Kyndryl has hired Bartosz Jablkowski as its Country General Counsel, Poland and Baltics in Warsaw.

On November 9, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Legalio had advised IFP Erste Immobilienfonds fur Polen on the sale of Mercedes-Benz Buildingisition to Adventum. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Christoph Schmidt, Managing Limited Partner at IFP Erste Immobilienfonds fur Polen, to learn more about the sale.

Agnieszka Bienko-Michael has joined Eneris Group in Warsaw as its Legal Director in October 2021.

While real estate is turning heads, according to CMS Partner Michal Miecinski, tax hikes and high inflation might present cause for concern in Poland, heading into 2022.

Contributed by Penteris.

According to the information on the website of the Polish government, in the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, works on the bill which is supposed to implement Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law are in progress. According to the provisions of the directive, Poland is supposed to implement the whistleblower protection regulations into its legal system by 17 December 2021.

Former Deloitte Legal Partners Zbigniew Korba and Lukasz Szymanski have joined Taylor Wessing. Korba will lead the Banking and Finance practice while Szymanski will be taking over the Insurance practice in Warsaw. Along with the two Partners, eight more lawyers are set to join Taylor Wessing by February 2022.

Former Dentons Real Estate Partner Maciej Jodkowski has joined Greenberg Traurig’s Warsaw office as Partner. His three-person team comprising Senior Associates Karol Lewandowski and Karolina Tulwin, as well as Alicja Kwiatkowska followed.

Former Pfeifer & Langen Poland Head of Legal Sylwia Stepniewska-Idzior has joined SMM Legal as a Partner and will head the firm’s German Desk.

Recent post-Covid months have shown some interesting positive trends on the Polish real estate market with a few surpassing expectations.

Over the past couple of years, Poland has become a leading player in the European IT market. According to Eurostat, there are approximately 554,000 IT specialists living in Poland. Although this is less than 5% of the total IT workforce in the EU, the number is constantly growing. It is also widely recognized that Polish IT specialists are well trained. If you also consider the convenient geographical location between West and East and the stable economic situation, it is no surprise that many foreign companies have found Poland to be a promising place to develop software and carry out related research and development activities.

Innovative technologies, software development, and gaming are becoming an increasingly important part of not only Poland’s M&A market but of the whole region. The greater presence of global tech investors seeking potential acquisitions in Poland is putting pressure on local developers to keep up with international standards and the fast pace of the acquisition process.

Poland and Ukraine – a distinct pairing some would say. The two European countries are close to one another – both geographically and historically – yet, while they share a lot of similarities, they remain quite distinct. Given the sheer size of these countries and economies, their relationship, and a growing amount of investor interest – going both ways – we took a deeper dive to explore what makes their relations tick. And what better way is there to understand the countries’ entangled relationship than to talk to someone with Marcin Wierzbicki’s profile? Born and raised in Poland, the Konieczny Wierzbicki Managing Partner has had the opportunity to spend quite some time in Ukraine and, as such, has a unique perspective on both countries and their respective markets.

Even though situated at the outskirts of the EU, Poland undoubtedly serves as one of the main pathways into the Union’s affluent west. The importance of its infrastructure is reflected in its prioritized investment position. Looking at investments made by the European Investment Bank alone, one could see that out of the EUR 79.8 billion invested in the country since 1990, about 47% went to infrastructure.

2021 turned out to be a surprise and many 2020 predictions concerning the legal market have not come true (luckily!). Despite predictions, legal advisors continue to be extremely busy. This is especially the case in M&A, real estate, and restructuring.

White & Case has completed a new round of firm-wide promotions, appointing 28 Local Partners and 40 Counsels. Among these were new Local Partners Jakub Gubanski, Aleksandra Oziemska, Bartosz Smardzewski, and Pawel Zagorski in Warsaw, Gokce Uluc in Istanbul, and Marianna Galusova in Prague.

On October 25, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Balicki Czekanski Gryglewski Lewczuk had advised Symfonia on its acquisition of Cloud Planet and Skanuj.to. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Wioletta Kaloska, General Counsel at Symfonia, to learn more about the matter.

Maciej Kalinowski has Joined Spectris Energy as its Head of M&A Legal in Poland.