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.