Kochański & Partners

Managing Partner: Piotr Kochański

Equity Partners: Piotr Kochański, Paweł Cholewiński, Agata Dziwisz-Moshe, Anna Gwiazda, Michał König, Markiyan Malskyy, Paweł Mardas, Mateusz Ostrowski, Karol Połosak, Rafał Rapala, Aleksandra Ryżkowska, Michał Walczak, Wojciech Wrochna, Monika Wojciechowska

Number of partners: 25

Number of other fee-earners: +100

Offices: Warsaw, Krakow

Firm Overview:

Kochański & Partners combines technological progress, experience and expertise to create innovative legal solutions and offer its clients top quality services.

The firm is not only a legal advisor, but also an invaluable business partner, supporting companies in finding answers to global challenges and megatrends. The firm is actively shaping the legal and social environment around the hottest contemporary topics such as data-driven economics, decarbonization, the metaverse, ESG, global infrastructure, global finance and capital markets.

The firm is well-known for its cross-border services, international cooperation and knowledge sharing programmes. Its experienced lawyers and tax experts advise international companies on becoming established in Poland (through incorporation, commercial arrangements or business acquisitions) or on trading with their partners throughout the world. Its advisors are able to coordinate and provide a seamless service with the firm’s network of international law firms in Europe, the UK, the USA and Asia.

Kochański & Partners is committed to applying and promoting ESG practices in its business and work environment. The firm is a member of the United Nations Global Compact, and a signatory of the Diversity Charter under the aegis of the European Commission. The firm has voluntarily participated in the non-financial survey by independent international auditor EcoVadis, being ranked in the 89^th percentile of participating companies and awarded a Silver EcoVadis Medal.

Main Areas of Practice:

Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

Kochański & Partners’ Dispute Resolution practice consists of international disputes, commercial disputes, civil and media litigation, and disputes of financial institutions. Within this practice, more than 40 lawyers are regularly engaged in sophisticated and challenging dispute projects, often of a landmark nature.

Kochański & Partners’ international disputes team receives instructions from foreign investors under bilateral investment treaties in the most complex investor-State arbitrations, while the commercial disputes practice faces an increasing number of instructions to represent clients in the most complex commercial cases, both via arbitration and in courts. The Civil and media litigation team supports freedom of speech, often defending journalists in high stakes disputes concerning leading political and media events in Poland and Central Europe. Kochański & Partners is also well-known for having the largest team of banking litigators in Poland, which places them among a limited pool of law firms creating strategies for financial institutions facing disputes over their market practice.

Key clients: Forteam Investment, Honwood Services, PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe, Aasted, Betomax (direct 100% subsidiary of Indus Holding), Ringier Axel Springer Poland, Bank BPH, LOT Polish Airlines, Bank PKO BP (the biggest bank in Poland), Castorama, Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (Polish national electricity transmission system operator)

M&A

Kochański & Partners’ lawyers provide comprehensive advice on M&A and private equity issues. They advise on noteworthy local and cross-border transactions and smaller scale complex projects, as well as assist strategic andfinancial investors and business entities.

The advantage of Kochański & Partners M&A team is their creative and pragmatic approach with priority always given to smoothly facilitate the achievement of a client’s business goals. The M&A team offers practical solutions and clear conclusions andprecisely identifies and realizes the goals of each transaction.

Types of M&A transactions: share deals, asset deals, mergers, spin-offs and transformations of companies, including regulated market companies, restructuring of companies and groups of companies, exit structuring, drafting and negotiating shareholders agreements and joint venture agreements

Key clients: State Street Corporation, State Street Bank, State Street Global Advisors, LOT Polish Airlines, INDUS Holding (parent company of Betomax systems), Blachotrapez, Revolt Energy, Ringer Axel Springer, Echo Polska Properties (EPP N.V.), Redefine, Dom Development, AccorInvest Group, Universal Fibers, Knight Frank, Coca-Cola HBC, Reckitt Benckiser, Air Products, Savills

Tax

Kochański & Partners’ Tax team is best placed to provide comprehensive advice on both domestic and international taxation, including ensuring effective tax settlements and accounting.

Kochański & Partners’ tax experts have renowned expertise in the field of tax litigation, international taxation, tax compliance (including transfer pricing), dynamic tax planning and structuring, accounting and complex advisory to companies operating in innovative sectors. They conduct their projects in close cooperation with other practices in order to ensure clients receive multidisciplinary legal advice to maximize their chances at mitigating legal risk.

Clients recognize that their advisors do not limit themselves to simply solving a single problem. By taking a broader perspective and analyzing the company's particular situation in depth, they show their clients new ways to make savings on their tax burdens, often through the obtaining of significant tax refunds.

The Tax team authored and published the ‘Taxation of Cryptocurrencies and NFTs, and Challenges in the Metaverse’, the first extensive tax report on this area in Poland.

Key services: dynamic tax planning (tax efficiency of transactions); tax compliance and tax reporting, including VAT, WHT, MDR and transfer pricing compliance; tax support in real estate transactions – share or asset deals; tax efficiency for innovative businesses; International Tax Law; CIT, PIT, VAT, local taxes; customs law; tax proceedings; tax support during the introduction of a company into the Polish or foreign market.

Key clients: State Street Bank, Tchibo, Schooner Capital, Johnson Matthey, Oxenwood Real Estate, Forza Foods, Redefine Properties, Pandora Jewellery, Techdow

Banking & Finance:

Kochański & Partners’ is best placed to advise its clients on every aspect of transactional banking, complex regulatory matters, litigation banking and innovative projects connecting banking and technology.

The company stands out as a pioneer and thought leader wherever technology merges with financial services. Kochański & Partners supported the biggest Polish bank in building their presence in the global metaverse and, in cooperation with the Polish Bank Association (ZBP), co-authored the major update to the Polish standard for cloud computing implementation in banks, acting as the exclusive legal counsel to the workgroup.

In terms of litigation banking, Kochański & Partners is among a limited pool of law firms creating strategies for financial institutions facing disputes over their market practices. They work with top tier banks, and as one of the premier law firms representing the banking sector have a current portfolio of over 7000 cases regarding claims over Swiss Franc related mortgage loans.

Key services: transactional banking, regulatory matters, cloud computing in the banking sector, financial services in the metaverse, litigation banking, cybersecurity in the financial service market

Key clients: Universal Fibers (subsidiary of H.I.G. Capital), State Street Global Advisors, Polish Bank Association (Związek Banków Polskich, ZBP), Bank BPH, Bank Millennium, Bank PKO BP, mBank

Energy

Kochanski & Partners offers both national and international clients a sophisticated legal and project management advisory regarding high profile energy projects, regularly acting on the development, financing, acquisition and disposal of a wide variety of energy generation and transmission assets, as well as specialist energy regulatory matters. The law firm is also building its reputation in the development of large scale and high profile infrastructural projects, with a unique and rich experience in the development of infrastructural projects in the Baltic Sea.

Kochański & Partners’ experts are best placed to advise its clients in all aspects of climate change and new technologies in the energy sector issues (including hydrogen, energy storage, and waste to energy projects). Their unique experiences in the energy market, also brings added value to infrastructural projects, in particular greenfield investments in which they advise on a number of auxiliary services including the development of the energy strategy for production facilities constructed or operated by their clients.

Key specializations: hydrogen advisory, nuclear advisory, offshore energy projects, ESG, capacity market, greenfield projects, RES, energy storage projects, biogas projects

Key clients: Ductor; CEE Equity Partners; Krynica Vitamin; Swiss Krono; Northvolt Systems Poland; SPP Group; Montis Capital; Orange Poland; Reckitt Benckiser; MFW Bałtyk (JV of Polish Polenergia and Norwegian Equinor)

Technology

Kochański & Partners’ Technology practice stands out as a thought leader in FinTech. They supported the biggest Polish bank in establishing their presence in the global metaverse and, in cooperation with the Polish Bank Association (ZBP), co-authored the major update to the Polish standard for cloud computing implementation in banks, acting as the exclusive legal counsel to the workgroup.

They authored and published the ‘Kochański & Partners Metaverse Report’, the first extensive report on the Metaverse in Poland.

The Technology Team specializes in all aspects of IT contracts, technology compliance, financial regulatory, blockchain & cryprtoassets, IT dispute resolution, and data protection, advising in particular, banks, insurance companies, payment services providers, investment funds and financial technology providers.

Key clients: ERGO Hestia, mBank, mBank Hipoteczny, mElements, Nest Bank, IZFIA (Chamber of Fund and Asset Managers), GFT Group, Związek Banków Polskich (Polish Banks Association), MAIN, Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy (Credit Agricole Group), PKO BP, Getin Noble Bank, Tameshi Investments

Real Estate

Kochański & Partners’ Real Estate practice acts for domestic and international business and advise on the full range of real estate transactions. The team has the commitment, resources and know-how to advise on all aspects of the ‘property cycle’, including acquisitions, developments, environmental, planning and leasing advice, as well as financing and exit.

Key services: general real estate advice, real estate transactions, forward purchase and forward funding projects, construction law, lease agreements, real estate financing, real estate restitution

Key clients: Panattoni, Oxenwood Real Estate, Beneteau Group, Ikea, Coca Cola, Savills Property Management, Johnson Matthey, AccorInvest Group, Skanska, Havi Logistics, Reckitt Benckiser, Equiniti Group PLC

Infrastructure

Kochański & Partners Infrastructure practice provides comprehensive advice to both economic operators and contracting authorities on the preparation and implementation of investment processes in all sectors of infrastructure and construction. The team supports its clients at every stage of the investment process, including the phase of preparing technical documentation for proceedings or obtaining financing for a given project.

The team is also best placed to provide support on designing and implementing the optimal litigation strategies within disputes arising between the investor and the contractor / subcontractor.

Since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Infrastructure team, in close cooperation with the Ukrainian Desk and the Public Procurement practice, has consistently raised its voice in the ongoing debate on the direction of the country's reconstruction, initiating numerous stationary events and webinars.

Key clients: Baltic Pipe Project (GAZ-SYSTEM), Northvolt, NewCold (Westport Capital), STRABAG, Johnson Matthey, DCT Gdańsk (Deepwater Container Terminal), Mecanotubo Poland, SIAC