Bucharest Dispute Resolution Boutique
We offer cutting-edge legal expertise in national and international dispute resolution by providing pragmatic and creative tailored solutions to our clients’ problems.
With an innovative and forward-looking mindset, we continuously adapt and evolve to meet emerging challenges and seize new opportunities. We are problem solvers, providing quick response and outstanding service to our clients’ commercial, financial and technical legal challenges.
Our services and areas of expertise
In an intensely competitive global marketplace, disputes are inevitable. Our team of lawyers has successfully provided assistance and representation legal services before all competent Romanian courts of law in complex civil and commercial litigations, public law disputes, employment litigations, tax related disputes, enforcement procedures and litigation matters related to public procurement.
We have acted for a large portfolio of clients of all sizes (both natural and legal persons, local, regional and national authorities and institutions etc.), advising them and representing their rights and interests in delicate and complex litigations in a variety of legal fields, as well as in connection with enforcement measures and the relevant procedure conducted by the enforcement officers.
Our approach as regards building a legal strategy for success consists of a thorough assessment of each dispute and identifying the client’s potential risk, in view of mitigating it. Thus, we always try to find the most appropriate solution to resolve a dispute by favoring a pragmatic approach in line with the client’s objectives. The long-standing experience in the field and the in-depth knowledge of all of our lawyers ensure the most efficient and successful approach to each case.
Our litigation practice covers the full life-cycle of a dispute: pre-litigation strategy and negotiation, drafting and filing, evidence and witness work, oral advocacy at every level, and enforcement of judgments. We handle disputes that are urgent, technical, and high-stakes and we treat first-instance proceedings with the same intensity as appeals to the High Court.
We advise and represent contracting authorities and economic operators on the full range of public procurement and administrative law matters, before the National Council for Solving Complaints (CNSC) and the Romanian courts. Public procurement is a defining practice of the firm. We act on tender preparation, bid challenges, contract performance disputes, FIDIC-based construction claims under public contracts, and the administrative litigation that frequently follows.
Having gathered extensive expertise in this field, we provide legal services on both transactions and litigation, covering all aspects of public economic law, including administrative contracts, regulatory matters, freedom of information, government-owned assets, human rights, permits and authorizations, public and mixed entities/structures, public-private partnerships. Our team of lawyers with in-depth knowledge of administrative law assists and advises public authorities (regional or local), but also private companies and individuals. Particularly, our law firm has gathered remarkable expertise in providing advising and representation legal services related to drafting the tender books for public procurement procedures, legal assistance and representation throughout the entire period of the initiated public procurement procedures, including within the tender evaluation phase, drafting requests for clarification, as well as responses to requests for clarification submitted by the economic operators, legal assistance and representation before the National Council for Solving Complaints and before the Romanian competent courts of law.
We act as counsel in commercial and investment arbitration, and in the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Romania. Through our partnership with Teynier Pic, we run integrated Bucharest–Paris teams on cross-border arbitrations seated in Paris, Geneva, London and other principal seats.
Our team of lawyers has achieved substantial experience both in national arbitration, as well as in the field of international commercial and investment arbitration proceedings, providing assistance and representation legal services before the Dispute Adjudication Board, the International Court of Arbitration – ICC Paris and the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes – ICSID Washington. The disputes in which we provided legal assistance and representation have ocurred as a result of the implementation of various projects in connection with major investments (higways, energy, oil and gas, water treatment plants, investments for the privatization of Romanian companies etc).
In addition to successfully representing clients in commercial arbitration proceedings, we have also provide legal services in court proceedings that deal with arbitration issues, including requests to approve or set aside arbitration awards, or to recognize and enforce foreign arbitration awards. Our significant experience of conducting arbitration proceedings under various key institutional rules, as well as our ability to provide pragmatic counsel and make strategic decisions have won our client’s confidence. Also, our impeccable rendering of legal services enabled us to build excellent relationships with the most respected arbitrators and arbitration practitioners worldwide.
We advise corporations on the commercial and corporate issues that most often give rise to disputes and we represent them when those disputes arise. Our perspective is that of a dispute resolution firm: we see contracts and corporate structures through the lens of how they will be tested. Our highly experienced team of lawyers ensures assistance in a broad range of legal issues that our clients are facing with, from legal advice provided in day-to-day commercial and corporate matters, to aspects regarding the formation and development of start up business in Romania, foreign investment in various sectors, M&A transactions, as well as in connection with all types of commercial contracts.
Our corporate and commercial practice supports the dispute resolution work of the firm. We advise on the negotiation and drafting of contracts where the risk of future litigation or arbitration is material: joint venture agreements, distribution and agency contracts, shareholder agreements, complex commercial supply arrangements. We act in shareholder disputes, in claims arising from M&A transactions, and in breach of contract litigation across sectors.
Whether our clients are large corporate undertakings or smaller enterprises, we deliver accurate and propmt legal advice in commercial & contract law and corporate matters as well as in mergers and acquisitions. Each and every legal issue has its particularities, therefore we perform an in-depth anaysis of both the factual background and applicable law and we counsel our clients to identify potential problems in order to avoid litigation when possible and seek a mutual mediation agreement. Our dedicated legal team will always provide a tailored strategy whilst keeping flexibility in mind with the ever changing corporate environment.
Construction disputes are among the most technically complex matters we handle. We act for employers, contractors, subcontractors and engineers on disputes under FIDIC and bespoke construction contracts - in arbitration, in court, and in the dispute boards that often precede them.
We have successfully provided legal assistance and representation in the field of construction law and infrastructure, having gained a solid expertise in dealing with complex problems that arise in such investment projects, among which we mention water treatment plant projects, railway projects, highway projects, energy, oil and gas related projects and other major infrastructure investments.
Our range of legal services include, but without limitation, assistance during the tender procedure, legal analysis, drafting amendments and negotiation on draft FIDIC contracts and all accompanying documentation, legal advice on permits and licences, as well as during the construction process, assessment of the compatibility of FIDIC’s rules with the Romanian construction law. Moreover, our team of lawyers gathered extensive experience in providing legal assistance and representation within the procedures conducted before the Dispute Adjudication Boards, our law firm having acted either as a counsel for the Employer or the Contractor.
U funding brings with it a distinct legal architecture, eligibility rules, procurement obligations, audit and clawback regimes, and the litigation that follows. We act for beneficiaries on the disputes that arise across the lifecycle of an EU-funded project, from procurement to financial correction.
Romania remains one of the largest recipients of EU funds in the region, and EU-funded projects generate a steady volume of disputes: challenges to award decisions, irregularities and financial corrections imposed by managing authorities, claims for unjustified clawback, and appeals before the Romanian administrative courts. We advise both private beneficiaries and public authorities, and we work closely with our public procurement practice on overlapping issues.
The implementing and management procedures in respect of EU-funded projects are complex and require multi-disciplinary approach as well as specific knowledge. Our team of lawyers constantly approaches the clients with customised solutions for their actual needs, which thus guarantees the success of each project. Based on our extensive expertise in this domain, we assist our clients in each procedural stage, namely:
• we identify and prepare the documentation necessary to obtain financing for the projects,
• we provide tailored legal assistance in connection with the on-going projects (drafting all the necessary documents for the implementation of the projects, including of public procurement documentation, checking and approving from a legal standpoint of all documents drafted during the projects, drafting reports related to various legal issues arising during the project implementation) and also
• we offer consultancy services that cover the post-implementation period, in relation with the verification procedures performed by the control authorities.
We act for pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers and healthcare providers on the regulatory and commercial disputes specific to the sector, such as pricing and reimbursement challenges, public tender disputes, and litigation.
Healthcare in Romania operates at the intersection of intensive regulation, public procurement, and commercial contracting. We advise on disputes before the Ministry of Health, the National Health Insurance House (CNAS), and the National Medicines Agency (ANMDM), as well as on the public tender litigation that dominates pharmaceutical and medical device commerce. Our team works in coordination with the public procurement practice on tender challenges and with the regulatory team on pricing and reimbursement matters.
Our team of lawyers has a thorough understanding of the market demands and thus is always prepared to provide legal support in connection with various pharma and regulatory issues including:
• transactions – namely drafting, negotiation and advice with respect to all contracts relating to health products and services,
• regulatory aspects pertaining to drugs’ marketing autorisations, reimbursement and price-setting of health products, claw-back tax due by pharma companies, relations with health professionals, as well as
• various litigations arising from the health sector.
Energy is one of the most dispute-intensive sectors in which we work. We act on regulatory challenges, power purchase and offtake disputes, gas and electricity supply litigation, and arbitration arising from energy infrastructure projects.
Our professionals provide expertise to local, regional and international clients with a view to achieving a wide range of energy and environmental goals, with a special focus on developments in the renewables sector, solar and energy from waste projects.
Our energy and utilities practice involves advising clients in line with their business needs, in connection with the development, financing, acquisition and privatisation of power and utilities projects worldwide, in both developed and emerging markets.
We represent companies in competition investigations before the Romanian Competition Council and the European Commission, and in the litigation that follows: appeals against fining decisions, judicial review, and the growing field of private antitrust enforcement.
Competition enforcement in Romania has intensified: dawn raids, sector inquiries, and fining decisions in the hundreds of millions of lei. We act for companies under investigation, for those targeted by complaints, and for claimants in follow-on damages actions. Our practice covers cartels, abuse of dominance, merger control commitments, and the full litigation arc from the Competition Council to the High Court of Cassation and Justice and, where relevant, the Court of Justice of the European Union.
We provide assistance in all stages of antitrust proceedings and investigations performed by the Competition Council, with a view to helping our clients to secure their most important business objectives. Our reputed team of lawyers delivers reliable legal advice and expert representation in all areas of competition law. We support our clients in overcoming the challenges entailed by antitrust law, providing advice on both complex individual topics and the development and implementation of overall strategy.
Our IP practice is dispute-led. We act for rights holders enforcing trademarks, patents and copyright against infringers, and for defendants facing claims they consider over-extended. Our work extends to the unfair competition claims that often run in parallel with formal IP disputes, and to the customs and border-measure procedures that increasingly precede court action. We coordinate with foreign counsel on multi-jurisdiction enforcement campaigns.
We act in trademark, patent, copyright and unfair competition disputes, before the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM), the Bucharest Tribunal as the specialised first-instance court, and the higher courts on appeal.
We offer highly professional IP counselling services for clients on issues relating to IP management, enforcement, dispute counselling, transactions and acquisitions, aiming to protect and enforce our clients’ intellectual property rights as part of their overall business strategy. At the same time, our litigation experience covers all areas of intellectual property, our lawyers having dealt with complex trade mark litigation, including unfair competition, copyright and disputes relating to trade secrets.
We advise employers on the employment disputes that matter most: collective dismissals, senior executive separations, discrimination claims, and the litigation that follows. Our perspective is that of a firm built around disputes: we anticipate how an employment decision will look from the witness stand. We coordinate with international counsel for clients operating across multiple jurisdictions on harmonised employment frameworks.
Our experienced lawyers have been devising innovative ways to address clients' concerns related to most complex and sensitive employment related matters, with a focus on achieving clients’ goals, preserving flexibility and minimizing the potential risks.
We fully understand that employment and labour issues are usually pressing ones and need to be addressed quickly and effectively. Thus, we deliver our clients clear, practical and results-oriented legal advice on all aspects of employment and labour law, including drafting and negotiating individual and collective agreements, management contracts, labor law advice in M&A projects, executive immigration, employee benefits and pensions, workplace investigations, compensation arrangements, restructuring solutions. Also, our team has significant expertise in providing legal assistance and representation services before the competent authorities (including during inspections conducted by labor authorities), as well as before the Romanian competent courts of law in complex employment and labour law litigations.
We advise insurers, reinsurers, brokers and policyholders on the disputes that define the sector: coverage and policy interpretation, large-loss and catastrophic claims, subrogation and recovery actions, professional indemnity and D&O claims, and disputes with the regulator. Our perspective is shaped by the firm's litigation-first DNA: we anticipate how every coverage decision will look in court or before an arbitral tribunal.
Our lawyers act on the full range of insurance and reinsurance matters arising on the Romanian market and on cross-border programmes coordinated with our Paris alliance. We assist clients on the regulatory architecture supervised by the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), including authorisation, conduct-of-business rules, distribution under IDD, prudential requirements under Solvency II, and the handling of supervisory investigations and sanctions.
On the contentious side, we represent insurers and policyholders in coverage litigation and arbitration arising from property & casualty, marine, aviation, construction (CAR/EAR), liability, financial lines and life programmes. We have particular experience with construction-related insurance disputes connected to FIDIC contracts, energy and infrastructure projects, and with subrogation actions following major industrial losses. We also advise on bad-faith claims, late-notification defences, aggregation issues and the recognition of foreign judgments and arbitral awards rendered against Romanian insureds.
Our team coordinates closely with technical experts (loss adjusters, forensic accountants and engineers) and with international coverage counsel, to deliver a single, coherent strategy across jurisdictions. We act both pre-claim, on policy drafting and risk allocation, and through to enforcement of the final award or judgment.
