘Rafał Stroiński has an adaptive approach which allows for quick and effective work.’
‘Insightful and helpful. Very good understanding of legal and business matters.’
‘Aleksandra Polak and Rafał Stroiński are both are very good lawyers who I can recommenend to others.’
Real Estate – Tier 3
B2R Law‘s real estate practice utilises the strengths of the firm’s corporate, finance, tax, and risk management groups to broaden its offering and advise on commercial real estate transactions. Of recent note is its work assisting new entrants to the Polish market. The group is led by co-founder Rafal Zieba. Other key team members include counsel Agnieszka Wojciechowska, who predominately acts for REITs, real estate funds, private equity funds, and developers, and Andrzej Zając, who acts on both the buy and sell side of transactions.
‘Good experience, availability, knowledge, and business attitude.’
‘Filip Badziak is willing to go the extra mile to make sure the client’s interests are put first.’
White-Collar Crime – Tier 2
B2R Law is particularly active in criminal litigation, especially cases involving allegations of fraud. The business criminal litigation team is led by co-founder of the firm and arbitrator Bartłomiej Jankowski; he has significant experience advising clients on the liability of members of commercial companies, as well as on anti-corruption issues concerning international companies.
‘The team is super cooperative, fast-learning, and very objective. They are pro-active in learning and keeping up with the needs of the case.’
‘They are able to look beyond the case file and expand their horizons to a global, industry-wide perspective, integrating the intricacies of the world’s political and economic situation, while making accurate judgements about the progress of the case.’
‘Bartłomiej Jankowski and his team are able to persevere when cases are in an extremely desperate situation. Their optimism and objective analysis gives not only trust and hope to the client, but also a sense of humanity that encourages the client and the legal team to work actively together to make things better.’
Banking and Finance – Tier 6
B2R Law fields a team of corporate and banking experts, with extensive experience advising on cross-border M&A and financing deals, including secured and unsecured investment grade, leveraged, emerging market and debt transactions. Deals with a real estate element are a particular area of strength. George Havaris jointly heads up the practice with newly-promoted partner Filip Badziak.
‘Very professional, focused, experienced.’
‘Extremely client oriented.’
White-collar crime
Leading individual: Bartłomiej Jankowski
Recommended: Bartłomiej Jankowski
Other key lawyer: Edyta Zalewska
Construction
Recommended: Rafał Zięba, Paweł Gunia, Krzysztof Marzyński
Other key lawyer: Jacek Mizgier
Private Equity
Recommended: Rafał Stroiński
Other key lawyers: Aleksandra Polak, Agnieszka Hajos-Iwańska, George Havaris
Real estate
Next Generation Partner: Andrzej Zając
Recommended: Rafał Zięba, Agnieszka Wojciechowska, Andrzej Zając
Other key lawyers: Filip Badziak, Krzysztof Marzyński
Dispute Resolution
Recommended: Bartłomiej Jankowski
Other key lawyers: Roman Iwański, Edyta Zalewska
Banking & Finance
Recommended: Filip Badziak, George Havaris
Employment
Other key lawyers: Anna Cichońska, Roman Iwański
We are pleased to announce that B2RLaw has been inducted into the 2023 second edition of Legal 500’s Europe, Middle East and Africa Green Guide!
The Legal 500’s Global Green Guide is the first worldwide guide to the top law firms advising on issues around climate change, governance, and sustainability, with the editorial highlighting the leading practices and individuals in each jurisdiction, recognizing a firm’s contribution to ‘Green Change’ and ESG. The guide will see The Legal 500 go around the world and put a global perspective on law firms that are key players in this field, i.e. firms that are in one way or another contributing to a “green transition”.
Anna Baubock – The Legal 500 Green Guide Editor advises, “The advanced political ESG agenda in Europe has meant that ESG has become a set part of law firms’ business across the region with ESG work spanning a host of practice areas, and many players realising they need to look inward too and complement their external practice with internal sustainability measures and initiatives. We hope you find this initial guide to some of the key firms engaging with sustainability within the EMEA region useful, and look forward to continually evolving our coverage as the market develops”.
Aleksandra Polak who leads B2R’s ESG practice adds, “ESG’s impact on construction, production, financing, valuation, investment or supply chain will only continue to grow. All industries will be affected but may also benefit from the green transformation. That is why ESG should be an element of each and every legal practice group. ESG, sustainability, and climate change-related work is a rapidly growing part of B2RLaw’s service offering as well as our business strategy. We understand that firms’ sustainability credentials will continue to gain in importance and we are very pleased with this award”.
We are proud to announce that in this year’s edition of Chambers & Partners Europe Guide 2023 our Senior Partner – Bartłomiej Jankowski has been recommended in White Collar Crime category in Tier 2 (from Tier 3 in 2022)!
More information about White Collar Crime category in Chambers & Partners 2023 you may find here.
The Chambers Global Guide ranks the top lawyers and law firms in over 200 jurisdictions across the world.
That legal rankings is the most thorough and independent on the market. Each ranking is based on the in-depth research conducted by their dedicated and experienced team of researchers. Their unparalleled analysis of the legal market enables Chambers Global to deliver indispensable coverage and insights into the leading law firms and legal professionals.
Chambers Global provides recommendations that can be relied on, to ensure law firm clients are able to make the best-informed decision when choosing legal services when it matters.
B2RLaw has advised Graham Partners, a private investment firm targeting technology-driven advanced manufacturing companies, on Polish aspects of its acquisition of Taoglas Group Holdings Ltd.
Graham Partners is a private investment firm focused on investing in technology-driven companies that are spurring innovation in advanced manufacturing, resulting in product substitutions, raw materials conversions, and disruptions to traditional end markets.
Taoglas, which is Irish headquartered and has 10 global facilities including in the US, Taiwan, China, India and Poland, is a trusted provider of antennas, advanced IoT components, and custom design services that helps customers navigate complex RF and wireless systems and brings connectivity solutions to market.
B2RLaw’s team was led by Partner Piotr Szelenbaum, and included Counsel Paulina Wyrostek; Associates Joanna Markowicz – Maciocha and Jacek Mizgier; Junior Associate Dorota Gajuk; and Paralegal Krzysztof Judasz.
Piotr Szelenbaum advises, “We are delighted to have supported Graham Partners on this successful transaction. Taoglas is a growing innovative business and following its acquisition by Graham Partners, we believe the business will go from strength to strength”.
B2RLaw has established a multidisciplinary team whose aim is to support clients in monitoring and adapting their activities to the evolving regulatory framework at a national and EU level. Its members include leading corporate lawyers and tax advisors in Poland.
The Compliance 360 practice includes consulting in the field of:
+ corporate governance;
+ the so-called Whistleblowers act;
+ employment;
+ ESG;
+ IT, e-commerce and cybersecurity;
+ litigation;
+ taxes;
+ training for senior staff.
What distinguishes us is the combined experience of our extremely talented, international-class team which totals almost 100 years. Our goal is to provide clients with the comfort and legal security necessary for efficient decision-making in a dynamically changing business reality. In this context, it is extremely important to implement effective internal procedures. This requires a full understanding of a client’s business, which is why the Compliance 360 practice has its name, and includes lawyers and tax advisors specializing in specific and various areas of law and sectors of the economy – says Bartłomiej Jankowski, Advocate and Senior Partner at B2RLaw.
Members of the newly established practice advise companies from a number of industries on a daily basis, including: new technologies, energy, finance, manufacturing, construction, real estate, FMCG, media, defense and pharmaceuticals.
The leaders of the practice are Luiza Wyrębkowska Ph. D (Attorney-at-Law, Counsel), and Agnieszka Hajos-Iwańska Ph. D (Advocate, Partner)
Luiza is a leading lawyer, an author of articles and books, and a lecturer with extensive experience in corporate advisory. In her career, she has advised countless companies from the energy, new technologies, manufacturing, logistics and services sectors. She has previously been in high-profile head of legal roles in companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. She has also managed regulatory risk from an in-house perspective, and supervised projects related to the implementation of regulations on personal data protection (RODO/GDPR), as well as led competition law proceedings.
Agnieszka is a lawyer with extensive knowledge in the field of corporate consulting and new technologies. She is an author of many books and articles on corporate governance, artificial intelligence and the venture capital market. On a daily basis, she advises a wide range of large and SME companies, including startups, both in terms of day-to-day operations and transactional issues.
The team also includes:
+ Bartłomiej Jankowski (Advocate, Senior Partner);
+ Rafał Stroiński (Advocate, Senior Partner);
+ Roman Iwański (Advocate, Partner);
+ Anna Cichońska (Advocate, Partner);
+ Aleksandra Polak (Advocate, Partner);
+ Piotr Leonarski (Advocate, Tax Advisor, Counsel);
+ Paulina Wyrostek (Attorney-at-Law, Counsel);
+ Paulina Milewska-Mróz (Advocate, Senior Lawyer);
+ Radosław Kowalski (Attorney-at-Law, Senior Lawyer).
B2RLaw has advised the sellers (a Dutch company and Polish companies) on the sale of Łużycka Office Park (buildings A, B, C and D) and Łużycka Plus, located in Gdynia. The new owner of the complex (represented by Linklaters) is a joint venture of the Czech retail investment fund INVESTIKA realitní fond and the Luxembourg private equity investor Bud Holdings.
All purchased properties are class A office buildings with a total area of 27,200 sq m. The complex is an excellent example of sustainable construction, located in the dynamically developing business center of Gdynia, in the immediate vicinity of the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway (PKM), two fast urban railway (SKM) stops and the main communication artery of Gdynia, Sopot and Gdańsk. Thanks to this, access by car or PKM to the international airport takes only about 20 minutes. The area of the entire complex, including the car park, has been designed as an ‘urban garden’. Both projects have been awarded BREEAM and Building Without Barriers certification, as well as the Highly Commended Office Development Poland award won at the European Property Awards.
B2RLaw’s team was overseen by Rafał Zięba, advocate, Senior Partner; and led by Agnieszka Wojciechowska, Advocate, Counsel and included Filip Badziak, Counsel (advising on finance matters for the financing banks); Piotr Leonarski, Advocate, Tax Advisor, Counsel (tax law), Krysia Jakubowska, Advocate, Senior Associate (corporate law) and Dorota Gajuk, Junior Associate (corporate law).
Rafał Zięba advises, “The sale of the Łużycka complex is further proof of the investment resilience of regional office markets in Poland. It also demonstrates that office assets of the highest quality, with high-class tenants and which are professionally managed, will continue to enjoy interest and, consequently, generate transactions among key institutional investors. We congratulate the parties on this transaction and thank the sellers for entrusting us.”
B2RLaw has advised Dentametr and its founders on its pre-seed round capital raise with investors including leading investment fund Octopus Ventures, and a number of angel investors.
Dentametr is a SaaS-enabled B2B marketplace for the healthcare industry currently focusing on the dental services market in Poland. Its main product manages procurement of supplies, tools and equipment for dental clinics through a proprietary platform as well as optimizes their inventory management. The Company was founded by Mateusz Gawałkiewicz and Rafał Tuziak.
Octopus Ventures is a multi-stage European venture capital investor specializing in health, fintech, deep tech, B2B software and consumer. It is one of Europe’s largest and most active venture capital investors with offices in London and New York. Its specialist investment teams deploy more than GBP 200 million ever year, from Seed to Series B. Octopus Ventures is part of the Octopus Group.
As well as Octopus Ventures, a group of angel investors took part in the round, including a group of C-level executives in the healthcare industry, experienced entrepreneurs, lawyers, and management consultants.
Teresa Pilecka–Juda (Attorney-at-law, Senior Associate) provided advice to Dentametr, overseen by Rafał Stroiński (Advocate, Senior Partner).
Teresa advises, “It has been a pleasure to support the Dentametr team on this transaction, which has allowed this Polish company to obtain capital for its further growth. The fact that well-regarded international fund Octopus Ventures has invested into Dentametr is testament to the fact that the Company has an exciting future.”
On September 12, the European Commission: Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union published a list of members of the VAT Expert Group that will participate in the work of the EU institution over the next three years. B2RLaw is listed as one of the members.
B2RLaw is among 33 organizations appointed by the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union as members in the VAT Expert Group. The task of the group of experts will be to advise the European Commission on legislative proposals and the interpretation of regulations. B2RLaw’s lawyers have been elected for a 3-year term, during which they will cooperate with representatives of companies such as Zalando, Procter & Gamble, Deloitte and KPMG.
”At B2RLaw, we believe that Poland’s place lies at the heart of the European Union, therefore, the very fact that our law firm has been selected means a great deal to us and is a fantastic honour. As lawyers, we are of the opinion that our role is to also help facilitate the creation of good and well-drafted European Union law, so that it also takes into account the perspective of the Polish economy and Polish businesses”, says Rafał Stroiński, advocate and senior partner at B2RLaw.
In the near future, the Commission plans to present further important legislative proposals in the field of VAT.
”They are to concern, in particular, harmonized electronic invoicing throughout the Union, taxation of a ”shared economy”, as well as changes crucial to the tourism and financial sectors. As B2RLaw, we want to substantially participate in the preparation of these changes, so that they respond to the needs and problems of Polish entrepreneurs as much as possible”, says Piotr Leonarski, attorney-at-law and tax advisor, Head of B2RLaw’s Tax Practice, who will be a representative of the VAT Expert Group.
Along with him, B2RLaw’s Tomasz Zaleski, an award-winning tax advisor, will also be among the EU advisors.
The VAT Expert Group was established in order to provide opinions and transfer specialist knowledge during work on regulations and during their implementation. The task of the expert group also includes providing detailed information on the practical implementation of EU legislation and other policy initiatives in the field of VAT. Moreover, the European Commission can consult the group on all matters related to the preparation and implementation of EU legislation and other policy initiatives taken at the EU level in the field of VAT.
B2RLaw has once again advised The Village Network, the Polish company behind Wioski.co, which is run by three female entrepreneurs, on financing received by a group of investors, including Credo Ventures, 500 Startup and Tilia Impact Ventures. The start-up has just finalized a EUR 3.4 million seed round, allowing the company to open its first foreign villages.
The Village Network offers high-quality nurseries, kindergartens, day care centers and schools based on the values of intimacy parenting, non-violent communication and pedagogy that focuses on the needs of the child.
The mission of the organization is to support parents and educators in opening their own childcare points. It facilitates the co-creation of villages – places underpinned by the respect for children and their ideas. As a whole, these communities are changing the face of child education.
The Village is an SaaS enabled marketplace that reaches two target groups. It connects parents looking for professional care for their child, and persons who provide such care. This helps facilitate the process of mothers (fathers are also welcome to participate!) returning to work after maternity leave, whilst also creating new employment by, for example, professionalizing the services of nannies and childminders. It is the first such available comprehensive solution on the market of childcare and early childhood education on a European scale, and is in line with the global micro-schooling trend.
B2RLaw’s team was led by Agnieszka Hajos-Iwańska (Partner) and included Teresa Pilecka–Juda (Senior Associate) and Magdalena Zawiślak (Junior Associate).
Agnieszka Hajos-Iwańska advises, “we thank The Village Network for once again trusting us to advise on this exciting transaction. Our all-women team is extremely proud to have supported three female entrepreneurs that are changing the face of the child care and education market, and we wish them well on their further journey in doing so”.
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