Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii made ten internal promotions as part of the firm's annual performance review taking place in November. It also announced the letting of an additional 917 sqm of office area, expanding its headquarters in Bucharest to support the firm’s future growth plans.

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii has made up ten lawyers to Managing Associate and Senior Associate roles in latest round of promotions. These comprise seven Managing Associates and three Senior Associates and will take effect from January 1st, 2012.

Managing Partner Florentin Ţuca commented: “The impressive overall performance of our teams and the quality of their work throughout these past twelve months made it difficult for us to reach a decision on this year’s promotions. All the promoted lawyers have demonstrated business acumen and strong legal expertise in their respective fields and will most definitely play a key role in the future development of our practice across different areas. In particular, in addition to handling regular client work, the seven new Managing Associates will be involved in daily business operations and in the decision-making process on key or sensitive business issues.”

Anca Jurcovan, Oana Gavrilă, Mihaela Maxim (Ivan), Oana Cornescu, Raluca Mişu, Dragoş Apostol and Dominic Morega were promoted to Managing Associate.

The new Senior Associates are Geanina Tache, Alexandru Anghel and Oana Mina.

According to the firm’s officials, the annual performance review is carried out on the basis of transparent and merit-based evaluation criteria that combine both quantifiable (i.e. billable hours) and non-quantifiable criteria (i.e. communication and leadership skills, ethics and commitment, client service and business development skills, pro bono work etc), set out and communicated to all the firm’s team members. Further to the performance appraisal process, future partners may also be appointed. Last year, Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii made up 11 promotions including six new partners.

“In spite of no partner appointments being made this year due to the current economic uncertainty and fears of a double-dip recession, we shall continue to encourage performance at all levels and remain true to our ongoing commitment to grant our team members full and equal access to the partnership formula”, said Florentin Ţuca.

Expansion strategy and organic growth are central to the firm’s business development plans for 2012, with lateral hiring expected in the litigation, finance and banking, labour and fiscal practice groups. To support this growth, Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii let another 917 sqm area and expanded its headquarters in downtown Bucharest, now using a total let area of 2,600 sqm in America House office building.

About the newly promoted lawyers:

Anca Jurcovan was promoted to Managing Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. She has contributed significantly to the firm’s Competition/Antitrust practice group and has supported the M&A department with complex antitrust and merger issues impacting on large domestic and international transactions. For the past 7 years, she has successfully assisted well-known clients during the antitrust investigations conducted by the Romanian Competition Council and has been involved, on the side of both private and public bodies, in the most important State aid cases impacting on the Romanian market.

Oana Gavrilă was promoted to Managing Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. For the past 7 years as a pleading lawyer, she has advised the firm’s clients on a wide range of corporate/commercial disputes and tax related disputes. In particular, she has gained an impressive body of expertise in representing clients in complex contentious-administrative disputes, especially as regards the cancellation of administrative deeds connected to the award of concession agreements, public-private partnerships or public procurements.

Mihaela Maxim (Ivan) was promoted to Managing Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. She has been a pleading lawyer for the past 7 years, mainly in relation to commercial law disputes, intellectual property disputes, domestic commercial arbitration cases, as well as labour disputes. Mihaela has particular experience in representing clients in complex administrative law cases, especially as regards the annulment of certain deeds issued by administrative, fiscal-administrative or Customs authorities.

Oana Cornescu was promoted to Managing Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. She has over 12 years experience in legal practice and government services, having served 7 years as legal advisor to the Romanian Ministry of Public Finances. She mainly specialises in commercial disputes arising from Romanian commercial law relations and domestic/international arbitration (according to the ICC, UNCITRAL and ICSID Rules). In addition, she has represented the firm’s clients in various contentious-administrative and fiscal disputes.

Raluca Mişu was promoted to Managing Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. She has more than 7 years of experience in real estate, property and construction matters, having advised the firm’s clients in this sector on a wide range of real estate transactions and large-scale property development projects, including related financing issues. Other major areas of practice include corporate/commercial, mergers/acquisitions and banking/finance (restructuring of debts resulting from commercial operations, etc).  

Dragoş Apostol was promoted to Managing Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. He rejoined the firm in August 2011 after having worked for several years with other local law firms, including NNDKP. For the past 12 years, he has advised clients from mining, oil/gas, automotive, agribusiness, food/beverage industries, as well as private equity funds and asset management companies in relation to their investment plans in Romania. As such, he was involved in complex real estate and concession/public procurement, M&As and privatisation projects.  

Dominic Morega was promoted to Managing Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. He joined the firm in September 2011 after having worked for 8 years with Muşat & Asociaţii. With a 14-year experience, he mainly advises top international players in the pharmaceutical industry or healthcare services market on matters of compliance with Romanian/EU legal requirements and on complex M&A transactions, corporate and commercial law, administrative disputes, etc. He was also involved in revising various enactments regulating pharmaceutical and healthcare areas. 

Geanina Tache was promoted to Senior Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii where she has been working since April 2010. Prior to joining the firm, she was an Associate with RTPR Allen & Overy for four years. She mainly specialises in civil and commercial disputes, in administrative and public procurement litigation, forced execution procedures etc. Other areas of practice include real estate and corporate/commercial law.

Alexandru Anghel was promoted to Senior Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. He combines a 12-year expertise in providing legal advisory services in corporate/commercial law and real estate with litigation support, having represented clients before Romanian courts of all levels, including in front of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, in relation to complex civil and commercial disputes, real estate litigation, contentious-administrative, forced execution procedures, as well as insolvency and liquidation.

Oana Mina was promoted to Senior Associate with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. Her main areas of practice are in real estate, property and corporate law. For the past 5 years, she has advised on the various stages of real estate project implementation and development, real estate acquisition/disposal, including drafting and negotiating sale-purchase agreements, joint-venture agreements and other commercial contracts. She has also regularly assisted the firm’s clients in relation to commercial lease agreements and property development legal issues.

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Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii was chosen as the “Law Firm of the Year” during the awards ceremony hosted by CEE CIJ, Central & Eastern Europe’s leading Real Estate magazine.

Already in their 4th edition, the CIJ Awards Romania 2011 ceremony was held on December 8th at the Athénée Palace Hilton and brought together the real estate elite in Romania. Started in 2008, the Bucharest edition quickly became one of the CIJ’s most popular evenings of the year.

The winner in the “Law Firm of the Year” category was chosen from a group of five shortlisted law firms including Biris Goran, NNDKP, Salans and Wolf Theiss, following an on-line voting process involving more than 100 top CEO's doing real estate business around Romania.

Cătălin Hanu from the Czech developer CTP Invest presented the award for the “Law Firm of the Year” to Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa, Partner at Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii and Co-Head of the firm’s Real Estate practice group.  

Commenting on the award, Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa said: „It is an honor and a privilege to accept this award on behalf of the real estate team at the firm. This recognition is testament to our team’s collective efforts in what has been another somewhat challenging year for the real estate sector. We would especially like to thank everyone who has voted for us!”

In a gala atmosphere, and in the presence of several hundred representatives of the Romanian real estate sector, 14 trophies were awarded for outstanding achievement in office development, shopping development, shopping center development, retail development, industrial development, as well as to developers, investors, project management companies, property management teams, real estate agencies and law firms. The CIJ Awards nominations were open to all developments completed anywhere in Romania between January 1st 2011 and December 31st 2011. PricewaterhouseCoopers advised and controlled the selection process for transparency and accuracy.

For more information on the CIJ Romania Awards 2011, please visit: http://cijawards.com/romania/.

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Florentin Ţuca has made the shortlist for this year’s British Legal Awards hosted by the reputed magazine Legal Week. The winners in the 27 categories will be announced at an awards ceremony held in London on the 1st of December.

Florentin Ţuca, founder and Managing Partner of Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii has been singled-out in the “European Managing Partner of the Year” Award by an independent panel of judges made up of senior in-house lawyers, former managing and senior partners and other senior business figures. The Romanian lawyer is the sole local attorney running for this prestigious individual award at this year’s British Legal Awards ceremony and faces stiff competition from five other finalists – founding partners and managing partners of several international law firms.

The category recognises managing partners, senior partners and chief executives of non-UK commercial law firms that have demonstrated leadership – both within the firm and the profession; strategic vision; client care; a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility; contribution to the wider community.

A British Legal Award is amongst the top honours of the legal profession in the UK, celebrating achievement, excellence and innovation in the UK legal industry. This year’s awards are divided into 22 individual, team and firm/legal department categories. Separately, five prizes are being awarded to international law firms that are not headquartered in the UK for the following categories: European Law Firm of the Year; European Legal Team of the Year; European Managing Partner/Senior Partner of the Year; London Office of the Year; Middle East and African Law Firm of the Year.

More than 80 top names are ready to battle for honours at the 2011 British Legal Awards: Addleshaw Goddard; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Arnold & Porter; Ashurst; Baker & McKenzie; Berwin Leighton Paisner; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira; Dewey & LeBoeuf; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Garrigues; Gomez-Acebo & Pombo; Herbert Smith; Hogan Lovells; Latham & Watkins; Linklaters; Norton Rose; Reed Smith; Shearman & Sterling; Simmons & Simmons; SJ Berwin; Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom; Slaughter and May; Taylor Wessing; Travers Smith; Weil Gotshal & Manges; Wragge & Co.    

According to the organisers, submissions for this year's awards have increased by more than 20% on last year and the standard of entries was exceptional. This year’s British Legal Awards will be presented on the 1st of December at an awards ceremony featuring several hundreds of participants from the UK and Continental Europe.  

Fur further details about the British Legal Awards ceremony, please visit: http://www.britishlegalawards.com

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Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii has made the shortlist for this year’s IPM Awards hosted by Intellectual Property Magazine, a very well established and highly reputed UK publication that covers the IP industry. The winners in the 13 categories will be announced at an awards ceremony in London tonight.

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii is the sole Romanian law firm to have been nominated for an award at this year’s IPM Awards ceremony, thus joining an elite group of international law firms with a solid IP practice, such as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Hogan Lovells, Simmons & Simmons, Arnold & Porter and others.

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii has been singled out in the “IP Law Firm of the Year in an Emerging Market” category and faces fierce competition from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Wragge & Co and five other finalists. The category recognises firms that have demonstrated exceptional client support, who understand the complex needs of their clients and seek to enable them to achieve commercial solutions, be more competitive and ultimately more profitable.

“We are delighted to have been nominated for this year’s awards ceremony alongside highly reputed international IP professionals, as well as corporations with outstanding IP portfolios and some of the world’s best IP law firms. We are extremely happy with the attention that our submission received from the judging panel, as it recognises our ceaseless commitment to delivering upscale performance to our clients in the field of IP, especially as regards counterfeiting and contraband of mass market products,” said Ciprian Dragomir, Partner at Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii and Head of the firm’s IP practice group.

The IP practice group at Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii advises clients on the registration, protection, licensing and transfer of patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs and software. In recent years, the firm has developed a solid practice in providing brand integrity/counterfeit related services to leading national and international companies.

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii’s activities in this area mainly centre on the fight against product counterfeiting, product contraband and the illegal use of trademarks, especially involving mass market products such as cigarettes, beverages, food and clothing. The firm’s activity is largely carried out through Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii IP S.R.L., a specialised division of the law firm.

The shortlist for this year’s IPM Awards ceremony comprises 31 corporations and legal practices, as well as 14 individuals. According to the organizers, the sheer quantity and quality of the entries was overwhelming, with candidates displaying a wealth of innovation, dedication and hard work.

The successful corporations, law firms and individuals in each of the 13 awards categories will be decided by a panel of judges comprising 18 top executives and IP professionals with long-standing expertise in the IP industry from Shell International BV, Ovum, Munich Re, Daimler, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Fabergé, Deloitte and others.

This year’s Intellectual property Magazine Awards will be presented at a Winners Champagne Reception at the Grand Connaught Rooms on the 16th November.

About IPM Awards:

The IPM Awards organised by the Intellectual Property Magazine provides the IP industry with an opportunity to acknowledge and applaud its highest achievers across all its platforms, recognising business, private practice and individual achievement. The full range of IP activities from corporations, international law firms and smaller, boutique practices are represented: from instructing on potentially landmark cases and battling online infringers to monetising IP.

The categories for this year’s awards are as follows: CEO of the Year; Copyright Law Firm of the Year; Domain Name/Online Strategy of the Year for Business; Domain Name/Online Strategy of the Year for Law Firms; Innovative IP Strategy Design or Execution; IP Law Firm of the Year; IP Law Firm in an Emerging Market; IP Lawyer or Executive of the Year; Outstanding IP Portfolio Management/Development; Overall Winner, Outstanding IP Portfolio Management or Development; Patent Law Firm of the Year; Trademark Law Firm of the Year; Young IP Lawyer or Executive of the Year.

The Intellectual Property Magazine, published by Informa Law, is written and edited by independent experts and read by senior legal professionals and executives in the legal fraternity world-wide.

More information about the Intellectual Property Magazine can be found here

More information about this year’s awards ceremony can be found here

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Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii has launched the www.noulcodcivil.ro blog, as an answer to the challenges facing legal practitioners in interpreting and applying the provisions of the New Civil Code. The move is part of a wider range of similar initiatives taken by the independent Romanian law firm, with the aim of familiarizing practitioners with the new legal framework that is part of the reform of Romania’s judiciary system, which also comprises the adoption of a New Civil Procedure Code, New Criminal Code and New Criminal Procedure Code.

On the 11^th of October, Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii, on the occasion of the conference organized with Mediafax under the heading “Novelties Brought by the Civil Code. Influence on the Business Environment”, announced the launch of a dedicated web platform benefiting all legal practitioners.

The blog, www.noulcodcivil.ro, offers a practical approach to the legal issues potentially resulting from the interpretation and application of the New Civil Code, which entered into force on the 1^st of October.

According to representatives of the law firm, the New Civil Code is a hugely ambitious legislative undertaking, to create the framework for a modern justice system. Like any such undertaking, serious efforts are required to harmonize it with and integrate it into the existing legal system.

“The increase in the number of judicial norms compared to the previous Civil Code entails a demanding assimilation process for all those involved in the application process: lawyers, magistrates, public notaries, court bailiffs, mediators, insolvency practitioners and evaluators. Therefore, we considered it useful to launch a platform that meets the need for continuous learning and development and also allows a dialogue and experience exchange between practitioners, starting with the actual problems that arise from daily activities in light of the new regulatory challenges,” said Florentin Ţuca, Managing Partner of Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii.     

The law firm anticipates a sizeable increase in the normative volume in the coming period, which will impact significantly on legal consultancy activities. “As we are expecting new regulations in civil and commercial law to be adopted, the main objective of www.noulcodcivil.ro is to analyze the newly codified regulations, principles and rules, especially those likely to generate problems when applied or non-unitary jurisprudence. The content on this website is offered for informational purposes only; it is not and should not be construed as legal advice,” added Cornel Popa, Partner at Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii.

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii is advising the Romanian Ministry of Justice on a technical assistance project financed by the World Bank for the “Preparation of the Enforcement of the New Civil Code, Criminal Code, Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code” by conducting an assessment from the institutional, human resources, fiscal and economic points of view.

“In the past 12 months, our lawyers and consortium partners have studied the likely impact of applying the four Codes from the legal, economic, budgetary and human resources perspectives. We have proposed over 300 legislative amendments necessary to apply these Codes, organizing dozens of simulations and consultations with practitioners. At the same time, over 5,000 hours were spent studying the differences between the new and existing regulations, while another 1,600 hours were devoted to training sessions with lawyers and clients of the firm,” Cornel Popa continued.

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii also announced that its team would continue their efforts to raise awareness of the new reforms by organizing events, writing specialist articles, consulting and organizing simulations with legal practitioners.

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Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii has joined the initiative of the EcoAssist Association - “Planting good deeds in Romania!” which aims to grow and protect forests around the country.

Funds donated by the law firm will facilitate the completion of research in Mureş county into the chemical components of the soil and climatic conditions, which will determine which tree species will be planted.

“We decided to support the project ‘Planting good deeds in Romania!’, as it is in line with our firm’s values. We are happy to stand beside EcoAssist once again, in a new, important campaign, after last year’s ‘Let’s Do It, Romania!’, as there is great need for social projects and voluntary programs involving ‘good deeds,’ similar to those that this national movement will generate,” said Alina Pintică, PR & Marketing Executive at Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii.

We invite everyone who feels they could build initiatives with an impact on our society and who wants to see their skills make a difference to join us.

About the National Forestation Movement “Planting Good Deeds in Romania”  

This initiative, by volunteers representing Romania’s young civil society, is planned to run for five-seven years and includes raising awareness, mapping and planting in fields that are not currently covered by forest funds, monitoring plantations and maintenance works through to completion. Over this period we will monitor the planting and preservation of 300 ha every year. So far, pilot plantations have been established in four counties (Argeş, Ialomiţa, Mehedinţi and Timiş) with the help of 1,230 volunteers, five environmental NGOs, three Prefect’s institutions, three School County Inspectorates, two County Police Forces, four Forestry Departments, seven local public administrations and six private companies. Volunteers to help with planting must undertake a training session run by the volunteer coordinators in each county. The national forestation movement “Planting good deeds in Romania!” is being organized by the EcoAssist Association, which last year ran the national clean-up campaign Let’s Do It, Romania!

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The consortium consisting of law firms Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has won AVAS’s bid selection procedure and will represent Romania in arbitration case no. ARB/10/22 before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

In April, the Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS) initiated a bid selection for Romania’s legal representation in the latest arbitration case brought by a foreign investor before the ICSID in Washington.

The request for arbitration registered with the ICSID on November 19, 2010, was filed by the Turkish businessmen Ömer Dede and Serdar Elhüseyni, further to the alleged failure by the Romanian authorities to comply with the privatization agreement regarding SC IMUM SA Medgidia.

“Under the ICSID rules of procedure, each party must propose the arbitrators and the president of the arbitral tribunal within 90 days. The president cannot be a national of any State party to the dispute,” said Florentin Ţuca, Managing Partner of Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii and coordinator of the legal team defending the Romanian State.
Depending on the procedural schedule, the procedures may last as long as four or five years.

This is the fourth time that Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii has to defend Romania’s interests before the ICSID.

The legal teams selected by Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to defend Romania in arbitral case no. ARB/10/22 have vast experience in similar arbitration procedures.

The lawyers who will represent the Romanian State on behalf of Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii are Florentin Ţuca, Managing Partner; Levana Zigmund, Partner; Cristina Metea, Partner; Cornel Popa, Partner; and Anca Puşcaşu, Managing Associate, i.e. almost the same team responsible for Romania’s success in the Noble Ventures Inc, EDF Services Ltd. and S&T Oil Equipment and Machinery arbitration cases.

The main coordinators from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer will be Partners Boris Kasolowsky and Brian King. 

In total, Romania has been called eight times before the ICSID. It has obtained favorable results in three arbitration cases, while the other five are still pending. Lawyers from Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii represented the Romanian State in all three arbitration cases that have been won against claims of more than USD 700 million.

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