HAVEL & PARTNERS traditionally announces internal promotions at the beginning of the second half of the year. Ondřej Florián, the partner responsible for leading the firm’s corporate and private client services team, becomes an equity partner as of 1 July. Kateřina Slavíková, Jaroslav Baier, Ondrej Čurilla, Petr Opluštil and Miroslav Vozáb have been promoted to partners of the firm. A further 15 lawyers have been promoted to senior positions.
“Ondřej Florián is one of the key members of the firm’s management team and in previous years he has been instrumental in setting and implementing the group’s strategic objectives in the area of corporate law. His leadership and expertise have also contributed to strengthening our portfolio of services to private clients. As an equity partner, he will be responsible for the further strategic development of these areas and the continuous strengthening of key business relationships with our clients,” comments Jaroslav Havel, managing partner of the firm, on Ondřej Florián’s promotion to the position of partner.
Ondřej Florián has more than 13 years of legal practice, specialising in corporate law in domestic and complex international transactions. He focuses on the effective setup of shareholder relationships, the setup and proper implementation of executive incentive programmes (ESOP), and corporate transformations, including the setup of holding and foundation structures (in the form of private foundations or trusts) to provide greater security of asset ownership and business for private clients. He also provides other services to private clients, including especially the ultimate owners of successful domestic and foreign companies and top managers.
“Further promotions to partner are also aimed at developing areas that are of key importance to consolidating our position as a leader in the Central European legal market, in particular strengthening our specialisation in venture capital, public procurement, ESG, healthcare and pharmaceutical law. Also, strengthening the team in Brno is crucial for us, where another partner will join the management of the local office in July. These strategic steps will enable us to provide an even higher level of expertise and service in all of the key areas mentioned above, which have contributed to our firm’s growth over the long term,” added Jaroslav Havel.
The firm has a total of 36 partners after the current internal promotion. Kateřina Slavíková is a new partner of the firm, co-responsible for the management and development of the specialised pharmaceutical, healthcare and food law group. She has been involved in these fields for a long time and is one of the leading experts on the market. She provides comprehensive business and regulatory advice to pharmaceutical and healthcare clients, hospitals, biotechnology companies, established food companies and start-ups, and other clients in areas targeting human health.
Jaroslav Baier moves to the position of partner co-responsible for the management of the venture capital and private equity practice group in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Jaroslav has 13 years of experience in M&A law, which includes experience from a Magic Circle law firm and a major Czech-Slovak private equity group. Jaroslav is also an active member of the start-up community and co-founder of a successful legal-tech start-up. He provides comprehensive legal services to start-ups, venture capital funds, private equity groups and technology companies.
Another lawyer promoted to the position of partner is Ondrej Čurilla, a specialist in the public sector law, particularly in the area of public procurement and public-private partnership projects, both in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Ondrej also provides clients with comprehensive services in the areas of business relations, ICT, energy, transport, infrastructure construction, and insurance. He also focuses on legal services to foreign clients, especially from German-speaking countries.
Petr Opluštil becomes a partner as well.He focuses on public law, particularly environmental law. He also advises clients on sustainability and ESG law. He has also been providing, in the long term, comprehensive legal services in connection with the implementation of asset transactions and infrastructure projects in the public sector, including PPP projects, particularly in the water, waste management and transport sectors.
Miroslav Vozáb, who has been co-managing the firm’s Brno office, will be a partner from July, too. Miroslav, who has been with the firm for more than 10 years, specialises in corporate law, acquisitions, and services for private client, among other practice areas. He also provides legal services in the area of appropriate setting up of joint ventures between partners, and also deals with litigation and criminal matters, especially those involving a corporate element.
Further, Juraj Dubovský and František Neuwirth are internally promoted to the position of counsel. Veronika Bočanová, Tereza Hrabáková, Irena Munzarová, Martin Stančík and Karolína Steinerová are promoted to the position of managing associate. Matúš Holubkovič, Lukáš Jakoubek, Patrícia Jamrišková, Tomáš Kalenský, Peter Košecký, Christian Müller, Vojtěch Šváb and Dušan Valent are promoted to the position of senior associate. In a non-legal position, Zuzana Kreuselová has been promoted to brand manager.
HAVEL & PARTNERS’ dedicated Venture Capital team has been strengthened to include Tomáš Cironis for the position of Investment Principal. In this position, Tomáš is in charge of strategic and business development of this practice area and strengthening relationships with start-up founders. He is responsible for market analysis, investment management, seeking new opportunities, and professional support as part of advising clients.
“Tomáš joins us with a unique and detailed knowledge of the market. He has been an active member of the start-up community for many years, which gives him an exceptional ability to build and deepen key and long-term business relationships. He will thus help us to strengthen our position in the venture capital market and to seek new investment and business opportunities. Together, we will focus on supporting the growth of our clients and the further strategic development of our team,” said Václav Audes, partner in charge of leading the Venture Capital team.
Tomáš Cironis has worked in Czech venture capital funds UP21 and Air Ventures. He also worked for the non-profit organization Czech Founders, where he was responsible for building the start-up community along with seeking and analytically evaluating investment opportunities. Tomáš was also the director of the European part of the global start-up competition Disraptors, in which the best European start-ups participated. He has worked with Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple; Holly Branson, CPO of Virgin and daughter of Richard Branson; Tosca Musk, sister of Elon Musk; and representatives of Revolut, Stanford, Washington Post, Y Combinator, and UiPath.
Tomáš is also building Startup Kitchen, a Central European investment platform that focuses on founders and their first investment rounds across the CEE region. He also serves as a start-up juror in several international investment organizations, including SeedStars and ASU+GSV Summit.
HAVEL & PARTNERS expands its IP practice with the addition of the H&P Patents team specialised in providing comprehensive services to clients in finding the optimal industrial property strategy involving obtaining patent, utility model or industrial design protection in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and abroad. H&P Patents also provides services related to European patent validations and obtaining supplementary protection certificates in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The team consists of more than 15 experienced patent attorneys, IP specialists and attorneys with many years of experience who represent clients before patent offices and courts in complex patent disputes.
“We can now offer our clients the widest range of IP services on the Czech-Slovak market. We have established a dedicated group specialising in patents and related matters, which is composed of experts with extensive experience in patent law. Together with our colleagues from the Litigation group, who have been successfully dealing with patent disputes for a long time, we have built the largest and most comprehensive IP team in the Central European market,” said Ivan Rámeš, partner at HAVEL & PARTNERS.
H&P Patents has been strengthened to include patent attorneys with more than 25 years of experience, Tomáš Pavlica and Ivana Beranová.
Tomáš Pavlica specialises in providing services in the field of patent law to clients from the Czech Republic and abroad. He primarily specialises in the protection of Czech clients’ inventions, assistance in finding the optimal strategy for protecting their inventions abroad, and the agenda related to European patent validations. As a patent attorney and European patent attorney, Tomáš represents clients not only before the Industrial Property Office in Prague, but also before the European Patent Office (EPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He is also authorised to represent clients before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
Ivana Beranová specialises in intellectual property law, specifically in the field of patents in organic and inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacochemistry and related fields. Her specialisation are European patent validations as well as supplementary protection certificates for medicinal products and plant protection products.
The H&P Patents team provides patent law support in all technical and business fields. It arranges for patent searches, processes applications for inventions, utility models and industrial designs, and represents clients before the Industrial Property Office in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, before the European Patent Office in proceedings for the grant of patents or registration of utility models and during their validation.
The Patents team provides a complete agenda for securing rights in connection with granted European patents (validation) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, including high-quality professional translations from English, German and French in all technical fields. The team also provides services in connection with maintenance fee payments and patent right transfers.
The H&P team provides advice, preparation of documents and representation in proceedings before the Industrial Property Offices of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in obtaining supplementary protection certificates (SPC) for medicinal products and plant protection products.
The Patents team also represents clients in patent disputes before specialised courts in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and before courts in related proceedings concerning unfair competition and other intellectual property rights. It provides specialised expert and legal support for patent litigation and enforcement of rights arising from patents and utility models against third parties also abroad.
The Patents team also works closely with venture capital experts in the protection of technology start-ups and their licensing. As part of a global network of proven and top-notch foreign attorneys, H&P Patents’ experts are also dedicated to securing patent protection and taking other patent- or utility model-related acts anywhere in the world.
HAVEL & PARTNERS presented a charity cheque for CZK 150,000 to the non-profit organisation Dejme dětem šanci during the Lawyer of the Year 2022 gala evening. The contribution goes to projects that help children and young people from children’s homes to enter independent adult life. The firm regularly contributes to charitable causes during the announcement of the most significant personalities in the field of law and this year the total amount donated has already exceeded CZK 1.5 million.
Part of this year’s contribution, CZK 62,000, was collected by the firm in connection with the NextŽeny project. As part of the project, it conducted a survey to find out how women and men approach investments and wealth management. The questionnaire was sent to Czech male and female investors and for each completed questionnaire, the law firm donated CZK 200 to the Dejme dětem šanci organisation. The firm then increased the amount collected during the survey by another contribution, bringing the total of CZK 150,000.
The Dejme dětem šanci organisation helps children and young people from children’s homes on their way to independence. Its projects facilitate the successful integration of children into society once they reach adulthood and leave a children’s home. Dejme dětem šanci cooperates with 50 children’s homes in all 14 regions of the Czech Republic. For 12 years of existence, they have thus supported more than 4,500 specific children with a total amount of more than CZK 62 million.
“Everyone should have a fair chance in life, especially children who did not have a very carefree childhood and have an uncertain future when they leave the children’s home and face independent living. We were pleased to support the project that accompanies children through this difficult period and tries to make it as easy as possible for them,” said partner František Korbel, who presented the cheque at the gala evening on Friday, 12 May, at Hotel INTERNATIONAL in Brno.
HAVEL & PARTNERS has been contributing to charitable causes at the Lawyer of the Year gala evening for many years. In previous years, it has supported, for example, the foundation Nadace Krása pomoci, Bílý Kruh Bezpečí, Nadační fond Krtek, Nadační fond AutTalk, the Children’s Oncology Ward of the University Hospital in Motol and the charitable organisation Dobrá rodina. In total, the firm has already donated CZK 1,550,000 to charitable causes in connection with the Lawyer of the Year gala evening, including this year.
Authors: Petr Opluštil, Lívia Djukić
On 5 April 2023, the European Commission published the long-awaited draft technical screening criteria for the remaining 4 environmental objectives of the EU Taxonomy (the Taxonomy Environmental Delegated Act – the “Delegated Act”). What is their purpose and what activities do they apply to?
The EU Taxonomy is a classification system that helps companies and investors to identify sustainable economic activities and subsequently make sustainable investment decisions. The EU Taxonomy sets out four basic conditions that an economic activity must meet to qualify as environmentally sustainable:
So far, technical screening criteria have only been set for the first two environmental objectives – climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation. The Delegated Act is intended to establish technical screening criteria for the four other environmental objectives, which are:
The Delegated Act aims to increase the transparency of the fourth condition of the EU Taxonomy, to mitigate the risk of potential greenwashing and to unify the concept of which specific activities qualify as environmentally sustainable.
The draft Delegated Act specified the technical criteria for selected economic activities in the sectors of manufacturing, water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation, construction and civil engineering, disaster risk management, accommodation activities, information and communication, and environmental protection and restoration.
Specific economic activities within each sector have been identified as having the potential to make a substantial contribution to (one or more) environmental objectives. Whether the technical criteria for specific economic activities could be developed without further delay was also an important factor. Certain economic activities (such as agriculture, forestry or fishing) could not be easily incorporated into the Delegated Act and will be subject to further assessment.
The individual technical screening criteria are set out in the annexes to the Delegated Act. A separate annex has been drafted for each area and contains a definition of the economic activities concerned (including the relevant NACE codes) for which it provides specific technical screening criteria to achieve the objectives under the Delegated Act.
The draft Delegated Act (here) has been opened for comments since its publication; the comment procedure runs until 3 May 2023. The European Commission will then evaluate the comments received and finalise the technical criteria. Their final version should be ready in June 2023. The Delegated Act is expected to come into force on 1 January 2024.
The Delegated Act is another regulation in a series of regulations under the EU Taxonomy. Companies wishing to secure green financing for their activities, or which will sooner or later be subject to non-financial reporting obligations, will be required to indicate the extent to which their activities are sustainable according to the EU Taxonomy and whether they comply with the technical screening criteria set out in Delegated Act or another relevant regulation. However, other companies not directly affected by non-financial reporting will also have to comply with the new sustainability rules – whether as part of their supply chain, when filing applications for sustainable finance or for other business reasons.
This year, HAVEL & PARTNERS was the only law firm in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to be listed in the prestigious The Legal 500 EMEA Green Guide – the first global ranking of the best law firms advising on climate change, governance, management and sustainability issues. If you are interested in learning more about individual ESG areas and their potential impact on your business, our multidisciplinary ESG team will be happy to provide you with comprehensive customised services.
HAVEL & PARTNERS is the only law firm in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to be included in the prestigious The Legal 500 EMEA Green Guide. The Guide publishes a list of the best law firms focusing on services in the area of sustainability and promoting green transformation principles in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
“ESG and sustainability consulting is a rapidly growing segment of our services and an important part of our business strategy. We help clients put key sustainability principles into practice and advise them on new green opportunities. The transition to sustainable business models has quickly moved from a level of enthusiasm to a necessary obligation for companies. This is not only due to tightening regulations, but also to the business and economic implications that already make the transition to sustainable operation a significant competitive advantage in business,” says partner Jan Koval.
HAVEL & PARTNERS helps clients understand the sustainability requirements relevant to their business. For ESG, the firm has a team of specialists who provide comprehensive advice to clients on sustainability, relevant environmental regulations and commitments, or in the context of renewable energy and green funding projects.
The firm offers personalised advice on all legal, tax and other professional issues related to ESG. It conducts ESG compliance audits and develops tailored ESG programmes for businesses – from supply chain management and building investor confidence, to protecting employee health, to responsible and sustainable public procurement.
The firm itself takes a responsible approach to its own operations and also strives to promote a sustainable approach to business. The firm is a founding member of the Climate & Sustainable Leaders Czech Republic platform, which supports the reduction of the carbon footprint of the Czech economy by motivating companies and helping them to switch to a sustainable way of operating. As the first law firm in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, HAVEL & PARTNERS has also become part of the United Nations Global Compact – an international initiative of the United Nations to promote sustainability, equality and anti-corruption.
The Legal 500 Global Green Guide is the first global ranking of the top law firms advising on climate change, governance and management, and sustainability issues and contributing to the “green transformation”. The review assesses law firms based on their representation of clients in litigation and transactions that seek to mitigate climate change, or their involvement in regulatory advice, and also evaluates their own sustainability initiatives.
Petr Tušakovský, an expert in complex VAT advisory services to major multinational and domestic companies, with more than 20 years of experience in providing tax advisory services, has joined HAVEL & PARTNERS’ dedicated tax team as Tax Director as of March 2023.
“Our team has been working in the field of VAT on a daily basis for many years and we have developed significant expertise and knowledge in this area. The onboarding of another top expert, and Petr is one, will now enable further professional and managerial development of this practice area. With regard to Petr’s previous experience, we will be able to offer our clients the highest possible level of VAT-related advice even in the most complex projects, which within the firm’s client portfolio include mainly financial services, the construction sector, retail, and consumer industry,” said David Krch, tax partner, on Petr Tušakovský’s arrival.
Petr Tušakovský provides long-term day-to-day tax advisory support to clients active in the retail and consumer sectors, the automotive industry, and real estate. Together with his colleagues from HAVEL & PARTNERS tax team, he provides comprehensive VAT advice, both individually and in transactions and projects carried out in cooperation with the firm’s legal teams. He is also in charge of the team responsible for preparing VAT returns and related reports, and also focuses on tax due diligence. Petr also represents clients in on-the-spot investigations and tax audits.
Thanks to his previous experience in the United States, Petr Tušakovský gained experience in global structuring in the field of indirect taxes. He has also provided advisory services to foreign investors in connection with the expansion of their activities, especially in the European Union countries.
Before joining HAVEL & PARTNERS, he worked for 20 years at Deloitte. Petr was also a member of a consulting group focusing on companies from mainland China and Taiwan and domestic companies operating in that region.
The law firm HAVEL & PARTNERS has again succeeded in the TOP Employers award, becoming the most sought-after employer among law firms in the Czech Republic for the ninth time in a row. This year, the law firm also won the first prize in the Lawyer category based on results of the voting among university students.
The survey is organised by the Association of Students and Graduates on an annual basis. The award is voted for by Czech university students. They rank companies according to the criteria that are crucial for them when choosing their future employer and they select the most attractive employers in each sector. This year, a total of 11,712 respondents took part in the survey. The ranking in the special category Lawyer is determined exclusively by law faculty students that can boast the best academic results.
With 320 lawyers and tax advisors, HAVEL & PARTNERS has the strongest team in the Czech and Slovak markets, and is sought after in complex business cases involving international elements or requiring a combination of know-how from multiple fields of law. By joining the firm’s team, students can benefit from the experience they gain by working on attractive cases and transactions under the guidance of their senior colleagues.
“We value young talents and we open the way to the business world for them. In our law firm, students benefit from the background of a stable company with an outstanding reputation. Above all, we offer them the opportunity to quickly gain experience and practice in top-class counselling. When working with the new generation of lawyers, we in turn appreciate their progressiveness and enthusiasm, which we see as a necessary prerequisite for their further professional growth in our firm to become top professionals in their fields. We take this award as a commitment and motivation to further develop our successful cooperation with students,” commented Daniel Soukup, HR Director at HAVEL & PARTNERS.
The revenues from the sale of legal and tax services of HAVEL & PARTNERS, the largest independent law firm in Central Europe, amounted to CZK 1,058 million in 2022. The firm’s total turnover grew by more than 11% year-on-year. Within the Czech offices, the year-on-year increase in turnover corresponded to less than 10%, while the Slovak office grew by 17%. In particular, the area of tax services achieved a significant growth, with a turnover increasing by 53%. The turnover of the entire group, which also includes the Cash Collectors collection agency and specialised tax consultancy services, exceeded CZK 1,250 million.
“Our firm has been growing continuously in terms of turnover and personnel since its establishment in 2001. In terms of turnover, we grew again in double digits in 2022, with revenues exceeding the threshold of CZK 1 billion and the number of our clients, which currently is more than 3,000, has also grown,” said Jaroslav Havel, managing partner of the firm.
The increase in the firm’s turnover last year was driven in particular by the specialised advisory tax group, which grew significantly not only in terms of turnover but also in terms of personnel. The upward trend in economic performance has also been supported by venture capital and technology law advisory services, areas that have seen record investments in recent years. Services for private clients focused on asset management and protection were also in great demand last year. The advisory groups specialising in real estate law, restructuring and insolvency, and litigation also grew.
Although the firm grew in turnover in 2022, there was a slight decline in profit of about 5% compared to 2021. “The reason for the decline in profit is mainly due to the increase in personnel and investment costs. Last year, we increased our remuneration in connection with inflation and, above all, substantially expanded our team, which, with 320 lawyers and tax advisors, consolidated our position as the strongest team in the Czech and Slovak legal market. We also increased the costs of investments in further development of the firm, whether in new technologies or, for example, in the expansion of the premises,” added Jaroslav Havel.
The quality of the services provided, which contribute to the continuous economic growth of HAVEL & PARTNERS, is evidenced by the domestic and international awards the firm received in 2022. In the Law Firm of the Year competition in the Czech Republic, HAVEL & PARTNERS received the main award in the Domestic Law Firm category for the third time in a row, as well as the award for the Best Client Services. It was also named the best Czech law firm for the third time in a row in the prestigious global ranking of the Chambers Europe Awards. In the Slovak Law Firm of the Year competition, it received the main award in the International Law Firm category and, as in the previous two years, it also won the Best Client Services category.
