Moldova’s judicial system has long struggled with public distrust. Bivol & Asociatii Managing Partner Andrei Bivol and Dolea & Co Managing Partner Sorin Dolea discuss the current state of Moldova’s judiciary, the vetting process, and ongoing challenges.

Law firms can claim to be next-gen, world-class, or strategic until the cows come home. None of it matters if clarity and proof are nowhere to be found.

Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen’s Competition practice has navigated a broad mix of mandates, including investigations, complex litigation, and a growing volume of merger control and FDI filings, according to Partner and Head of Competition, State Aid, EU Law, and FDI, Anca Diaconu. The team has also seen clients make fuller use of procedural tools, reflecting a more sophisticated and fast-moving enforcement environment.

Reputation in Central and Eastern Europe used to be something firms cultivated through good work and word of mouth. Today, it has quietly morphed into something more structural: a risk indicator. Foreign clients, investors, banks, and multinational GCs, have begun treating a firm’s public footprint the way they treat KYB/KYC information. They check for clarity, consistency, and external validation long before they send an email.

In a region that has learned to live with uncertainty, Poland stands out for something refreshingly simple: results. A recent Bloomberg column by Matthew A. Winkler captured it perfectly: Poland’s GDP is about USD 915 billion and keeps compounding. Bloomberg calculates that household consumption has surged 125% since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016; the zloty leads among 23 most-traded emerging-market currencies; Polish government bonds top Europe with over 30% total return; and the Warsaw Stock Exchange ranks among the world’s best performers so far this year. These are facts.

In our Looking In series, we talk to Partners from outside CEE who are keeping an eye on the region to learn how they perceive CEE markets and their evolution. For this issue, we reached out to new Jones Day Partner Veronica Dragalin, who recently joined the firm’s Washington office after working as the Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor in Moldova since 2022.

In The Corner Office, we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. This time around, we asked: What is the one most time-consuming administrative task for you as a Managing Partner, and what, if anything, have you done to try to minimize time spent on it?

CEE is increasingly on the radar for businesses looking for efficient and cost-effective dispute resolution. Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii Partner Cornel Popa, PRK Partners Associate Partner Michal Sylla, and Avellum Partner Oleksii Maslov discuss which hubs are leading the way, the challenges they face, and the opportunities shaping the region’s arbitration landscape.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cross-hatched legal map covering the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, and the Brcko District forces counsel to marry country-wide coordination with entity-specific nuance. DMB Partners Managing Partner Dina Durakovic, Dimitrijevic & Partners Senior Partner Stevan Dimitrijevic, and IA Law Firm Managing Partner Adi Ibrahimovic walk us through how they staff matters, steer incorporation choices, pick governing law and forums, and keep closings on schedule despite shifting administrative sands.

As Bosnia and Herzegovina advances EU-alignment and energy transition priorities, mandates have broadened across compliance, projects, and cross-border deals. Maric & Co Partner Bojana Bosnjak-London and Sijercic & Partners Senior Partner Nihad Sijercic discuss where the work is coming from, who’s investing, what’s slowing things down, and how the outlook is shaping up.

For the first time, CEE Legal Matters turns its spotlight on Georgia, examining a market that has changed dramatically over the past three decades. From the early days of small local offices to today’s mix of international and domestic players, we look at what has shaped Georgia’s legal landscape.

CEE Legal Matters recently concluded a series of local and regional events – the Hungarian, Balkan, and Turkish General Counsel Summits – with around a dozen law firms participating as sponsors across the three summits.

Many law firms treat their website as a project to be handed off to an external agency: the website is developed, content is added, and then the site goes live. After that, control rests almost entirely with the agency.

The energy sector in CEE has undergone unprecedented transformation since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, forcing governments and energy companies to align their economies, businesses, and strategies with energy security objectives, transforming energy landscapes, and keeping legal teams extremely busy. Law firms have found themselves at the center of energy market changes and the renewables revolution that shows no signs of slowing.

As the region rounds the summer bend, Kinstellar Partner in Serbia Milan Samardzic, Avellum Managing Partner Mykola Stetsenko in Ukraine, and PwC Director and Head of Legal Practice in Georgia Vano Gogelia unpack what moved and why in terms of summer levels of activity, the macro and political levers at play, and what they expect to drive closings into year-end.

White & Case Local Partner Jana Chwaszcz, Havel & Partners Partner Jaroslav Baier, DLA Piper Czech Republic Country Managing Partner Miroslav Dubovsky, and Schoenherr Partner Vladimir Cizek discuss the forces behind Czech investors increasingly looking beyond their borders, the sectors and destinations attracting the most interest, and the challenges that come with navigating foreign markets.

As of June 1, 2025, changes in labor law, also known as the “Flexi-Amendment,” came into effect in the Czech Republic, with the purpose of enhancing flexibility in employment relationships and in the labor market. Peterka & Partners Partner Adela Krbcova, Sedlakova Legal Partner David Supej, Glatzova & Co Partner Jiri Sixta, Act Legal Partner Lenka Droscova, and Legalite Partner Marie Jansova discuss how the reforms are shaping the Czech labor market.

Cechova & Partners Partner Michaela Jurkova and Ruzicka & Partners Partner and Co-Head of the Banking and Finance practice Jan Hanko discuss Slovakia’s banking sector’s modest but meaningful consolidation over the last five years.