STOICA & ASOCIAȚII

Founding Partners: Valeriu Stoica, Cristiana I Stoica.

Managing Partners: Dragoş Bogdan, Andreea Stoica.

Senior Partners: Cătălina Dicu, Dan R Răducanu, Laura E Mihalache.

Partners: Veronica Dobozi, Valentina Preda, Oana Zamă, Bogdan Popescu, Daniel Aragea, Andrei Buga.

Number of lawyers: 39

Languages: English, French, Romanian

Firm Overview:

STOICA & ASOCIAȚII was founded in November 1995, by the association of two pre-eminent Romanian lawyers, Professor Valeriu Stoica and Cristiana I Stoica. Business-like, pragmatic and responsive, the lawyers from STOICA & ASOCIAȚII all graduated from the most reputable Romanian law schools, have an excellent command of English and French, and are familiar with the high professional standards of the legal practice that the firm has adopted and applied constantly since its establishment. The firm’s early assignments included pilot privatization projects, foreign investments, and providing permanent legal assistance to a large number of companies for their day-to-day operating activities. STOICA & ASOCIAȚII assisted international project financing, capital market transactions, M&A, and international contracts. As of today, the firm expertise is largely extended with various advisory work and complex litigation and arbitration in almost all fields of business, by assisting and representing multinational and international corporations as well as medium and small enterprises, either from Romania or abroad. In Romania, STOICA & ASOCIAȚII is a member of the Bucharest Bar. The firm’s international professional contacts and associations include the International Union of Lawyers (UIA) and the World Link for Law (WLL).

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate, Commercial/M&A:

■ Providing legal assistance to a private investment fund fin acquiring a majority stake in one of the most important Romanian operators in the field of gambling and sports betting;

■ Assisting various companies/institutions in connection with a wide range of corporate services: corporate establishment, corporate governance, drafting, negotiating, and amending all types of commercial contracts, and advising on all aspects of the day-to-day operations of the client.

Contacts: Cristiana I Stoica, Bogdan Popescu, Daniel Aragea.

Banking, Finance & Capital Markets:

■ Assisting and representing one of the largest Romanian banks in relation to its entire portfolio of civil and commercial litigations spread out over half of the country, including enforcement, insolvency, and consumer protection disputes;

■ Representing a major Romanian bank in a litigation case against a fiscal deed concerning tax adjustments performed as result of fraudulent loans;

■ Assisting and representing a group of important local banks in the administrative and judicial procedures related to the ‘Giving in Payment Law’;

■ Assisting and representing a well-known bank in a large litigation package pertaining to all enforcement proceedings regarding a line of credit awarded by the bank to the debtor;

■ Representing and assisting a local bank in a set of litigations pertaining to the recovery of a claim, representing the damage caused to the from non-reimbursed credit agreements granted by another credit institution;

■ Assisting and representing a well-known bank with respect to a claim based on an alleged breach of contract, filed with the Romanian courts by a large state-owned company;

■ Advising and delivering legal opinions to various major local banks in connection to a series of collective action claims initiated by the banks’ clients regarding challenging of alleged abusive clauses contained in the credit contracts.

Contacts: Valeriu Stoica, Cătălina Dicu, Dragoș Bogdan, Valentina Preda, Bogdan Popescu.

Litigation & Arbitration:

■ Representing and assisting the Romanian regulatory authority in telecommunications (ANCOM) in litigation regarding claims filed as a result of the issue of an alleged illegal decision;

■ Drafting a legal opinion as a legal expert by Prof Valeriu Stoica to support the arguments of illegality invoked by one of the parliamentary political parties against the municipality of Bucharest;

■ Assisting and representing one of the most important telecom operators in litigation in connection to assessing the abusive character of several clauses from consumers' contracts;

■ Representing and assisting a major innovative pharmaceutical producer in maintaining and protecting its product prices;

■ Representing and assisting several persons in relation to obtaining an injunction pertaining to several defamatory articles posted online;

■ Representing a major Romanian bank in litigation against a fiscal deed concerning tax adjustments performed as a result of fraudulent loans;

Contacts: Valeriu Stoica, Cristiana I Stoica, Cătălina Dicu, Dan R Răducanu, Laura E Mihalache, Dragoş Bogdan, Veronica Dobozi, Oana Zamă, Bogdan Popescu, Valentina Preda, Andreea Irina Stoica, Daniel Aragea, Andrei Buga.

Intellectual Property:

■ Assisting and representing a major mineral water producer in litigations regarding an alleged claim of unfair competition pertaining to a TV advertisement for a mobile phone application;

■ Representing and assisting one of the most important mineral water producers in litigation regarding alleged infringing of a community trademark concerning the shape of a competing water bottle;

■ Assisting a major local asset management services provider in establishing its trademark defense strategy in relation to cease and desist requests issued by a major European transport and technology corporation;

■ Legal assistance and representation of a research institute before the courts of law and in the opposition proceedings before OSIM for its trademarks;

Contacts: Dragoş Bogdan.

Restructuring & Insolvency:

■ Assisting the biggest Romanian bank in connection with the full-fledged case management of a portfolio of more than 1,000 insolvency cases of microenterprises

■ Assisting and representing the biggest Romanian bank in the procedures regarding the annulment of fraudulent transactions between the affiliated companies

■ Assisting and representing a company within the group of the biggest Romanian bank in the bankruptcy proceedings of a pharmaceutical company

Contacts: Cătălina Dicu.

Competition:

■ Assisting and representing a major producer and distributor of domestic appliances in the proceedings before the Competition Council and before the courts related to an alleged price-fixing cartel;

■ Assisting and representing companies involved in the WEEE management with respect to the investigation and the court claims of a potential anti-competitive agreement;

■ Assisting a major player in the market of oil and gas drilling services in an investigation concerning an alleged hardcore cartel;

■ Legal aid and representation of a telecom operator in litigation regarding the illegality and the suspension of a Competition Council’s decision;

■ Legal assistance and representation of a major infrastructure company in connection with administrative and civil litigations concerning the allegedly abusive nature of the tariffs;

Contacts: Dan R Răducanu, Laura E Mihalache, Daniel Aragea, Bogdan Popescu.

Energy:

■ Assisting and representing a major Romanian steel producer in the litigation case initiated by an energy distribution company in connection with damage claims derived from an energy supply contract and the challenge of the company’s license as an energy provider;

■ Assisting and representing a key aluminum producer in the litigation case in connection with damage claims derived from an energy supply contract.

Contacts: Dan R Răducanu, Dragoş Bogdan.

Other Industries:

■ Energy & Natural Resources

■ Media & Telecommunications

■ Pharmaceutical Industry

■ Food & Beverage Industry

■ Automotive Industry

■ Urbanism, Infrastructure, Civil & Industrial Constructions