Author: ts_pm

In the current edition of the 2018 Chambers Europe ranking, the title of "recommended lawyer" was awarded to:

• Tomasz Burczyński – Up and Coming – TAXES (Tomasz Burczyński is particularly noted for his contentious tax practice, with one source commending his "experience and involvement in court litigation and administrative proceedings." His areas of focus also include income tax and the tax aspects of new technologies.)
• Wacław Knopkiewicz – Band 3 – TMT (Sources recognise Wacław Knopkiewicz for his experience in the TMT market. He frequently undertakes instructions from public sector clients and advises on legislative changes related to the telecoms industry. He recently assisted The Polish Research and Academic Computer Network with the separation of its telecommunications operations into a subsidiary.)
• Andrzej Ladziński – Up and Coming – TAX Consultants (Andrzej Ladziński enters the rankings due to his growing market presence. He is particularly active in representing clients in tax litigation and gains recognition for his "very good knowledge" of tax issues in the telecoms sector.)

GWW was singled out as a "recommended firm" in areas:

• CONSTRUCTION– Band 4 – (Clients praise the team's "adaptability, flexibility and communication skills.")
• TAX– Band 4 – (The team is praised for its quality of advice, emphasising its "complex analysis of topics discussed, pragmatic approach and strategic thinking." Another source says: "They have the ability to combine and integrate facts and relevant regulations.")
• TMT – Band 3

The Chambers Europe listing is prepared by Chambers and Partners, an independent firm analysing the legal services market worldwide. Titles are granted on the basis of recommendations obtained directly from clients and other lawyers.

 

We are pleased to announce that as of 1 January 2018, Elżbieta Kamińska joined our group of partners. As part of the expansion of GWW’s structure, we have created a new position for a Junior Partner. Katarzyna Blachowicz, Urszula Darkowska, Małgorzata Gieniec-Mordak and Jacek Olma made junior partners this year.

The expansion of the group of partners and granting the GWW Legal long-term associates with the status of a junior partner is the effect of the Integrated System of Evaluation and Bonuses operating for over three years in the structures of the GWW Integrated Project, rewarding and promoting the best GWW colleagues.

Below are short biographical notes of persons subject to the promotion.

 

Elżbieta Kamińska, Attorney-at-Law, is an expert in corporate law. She participated in corporate restructuring projects of many key clients of our law firm, including stock-listed companies. In addition, she has unique competences in the field of joint venture agreements and contracts regarding the financing of development investments. She also advised on one of the largest acquisitions on the development market in the recent period, worth PLN 87.6 million. She has been with GWW since 2009.

 

Katarzyna Blachowicz, Attorney-at-Law specializing in ongoing legal advice in the field of individual labour law for entrepreneurs, including the small and medium-sized sector. She has extensive court experience in the field of labour law and social insurance. Having started her professional career at GWW in 2008, she is currently responsible for the development of the labour law practice.

 

Urszula Darkowska, Attorney-at-Law specializing in conducting court proceedings in civil and commercial matters. She represents clients of our law firm from the telecommunications, railway and energy industries in complex court and arbitration disputes related to their activities. She also conducts litigation related to copyright infringements, including advising clients in disputes with collecting societies. Urszula has been cooperating with GWW as part of the trial department since 2006, and since 2016 she has been managing the GWW legal practice in Warsaw.

 

Małgorzata Gieniec-Mordak in the last 10 years has achieved the status of an expert in real estate law by leading real estate projects crucial to GWW, including due diligence for the largest players on the real estate market, including entities listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. She advised on one of the largest acquisition in the recent development market worth PLN 87.6 million. She has been cooperating with GWW since 2007.

 

Jacek Olma is a legal adviser professionally involved in resolving disputes – in particular, court proceedings, but also alternative dispute resolution methods. One of the most interesting projects he conducted was the pursuit of claims related to defective nationalization, including compensation and settlement of receivables due to the use of real estate. The proceedings ended with success and the satisfaction of clients. He has been cooperating with GWW since 2009.

Tomasz Krzywański has become a full STEP member and is the fifth Polish native in this prestigious organisation.

A member of GWW’s Private Client team,  Tomasz Krzywański, has been accepted as member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

The Society brings together established and highly experienced advisors dealing with financial and estate planning as well as advisory for family companies (more on step.org).

Full STEP members, such as Tomasz Krzywański, are known as TEPs. Such professionals are internationally considered to be key experts in their fields and the TEP designation is a confirmation of their qualifications and experience.

GWW successfully represented PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. in a tender, the value of which is estimated at PLN 3 billion

The tender concerns the construction of the ERTMS / GSM-R communication system. The construction focuses on the location of fiber optics and setting up transmission poles along most of the railway lines in Poland. This will allow digital communication between the cabin system in trains and the traffic management system. The ERTMS / GSM-R system is to be an element of introducing interoperability to the European railway network. No other European country decided to conduct a tender on such a scale.

 

Three consortia participated in the tender: Nokia – PLN 2.644 billion, Kapsch-Porr – PLN 3.724 billion and a consortium of Chinese companies – PLN 4.8 billion. Nokia's offer was considered the most advantageous of all. The Kapsch-Porr consortium questioned the correctness of the winning offer both in terms of technical matters and price. By virtue of a judgment of 19 January 2018, the National Board of Appeal upheld the decision of PKP PLK. Thanks to significant efforts of GWW lawyers – (with the client's representation before KIO, GWW cooperated with Tomasz Siedlecki Law Firm), the State Treasury saved over PLN 1 billion.

Agnieszka Adach, attorney-at-law was the key lawyer preparing the strategy for conducting disputes and representing the PKP PLK before the National Appeal Chamber on the part of GWW.

At an earlier stage of the tender, the GWW team under the supervision of Michał Sękowski prepared the terms of public procurement and supported PKP PLK in answering several thousand questions sent by contractors.

We cordially invite you to subscribe to Zdzisław Modzelewski's webinar. Split payment – a new solution in VAT already in 2018

 

The webinar shall focus on the following issues

• What is a split payment?
• The objective of introducing split payment.
• What payments does this mechanism involve? What will the transfer method look like? Partial payments. Invoices in currencies? Mutual offsets.
• The obligation of having a special VAT ACCOUNT by each taxpayer
• Opening and maintaining a VAT account. Will contracts/ annexes be needed? Commission and payment for opening/ maintaining an account? Interest on funds on the account?
• Several billing accounts in one bank – how many VAT accounts?
• Several billing accounts in different banks – how many VAT accounts?
• Will the VAT account number be provided to clients on an invoice or in another way?
• Obligation or the right to use this mechanism – can the seller block the payment in the split-payment system?
• When split-payment will not be able to occur?
• Benefits of using split-payment – what does it protect and what does it not affect?
• Disposing of funds accumulated on the VAT account. When and on what principles?
• Recovery of funds from the VAT account.
• VAT refund by the Tax Office into a VAT account.

The webinar will be divided into two parts: the lecture part and the question session from the participants.

Date: 29 January, 9:30 a.m.
Zapisy 

Organizer: Infor Akademia

In November 2017 we moved our office to the Sky Res Warszawska office building. The SkyRes Warszawska is a brand new (2016) and first modern class A office building in Rzeszow. It is located in the best communicated part of Rzeszow, in the city center being also close to the airport and key business points. 

Agnieszka Adach comments on the consequences of the most recent judgement of the Supreme Court regarding the public procurement law. Has this judgement of the Supreme Court changed the practice of withholding the deposit guarantee in case when certain documents submitted on request of the contracting authority are not in line with the SIWZ?.

 

The article was published in Biulety Górniczy, No. 9-10/2017, section Law.

The results are presented in the Chambers HNW 2017 Guide, a ranking of the best advisors specialising in legal services for individual clients (High Net Worth Individuals). GWW is one of the three best law firms in Poland in the “Private Client“ category, and we received the top award as a firm (Band 1).

Individual awards:

• Place 1. – Aldona Leszczyńska-Mikulska heads GWW’s Private Client team, a member of the international STEP Association  (“She is always trying to find the right solution, even when we have a difficult case,” says a source, explaining that “she never gives up or says it is impossible.” An investment manager states that “she knows the tax laws in Poland very well, and she can use her theoretical knowledge practically. She is such a professional and a person of high standards.”);

• Place 2. – Artur Cmoch, the partner leading GWW’s tax practice  (He is “very knowledgeable about the law and he has a great way in which he conducts business. He knows how to achieve business goals for the private person.” A wealth manager says: “Artur is a great tax expert. I like that he is always comes up with inspiring solutions.” Another interviewee enthuses that “his creativity is his biggest strength, for sure,” and suggests that “there is hardly anyone in Poland who is as well positioned as he is” for private wealth work.).

 

Clients consider GWW to be “very professional and very well organised”, and the GWW Private team is described as “friendly, effective, creative, diligent and flexible“. Interviewees emphasised the high quality of services and unique expertise of GWW experts in all matters related to tax law.

Ranking details can be found on the Chambers & Partners website, link here.

We are pleased to announce that GWW’s tax practice has won awards in Rzeczpospolita’s ranking of tax consultancy firms, for:

•    its INNOVATIVE SOLUTION regarding the IT module system for tax information management known as “e-SHIP by GWW”, which supports companies in fulfilling their obligations towards the tax authorities and automates tax processes;

•    its HIGH-PROFILE WINS IN COURT and its development of a favourable line of ruling, which consequently does not allow the limitation period to be suspended in hundreds of proceedings.

We are particularly proud of the award in the first category – “Innovative solution” – because the ranking committee assessed the leading IT solutions available today on the Polish market which support the process of settlement and reporting of tax obligations. We therefore competed with the biggest law and tax firms, including the Big Four and their top IT tools developed for tax purposes.

Value of the “e-SHIP by GWW” system for clients
1.    A reduction of tax services costs in financial and accounting departments.
2.    A decreased tax risk as a result of being able to get information quickly in any given area of a firm’s operations that have an influence on its tax settlements, ongoing inspection of VAT and ledger records (crucial for avoiding participation in tax frauds).
3.    Automation of many control functions which were hitherto based on the “sample” choice principle on account of their scope/scale.

The possibilities of “e-SHIP by GWW”
•    Anticipates the results of a tax inspection;
•    Makes tax risk management more efficient;
•    Eliminates tax risks;
•    “Learns new rules and obligations” in real time;
•    Effectively cooperates with existing IT systems.

Tomasz Krzywański came third in the “Best speaker” category in the nationwide Polish Arbitration Competition organised by the Court of Arbitration at the Lewiatan Confederation (Poland’s most influential business organisation, representing the interests of employers in Poland and the European Union). It affiliates over 4,100 companies employing a total of over 1 million. It is the only Polish employers’ organisation to have its representative office in Brussels and to belong to BusinessEurope.

Furthermore, the Team with Tom in it finished in the top eight best teams. Congratulations, Tom!

The Lewiatan Arbitration Competition is a moot court type competition and enjoys popularity in Anglo Saxon countries. It involves competitions which are based on simulated court and arbitration proceedings. It is one of the biggest and most high-profile events of its kind in Poland. It has two stages: a written one (participants must prepare a statement of claim and statement of defence) and an oral one (participation in a simulated arbitration hearing), and lasts almost six months (this year’s competition was from February to June 2017).

Participants – trainee solicitors from all over Poland – play the parts of parties’ attorneys ad litem, draw up a strategy for conducting the case, prepare pleadings and represent parties during simulated hearings.