Warsaw

Our Practice

Weil Gotshal is widely-recognised as a leader among international law firms in Poland. The Warsaw office has top-tier M&A, private equity, capital markets and privatization practices, as well as leading dispute resolution, banking & finance and tax practices. Transactional support is provided by specialists in the fields of real estate, competition law, employment/employee matters, environmental and energy law, and IP/IT.

Approximately 60 attorneys are based in Warsaw, including Polish legal advisors and lawyers, as well as US- and UK-qualified attorneys. We often co-operate closely with Weil Gotshal’s other offices worldwide to provide the highest quality of legal services in connection with cross-border transactions.

We service a broad spectrum of clients, including many of the largest Polish companies as well as leading international entities. These clients are involved in a wide range of industries, including banking, media and entertainment, energy, telecommunications, utilities and automotive. Our most prominent recent representations include advising on the largest foreign acquisition ever made by a Polish company and the largest foreign acquisitions ever made by a Czech company, as well as advising on the two largest investments ever made by private equity funds in Poland. We advised on the largest IPO ever conducted in Central and Eastern Europe, and on the largest initial public offering ever conducted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange by a Polish private company. We also deliver excellent results representing our clients in a range of dispute resolution, litigation and regulatory matters.

Achievements, Community Service and Pro Bono

The Warsaw office of Weil Gotshal provides extensive pro bono legal assistance to the community. We co-operate closely with the Ashoka Foundation, which supports various non-governmental organizations, and we provide free legal services to 17 different associations and foundations, including the Children’s Cancer Relief Foundation, the Volunteer Centre, and the Friends of the Integration Association. We are a key partner of the Strategic Litigation Program run by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. We have been providing legal assistance in connection with the creation of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, and were honoured by the Museum with a special award for our pro bono work. The Warsaw office supported the first and second annual European Pro Bono Forums, which were held in October 2007 and October 2008 in Budapest.

In April 2007 we were selected by Rzeczpospolita, a leading Polish daily, as one of the finalists for the “Pro Bono Award of the Year”. In November 2007 we were recognized with a special award for "Activity pro publico bono" in the Ranking of Law Firms by Gazeta Prawna, a leading Polish legal newspaper. In May 2008 we were announced the winner of “Benefactor of the Year” award in the category of “Companies co-operating with an NGO” in the contest organized by the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland.

Peers and clients are impressed by this ensemble’s cross-border transactional and capital markets work, and agree that “if a bold approach is needed, this is the place to go.”

— Chambers Global 2008 on the Corporate/M&A practice of the Warsaw office

Praise for the practice is plentiful: “It has an exceptional ability to solve problems: if you want to do any capital markets transactions quickly and painlessly, this is the place to go.”

— Chambers Europe 2008 on the Capital Markets practice of the Warsaw office

"They're expanding quite aggressively in this sector and beginning to specialise in advising borrowers; they’re much quicker and more committed than other firms."

— 2009 edition of the IFLR 1000 on the Banking practice of the Warsaw office