CORPORATE AND
BUSINESS DISPUTES
Team Leader:
Dariusz Szcześniak
Legal Advisor, Partner
Contact:
DMS DeBenedetti
Majewski Szcześniak
tel. +48 22 339 54 00
dszczesniak@dms-legal.com
CORPORATE AND BUSINESS DISPUTES
We have many years of litigation experience in representing clients in civil and business disputes before common courts of all instances and the Supreme Court and arbitral tribunals in Poland and abroad.
We advise Polish and international companies and individuals in proceedings before public administration bodies, administrative courts and in criminal proceedings before law enforcement authorities and common courts.
In 2010, we received the title Dispute Resolution Advisory Firm of the Year in Poland, awarded by the Corporate International Magazine.
In 2015, we received the Dispute Resolution Award, and in 2016 Best Transactional Litigation – Poland Award for Innovation in Hedge Funds conferred by the Acquisition International magazine.
In 2020, we were classified among active companies by Benchmark Litigation and received recommendation of Legal500 in this field.
We specialize in litigation, especially in complicated, multi-faceted and often controversial cases. We represent clients in litigation requiring the multiple disputes to be carried out at the same time in different jurisdictions, or involving tens of court proceedings at once throughout Poland, including bankruptcy and criminal proceedings.
We help our clients in litigation conducted abroad, in cooperation with close to 100 foreign law firms with which we have regularly cooperated for over 10 years as part of the GLOBALAW association
We help our clients assess the litigation risk and prepare the optimum strategy to manage this risk.
“We started working with the firm because of a recommendation. Not only was the work complex, but it also required a high level of initiative and problem solving. The quality of the service in relation to complex matters is what gives us great comfort. They work on their own initiative and think about different scenarios and try to be a few steps in front of an adversary. Usually their forecasts prove to be 100% correct.” | Chambers Europe 2021
What we offer
• We take a comprehensive approach to every problem.
• We analyze the legal problems our clients have encountered and, before they make a decision on whether to take
a matter to court, we assess the ability to resolve the dispute and help them mitigate the risk associated with the dispute.
• We advise clients about the prospective benefits or adverse consequences of the steps and legal actions to be undertaken.
• We assess the information and documents in the client’s possession, in order to prepare the best litigation strategy.
• We draft litigation documentation and support our clients in gathering and preparing documents that are directly or indirectly associated with the ensuing litigation. Frequently, at the client’s request, we take over all of the formalities associated with the pending proceedings.
• We provide legal representation before courts of all instances, including the Supreme Court and arbitral tribunals.
• We conduct civil and business disputes, in particular disputes between capital and financial market entities, disputes associated with pursuing claims for damages and the protection of creditors’ rights.
• In commercial litigation, we represent companies and their shareholders in proceedings to protect their rights.
• We advise on restructuring and bankruptcy procedures.
• We handle administrative proceedings, including cases to recover expropriated property in proceedings pending before financial market oversight authorities. As part of the latter proceedings, we represent clients seeking to obtain
the required regulatory consents, and in proceedings involving sanctions imposed by the regulator.
• We advise our clients and represent them in complex criminal procedures concerning the protection of business activity and the criminal liability of collective entities.
• We cooperate with US and UK law firms in matters associated with applying US and UK anticorruption regulations.
• We represent our clients in labor law disputes, in particular involving middle and senior level managers, and in
the resolution of conflicts related to collective labor law, such as group layoffs and collective bargaining agreements.
References:
• A lawsuit conducted on behalf of a minority shareholder to repeal a resolution of the shareholders’ meeting of an insurance joint-stock company, impeding the distribution of profit among shareholders, won ultimately in the common courts of both instances and the Supreme Court, which was ended in 2011, while the decision of the Court received wide media coverage and has been followed in corporate disputes.
• A lawsuit conducted on behalf of a member of the management board of a joint-stock company to invalidate the appointment by the shareholders’ meeting of a proxy to represent the company in litigation succesfully closed in 2019.
• Representing one of the shareholders of a public joint-stock company as the defendant in a case for damages, based on an allegation of participation in an unlawful agreement, ending with the claim being dismissed in 2018.
• Representing a bondholder of a Polish developer in a comprehensive project comprising tens of lawsuits pending throughout Poland, comprising cases for damages, actio pauliana lawsuits on the protection of creditors’ rights before the courts of all instances and the Supreme Court and representing the client in bankruptcy proceedings (from 2008).
• Representing the creditors of a public company undergoing restructuring, in a widely publicized arrangement proceeding, which ended with the approval of the arrangement in 2019.
• A lawsuit on behalf of a minority shareholder to declare the invalidity of resolutions adopted by the shareholder’s meeting of a public company amending the company’s articles of association ended in 2020 with a final and enforceable judgement declaring the resolutions as invalid as a result of dismissal of the appeal and refusal to accept the cassation appeal for consideration by the Supreme Court.
• Representing clients – a life insurance company and an insurance agent – in multiple lawsuits for damages associated with the activity of insurance agents.
• Two lawsuits for payment of bond proceeds with the amounts due being awarded on a final binding basis in 2015 and 2016.
• Representing the defendant in a lawsuit for damages for the transfer and use of trademark, which ended with the final dismissal of the claim by the Court of Appeals in 2018.
