News

Since 24 March, SMM Legal has been operating in its new corporate form – as a general partnership. The previous corporate name of the firm, SMM Legal Maciak Mataczyński Adwokaci Sp. K., was changed accordingly to SMM LEGAL Maciak Mataczyński Czech Sikorski spółka jawna.

2021 will mark the launch of the Horizon Europe, a new EU framework programme targeted at research institutions and innovative enterprises, regardless of their size. ‘We wish to assist the potential beneficiaries in obtaining information useful in the process of applying for EU funding for products and services. This is why we have decided to organise a free online conference’, says Mateusz Stańczyk, Senior Associate at SMM Legal and the mastermind behind the event.

SMM Legal experts have advised Perfect Eye Optic, a chain of  optometry, eye-wear and eye-care outlets, in the negotiations and the subsequent merger with Avenir Medical Poland. The project was co-coordinated by Aleksander Czech, Managing Partner at our Firm, and one of our lawyers, Jan Stranz, PhD.

27 January marks the launch of SMM Legal 24 (www.smmlegal24.pl), our new blog on legal issues. For several weeks, our team has been honing the concept of the website and working on content selection. Today, we are proud to share with you as many as 70 articles across 10 categories consistent with our fields of expertise.

With the onset of the New Year, two of our experienced lawyers have been promoted. Mr. Tomasz Jaranowski has become a Partner at our firm, while Ms. Patrycja Starczewska now holds the title of Counsel. What is more, starting January 1st, our energy law team welcomed yet another expert, Mr. Marek Grzywacz, PhD.

We have stepped up our efforts to promote the cooperation between businesses aimed at developing the LNG market in Poland. Over the last month, our firm has become a member of the Polish LNG Platform.

30 November 2020 marks the date when the tender offer for a minority stake in ENERGA S.A. announced by PKN ORLEN S.A. was effectively settled. Once again, our SMM Legal corporate team has comprehensively handled all the legal matters related to the project.

Supported by our lawyers, the Wrocław-based campus of Coventry University Wrocałw was granted a permit to recruit non-EU students using a simplified procedure. The decision is valid for two years and it took nearly nine months to obtain it. What was unique about this project?

On 15 September 2020, Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie sp. z o.o. (MTP Poznań Expo) closed a tender to select a buyer for a 5.5 ha plot in a prestigious location in the centre of Poznań. The plot, worth PLN 114.5 million, was sold on 29 September. A SMM Legal expert team, managed by Aleksander Czech, our Managing Partner, provided comprehensive legal services throughout the process.

On 22 September 2020, District Court in Brodnica issued a first instance judgement acquitting two French businessmen in a complex white-collar crime case regarding a company operating in the computer paper production sector. From the very beginning, the Clients were defended by SMM Legal partners - attorneys Krzysztof Urbańczak and Przemysław Maciak.

On 21 September 2020, PKN ORLEN S.A. announced a tender offer to buy the remaining shares in ENERGA S.A. A SMM Legal team led by Prof. Maciej Mataczyński, our Managing Partner, has been providing comprehensive legal support throughout the project.

The Rzeczpospolia Law Firm Ranking is the most influential list of law firms in Poland. The firms are ranked on the basis of the number of lawyers – bar members and all law graduates – employed by the firms requesting to be included in the list. A report on the situation in the market of legal services published by Rzeczpospolita together with the ranking placed SMM Legal in the exclusive group of growth leaders in the last decade.

With our Firm’s support, on 14 July PKN ORLEN was granted European Commission’s consent for conditional concentration with Grupa Lotos. This is the first decision of this kind in Poland and probably the largest M&A transaction in the history of the Polish economy as such. The procedure lasted for over one year, and the project team was managed by Prof. Maciej Mataczyński.

On 7 July 2020, Grupa Energa S.A. launched one of its largest wind farms in Poland. A dedicated SMM Legal team led by Paweł Łącki, PhD, assisted the client in the investment process. The project is a new addition to a long list of successful investments in the energy sector handled by SMM Legal.

The Universum Most Attractive Employers Poland, an independent ranking, placed SMM Legal on the 8th position among the best places to work in Poland in the ‘law’ category. The top 10 include two tech giants, Google and Microsoft, and only four law firms. Only one of them ranked higher than SMM Legal. The remaining international law firms were placed below ours.

On 12 May 2020, Jan Stranz, one of our Senior Associates, successfully defended his PhD dissertation on company law. On 09 June 2020, the Academic Council of the Faculty of Law and Administration of Adam Mickiewicz University resolved to award him a doctoral degree in legal sciences. Congratulations!

On 21 May 2020, a legal handbook for medium and large enterprises entitled Jak przetrwać kryzys? (How To Survive the Crisis?) hit the virtual bookshelves. The publication was prepared under the editorial eye of Wojciech Kapica, Head of our Financial Markets Law Department. The authors include also other SMM Legal lawyers: Piotr Kawiak, Wojciech Stawnicki and Paweł Stępniak.

Our Client, the National Centre for Research and Development, has launched an innovative project entitled “Grand Challenge: Energy”.  This is the first Polish initiative in a unique formula modelled upon DARPA Grand Challenge competitions. The legal aspects of the project are handled by one of our lawyers, Mateusz Stańczyk.

On Wednesday, 22 April, after a lengthy procedure, PKN ORLEN S.A. has been cleared to take over ENERGA S.A. Throughout the transaction process, PKN Orlen was supported by SMM Legal’s expert team led by Prof.Maciej Mataczyński, Manging Partner at our Firm.

Another year in a raw, the effects of our work have been recognized by THE LEGAL 500, a prestigious law firm ranking. This year our firm has earned recommendations in as many as five categories: corporate practice and M&A, intellectual property, litigation, capital markets and, for the first time, investment funds.

On 31 March 2020 the European Commission  issued a non-opposition decision to the acquisition of ENERGA S.A. by  PKN Orlen S.A. The SMM Legal team led by Prof. Maciej Mataczyński provided comprehensive legal support to PKN Orlen S.A. throughout the notification process. On top of this, Prof. Mataczyński represented the Client in the procedure before the European Commission.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected legal and economic environment in Poland, creating a plethora of problems that companies are struggling to respond to. In this situation, we have launched a dedicated e-mail address pomoc.koronawirus@smmlegal.pl for any inquiries related to the legal aspects of running a business during the epidemic.

Despite extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemics, SMM Legal continues to provide legal services without interruptions. The epidemiological situation has no impact on the quality of our work. We remain at our Client’s disposal and continue to monitor the events. In compliance with the recommendations issued by the National Sanitary Inspection, most of our employees work remotely from home.

PR College is a new educational project dedicated to SMEs and aimed at strengthening entrepreneurs’ independence in the area of public relations. SMM Legal provides specialist support for the event in the field of intellectual property rights.

Energa-Obrót S.A. amicably resolved all its disputes regarding so-called green certificates with yet another business partner. This is the seventh dispute settled by Energa-Obrót S.A. with wind farms sued in September 2017. Throughout the negotiation process, the company was supported by our interdisciplinary energy law and litigation expert team managed by Mr. Paweł Łącki, PhD, and Ms. Patrycja Starczewska.

On 26 February 2020, PKN ORLEN notified the European Commission of its intent to take over control of Grupa ENERGA S.A. For several months, a team of SMM Legal lawyers led by Prof. Maciej Mataczyński, Managing Partner at our firm, has been working on the legal aspects of the notification.

Mr. Kalikst Nagel, PhD, our expert on public procurement law, has just been promoted to the rank of Senior Associate. This decision was announced today by the firm's management board.

SMM Legal is pleased to announce that it has added two energy law experts: Mr. Michał Tarka and Mr. Marcin Trupkiewicz, who have joined our Firm together with their team, TTW Legal. In response to the growing demand for legal services in the Polish energy sector, which is undergoing a major transformation,  we have combined the experience of the two law firms with top expertise in this field. Both Mr. Tarka and Mr. Trupkiewicz became SMM Legal Partners.

PKN ORLEN S.A. announced a tender offer aimed at acquiring control of ENERGA S.A. SMM Legal’s expert team, managed by Prof. Maciej Mataczyński, Managing Partner at our Firm, is in charge of providing comprehensive legal support on this project.

Wojciech Kapica, who previously worked with SMM Legal as a Counsel, has been promoted to the role of a Partner at our Firm. From the very beginning, he has been co-managing the Financial Markets law practice.

SMM Legal lawyers and the MPT Group – the leading organiser of trade fairs in Poland – are implementing ‘IP Friendly’ – an innovative project aimed at streamlining IP-related disputes involving exhibitors.

Following a successfully completed registration procedure carried out with SMM Legal’s support, the Polish Branch of Coventry University in Wrocław will be able to welcome its first students in the autumn of 2020. This is the first branch campus of a foreign university to open in Poland in over two decades, and the second case of this type in history. The first foreign university to start its operations in Poland was the European College in Bruges, which opened its Polish branch campus in the early 1990s.

SMM Legal lawyers, Wojciech Kapica and Adrian Rycerski, are among the authors of the first comprehensive publication on the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing in the Polish market. This is the first exhaustive commentary to legislation on this topic.

“Law, Business and You” is an educational project targeted at law students enrolled with the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities. It aims at confronting aspiring lawyers with the actual market expectations, helping them to be intentional about planning their future careers. The project was launched with a presentation by Mr. Przemysław Maciak, Managing Partner at SMM Legal, entitled “The Death of Law Firms”.

We are proud to announce a new round of promotions at our firm. Mr. Tomasz Jaranowski, legal advisor, has be promoted to the status of Counsel, while two younger lawyers, Ms. Magdalena Cisowska, legal advisor, and Mr. Miłosz Malaga, PhD, were promoted to Senior Associates.

Prof. Sikorski, a SMM Legal expert, will present a paper at the 38th ATRIP Congress in Nashville, Tennessee. Prof. Sikorski will  discuss patent infringements  during the session on strategic legal reforms. The new patent law is one of the hottest topics debated at the conference.

The legislative process introducing Simple Joint-Stock Company (Prosta Spółka Akcyjna) into Polish law is now complete. Prof. Tomasz Sójka, SMM Legal’s Founding Partner, is one of the few expert-ideators of the project. What is more, Prof. Maciej Mataczyński and other lawyers from our Firm’s company law department made their substantive contributions at the earlier stages of the work.

Energa – Obrót S.A. has entered into yet another settlement agreement with one of the wind farms it sued in September 2017. Our team, coordinated by Paweł Łącki, PhD, and Ms. Patrycja Starczewska, supported the Client in the preceding negotiations.

In July three of our lawyers took their oath and were admitted to the bar. Our team has two new advocates, Ms. Elimia Topolnicka, and Mr. Mateusz Kotowicz, and a new legal advisor – Ms. Magdalena Cisowska.

On 3 July 2019, PKN ORLEN notified the European Commission of its intent to acquire Grupa LOTOS S.A. The notification was preceded by a lengthy preparatory process spanning many months and involving dozens of SMM Legal lawyers led by Prof. Maciej Mataczyński, our Firm’s Managing Partner. 

Over the last month, two SMM Legal lawyers, Kalikst Nagel, PhD, and Tomasz Lewandowski, PhD were admitted to the bar. As a result, our team has a new licensed legal advisor and a freshly minted licensed advocate. Both lawyers have been working with our Firm for years.

The "Rzeczpospolia" Law Firm Ranking is the most influential list of law firms in Poland. The firms are ranked on the basis of the number of licensed lawyers and the number of all lawyers in general. The results were revealed during a ceremony held on 7 June at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

SMM Legal has partnered with Alfa School in providing workshops for innovative entrepreneurs and researchers organised by SpeedUp Venture Capital Group. During the event, Prof. Rafał Sikorski explained how to protect one’s know-how in the corporate context.

SMM Legal has worked on the development on the "Energa w Akcji!" loyalty programme for Energa’s shareholders. Our team, headed by Aleksander Czech, Managing Partner, and consisting of Jan Stranz, Maksymilian Saczywko and Tomasz Lewandowski, provided comprehensive legal advisory on the project, the first of this kind in Poland.

Five of SMM Legal lawyers have successfully passed their bar exams. The newly admitted bar members are Magdalena Cisowska, Monika Ratajczak, Mateusz Kotowicz, Wojciech Krzysztofik and Emilia Topolnicka. As a result, SMM Legal has gained two new advocates and three new licensed legal advisors.

Prof. Rafał Sikorski gave a lecture entitled “Global convergence of approaches towards injunctive relief in patent law: achieving flexibility via different legal tools” at an international patent conference “Injunctions and flexibility in patent law” in Munich, Germany.

For another year in a row, experts from SMM Legal have been highlighted by a prestigious law firm ranking, THE LEGAL 500. This year we feature among leading firms in as many as four categories: commercial, corporate practice and M&A, intellectual property, dispute resolution and capital markets.

We are pleased to announce changes to our team. Ms Patrycja Starczewska, Senior Associate, will lead our Litigation Department. Ms Starczewska has worked with us since 2012. In her practice she has focused on civil, business law and litigation and has represented SMM Legal Clients in many court disputes. Her extensive experience includes energy-related projects and litigation regarding utility easements.

A Simple Joint-Stock Company (Prosta Spółka Akcyjna, PSA), a new flexible legal vehicle facilitating the development of start-ups, is about to become a reality. The government has approved draft amendment to the Code of Commercial Companies regarding the introduction of this novel solution in Poland. Prof. Tomasz Sójka, an outstanding specialist in the field, has been working on the draft in a small group of top experts.

We are pleased to announce that our Firm has yet another PhD in its ranks. 

On 11 December 2018, Mr. Kalikst Nagel of SMM Legal’s Public Procurement Department successfully defended his PhD dissertation on human rights theory entitled “Inherent human capacity for inherent rights. A study in legal theory and philosophy of law” at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. On 29 January 2019 the Council of the Faculty of Law and Administration adopted a resolution conferring on Mr. Kalikst Nagel the degree of PhD in legal sciences.

We are pleased to announce that as of 14 January 2019 Mr. Aleksander Czech becomes a managing partner at SMM Legal.

Mr. Czech has worked with us from the very beginning. In 2014, he joined S&M,  the predecessor of our Firm, and once SMM Legal was established, he became its limited partner, to obtain a senior partner status in 2017.

Since this October, Mr. Wojciech Kapica, a leading expert in the field of compliance, financial sector regulations and regulatory relations, joins SMM Legal. Together with Prof. Tomasz Sójka, he will coordinate the Financial Markets Department at our Firm.

On 11-13 September, the 3rd Conference on Rainwater and Meltwater Management (GWOR) was held in Zakopane. This year, as many as three SMM lawyers from our Administrative Law Department were invited to speak at the event: Mr. Jędrzej Bujny, PhD, Partner at our Firm, Mr. Mikołaj Maśliński, and Ms. Emilia Topolnicka, advocate trainee.

The Poznań International Fair (MPT) and the Ministry of the Environment have announced that MPT has been selected to handle the logistics of the biggest global forum on climate policy - the COP24 climate conference. SMM Legal supported MPT throughout the process of contract negotiation; our team, consisting of Ms. Olga Sokołowska and Mr. Maciej Goncerzewicz managed by Mr. Aleksander Czech, Head of our Corporate Department, will continue to provide comprehensive legal advisory related to the organisation of the event.

The 27th Economic Forum in Krynica, the biggest conference in Central and Eastern Europe on the current political, economic and social developments in the world, attended by more than 4,000 participants, is currently underway. On this occasion, we recommend an interview with Mr. Daniel Obajtek, CEO of PKN Orlen, summarising the developments in the European Union prenotification process.

Mr. Tomasz Lewandowski, PhD, was selected to join a group of reviewers of an UN project entitled ‘Global Survey of the situation of human rights defenders’.

On 05-08 August 2018, the Hanken School of Economics and  the IPR University Center in Helsinki hosted the prestigious annual international academic congress organised by ATRIP - the International Association for the Advancement and Research in Intellectual Property.

A new publication by Prof. Maciej Mataczyński, Managing Partner at SMM Legal, has just appeared in bookstores. The book, written in the English language, is entitled ‘Seat of the Company in Private International Law. Selected Issues’.

On 5-6 June 2018 the Fair and Exhibition Centre in Bydgoszcz hosted ENVICON Water – the 3rd International Congress of the water supply and discharge sector. This year SMM Legal was the legal partner of the event. Our Firm was represented by Jędrzej Bujny, PhD, Partner at SMM Legal, and Mr. Mikołaj Maśliński. Both lawyers are on our administrative law team.

The National Centre for Research and Development announced a call for proposals in its new program “Hydrogen storage”. Following the “Blocks 200+” programme, this is the second contract to be awarded in an innovative pre-commercial procurement (PCP) procedure designed by the Centre with the assistance of SMM Legal.

SMM Legal has been selected by PKN ORLEN to provide comprehensive legal advisory on its merger with the LOTOS Group. Our Firm will carry out the due diligence audit of the LOTOS Group and will assist ORLEN in developing a merger strategy. What is more, we will draft comprehensive documentation of the deal and will participate in its preparation and closure, including the anti-monopoly procedure.

Prof. Maciej Mataczyński, Managing Partner at SMM Legal, is attending the European Economic Congress, a three-day event (14-16/05/2018) launched today in Katowice.

On the 7th of May 2018, SMM Legal will welcome a new member – an outstanding lawyer, Ms. Agnieszka Sztoldman, PhD, will join our team.

She will partner with Prof. Rafał Sikorski to manage a dozen lawyers from our intellectual property and competition practice.

As announced in the Rzeczpospolita Law Firms Ranking, SMM Legal is the 13th biggest law firm in Poland in terms of number of lawyers, and the 14th in terms of advocates and legal advisors nationwide.

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On 24 April, a conference “Intellectual Property Law – Competition – New Technology” was held in Warsaw. Prof. Rafał Sikorski, head of the IP and Competition law and partner at SMM Legal was among the speakers.

SMM Legal Team provides the Polish National Centre for Science and Research with comprehensive legal assistance in the first and so far the largest Polish project (total worth over PLN 2 billion) aimed at boosting the development of the electric transportation sector in Poland. The programme is being carried out within the innovative partnership formula. So far advisory has focused on public procurement law and electro-mobility regulations, but SMM Legal supports the Centre also in ongoing liaison with other contracting parties and stakeholders.

As in previous years, SMM Legal is amongst the law firms recognized by the prestigious THE LEGAL 500 RANKING. This time, we were recommended in two categories: Corporate Practice, Capital Markets and M&A Transactions, as well as Telecommunications Law.

On 26 March 2018, the Faculty of Law and Administration of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań had the pleasure to host Prof. Lionel Bently of Cambridge University, who presented his lecture entitled “Claims, Notice and Property Definition in the Law of Trade Marks”. The lecture was organised with the support of SMM Legal by the Faulty, the British Law Centre and the Intellectual Property and Competition Law Society.

We are honoured to announce that the Board of the Faculty of Law and Administration of Adam Mickiewicz University has awarded tenured professorship to Mr. Rafał Sikorski, PhD, Senior Partner at SMM Legal. 

SMM Legal welcomes a new doctor of legal sciences (PhD) to its legal team.

The SMM Legal team has been advising the National Centre for Research and Development on the largest public contract to be awarded in Poland in the innovation partnership procedure. The successful bidder will develop and deliver innovative emission-free public transport vehicles.

On 20 November 2017, ‘Economics & Market’, a specialist insert in leading Polish daily ‘Rzeczpospolita’, published a comment by Mr. Przemysław Maciak, Managing Partner at SMM Legal, on the possible renegotiation of the long-term agreements made by Energa-Obrót S.A.

Tomasz Andrzej Lewandowski, PhD, Senior Associate at SMM Legal, is among the lawyers awarded a special prize in the ‘Rising Stars’ Lawyers – Leaders of Tomorrow 2017, a prestigious competition organised by the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, a specialist daily dedicated to legal issues, and Wolters Kluwer Polska, to distinguish outstanding lawyers aged under 35.

From 26 to 28 October 2017, a member of SMM Legal team, Tomasz Lewandowski, PhD, attended the 10th International Conference for Young Researchers on International Humanitarian Law at the University of Yerevan.

On 25 October, Mr. Rafał Sikorski, PhD, Partner at SMM Legal and the Head of our Intellectual Property Team, will present his lecture entitled “Searching for Optimal Response to PAEs’ Excessive Enforcement Practices” at the University of Wellington  in New Zealand.

The Financial Times recently published an article on actions that Invenergy, an American Corporation, intends to take against Poland.

Ever since the joint press conference held by SMM Legal on behalf of the ENERGA Group announcing precedent court and arbitration actions, the media have been incessantly covering the case.

The prestigious specialist legal website, CEE Legal Matters, recently looked at the precedential nature of actions declaring the invalidity of contracts for the purchase of so-called green certificates, brought by SMM Legal on behalf of the Energa Group.

Peter Lang, a prestigious German academic publishing house, has just published a volume of collected works, edited by Prof. Maciej Mataczyński.  The book is entitled The Takeover of Public Companies as a Mode of Exercising EU Treaty Freedoms and features papers by a number of scholars, including Prof. Mataczyński and Prof. Sójka.

From 21-22 September 2017, the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw hosted the 11^th Meeting of Commercial Law Chairs. This year’s meeting was entitled ‘Searching for the optimum company governance – effective management and supervision’, and included a presentation by Prof. Mataczyński on Management and supervision models in a limited company, outlined in the European Model Company Act draft.

At the recent National Advocate Trainees’ Academic Conference, which ran from 22-24 September 2017 in Warsaw at the Ministry of Development, Prof. Mataczyński presented his paper entitled The supervisory board and audit committee functioning model in the corporate oversight system viewed from the perspective of the Act on Statutory Auditors, Audit Firms and Public Supervision of 11/05/2017 and the Code of Commercial Companies Act of 15/09/2000.

The SMM Legal team, managed by Prof. Maciej Mataczyński and Mr. Przemysław Maciak, Managing Partners at SMM Legal, is representing ENERGA-Obrót S.A. in 22 precedent court and arbitration cases concerning framework agreements on the sale of proprietary rights under certificates of origin for the energy generated from wind farms (green certificates).

Recently, a company controlled by Mr. Igor Chalupec (currently serving as CEO at RUCH S.A.) acquired control of RUCH S.A. from Eton Park. The SMM Legal team (composed of Prof. Maciej Mataczyński, Managing Partner, Mr. Wojciech Sikorski, Partner and Mr. Maksymilian Saczywko, Associate) had the pleasure to advise the buyer on the transaction.

Today (27/06/2017), the Council of the Faculty of Law and Administration at Adam Mickiewicz University conferred a PhD degree in Legal Sciences on Mr. Tomasz Lewandowski of SMM Legal.

On 24 May 2017 the Poznań Court of Appeal upheld a lower instance court judgement finally confirming the acquittal of gynaecologists accused in the high profile case of the death of a patient and her unborn children in a Poznań-based maternity hospital. During the trial Prof. Drews was represented by SMM Legal partners Mr. Przemysław Maciak and Mr. Krzysztof Urbańczak.

SMM Legal provided advisory to Superior Industries International as part of the company’s tender for a 100% sharehold of Uniwheels AG.

From the 16th-17th May 2017 Bydgoszcz will host the two-day Envicon Water Congress. SMM Legal is an official partner of the event.

We are thrilled and proud to announce that for another year in a row SMM Legal  has been recognized as one of the top law firms in Poland in the most prestigious Polish law firm ranking, compiled by Rzeczpospolita.

2 billion zloty to support investments in technologies – SMM Legal provided comprehensive legal advisory in the launch of two Funds of Funds – NCBR CVC and NCBR VC by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR).

For another year in a row, SMM LEGAL has confirmed its strong presence in the periodic LEGAL 500 ranking of law firms. As in previous years, we were distinguished in as many as three categories.

Yesterday in Wrocław Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Science Mr. Jarosław Gowin, the Mayor of Wrocław Mr. Rafał Dutkiewicz and the rectors of Wrocław’s universities signed an agreement by which the State Treasury acquired shares in the Wrocław EIT+ Research Centre.

On 23-24 March 2017, Mr. Rafał Sikorski, a distinguished legal scholar and partner at SMM Legal, participated in a seminar on patent claims.

This year, for another year running, SMM Legal was listed in the 2017 Regulatory Law Firms Ranking prepared by Polityka Insight specialists. Our firm moved up from last year’s position in Group 3 in the Telecommunications category, to become the leader of Group 2.

An article written by experts from the SMM Legal Intellectual Property Team, Ms. Magdalena Michalska and Ms. Joanna Matczuk, entitled W jaki sposób można skutecznie obronić autorski pomysł (How to Effectively Protect an Original Idea) was recently published in the leading Polish daily newspaper, Rzeczpospolita (Rzeczpospolita of 03/03/2017, p. D4).

SMM Legal is pleased to welcome a new Partner – in mid-February an outstanding public procurement and business law specialist, Ms. Monika Adamczyk, joined our Firm.

Dear Readers,

In the first days of the New Year, as a Managing Partner at SMM Legal, one of the leading Polish law firms, I would like to take the opportunity to recap 2016 from the perspective of our legal practice. Last year at SMM Legal will be remembered as very intense and abounding with professional and personal achievements.

An article by Ms. Joanna Matczuk and Ms. Magdalena Michalska of SMM Legal, entitled Legalne linkowanie? (Legal link posting?) focuses on the legal aspects of link posting in the context of the latest CJEU judgement. It was published in the 11/01/2017 print issued of Rzeczpospolita, a major Polish daily.

EUR 450 million for the commercialisation of innovative research – SMM Legal has provided comprehensive legal services instrumental to the successful signing of a contract between the Polish National Research and Development Centre and PFR Ventures to establish an Investment Fund within the BRIdge VC programme.

Ms. Monika Adamczak of SMM Legal has provided comprehensive legal advisory to the largest Polish transfer operator, in the process of assembling tender documentation for the first Polish innovative partnership procedure.

Patrycja Starczewska, an attorney from SMM Legal representing one of the major transfer operators, has won a case before the Supreme Court.

Last week the Supreme Court issued a prejudicial ruling answering the following question of law: Is a person whose property, that has become encumbered by an easement corresponding to a transfer easement as a result of usucaption, entitled to a claim for the fee for use of the property with respect to the easement for the period preceding the usucaption?