As the Albanian government seeks to utilize the energy crisis as a catalyst for encouraging energy investments and production, significant changes are expected in the country's overall legislation – in light of the negotiation process – to comply with EU standards, according to Deloitte Legal Local Legal Partner Sabina Lalaj.

The major discussion points in Turkey have been drastically different – before and after the earthquake – with the upcoming elections gaining new importance, according to KP Law Managing Partner Onur Kucuk.

Polish lawyers are actively discussing two legislative acts – one regulating family foundations and the other focused on remote work – set to impact their practices, according to KWKR Konieczny Wierzbicki & Partners Managing Partner Michal Konieczny.

The real estate market in Lithuania is in flux, facing significant challenges and, at the same time, providing numerous opportunities to explore, according to Fort Legal Partner Ruta Radzeviciute-Meizeraite.

The Hungarian government is actively shaping the market and there are both positive and negative effects on many levels, according to Wolf Theiss Managing Partner Zoltan Faludi.

Finding its balance after a general election, Estonia is looking at a year of potential IT sector labor force shake-ups, a likely uptick of reorganization and bankruptcy procedures, as well as a potential real estate sector slowdown, according to Magnusson Estonia Managing Partner Jaanus Magi.

On February 21, CEE Legal Matters reported that Tokushev & Partners and Musseva & Ivanov had helped MFG Ins obtain an insurance license from the Financial Supervision Commission of Bulgaria. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Ivelina Kavurska, Director of Strategic Projects and a member of the Management Board of MFG, to learn more about the matter.

CEELMDirect Profile Pick: A series of interviews with partners and firms with Premium profiles on the CEELMDirect legal directory. Today’s interview: Gjorgji Georgievski, Partner at ODI Law in Skopje. 

On January 18, CEE Legal Matters reported that Fatur Menard had advised the Svetlik family on the sale of their 42% stake in Hidria owner H&R to Spanish corporation Gonvarri. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Gasper Svetlik, Co-Founder and CEO at Svetlik Family Office, to learn more about the matter.

An in-depth look at Eugenija Sutkiene of TGS Baltic covering her career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about her as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

CEELMDirect Profile Pick: A series of interviews with partners and firms with Premium profiles on the CEELMDirect legal directory. Today’s interview: Hugh Owen, Head of Legal at PwC CEE.

CEELMDirect Profile Pick: A series of interviews with partners and firms with Premium profiles on the CEELMDirect legal directory. Today’s interview: Vladimir Bojanovic, Managing Partner at Bojanovic & Partners in Belgrade.

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.

On July 12, four leading lawyers from Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the latest in ESG developments with a focus on green financing, its regional and local drivers and roadblocks, its impact on non-financial reporting, and what it all means for the legal profession.

On March 9, 2022, four leading Estonian lawyers sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the current state of the startup environment in Estonia and analyze its main drivers, the local startup ecosystem, and the regulatory environment shaping it.

On March 10, five leading lawyers in Serbia sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the current state and outlook of the renewables market in Serbia, with topics covered including the goals set and the country's National Renewable Energy Action Plan, the challenges presented by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the "conservative wave" in the country, the main players and the deals pipeline in the sector, the availability of green financing for renewable projects in the country, as well as the biggest regulatory hurdles currently still affecting renewables in Serbia and the participants' wishlist of what could be done to remove some of these obstacles.

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.

Although in most respects the law firm business in Central Europe is on par with other sophisticated practices in the rest of the world, coaching is one thing that has not been as widely adopted as elsewhere. This article addresses the questions of what coaching is, what it offers lawyers and law firms, and whether it should be more widely embraced by the legal profession in Central Europe.

In December of 2021, I had the pleasure of attending the CEELM Winter Ball, a festive event filled with good food and great discussions. Although I truly enjoyed this opportunity to catch up with old friends, I also found it fascinating to observe lawyers operating outside of their office comfort zone by partaking in the mysterious ritual of networking.

The following situation would cause me to pull my hair out – if I had any left.

Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, only eleven lawyers in CEE have worked on four or more reported Energy/Natural Resources deals in CEE since March 1, 2022?

On February 21, CEE Legal Matters reported that Tokushev & Partners and Musseva & Ivanov had helped MFG Ins obtain an insurance license from the Financial Supervision Commission of Bulgaria. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Ivelina Kavurska, Director of Strategic Projects and a member of the Management Board of MFG, to learn more about the matter.

Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, only eight Croatian lawyers have worked on more than one reported TMT/IP deal in the country since January 1, 2020?

As the Albanian government seeks to utilize the energy crisis as a catalyst for encouraging energy investments and production, significant changes are expected in the country's overall legislation – in light of the negotiation process – to comply with EU standards, according to Deloitte Legal Local Legal Partner Sabina Lalaj.

The major discussion points in Turkey have been drastically different – before and after the earthquake – with the upcoming elections gaining new importance, according to KP Law Managing Partner Onur Kucuk.

Polish lawyers are actively discussing two legislative acts – one regulating family foundations and the other focused on remote work – set to impact their practices, according to KWKR Konieczny Wierzbicki & Partners Managing Partner Michal Konieczny.