Reporting on the most interesting recent developments in Bulgaria Gugushev & Partners Law Office Senior Partner Dafinka Stoycheva shares her views on continuing political instability in the country, a major investment dispute, and significant legal and regulatory developments.

Despite the holiday season traditionally being slow, this year has been unusually busy, according to Linklaters National Managing Partner Marcin Schulz, both with notable deals underway and a strong pipeline of anticipated M&A work post-summer.

Turkiye’s economy is showing signs of a resurgence, according to Gen Temizer Partner Bulut Girgin who has observed increased optimism among international investors recently, despite high inflation, and who reports a booming IPO market indicating a positive trend that could lead to a major economic boom.

Recently, there has been a surge in interest in establishing cryptocurrency companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina – spurred by favorable tax conditions – accompanied by increasing investments from the EU and China in renewable energy and infrastructure projects, according to Sajic Law Firm Senior Partner Sanja Djukic.

In the wake of a recently concluded election cycle in North Macedonia, businesses and investors are closely monitoring the new government's policy directions, according to Papazoski and Mishev Law Firm's Attorney at Law Ivan Mishev.

In Austria, economic challenges confronting businesses keep lawyers busy, according to Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner Partner Florian Kranebitter. Financial difficulties, compounded by post-COVID-19 financial strains and challenges in the supply chain are at the top of the agenda alongside a drive to nurture startups and an increasing emphasis on sustainability.

Slaughter and May’s Victoria MacDuff, Richard Hilton, and Adam Sriskandan Talk About the Deal of the Year in Hungary.

Your Legal Partners’ Katerina Politopoulou, Maria Golfinopoulou, and Prokopis Linardos Talk About the Deal of the Year in Greece.

An in-depth look at Tomas Sequens of Kocian Solc Balastik covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

An in-depth look at Branko Maric of Maric & Co covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

In our Looking In series, we talk to Partners from outside CEE who are keeping an eye on the region (and often pop up in our deal ticker) to learn how they perceive CEE markets and their evolution. For this issue, we sat down with Addleshaw Goddard Partners Markus Perkams from Frankfurt and Alex Hogarth from London.

An in-depth look at Balazs Dominek of Szabo Kelemen & Partners Andersen Attorneys covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

On February 29, 2024, energy experts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Turkiye, and Ukraine sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the key developments in the field of oil & gas over the past few years.

On March 26, 2024, TMT/IP, fintech, and emerging technology experts from Hungary, Romania, and Turkiye sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Neag to discuss how Blockchain-related technologies, businesses, and legislation are shaping up in their jurisdictions.

On November 21, 2023, corporate/M&A and private equity experts from Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkiye, and Ukraine sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the key developments in the field over the past decade.

On November 10, four Banking & Finance experts from Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss banking consolidation, financing availability, the effects of high interest rates, bank capitalization, green financing, the specter of loan restructuring, and the other challenges the sector is facing.

Hosted by Penkov, Markov & Partners, nine lawyers from Bulgaria – six working in-house and three in private practice – sat down for a round table conversation to discuss the EU Whistleblowing Directive and how it will impact companies in the country.

On July 7, four leading lawyers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Ukraine sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the increasing prominence of ESG issues and their impact on M&A transactions, due diligence procedures, and the role of the lawyers themselves.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is entering the legal services sector. Some law firms, particularly the largest ones, are already experimenting with AI not only to streamline internal processes but also to perform legal tasks. So, let's address the elephant in the room - AI is shrinking the legal services market by introducing a new competitive threat unlike any we've encountered before.

With a private practice background spanning over 20 years, John James McVeigh is the CEO and Head Trainer at Nixedonia – a business development company he established in 2015. He shares some of his insights on business development in the CEE legal world.

ChatGPT, an AI that claimed to be able to write an answer or even a brief article on any topic, became the talk of the year 2022. Copywriters, PR professionals, and marketing experts will all benefit from it greatly. But should we be scared?

In Part 1, I talked about the dilemma facing most lawyers when asked to involve themselves with business development. If you want to be good at BD, it helps a lot to be an optimist. But, since most lawyers are uber-pessimists, we struggle with BD and find ourselves with practically zero persistence.

Lawyers know that business development requires a handful of sales skills, a pinch of luck, and a boatload of persistence. Freaking BD persistence… it’s a serious problem for all of us. We didn’t go to law school to do sales.

When you get up to present at a conference, what is your goal? Since lawyers are addicted to billable hours, you are probably gambling some non-billable time with the hope of landing some legal work. To accomplish this, you want to sell yourself to potential clients as a competent, trustworthy, and mildly entertaining lawyer.

Reporting on the most interesting recent developments in Bulgaria Gugushev & Partners Law Office Senior Partner Dafinka Stoycheva shares her views on continuing political instability in the country, a major investment dispute, and significant legal and regulatory developments.

Despite the holiday season traditionally being slow, this year has been unusually busy, according to Linklaters National Managing Partner Marcin Schulz, both with notable deals underway and a strong pipeline of anticipated M&A work post-summer.

Slaughter and May’s Victoria MacDuff, Richard Hilton, and Adam Sriskandan Talk About the Deal of the Year in Hungary.

Your Legal Partners’ Katerina Politopoulou, Maria Golfinopoulou, and Prokopis Linardos Talk About the Deal of the Year in Greece.

In the dynamic Central and Eastern European legal sector, the trend of law firms merging and consolidating has become increasingly prominent. This trend is driven by a quest for synergies, expanding the client base, achieving cost savings, and gaining a competitive edge in the war for talent.

ACI Partners Managing Partner Igor Odobescu, Nagy es Trocsanyi Founding Partner Peter Nagy, Kinstellar Partner Radovan Grbovic, Law Office Vujacic Partner Sasa Vujacic, and Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii Partner Robert Rosu discuss recent litigation trends across CEE, driven by the impact of economic shifts and regulatory changes in their jurisdictions.