Counsel

Piotr Stenko, PhD

Attorney-at-law

Warsaw, Poland

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Languages

Polish
English
German

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Piotr Stenko, PhD is an attorney-at-law and counsel in the Dispute Resolution practice at CMS.

Piotr has over fifteen years’ experience advising on major infrastructure investments, with a particular focus on construction litigation and arbitration (both as counsel and an arbitrator). He also advises on insolvency issues and cross-border disputes.

He represents general contractors in litigation and arbitration, as during the performance of the contracts, concerning road (motorways, national and voivodship roads), energy, rail, chemical and marine infrastructure projects. Additionally, he regularly acts for designers and employers in litigation related to construction damage claims. Piotr has been recommended by the Legal 500 ranking in Construction. According to market sources, “he understands the business needs of clients, knows the industry well, and his advice is also spot on and on time.” Clients also recognise his “extensive experience” in dispute resolution.

In his insolvency practice, Piotr represents creditors, including banks and commercial creditors, in a range of bankruptcy proceedings, particularly those involving financing, consortium facility settlements, and insolvency-related disputes, such as avoidance actions (actio pauliana). His advice also covers securing transactions in the context of bankruptcy and restructuring.

Piotr obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Warsaw, where he wrote a thesis on the intersection of international insolvency law and international litigation, focusing on insolvency related annex proceedings. He is the author of numerous academic publications on civil proceedings, bankruptcy law, arbitration, and banking law relating to bank guarantees.

Relevant experience

A Polish EPC contractor in a series of multi-million litigation and mediation cases against Employers under EPC contracts concerning wastewater processing and incineration plants and involving price adjustment claims, extension of time costs (EOT) and damage claims, as well as during several other disputes against the client’s subcontractors and consortium partners.
A consortium of contractors in six multi-million litigation cases against employers (based on FIDIC Yellow Book) and subcontractors related to the design and construction of a major railway station in central Poland, with claims ranging from an extension of time costs, costs of additional works, construction overheads, damage claims related to defective design, to liquidated damages and substitute performance costs.
A leading Polish general contractor in the rail sector on two design and build contracts (based on FIDIC Yellow Book) for sections of railway near Szczecin and in related litigation worth several hundred million PLN concerning the lack of duty to perform major additional works as well as the invalidity of the provisions on liquidated damages.
A consortium of Polish general contractors from the rail sector and leading Austrian and Spanish construction companies in two complex, multi-million, multi-claims litigation cases related to a contract to modernise two railway lines in southern Poland under a “build” formula contract (based on FIDIC Red Book), including claims concerning the settlement of the contract, claims for extension of time costs, construction overheads, price adjustment, damage claims and costs of additional works.
A Greek real estate investment fund in a series of disputes with a general contractor, a consortium consisting of Spanish general contractors concerning the modernisation of an existing building in southern Poland in a “design and build” formula and its conversion into a hotel to be leased by a renowned international hotel group related to claims to extend time costs, construction overheads, additional works, and investor’s damage claims.
The general designer and roof structure designer of a stadium in southern Poland in multiple, multi-party, multi-million disputes related to the structural failure of the stadium’s roof.
A consortium of contractors in a range of disputes with the client concerning the settlement of an EPC-Contract for the construction of flue-gas desulphurisation installations in a power plant located in south-west Poland. The claims concerned liquidated damages for untimely performance of the contract, claims related to defects in the delivered documentation and improper co-operation by the client, as well as the settlement of additional and substitute work carried out by the contractor.
A general contractor in a multi-million PLN dispute concerning the investor’s claims for liquidated damages against consortium members related to repairs under statutory warranty (based on FIDIC Yellow Book) in the construction of an expressway resulting in the mitigation of 90% of the liquidated damages.
A consortium leader, a renowned Austrian railway company, on a technically demanding railway project, one of the largest railway tenders on the Polish market (based on FIDIC Yellow Book), on the performance of several hundred million PLN worth of additional works unforeseen in the tender documentation.
A general contractor in a dispute against the GDDKiA regarding the client’s abuse of an insurance guarantee in the construction of the A-4 motorway (based on FIDIC Red Book).

Publications

Co-Author: “Obligations. Non-code provisions. Commentary. Volume V” [Zobowiązania. Przepisy pozakodeksowe. Komentarz. Tom V], Prof. Dr. hab. Piotr Machnikowski (ed.), C.H. Beck, 2025; author of the commentary on the provisions regulating bank guarantees (Articles 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86a and 87 of the Banking Law), co-author of the commentary to the substantive bankruptcy law provisions (Articles 83-118 of the Bankruptcy Law).
Author: “Is the effectiveness of withdrawal or termination of a contract in bankruptcy or restructuring proceedings conditional on the finality of the judge-commissioner's decision?”, [Czy przesłanką skuteczności odstąpienia lub wypowiedzenia umowy w postępowaniu upadłościowym lub sanacyjnym jest prawomocność postanowienia sędziego-komisarza?], Polski Proces Cywilny 2025, no. 2/2025.
Author: “Preventive claims related to the unjustified use of a bank or insurance guarantee” [Roszczenia prewencyjne związane z bezpodstawnym skorzystaniem z gwarancji bankowej lub ubezpieczeniowej], in: Construction contracts in court and arbitration practice, [Umowa o roboty budowlane w praktyce sądowej i arbitrażowej], Prof. Dr hab. Marcin Dziurda, dr hab. Bartosz Wołodkiewicz (eds.), Wolters Kluwer 2024.
Co-Author: “Obligations. General provisions and related provisions of Book I of the Civil Code. Vol I. Commentary” [Zobowiązania. Przepisy ogólne i powiązane przepisy Księgi I KC. Tom I. Komentarz], Prof. Dr. hab. Piotr Machnikowski (ed.), C.H. Beck, 2022.
Author: “Jurisdiction in matters related to fraudulent conveyances (actio pauliana). Some remarks on the judgment of the ECJ from 4.10.2018 in Case C-337/17 Feniks sp. z o.o. v Azteca Products & Services SL” [Jurysdykcja krajowa w sprawach ze skargi pauliańskiej. Uwagi na kanwie wyroku Trybunału Sprawiedliwości z 4.10.2018 r., C-337/17, Feniks sp. z o.o. przeciwko Azteca Products & Services SL], Polski Proces Cywilny 2019, no. 4/2019.
Author: “Determining the contractual place of performance in accordance with the contract without recourse to law applicable” [Ustalanie jurysdykcji sądów państwa miejsca wykonania zobowiązania na podstawie umowy bez odwołania się do prawa właściwego], Polski Proces Cywilny 2014, no. 1/2014.
Author: “Temporal Admissibility of Withdrawal of Claims in Insolvency Proceedings” [O czasowej dopuszczalności cofnięcia zgłoszenia wierzytelności w postępowaniu upadłościowym], Polski Proces Cywilny 2013, no. 1/2013.
Author: “Commencement of Insolvency Proceedings of a Party to an Arbitration Agreement in International Commercial Arbitration – Remarks Pertaining to the EIR” [Ogłoszenie upadłości strony zapisu na sąd polubowny w międzynarodowym arbitrażu handlowym. Uwagi na tle europejskiego rozporządzenia upadłościowego], Polski Proces Cywilny 2012, no. 2/2012.
Author: “Form of Jurisdiction Agreements under the Brussels I Regulation” [Forma umów jurysdykcyjnych w świetle rozporządzenia Rady (WE) nr 44/2001], Polski Proces Cywilny 2011, no. 2/2011.

Memberships & Roles

Warsaw Bar Association of Attorneys-at-Law.
Arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration at the Polish Consulting Engineers and Experts Association [SIDiR].
Polish Consulting Engineers and Experts Association [SIDiR].
Polish Association of Restructuring Practitioners [Stowarzyszenie Praktyków Restrukturyzacji, SPR].
European Association of Private International Law.

Education

Doctor of Law (with Distinction), University of Warsaw, Warsaw.
Master of Laws, Faculty of Law and Administration. University of Warsaw, Warsaw.

Practice Areas

Banking & Finance Restructuring, Business Transformation & Insolvency Dispute Resolution Real Estate

sectors

Infrastructure & Projects

Insights

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