New counsel appointments for CMS Poland

CMS continues to develop its offering in Poland with the promotion of three counsels:

• Katarzyna Kucharczyk – to the position of counsel in the dispute resolution department;

• Adam Stopyra – to the position of counsel in the banking and international finance department;

• Ewa Świderska – to the position of counsel in the insurance team.

“This year’s promotions are a reflection of the growth of our practice and our plans for further development. It is also a result of our increasing specialisation and client-focused approach,” says Małgorzata Surdek, managing partner of CMS Poland. All appointments took effect from 1 May 2016.

Katarzyna Kucharczyk has over 10 years’ experience in representing financial institutions and clients from the construction, IT and telecommunications sectors in court disputes and in national and international arbitration. She has also acted before patent office and administrative courts on intellectual property matters. In her new role, Katarzyna will focus on the development of the construction disputes practice as well as disputes in the field of competition and consumer protection in the financial sector.

Katarzyna specialises in disputes concerning construction projects, infrastructure and real estate. She has acted for, among others, the perpetual usufructee in a precedent-setting case concerning the perpetual usufruct of land located in central Warsaw, and was a representative in matters concerning the construction of motorways. She also represents clients on competition law and consumer protection issues, including clients from the financial sector. She is a recommended dispute resolution lawyer in Chambers Europe.

Dr Adam Stopyra, advocate, has over 10 years’ experience in the banking sector. He specialises in regulatory issues. As counsel he will lead the derivatives, securitisation and regulations practice. He combines legal expertise with experience gained in the Department of Capital Adequacy at Raiffeisen Bank, where he was responsible for portfolio sales and securitisation. He has experience in the implementation of EU regulations such as EMIR, CRD IV, MiFID, UCITS. He has a doctorate in legal sciences from the University of Warsaw.

Ewa Świderska specialises in providing legal advice to companies in the financial services sector, with particular expertise in insurance. She has been with CMS since 2006. As counsel and leader of the insurance team she is responsible for the further development of the practice. She combines legal expertise with an excellent understanding of the insurance market. She gained professional experience as an in-house lawyer at various international insurance companies. She has advised on proceedings before the supervisory authority, as well as on the creation and marketing of insurance products, and on bancassurance issues. She has also dealt with data protection and consumer protection issues. Her professional experience includes transactions on the financial services market, including mergers and restructuring of international financial institutions. She graduated in law from the University of Warsaw.