We are pleased to announce the release of The Legal 500: Competition Litigation Country Comparative Guide, in which Hansberry Tomkiel wrote the chapter on Poland. 

The aim of this guide is to provide its readers with a pragmatic overview of the law and practice of competition litigation across a variety of jurisdictions. Each chapter of this guide provides information about the current issues affecting litigation and dispute resolution in a particular country and addresses topics such as competition damages claims, as well as insight and opinion on the litigation process and any upcoming legal changes planned for their respective country. The entire guide is available under the following link: The Legal 500: Competition Litigation Country Comparative Guide.

The new volume of „internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny” (Eng. “Internet Anti-Monopoly and Regulatory Quarterly”; No. 1/2022), edited by a lawyer of our law firm, Grzegorz Materna, was published. The publication is devoted to the problems of competition protection at the juncture of various fields of law. This issue of iKAR also contains text (a report from an INP PAN seminar on the current trends in EU antitrust case law regarding new technologies) by another member of our firm, Kamil Flis.

Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel and Grzegorz Materna from the Hansberry Tomkiel law firm are co-authors of the Energy Regulatory Office’s jubilee publication entitled “On the way to safe and clean energy, or how to rewrite the market – 25 years of regulation of the energy markets in Poland.” The publication was made public today, April 28, 2022. The chapter written by our lawyers is entitled “From the perspective of the energy consumers of yesterday and today: Where are we when it comes to consumer protection in the energy market and earlier, was it easier to protect weaker market players? “

Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska will take part in the “Review of National Developments Across Six Key Jurisdictions” panel at  Informa Connect’s Private Enforcement of Competition Law conference, which will take place on Thursday 31^st March in Brussels.    Along with Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska, the other speakers on the panel are:

Kim Dietzel, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills

Thomas Funke, Partner, Osborne Clarke

Rick Cornelissen, Partner, Houthoff

Paul Hitchings, Managing Partner, Hitchings & Co

Rino Caiazzo, Founding Partner, Caiazzo Donnini Pappalardo & Associati

Our lawyers participated in the Institute’s webinar on the new rules on counteracting the unfair use of a contractual advantage. Mec. Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel, one of the three speakers, delivered a speech on new statutory catalogues of forbidden practices and of practices conditionally permitted. Grzegorz Materna moderated the webinar, which was attended by over 90 practitioners and academics.

https://inp.pan.pl/wydarzenia/webinarium-zakladu-prawa-konkurencji-13-01-2022-nowe-reguly-przeciwdzialania-nieuczciwemu-wykorzystywaniu-przewagi-kontraktowej/

Grzegorz Materna moderated an Institute webinar titled: “Towards the new EU block exemption regulation for vertical agreements restricting competition”. Mr. Materna gave a speech on the assessment of hardcore restrictions in the draft guidelines on vertical restraints and moderated the discussion among the speakers and the participants of the event.

https://inp.pan.pl/wydarzenia/webinarium-zakladu-prawa-konkurencji-8-11-2021-nowe-unijne-reguly-wylaczen-porozumien-wertykalnych/

A representative of our law firm, Grzegorz Materna, attended a conference organized by the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (INP PAN) and the Mercatus et Civis foundation entitled “III Energy Forum of Science and Economy. Innovations and Development of the energy market.” The conference was held under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Climate and Environment, President of the Energy Regulatory Office and President of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. Mr. Materna, who is a member of the conference’s scientific committee, gave a lecture entitled “Competition law and energy markets today.”

At the same time, there was an announcement of the publication of a monograph entitled “Opportunities and threats for participants in the energy market.” Mr Materna and Jarosław Król, president of the Mercatus et Civis foundation edited the monograph.

Our lawyers took part in a conference at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw on the occasion of the Jubilee of Professor Małgorzata Król-Bogomilska. In a panel session devoted to competition law issues, Ms. Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel gave a lecture entitled “Non-statutory sources of law as a basis for penalisation in antitrust law”, while Mr Grzegorz Materna gave a speech on “Financial penalties and the qualification of complex market practices as separate violations of competition and consumer protection law”.

Our lawyers participated in the webinar of the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The subject of the seminar was: “Competition law and the COVID-19 pandemic: Temporary changes or permanent consequences?” Ms Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel made a presentation titled “COVID-19 pandemic and new mechanisms of investment process control”. Mr Grzegorz Materna moderated the seminar and discussions among the three speakers and attendees, who numbered several dozens of practitioners and academics.

Link to the seminar -> “Competition law and the COVID-19 pandemic: Temporary changes or permanent consequences?”

A new volume of „internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (the online Antimonopoly and Regulatory Quarterly) was published (No. 1(10)/2021). It is devoted to the application of competition law in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and other economic crises. This volume of iKAR was edited by Grzegorz Materna, a senior lawyer in Hansberry Tomkiel.

Link to IKAR.

Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska will take part in a panel discussion on “Private Enforcement in Practice” during the Competition Law Central & Eastern Europe conference, which will take place on 15 June 2021.

It is a pleasure to announce that Hansberry Tomkiel has again been ranked by Legal 500 as a leading competition and antitrust firm in Poland. The Legal 500 distinguished Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel as a leading competition lawyer, and placed Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska in its “Hall of Fame.”

We are pleased to announce that Hansberry Tomkiel has again been ranked in the ‘Chambers Europe 2021’ as a leading competition and antitrust firm. Chambers and Partners again distinguished Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska as among the best competition lawyers in Poland. We very much thank our clients for their recommendations and trust, which means the world to us.

Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel took part in a panel session on cooperation between competition authorities. Her presentation was titled “From Regulation 1/2003 to the ECN + Directive – Polish perspective (UOKiK)”.

Grzegorz Materna moderated a webinar in the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The subject of the seminar was: “Digital ecosystems, big data and algorithms – the interaction of competition law, consumers and personal data protection in the digital economy”. Mr. Materna delivered the opening comments of the webinar and moderated the three presentations and discussion among the four speakers and the participants of over 150 practitioners and academics.

Link to INP PAN: DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS, BIG DATA AND ALGORITHMS – THE INTERACTION OF COMPETITION LAW, CONSUMERS AND DATA PROTECTION IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

„Internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny” (English translation: “Internet Antitrust and Regulatory Quarterly”) was published (No. 5/2020). It is devoted to the problems of soft law applied in the area of competition law. The editor of this volume of iKAR is Grzegorz Materna.

Link to: Internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny

Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel took part in the Competition Law Congress organized by Puls Biznesu. Her presentation concerned the new competences of the European Commission and the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in foreign investment control from a business perspective.

Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel gave a presentation on “Hostile takeovers – control of foreign investments by UOKiK and the European Commission (current and expected changes)” at a conference organized by Puls Biznesu.

Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel took part in the “Digital economy and enterprises” panel session, which discussed the following: Does digitization change the nature of competition between enterprises? Is the legal regulation keeping up with the development of the digital economy? To what extent does the law support and/or create a barrier to the development of the digital economy?

Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel presented “Merger control – the current and newest powers of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection”.

Grzegorz Materna moderated a seminar in the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The subject of the seminar was: Fines for violations of competition and consumer protection law and the classification of conduct as constituting a single or multiple violation. Mr. Materna delivered the opening comments of the seminar and moderated the three presentations and lively discussion among the speakers and an audience of over 60 practitioners, academics and enforcers.

A new volume of „Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies” was published (No. 12(20)/2019). It is devoted mostly to the problems and challenges of implementing Directive (EU) 2019/1 (“ECN+ Directive”) into the national legal systems of EU Member States. This volume of YARS was co-edited by Grzegorz Materna, a senior lawyer in Hansberry Tomkiel, together with professor Anna Piszcz.

Dorota Podsiedzik-Malec and Grzegorz Materna, designed and presented workshops for employees of the Polish Ombudsman's Office. The workshops included, among other things consumer protection law issues.

Grzegorz Materna attended a seminar organized by the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences named “Standards for the protection of rights in antitrust procedure – known issues, new questions”. During the seminar Mr. Materna presented on the concerns as regards business secrets protection in antitrust proceedings before the President of UOKiK.

Seminar agenda

Mec. Grzegorz Materna participated in a workshop oneffective cartel prosecution organized for the Belarussian Ministry of Anti-monopoly Regulation and Trade by OECD and UOKiK. Mec. Materna presented on Polishexperience as regards fighting bid-rigging, including advocacy the role of co-operation between competition authority and other enforcement bodies.

New issue of „internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny” (English translation: “Internet Antitrust and Regulatory Quarterly”) was published (No. 6/2019). It contains the following article by Grzegorz Materna: “The introduction of the compliance programme as a mitigating circumstance in the light of the guidelines of the Italian competition authority (Autorita’ Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato)”. PDF

„Europejski Przeglad Sadowy” (English translation: “European Judicial Review”) was published (No. 10/2019). It is devoted to the problems of the effective application of EU competition law and guarantees of rights of undertakings. The editor of EPS volume No. 10/2019 is Grzegorz Materna, a senior lawyer in Hansberry Tomkiel, whose article is also contained in this issue of EPS: “Guarantees of the independence of the national competition authority in the light of Directive ECN+ and the Polish competition authority”.

A representative of our law firm, Grzegorz Materna, attended a conference organized by the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Mercatus et Civis foundation entitled “II Energy Forum of Science and Economy. Opportunities and threats for energy market participants”. The conference was held under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Energy and the President of the Energy Regulatory Office. Mec. Materna was a member of the conference’s scientific committee and chaired one of the discussion panels.

Hansberry Tomkiel law firm is pleased to announce that Anna Dabrowska-Hanas joined our team. Mrs Dabrowska-Hanas, an attorney-at-law, is a litigator with over fifteen years of experience in the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (“UOKiK”) and in private practice. She has many years of experience in representing clients before courts of all instances.

We are pleased to announce that on May 31, 2019, US Ambassador Georgette Mosbacher appointed Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska to join the Board of Directors of the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission. The Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission is a prestigious and respected program for the educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Poland. Through its exchange programs the Commission supports research, instruction and other educational activities of American and Polish students, scholars and institutions. In 2019, the Fulbright Program celebrates its 60th year in Poland.

In her appointment letter, the Ambassador wrote, ”With your background in U.S. and Polish legal issues, your interest in U.S.-Polish educational exchange, and your extensive experience living in Poland, I believe you are well positioned to help the Commission continue to grow strategically as one of the premier Fullbright programs in the world.”

In the 2019 rankings ofLegal 500: Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska and Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel were selected as being among the leading individual competition lawyers in Poland.

Grzegorz Materna attended a seminar organized by the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences named “Facilitation to a cartel as a special form of participation in anti-competitive agreements – in the light of EU and Polish law”. During the seminar Mr. Materna presented on the concerns as to the application of the EU concept of the liability of cartel facilitators in proceedings before the President of UOKiK.

Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel attended the 10th Jubilee Conference named “Enterprises in the Global Economy,” a series organized by the Institute of Markets and Competition of Collegium of Business Administration at the Warsaw School of Economics. Ms Krasnodebska presented onTechnological development and digitization’s impact on competition policy – challenges for undertakings.

Grzegorz Materna attended a seminar organized by the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences named “Compliance programs vs. sanctions used by competition protection authorities. Main findings for UOKiK”. Mr Materna presented on theguidelines of the Italian Antitrust Authority (Autoritŕ Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) on compliance, specifying the conditions for the recognition of the implementation of a compliance program as a mitigating factor regarding of the level of fines imposed.

Searching for better effectiveness – main challenges for antitrust regulations in the era of globalization and new technologies development, published in: Monitor Prawniczy 2/2019 (Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel).

„Internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny” (English translation: “Internet Antitrust and Regulatory Quarterly”) was published (No. 8/2018). It is devoted to the problems of applying competition law in the era of the digital economy. The editor of iKAR volume No. 8/2018 is Grzegorz Materna, a senior lawyer in Hansberry Tomkiel.
The issue also contains the following articles by Grzegorz Materna:

• New technologies, Big Data and the digital economy: current challenges for competition law (from the Editor);
• Non-compete clauses as barriers to the development of alternative taxi reservation channels in the light of the decision of the Autoritŕ Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato of 27 June 2018 (case I801B, Taxi – Milano).
• Report on the XIII Antitrust Conference ‘Antitrust between EU Law and National Law’, Treviso (Italy), 24–25.05.2018

Puls Biznesu daily for the 10th time organized the Congress of Competition Law. During the meeting, experts representing leading law firms dealing with competition law, discussed, among other subjects: the scope of admissible cooperation between competitors, the objectives and scope of antitrust compliance programs in companies, tender consortiums in the light of public procurement law and competition law, and guidance on the leniency program. A number of interesting case studies were also presented.
Ms Krasnodebska presented onVertical agreements and online distribution as treated by the most recent competition case law.

Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska spoke as a conference panel member on the topic of “the role of the individual employee.” She and her fellow panel members discussed how and when employees could be affected by: whistleblowing; recruitment practices (no-poaching agreements); criminal sanctions; employee rights; and data protection. The panel considered the topics under US and European competition law. On the panel, Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska had the pleasure of speaking alongside panel members: Jaswinder Nakhwal, a partner in Peters & Peters, London; Creighton Macy, a partner in Baker McKenzie, Washington, DC; and Christian Bayart, a partner in Allen & Overy, Antwerp.

Grzegorz Materna attended the seminar of the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences “Strengthening the party’s position or unnecessary formalism? Courts’ stance towards modifying the scope of proceedings before the President of UOKiK”. Mr Materna discussedcase law regarding the possibility of a modification by the President of UOKiK of the scope of a case after having opened an administrative proceeding.

According to the 2018 rankings of Legal 500:

Hansberry Tomkiel’s Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska is “an experienced, diligent and skilled lawyer who provides clear, considered advice and is determined to get the best outcome”. The group represented an international company against vertical price-fixing allegations. Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel and Grzegorz Materna are also recommended. Antoni Bolecki joined from Greenberg Traurig Grzesiak sp. k..

Additionally, the Legal 500 named Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska as one of the leading individual competition lawyers in Poland.

The Chambers Europe Guide also recognized Hansberry Tomkiel, and named Ms Hansberry-Bieguńska as a leading competition lawyer its Band 1 category:

Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska of Hansberry Tomkiel maintains her excellent reputation in the market, with sources applauding her antitrust expertise. “She fights very hard on behalf of her clients to protect their interests,” says one impressed interviewee. Her broad practice covers both contentious and non-contentious competition matters.

Finally, in its recognition and ranking of Hansberry Tomkiel, the GCR wrote:

“Young boutique HANSBERRY TOMKIEL has showed continued promise through its third year of operation. The practice is co-headed by Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska and Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel; the latter is the former chairman of Poland’s competition authority. The team this year welcomed esteemed competition litigator Antoni Bolecki to the partnership, and retains Grzegorz Materna, another former director of the country’s competition agency, as a senior lawyer. It continues to work informally with two qualified lawyers but has yet to hire formal associates to its competition practice.

The firm’s is especially strong in litigation. It advises Polish mining company Jastrzebska Spólka Weglowa in a rare follow-on damages claim. The firm continues to carry out advisory work for clients in a wide range of sectors including publishing, luxury consumer product distribution, pharmaceuticals, and banking.”

Grzegorz Materna attended a nationwide conference organized by the Association of Intellectual Property and Competition Law and the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences dedicated to the issues of intellectual property law, competition law and new technologies. Mr Materna made a presentationon the efficiency directive – can the EU reform improve the enforcement of competition rules by the President of UOKiK?

Dorothy spoke as a conference panel member on the topic of whether competition law authorities should reward competition law compliance programs in the form of lower fines. The panel discussion, which was made up of private practitioners, was lively and led to differing conclusions.
The representatives of the V4+ countries’ Competition Authorities – on the initiative of the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) – met for the second time at a competition conference held in Budapest during the Hungarian presidency of the Visegrad Group.
The website of the Hungarian Competition Authority, one of the promoters of the conference, well described the purpose of the event: “The Authorities of the Visegrad Group countries, and also of Austria and Slovenia, often face similar questions in the course of their enforcement activities; whether it relates to the efficiency of their cartel detection activities and the legal toolkits at their disposal, or merger control and ensuring the right of due process. The close collaboration of the regional competition authorities may result in solutions being found to the above-mentioned questions.”

Global Competition Review (“GCR”) highly recommended Hansberry Tomkiel in its 2018 edition of global ranking of competition law firms (the GCR 100. According to GCR, “The firm is especially strong in litigation”.

To offer our clients a more extensive range of services, our law firm is delighted to announce the arrival of Dorota Podsiedzik-Malec, former Director at the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (“UOKiK”) and Director of the General Office of Building Control, who specialises above all in consumer protection law, market surveillance regulations (including construction products), and court cases concerning competition and consumer protection law.

An article on competition litigation in Poland, written by Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel, Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska, and Grzegorz Materna, was published in the International Comparative Legal Guide to: Competition Litigation 2018, Global Legal Group Ltd.

Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel attended an expert debate Consumer protection on telecommunication services market organized byTELKO.in portal.
The debate gathered representatives of main Polish telecommunication market operators (Play, Orange, T-Mobile), Polish Consumer Federation, lawyers and other experts. The discussion focused mostly on possible cooperation between market regulator and telecoms.
Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel presented latest UOKiK activities undertaken on the telecommunication market, including practices penalized by the Authority in reference to various operators.
She also discussed most important for entrepreneurs legislative changes in the field of consumer protection introduced by the 2016 Amendment of the Polish Competition Act (such as public compensation, mystery shopper, new model of eliminating abusive clauses).

Antoni Bolecki, a recognized and leading competition law practitioner, has joined us as a partner. A solicitor and doctor of economics in management. He graduated from: the Doctoral Studies program at the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Management (2012), a three-year Judge’s Training Program in Warsaw (2006), the University of Warsaw History Department (2004), the University of Warsaw Faculty of Law and Administration (2002), and the University of Warsaw German Law School (2001).

Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel and Grzegorz Materna were speakers at a seminar on selected aspects of the Public Procurement Act amendment of 22.06.2016, held at the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Grzegorz discussed amendment provisions serving to guarantee the conditions for competition development in the public procurement sector. Malgorzata demonstrated how in-house contract awards constrain the conditions for competition development and offered arguments in favour of the UOKiK President’s intervention should the contracting authority abuse the in-house contract awarding procedure.

Malgorzata and Grzegorz took part in a workshop on the amendment of Competition Law and the related implementation of the Private Enforcement Directive. Malgorzata presented on “The Private Enforcement Directive and its Impact on Polish and European Case Law”, whereas Grzegorz talked about the particulars of proceedings before the OCCP President.

An article by Grzegorz Materna, titled “The Polish Competition Authority Fines a Professional Association for Anticompetitive Conduct Aimed at the Governmental Treatment of the Infertility Program (Association of Medical Centers)”, was published in the e-Competitions Bulletin, November 2016, Art. N° 81975.

Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel was a panellist in the Common Electricity and Gas Market and “the Construction of a Competing Power Sector in Poland” at the 23rd meeting of the EuroPOWER Energy Conference.

Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel and Mr Materna participated in a workshop concerning the protection of the rights of business operators under the competition law. Ms. Krasnodebska-Tomkiel spoke about the implementation of the Private Enforcement Directive in the EU and Poland Mr. Materna spoke about the rights and duties of a business operator in the capacity of a party in antitrust investigative proceedings. Among other topics, his presentation focused on the extent of the duty of undertakings to make accessible to the Chairman of UOKiK corporate information and documents. He also spoke about securing from the access by unauthorized parties of information and material containing business secrets submitted to UOKiK.

Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel was a guest of a discussion meeting of the Economic Law Study Circle. The discussion concerned the January 2015 amendment of the Polish Competition and Consumer Protection Act.

Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel and Mr Materna took part in a seminar organized by the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The seminar, “Essential Changes in Consumer Protection in Light of the of August 5th, 2015 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act and Certain other Acts (Journal of Laws 2015, pos. 1634)” was moderated by Mr Materna. Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel gave a presentation entitled “A New Form of Inspection in Cases of Violation of Collective Consumer Interests” (by means of what is referred to as a “secret customer”).

A discussion about the 2015 Amendment of the Polish Competition Act took place on April 19th, 2016 at Warsaw Sheraton Hotel. Representatives of the Competition and Consumer Protection Court, Consumer Federation, law firms and the business sector drew on their own experience in discussion the impact of the introduced changes. The discussion was co-organized by Hansberry-Tomkiel law firm and Gazeta Bankowa, a Polish monthly publication.

Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel participated in debate In- House Orders: Pros & Cons organized by the editorial board of Rzeczpospolita, a Polish daily newspaper. Attending the debate were officials representing: the Ministry of Development; the Polish Parliament, and the Supreme Chamber of Control. Also taking part in the debate were representatives of the local governmental and private sectors. The discussion concerned the effects of the newly-introduced communal waste management regulations. Experts stressed the need to closely examine cases concerning the commissioning of waste management projects to community partnerships or SPVs without the use of a tender procedure.

Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel attended the 21st Annual EU Competition Law and Policy Workshop organized by the Department of Law of the European University Institute. The conference was devoted to the subjects of antitrust legislation and competition protection policy. The 2016 conference,“Stronger NCAs – Procedures, Powers, Prospects”, considered the role of antitrust authorities in the implementation and enforcement of European competition law. Speakers included former and current heads of EU Antitrust Authorities. Ms Krasnodebska presented the Polish view through the prism of the Polish Competition Act’s January 2015 amendment, which gave the Chairman of the Polish Authority broader powers in enforcing the Competition Act.

The Hansberry Tomkiel law firm was represented by Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel and Mr Materna at a seminar organized by the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The seminar was devoted to the subject of ‘public compensation’ – increasingly often used by the Chairman of UOKiK in his administrative decisions to order compensation of aggrieved consumers for financial losses suffered as a result of wrongful conduct by business operators.
Grzegorz Materna presented a paper entitled, “Is Public Compensation a New Tool of the Effective Elimination of Undesirable Market Behaviours at the Disposal of the UOKiK Chairman?”. Ms Krasnodebska-Tomkiel moderated a panel discussion on the subject among private practitioners and UOKiK officials

Our law firm was represented by Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel and Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska at the European Competition Forum organized in Italy by Compass Lexecon.

Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel gave a presentation at the First Congress of the Self-Employed organized by the Warsaw School of Economics. Its title was “The Terms of Doing Business in Poland Against the European Background – Competition Protection”.

Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel and Grzegorz Materna took part in the 3rd International Conference on the Reform of the Public Procurement Regulations – Strategic Public Procurements, organized by the Lodz University Faculty of Law and Administration. They presented a paper titled “Ensuring the Conditions for the Development of Competition in the Light of the Public Procurement Law Amendment dated 22 June 2016 – Selected Issues”.

An article by Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel and Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska, titled “Competition Litigation, Poland”, was published in the International Comparative Legal Guide to: Competition Litigation 2017, Global Legal Group Ltd.

An article written by Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel and Grzegorz Materna in collaboration with Dr. Hab. Krystyna Kowalik-Bańczyk, professor at the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, titled “Administrative Competition Procedure and Judicial Review in Poland” appeared as part of a book edited by C.I. Nagy named The Procedural Aspects of the Application of Competition Law: European Frameworks – Central European Perspectives, European Law Publishing, Groningen 2016. The article was published within the framework of a collective work edited by Professor Csongor István Nagy, itself a part of a project organized by Comenius University in Bratislava, Palacký University Olomouc, Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences and HAS CSS Federal Markets “Momentum” Research Group.

The publication of a monograph by Grzegorz Materna, titled “Bid Rigging in Antitrust and Criminal Law”, Wolters Kluwer Publishers, Warsaw 2016. The work provides an analysis of the model of multi-track liability for bid rigging – antitrust and criminal – adopted in the Polish legal system.

An article co-authored by Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel, Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska and Grzegorz Materna, titled “Leniency Programs in Polish and U.S. Competition Law and the Availability of Leniency Materials to Persons Pursuing Compensatory Claims in Cartel and Competition Restriction Agreements”, was published in the Online Antitrust and Regulatory Quarterly (iKAR) no. 5(05)/2016.

An article written by Grzegorz Materna, titled “The Activities of an Online Travel Booking System Administrator and the Concerted Practice of the Travel Agencies Using the System – a Commentary on the Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-74/14 “Eturas” and Others against the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania”, was published in Przeglad Ustawodawstwa Gospodarczego no. 06/2016.

An article by Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel, titled “An Amendment of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act – the Essence and Expected Effects of Main Changes”, was published in Monitor Prawniczy no. 11/2016.

Dorothy Hansberry Bieguńska and Grzegorz Materna joined a panel of speakers and presented an update of EU competition developments. The program was moderated by Hays Gorey, Jr., of GeyerGorey LLP. Robert E. Connolly, of GeyerGorey LLP’s Philadelphia office presented an update of US competition developments, and Masayuki Atsumi, of Mori Hamada & Matsumoto in Tokyo, well presented an update on Asian developments.
Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska spoke about the January 20th, 2016 judgment of the Court of
Justice of the European Union concerning the relationship between EU and Member States
leniency programs (Case C-428/14, DHL Express (Italy) Srl, DHL Global Forwarding (Italy) SpA v. Autoritŕ Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato). Among other things, the Court made clear that there is no one-stop-shop for leniency applications in the EU. Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska also discussed the Competition and Consumer Protection Policy adopted by Poland’s Council of Ministers in September 2015. The new Policy directs the Polish Competition Authority to apply an economic-based approach to investigating vertical agreements between non-competitors.
Grzegorz Materna spoke about the January 21st, 2016 judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The judgment was issued in response to a request from the Lithuanian Supreme Administrative Court for a preliminary ruling (Case C-74/14, “Eturas” UAB and Others v Lietuvos Respublikos Konkurencijos Taryba). The Court of Justice drew out principles according to which the conduct initiated by the administrator of an online booking platform in order to influence (by technical reasons) the prices of services offered by the travel operator companies using that platform can be a concerted practice between the administrator and the operators. Grzegorz Materna explained that the Court of Justice’s judgment clarified the factors necessary to attribute a company’s participation in a concerted practice when:

• The challenged conduct is initiated unilaterally by a specific ‘coordinator’ of the businesses of companies who compete with each other,
• The specifics of a unilateral act suggest that it is the visible effect of collusion, even when nearly all of the material evidence of an infringement is the evidence of the unilateral act.

“Competition restriction as a factor limiting the application of Article 6 (1)(7) of the Polish Competition Act to agreements affecting the course of a tender procedure”, in: T. Skoczny (ed.) Competition Law. 25 Years, Warsaw 2016 (by Grzegorz Materna)

“Conditions for the initiation of inspections or searches in antitrust cases conducted pursuant to the Polish Competition Act and the requirements of Article 8 of the European Charter of Human Rights”, in: iKAR, 8(4)/2015 (by Grzegorz Materna)

“The Polish Competition Authority imposes sanctions for retail price maintenance in the wristwatch distribution sector while announcing a new economic-based approach to vertical agreements (Swatch)”, published in: e-Competitions Antitrust Case Law Bulletin, January 2016, Art. N° 77426 (by Grzegorz Materna)

Competition Committee of International Chamber of Commerce Poland organized a series of regional meetings regarding “Practical tools for smaller businesses to improve compliance”. The aim of the initiative was to show why complying with competition law is good for business. Hansberry-Tomkiel was represented by Grzegorz Materna during the meeting in Wroclaw.

EuroPOWER – 12th Energy Sector Conference. Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel took part in a panel dedicated to energy market.

Warsaw International Media Summit. Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel took part in panel: “Consumer protection in telecommunications sector”.

Competitiveness of Polish companies. A twilight of market competition? Conference hosted by the Institute of Enterprise Collegium of Business Administration at Warsaw School of Economics. Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel explained the role of the competition law and related regulations in preventing anticompetitive conduct.

Workshop given to the Polish Competition Law Association – led by Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska and Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel, who presented the subjects of Legal privilege & the right against self-incrimination during investigatory proceeding. Our presentations explained how such rights are treated in investigations carried out by competition authorities in the EU, Poland and the US.

Practical Aspects of the Amended Polish Competition Act. Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel presented on the EU Directive on private enforcement and its influence on Polish and European case-law, Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska and Grzegorz Materna presented on Practical issues related to anticompetitive conduct.

Grzegorz Materna, a lawyer with over fourteen years of experience in competition law, joined the Hansberry Tomkiel firm. Mr Materna is a doctor of law, solicitor and a member of the Warsaw Chamber of Legal Advisors. He is also a lecturer at the Institute of Legal Sciences and a former Director of Competition Protection Department in Polish Antimonopoly Office (UOKiK), where he worked from 2001-2015.

“Competition Litigation in Poland”, appeared in the 2016 edition of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Competition Litigation; published by Global Legal Group Ltd, London (by Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska and Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel).

Central &Eastern European M&A and Private Equity Forum. Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska participated in the “Managing Regulatory Risk” panel, and spoke about the practical aspects of preparing merger notifications and of negotiating with the Polish Competition Authority in the wake of the Amended Competition Act, which became effective on January 18, 2015.

“The Polish Competition Court overturns a decision concerning a cartel of mobile phone network operators (Polkomtel / T-Mobile / Orange / P4)”, published in: e-Competitions Bulletin (National Competition Laws Journal), September 2015, Art. N° 75464 (by Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel).

“The Polish Parliament amends the merger control procedure and expends powers of the Competition Authority”, published in: e-Competitions Bulletin (National Competition Laws Journal), July 2015, Art. N° 74236 (by Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel).

“The Amended Polish Competition Act enters into force, presenting questions about guarantees and procedures in antitrust cases”, published in: e-Competitions Bulletin (National Competition Laws Journal), May 2015 – II, Art. N° 72543 (by Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska).

“Mergers within the energy sector pose a potential risk of market monopolization”, published inforbes.pl (by Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel).

“Vertical Agreements, Poland”, published in: Getting the Deal Through: Vertical Agreements 2015 (by Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska and Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel).

“Cartel Regulation, Poland”, published in: Getting the Deal Through: Cartel Regulation 2015 (by Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska and Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel).

Hansberry Tomkiel together with the Radwan-Röhrenschef law firm sponsored and organized a seminar entitled Pursuing claims for violations of the competition law – how will the new private enforcement directive strengthen the ability of private plaintiffs to bring successful civil damage actions for violations of competition laws? The speakers included the European Commission official who had authored the Directive, a judge of the Warsaw Court of Appeals, a representative of the Polish Ministry of Justice who is tasked with implementing the Directive, private practitioners and business people.