The Corner Office: Most Common COVID-19-Related Questions?

The Corner Office: Most Common COVID-19-Related Questions?

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In The Corner Office feature of CEE Legal Matters we ask Managing Partners at leading law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. In light of current events, the question for this online occurrence of the feature is: "What have been the top three most often asked COVID-19 related questions that you have gotten from clients in the last month?

Our Real Estate clients, of course, asked us mainly about lease agreements and how they may be terminated or how more favorable conditions in such a crisis may be negotiated. Secondly, our clients were very much interested in getting information on labor contracts; perhaps not so much concerning a possible termination, but more in terms of the program Antivirus, which was introduced by the Czech government to prevent a termination of employment agreements in the ideal case.

One personal question, which I was asked very often, was, for how long I believe that this special situation will last. Of course, our clients know that we cannot see into the future but simply hope for an assessment. Although I am always trying hard to accommodate my clients and to make them feel safe and sound, I could not help them with that. But what I told them that makes this situation so special is that we advisors and our clients were in the same boat; we could share experiences and learn from each other.

Erwin Hanslik, Managing Partner, Taylor Wessing Czech Republic

 

I would like to stress out the growing number of requests related to labor and tax relations and recognition of force majeure. Similarly with the previous crisis, in times of economic recession, demand for dispute resolution and debt restructuring has already increased. However, nowadays, due to both external and internal reasons, terms of proceedings have been extended at the legislative level and court hearings are being postponed, so we draw our clients' attention to the option of pre-action procedures (in particular, through mediation).

I would like to note that the relevance of issues may change quite rapidly depending on economic rationale. My guess is that in times of crisis it is especially important to provide clients with an opportunity to control their costs (to set fixed legal fees) and to understand the process of professional legal assistance provision notwithstanding the essence of any specific requests.

The demand from the agricultural sector is likely to increase significantly. I believe that in a climate of tough competition, we will pay more attention to reputational risks and protection of business reputation.

Oleksandr Shkelebey, Managing Partner, Esquires

 

The situation changes every day and clients face new challenges all the time. At the very beginning, all businesses were concerned about people: what do I do with the employees when the company can’t do normal business? The clients felt a huge responsibility for the people working for them and their families and asked us for legal measures they can use to secure the interests of both – people and the company.

What do I do with my obligations under the contracts? Can I still request the partner to perform its obligations that are important to me? Previously we used Force Majeure clause in most of the contracts but never really understood the real purpose of it. The COVID-19 situation will make all lawyers to review the rather standard Force Majeure terms that we used before in the contracts and adapt it to the real-life situations like this.

Triniti has a strong litigation department, therefore, we had a lot of clients to explain that they had to be patient with the court proceedings – the hearings at the courts just stopped and judges were busy only with the written procedure. This situation was against the interests of the clients as their daily business was suspended not only because of COVID-19 but also because of frozen court proceedings. However, we managed to have the first online court hearing in Lithuania and it went very well, thus making the client happy that his legal situations are being processed.

Vilija Viesunaite, Managing Partner, Triniti Vilnius

 

The business world has faced a number of problems due to quarantine in Ukraine. The first top question from our clients is whether quarantine may be considered as force majeure and whether the reference to force majeure may be the ground to avoid contractual liability. Concerning this, we stress that it is important to define whether such restrictions do cause an impossibility to fulfill the contractual obligations and if yes, what is the legal procedure to establish the force majeure.    

The second top question is whether tenants of retail spaces can avoid or reduce rent payment for the time when they suspend their trading activity due to quarantine. Our answer is yes, but the tenants have to agree on an exemption from rent payment with landlords referring to the appropriate legal provisions and just to be safe - to collect evidence for proving their position before the court in the future. 

Not about work, but about life. For the last month, we regret to note that the third top question from our clients concerns the divorcement. In such cases, our key task is to explain all legal consequences of this decision and to provide comprehensive legal support to spouses, but sometimes it is enough just to listen to them or to create an atmosphere of meaningful dialogue. 

In any case, we advise our clients to be well prepared for any possible legal difficulties in relation to their counterparts due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed in Ukraine and to use legal options properly to minimize negative effects both on their business and daily life. 

Oleh Gromovyi, Managing Partner, Gentls Law Firm

 

The COVID-19 pandemic and practices carried out by the countries for precautionary purposes have inevitably resulted in undesired consequences in many aspects of our lives. We have been receiving a wide range of questions from our clients regarding the pandemic’s potential legal consequences as well as the newly adopted legislation. One of the questions that we have been commonly receiving is whether the pandemic and related precautions may be deemed as a force majeure event in commercial relationships. Another frequently asked question is about lease agreements, with a specific focus on the parties’ mutual obligations. Finally, our clients often pose questions regarding employment-related matters, particularly about termination rights, make-up working system, short-term working, and use of annual paid leave or unpaid leave options. 

Umut Kolcuoglu, Managing Partner, Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli Attorneys at Law

 

Our clients are facing a wide range of complex issues as a result of the pandemic. One of the most common areas of concern is, of course, related to employment law. Confronted by a multitude of challenges, employers are understandably keen to know what their options are under Hungarian employment law in relation to remote work, reduced working hours, employee leave, and wages. The Hungarian Government has introduced certain measures aimed at job-retention including state salary aid, so we are working hard to keep our clients abreast of new developments and opportunities as they arise. 

Many of our clients find themselves in situations where they or a party they have contracted with are struggling to fulfill contractual obligations in the current circumstances. Whether these circumstances constitute force majeure and what the contracting parties' options are depends on several factors including whether the contract is governed by the old or new Civil Code and the wording in the contract itself, so each case needs to be assessed individually. There's a lot of potential for uncertainty, particularly as we know from experience that the courts' interpretation of relevant provisions can vary widely. We also find clients seeking assistance to re-negotiate lease agreements due to their changed circumstances, particularly in relation to rent payments.

Finally, we have been helping several clients navigate amended civil litigation procedure rules. In mid-March, the Government announced a temporary judicial vacation, which affected court deadlines although parties could still file submissions and various other court documents. Since the end of March, however, deadlines have resumed and the courts have been operating via remote hearings, which presents both practical and legal challenges. Of course, it will take some time as parties on both sides of the bench adjust to the new normal, but we are certainly excited to see innovative measures being adopted to combat the current challenges. 

Zoltan Hegymegi-Barakonyi, Managing Partner, Baker McKenzie Attorneys-at-Law

 

Due to the closure of interstate borders and the introduction of restrictions on the activities of most enterprises due to the pandemic, the overall need for legal assistance and representation interests of foreign companies in Russia has increased. The most common requests we are seeing relate to: (1) bankruptcy procedures of an enterprise and minimization of risks and losses of an enterprise, (2) resolution of administrative issues related to licensing activities of enterprises and (3) legal consulting of enterprises on measures and restrictions adopted for the functioning of business entities during the quarantine regime.

Of course, each client's case needs to be taken on a case by case basis but here are three specific recent inquiries and what our take on them is:

Question: The representative office of the company has a problem in organizing the receipt and registration of goods on the territory of Russia, as well as in registration actions. How can you help? At the moment, quarantine regimes related to the pandemic caused by coronavirus infection have been introduced on the territory of the Russian Federation's constituent entities. Accordingly, there are restrictions on movement and organization of work in daily mode. However, our company has special legal entities – counsel who are not subject to these prohibitions in accordance with the law. Accordingly, these employees will be assisted by a power of attorney in the registration and organization of cargo receipt at the place of receipt, and claim work will be carried out.

Question: Our company was a distributor of textile products manufactured in the Republic of Turkey. At the moment, due to falling demand, closing of leased retail store space, and currency appreciation, the company is incurring losses, which will lead to non-fulfillment of mandatory payments: wages, rent, loans, and fiscal charges. How do you minimize risks and close this business? To minimize the risks associated with administrative, tax, and criminal liability in this case, a set of measures will be required: tax optimization, financial audit of economic activities, legal risk assessment and a managed bankruptcy of the enterprise – this is the minimum necessary, the results of which will guarantee the final result.

Question: our company is a manufacturer of bakery and culinary products in the field of public catering. Currently, some employees are running out of personal medical records, and the possibility of extending them is not possible due to the current situation. How should we organize work without violating epidemiological legislation and get out of this situation without administrative fines? In fact, it is currently not possible to conduct an examination and extend your personal medical record under the current quarantine regime due to restrictions on the work of medical institutions. However, violation of epidemiological measures in the production of public catering can lead to the imposition of large fines. It is necessary to send appropriate requests for the organization of medical examination of employees, get a response about the absence of the possibility of conducting it, and issue an internal audit of the act of force majeure with the application of relevant legislation and regulations. In case of verification of your organization, the collected documents will be used in administrative and judicial proceedings, as proof of the innocence of an administrative offense.

Igor Sidorenko, Senior Partner, BRB Ramo Group, Russia

 

As in the rest of the world, in Serbia, we are facing unprecedented times with the introduction of the state of emergency on March 15 and the country facing nearly total lockdown for more than a month now. The government continues multiplying decrees, conclusions, and recommendations on an almost daily level.

A wide scope of employment-related questions immediately emerged upon declaration of the state of emergency and these, without a doubt, represent the most often asked questions in the last month regardless of company size or industry. Clients started off requiring an instant understanding of basic legal obligations of employers in the light of Coronavirus outbreak, followed by more specific issues pertaining to remote work and work on-site, compensation during isolation regime, legal measures for optimizing workforce during the temporary business decline, etc.

The introduction of state aid measures for the private sector initially announced at the end of March and formally adopted mid of April created many uncertainties. Clients demanded clarity as to the eligibility criteria or whether they may opt between different measures or is there a mandatory cumulative use of direct cash grants and tax deferrals.

Finally, our 3rd most often asked question by clients relates to the review of diverse commercial agreements and providing targeted advice on a case by case basis. We frequently advised on matters of restructuring existing retail lease deals given that many commercial tenants were banned from work for over 30 days.

Djordje Nikolic, Partner, NKO Partners Serbia

 

Questions mostly concerned the measures adopted by the Austrian government to limit the spread of COVID-19, in particular with regard to statutory claims for indemnity under Austrian disease control legislation as well as the state aid programs made available by the Austrian government to soften the economic impact of COVID-19. From a labor law perspective, this particularly included questions on short-time work and the possibility of dismissals in this context, the unilateral reduction of an employee's salary reductions, and the consumption of vacation ("furlough"). Many clients, both landlords and tenants, reached out to us in order to receive information on rent reduction claims in connection with the restrictions of use for retail shops and restaurants. Due to the novelty of the situation, there is little case law to be used as a reference, so clients approached us for guidance on how to handle these claims. Finally, many questions concerned the wide-ranging impact of the crisis on pending and future M&A transactions, ranging from challenges to the valuation of targets, the availability of financing for the purchase price, purchase price adaptation formulas, MAC and force majeure clauses and general delays to transactions due to longer (merger control) and new (foreign investment control) regulatory proceedings.

Axel Anderl, Martin Brodey, and Francine Brogyanyi, Managing Partners, Dorda

 

The most often questions relate to how to navigate lockdown restrictions introduced in Russia? Whether companies can continue business in the light of restrictions and non-working days introduced. Whether a letter from a company included in the list of critical businesses who can continue to operate to its supplier (who is not on the lists) stating that the supplier is important for the company may enable the supplier to continue its operations.

Another question would be related to the supply chain disruptions. Whether the introduction of non-working days may be used as justification to defer payments under contracts, and how to comply with/enforce contracts during the lockdown/when a business has moved to remote working, and manage supplies/deliveries in areas with different restrictions (in different countries and different regions of a country).

Lastly, we also often received questions related to government measures to help businesses, and who qualifies, including payment of taxes and tax breaks, and how to file tax returns/formalize documents remotely.

Sergei Voitishkin, CIS Managing Partner, Baker McKenzie

 

As an office, we have been dealing with a wide range of COVID-19 related questions, both legal and practical including around getting deals done in a remote working environment. The vast majority of questions that I have received personally over the last month have all related to the contractual interpretation of English law contracts. These have ranged from assessing the ability of parties to withdraw or terminate agreements (or conversely to reassure clients that counterparties do not have that right) and the availability of redress for a counterparty's failure to perform under contracts to analyzing the impact of certain measures introduced by governments in the region (e.g. loan moratoria) on contractual arrangements. What has been quite refreshing, however, is that many clients have not been asking questions merely on legal related matters but also on a more personal level. There has been a clear desire to share experiences, both office related and personal, and I suspect that this will only increase as we enter the phase (I hope soon) of implementing a plan to get back to our offices. Being able to share stories about home working and all that this has entailed (sometimes amusing, sometimes less amusing) has been a positive aspect of client relationships in a pandemic situation and one which I would hope can be carried over into some form of normality when we get there.

Alex Cook, Managing Partner, Clifford Chance Prague

 

Since the middle of March, when the state of emergency was adopted in Romania, we have continuously worked towards finding solutions to our client’s questions related to this global phenomenon that impacts their businesses. The mandates quickly shifted so as to approach the current situation. Clients reached out for our assistance in a wide array of legislative aspects, from legal advice related to work-from-home clauses, technical unemployment, ongoing suppliers agreements, and development of comprehensive network security management strategies to certain post-state of emergency regulations. The workload has mostly reflected in employment, corporate and contract law matters.

Stefan Botezatu, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, act | Botezatu Estrade Partners 

 

The ongoing pandemic is raising numerous questions about the day-to-day business operations and the future of countless firms affected by it across the globe. Initially, employers were asking if they could examine the health of employees, guests, and business partners, and later on, they raised questions about remote working regulations. 

Due to concerns about substantial business and operational disruptions, including closures of workplaces, and disruptions to supply and distribution channels, we have also received numerous questions about whether the epidemic and its consequences could be qualified as an event of force majeure.

Additionally, many questions concerned tax matters and state aid, e.g. “Can payment deadlines for public dues (PIT, CIT, VAT, ZUS) be extended without additional extension fees?”; “How to apply to the Polish Development Fund (PFR) or Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) for financial assistance”. Later on, we were also asked about the Anti-Crisis Shield, which covers the areas mentioned above.

Krzysztof A. Zakrzewski, Managing Partner, Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka Law Firm

 

The questions we are getting from clients are evolving over time as the COVID-19 situation itself evolves.  Their first concern was to keep their employees safe, so they were looking for advice on how to transition to remote working, and how to fulfill their safety obligations to protect the health of employees.

Now we are seeing more and more questions related to the longer-term economic effects, as well as to the government measures to mitigate their impact.  From the Employment perspective, many companies are asking if they may apply for a state subsidy to cover salary costs for the time employees could not work.  They are also looking for advice on how to implement reduced working hours.  Our Banking and Finance team is seeing a great deal of uncertainty about how the Czech Republic’s new loan moratorium will work in real life - which loans are eligible, what to do with different elements of financing?  Since there is little guidance available, we are encouraging lenders and borrowers to work together to agree a way forward.  Our Real Estate team is getting questions from property owners about how rent deferrals will impact their business and whether there will be support available to them.  The situation will continue to evolve, and we might see a few months down the line more questions about restructuring, tax and other associated challenges. 

Many of our clients are curious about how laws in one country compare to others – are some “better or worse”?  And they are also keen to hear if there are some best practices they can learn from similar companies in Asia, which have already come out of the crisis

Michal Hink, Managing Partner, Dentons Czech Republic

 

The most common question is related to implementing reduced working time. This is partly triggered by closures or partial closures of some businesses due to the state of emergency in Bulgaria. It is also the result of a decrease in orders or revenue for some companies, some of which consider reduced working time as a tool to preserve cash flows while keeping the workforce.

Another frequent question is on the types of e-signatures and their legal effect. In times of remote work, e-business knowledge is crucial, including how to create legally binding contracts, adopt binding resolutions, and initiate official procedures without an in-person presence. We analyzed some of the main corporate and sector-specific documents to compare the possibility of e-signing. Our advice on document requirements and type of e-signature has been crucial for business continuation for many of our clients.

Lease agreements are another hot topic. Tenants could potentially claim the suspension of rental payments due to the landlord’s failure to ensure undisturbed possession of the leased premises. The reference to COVID-19 measures as a force majeure event should be examined on a case-by-case basis, and we help our clients analyze causal links between a force majeure event and the impossibility to meet specific obligations. In any event, Bulgarian law explicitly disregards the lack of funds as grounds for exemption from liability.

Diana Dimova, Managing Partner, Kinstellar Bulgaria

 

As the world strives to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and its burgeoning effects on the global economy, we receive an increasing number of questions about different practices and industries. Companies are looking for ways to protect their people from the short- and long-term effects of COVID-19 and to safeguard the future of their businesses. The pandemic has had a catastrophic effect on businesses globally, leading companies to consult their lawyers about various issues in different practice areas.

Most of our clients were interested in areas like employment law, government interventions, including tax-related reliefs, leases agreements, and data protection regulations. Furthermore, many clients are restructuring their business activities, thus our competition law department was busy with related questions. Multinational clients have asked several compliance-related questions. We were very positively surprised how a lot of clients were trying to support their supply chains and business ecosystem, thus many of them guided their suppliers to find financing. Expectedly during the pandemic, most companies have asked about force majeure, hardship, and similar claims in various types of commercial contracts as well as the lease agreements. They have also asked us about government interventions, particularly Covid measures introduced by the government on various fronts; and measures taken in the banking sector to soften expected disruptions and taxations.

I believe that the pandemic will precipitate a dramatic restructuring of the economic order, and companies must take precautions and develop their responses faster and in a more solid way. We distinguish the new normal from the next normal where the new normal defines the current era, and the era after the pandemic can be defined as the next normal. In our view, the attitude of the management towards business ethics and caring for their employees, as well as suppliers during the new normal, will affect the "next normal" very much.

Ismail Esin, Managing partner, Esin Attorney Partnership

 

An overwhelming topic for everyone has been the various State supportive measures and aid rolled out across the Western Balkans. Another major topic has been the ‘green corridors’ to allow fast cross border essential goods transport. The newly established Transport Community Permanent Secretariat has been doing an amazing job. That said, I would like to address some more niche issues, which continuously resurfaced during the crisis.

For labor law, the most pressing issue has been whether an employer is entitled to terminate an employment agreement if the need to perform a specific job ceases to exist due to adverse changes in the economic environment. The Serbian Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) stated that employees cannot be laid off solely because their employer expects to suffer financial losses. Employers must prove that losses really occurred in their financial statements and through disrupted cash-flow. Thus, employers are not entitled to lay off employees based on mere anticipation of losses: lay-offs on these grounds must be appropriately substantiated and reasoned in order to survive review in the courts.

When it comes to force majeure, an undisputable stance of the SCC stopped the hotly-debated question whether pandemic and emergency measures are force majeure, as it not only force majeure circumstances (which arose after a contract is concluded) that can exclude liability for damages for non-performance of the contract. It is sufficient that a debtor could not prevent, eliminate, or avoid these circumstances. Force majeure, however, is not some magical concept that exempts contracting parties from liability. 

Tenancy agreements have given rise to questions about whether businesses could ask their landlords for a decrease in rent due to the lockdown. Established legal principles of good faith and fairness found in case law seem to provide an affirmative answer. However, it remains to be seen how the courts will adjudicate in COVID-19 related matters.

Bogdan Gecic, Managing Partner, Gecic Law

 

The ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues to affect communities and businesses around the world.

The Mayor of Moscow imposed very strict quarantine, self-isolation, and social distancing measures, which include a requirement on individuals to obtain electronic passes to use any private or public transport and strict limitations on access of employees to office premises. The Russian Parliament adopted legislation imposing criminal liability for breaches of quarantine measures if such breaches lead to mass illnesses. These emergency measures created a lot of issues for HR and Legal departments of Russian companies as they are constantly required to navigate changing regulations and ensuring that the top managers of the companies are not exposed to criminal liability.

Emergency measures adopted to support businesses require prompt advice on the scope of their application and guidance on their interpretation. On 3 April 2020, the Russian Government issued a decree pursuant to which it imposed a six-month moratorium on the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings concerning strategic companies, companies of systemic importance, and certain other entities. The protection from bankruptcy came at a price as under the recent amendments to the Russian bankruptcy law (effective as of 1 April 2020) companies taking advantage of the moratorium are restricted from paying dividends and entering into certain transactions. There was a lot of uncertainty whether these restrictions apply to all companies on the Government’s list (expansive interpretation) or only to those companies that show signs of insolvency and are considered “debtors” under the bankruptcy law (narrow interpretation). The Russian Parliament rushed to amend the law and starting from 24 April 2020 companies can opt-out from the moratorium.

Another very common issue our clients face is whether a company can withhold payment of rent for corporate offices. Under the newly-adopted COVID-19-related Russian legislation, tenants that operate in the hardest-hit sectors of the economy are entitled to a rent deferral. Many companies outside of the worst-hit sectors are also seeking to renegotiate their lease terms or obtain a rent holiday during the period when they cannot access their office or are unable to operate their business.

Alan Kartashkin, Managing Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton

 

Similar to the rest of the world, the global COVID-19 pandemic and the various measures implemented for combatting it, has put the business in Bulgarian before enormous and a wide variety of challenges. Respectively, there are several “hot topics” of tremendous interest for the majority of the businesses at the moment. Firstly, most frequently received inquiries are in the field of employment and more specifically with respect to the degree of flexibility offered by the current legal framework as to new appointments and/or termination of employment relations. Respectively, we are observing the formation of a new trend among the employers who are now focusing on mutually flexible employment relations as more adequate to the dynamically changing economic environment. Another point of great interest for the business at the moment is the concept of force majeure, its scope, and the related terms and conditions for its legal application in accordance with the Bulgarian law, as the belief that this a universal “gateway card” is tremendously misconstrued. Lastly, but not least important for the private sector is the matter with the rising business-to-business debts, possible legal means, and other types of opportunities to manage the impact and mitigate the risks via supplementary and/or external sources of funding for example.

Victor Gugushev, Partner, Gugushev & Partners

 

Needless to say, COvID-19 is definitely a hot topic in all realms of life and business in Croatia these days. As expected, DTB’s clients have been eager to adapt their operations to the new situation and have been curious about the implementation of COVID-19 measures in Croatia. 

One topic that was often discussed was the notion and interpretation of force majeure under COVID-19, i.e. can this pandemic indeed be considered force majeure. In fact, this specific question was so interesting that our corporate team gave a webinar on the topic. Interpretation of what constitutes force majeure and options under force majeure was particularly interesting in the real estate retail sector, i.e. to landlords and tenants.

Another matter that our clients enquired about is related to employers’ obligations under COVID-19, especially those clients whose businesses continued operating under the new circumstances. Their questions were mostly related to the employers’ new obligations aimed at ensuring the safety of their personnel and customers, as well as related to methods of temporary regulation of employment relations in the circumstances of COVID-19, including work from home, changed working hours, measures for job retention, etc. Furthermore, we have received quite a number of queries related to the protection of data privacy, given that employers are now obligated to collect more personal information than was the case before (mostly health-related info).

Finally, a lot of clients wanted to know about the possibilities of online submitting of documents and papers to courts and other state bodies (something that had not been very common in Croatia before COVID-19 situation); use and validity of e-signatures as well as extensions of deadlines for filing various documents.

Emir Bahtijarevic, Managing Partner, Divjak Topic Bahtijarevic

 

We have been closely monitoring the latest developments and are in close contact with our clients during these challenging times.  

The very first question we are asked concerns our health (and that of our family and colleagues) as well as how we are dealing with the challenges thrown up by the lockdown restrictions in terms of working and managing a team remotely.

In terms of legal issues, one of the most common questions from clients is the application of concepts such as force majeure and frustration of contract under English law, either from the perspective of a party who is unable or looking to avoid their liabilities or a party worried that their counterpart will do so. Some of the most frequently asked questions from clients involved in financing transactions relate to the application of financial covenants in circumstances where the expectation is that many companies will struggle to comply with those and the use of material adverse effect provisions as a result of the impact of the pandemic on companies. Finally, we have been receiving various questions regarding the validity of documents that have been signed electronically or cannot be notarized or legalized as well as changes to the registration requirements applicable to certain documents such as mortgages.

George Paleokrassas, Partner, Head of the WFW’s Athens office, Watson Farley & Williams

 

The unprecedented nature of the current situation affected everyone, from large to small companies and also individuals as such. The clients are effectively trying to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic and are daily facing challenges towards finding effective solutions for their business. Since it is as of yet unclear how long the pandemic will last, they have a lot of questions in connection with the novelties regarding Acts the Government of the Republic of Slovenia is proposing and adopting, as for example clients ask for legal advisory services especially regarding workforce (temporary lay-off, downtime, redundancy, fixed-term terminations, salaries, etc.), bank loans and other financial services, lease agreements and rent reduction possibilities, online shareholders’ meetings and the challenges regarding this, withdrawal from commercial contracts (due to force majeure), etc.

Matej Kavcic and Simon Bracun, Managing Partners, Law firm Kavcic, Bracun & Partners