Bucharest, Septembrie 4, 2018: After consecutive years of growth and with a proficient team of lawyers, Leaua & Asociatii expands and becomes LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP.
Crenguța Leaua, founder of Leaua & Asociatii, Managing Partner LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP, declares:
“For over 13 years we have been a reference for trust and professionalism on the legal services market, a time during which over 10,000 clients benefitted from the legal services of our team and over 100 lawyers built their careers alongside us. The expansion marks a new phase, adding a new dimension to our specialization in international dispute resolution and international transactions. Thanks to our track record in the previous years we managed to enter the top of the most valuable law firms specializing in international arbitration (GAR 100) and now we are consolidating our presence in the field of international transactions as well, by welcoming to the firm two new partners, each with an exceptional professional record.
Răzvan Ioan Păunescubrings toLEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP his unique expertise in international business and law. He will secure the development of the international transactions department.
Ana-Irina Șarcanewith her over 20-years’ ample experience in business restructuring and insolvency, completes the top skills which LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP extends to companies looking to successfully implement restructuring and performance improvement processes.
I am grateful to both of them for joining the team and for their commitment to contribute to the achievement of our development objectives.
Not lastly, the new name of the firm marks the due appreciation to the other two managing partners, Aurora Damcali and Ștefan Deaconu, for whose professional commitment and outstanding contribution to the continuous development of the firm in the previous years I am grateful.”
Răzvan Ioan Păunescu, Partener in LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP, will head the international transactions department.
With an over 10-years’ experience as lawyer, having participated in more than 500 disputes before Romanian state courts, and with well over 25 years of expertise in international transactions, Răzvan Ioan Păunescu provided legal assistance for some of the largest investment projects in Central and Eastern Europe. He is uniquely skilled in international economic relations and worked directly with North American and European companies. He also has vast experience in China and the Asia-Pacific area, focusing on international transactions such as mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs. Former President of the Romania-China Chamber of Commerce, Răzvan Ioan Păunescu is currently its Honorific President. Deține o expertiză unică în relații economice internaționale și a lucrat direct cu companii nord-americane și europene. De asemenea, are o experiență vastă în China și în țările din spațiul Asia-Pacific, unde s-a concentrat pe tranzacții internaționale de tip achiziții, fuziuni, divizări. He also represented UAE – European Lawyers’ Union, as President for Romania. He is Vice-President of the Centre of Mediation Lawyers, since its set up, and a member of the European Foundation for Mediation.
Răzvan Ioan Păunescu declares: Răzvan Ioan Păunescu declares: “I appreciate the professional value, commitment and creativity of the team members and I hold the belief that we will provide the necessary support for both the international transactions I am involved in, as well as for future ones, particularly in relation with investors from the Unites States, the European Union and China. I am convinced that the combination between direct experience in business and high quality of legal service will result in an impeccable quality of the legal services which are provided to our clients by LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP”.
Ana-Irina Șarcane, Partener in LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP, will head the legal practice related with business restructuring and insolvency.
With over 15 years of experience within PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she was the legal leader of the ‘Business Recovery Services’ department, Ana-Irina Șarcane is one of the most known names in this field of legal services.
She coordinated teams of lawyers in a large number of insolvency proceedings, including some of the most complex cases in Romania. Under the aegis of the Ministry of Justice, Ana-Irina Șarcane coordinated the complex revision process of the insolvency law, namely the project which led to the adoption of Law 85/2014, as well as the annotated Insolvency Code, working in consortium with some of the most prestigious Romanian lawyers, insolvency practitioners and theoreticians of insolvency law.
Ana-Irina Șarcane is a member of the Scientific Council of the National Institute for the Training of Insolvency Practitioners (INPPI) and a trainer with the National Union of Romanian Insolvency Practitioners (UNPIR).
Ana-Irina Șarcane declares:The frequent comparison between the restructuring process and the medical act is not exaggerate – helping a company to regain its health after a diagnostic which endangers its very existence exceeds, in terms of implications and effects for both parties, the usual client-attorney relation. The association with LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP is an opportunity to offer legal services both to clients in difficulty, as well as to those interested in the fields of ‘distressed M&A’ or portfolio management. The team which I am happy to become part of is experienced in a vast number of legal fields, so that I am confident that whatever the problem, the client will benefit the best solutions ”.
Aurora Damcali has almost 20 years of experience in domestic litigation, specializing in civil and administrative law.
Her expertise is particularly vast in the fields of rights in rem, administrative procedures, town planning legislation, public procurement, civil and commercial contracts, negotiation of collective bargaining agreements.
Aurora Damcali has provided legal assistance in complex matters of civil law, environmental law and administrative law, before central and local public authorities. She has successfully represented clients in disputes pending before courts of justice specialising in civil law, administrative law, and labour law. Her expertise also encompasses international arbitration, in particular proceedings relating to investment, conducted before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington (ICSID). She is a collaborating member of academic staff with the University of Bucharest, the administrative law department of the Faculty of Law.
Aurora Damcali declares:Am reușit să ne impunem drept o echipă bine structurată și extrem de determinată. Statistica dosarelor câștigate de societatea noastră ne îndreptățește să afirmăm că ne atingem cu consevență obiectivele. Am dovedit că avem experiența necesară pentru a răspunde celor mai dificile provocări. LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP și-a construit cu perseverență expertiza, atât în plan intern, cât și extern. Suntem recunoscuți pentru serviciile de calitate oferite clienților, echipa noastră fiind un reper de încredere pentru aceștia. Vom continua să fim alături de ei cu energia și spiritul inovator care ne caracterizează și în actuala echipă extinsă”.
Ștefan Deaconu has over 20 years of professional experience, he is a reputed public law specialist and has, during the years, provided legal assistance in most varied legal matters pertaining to foreign investment, international financing and public procurement.
He represented numerous clients in complex proceedings before the Constitutional Court of Romania, state courts and arbitral tribunals.
He often acts as a Romanian and European law expert in various proceedings before national and foreign state courts and international arbitral tribunals.
Ștefan Deaconu a professor of constitutional law and the EU legal system with the Faculty of Law of the University of Bucharest.
He is the President of the Court of International Commercial Arbitration attached to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania and an arbitrator of that Court, as well as an arbitrator with the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission – CIETAC.
Between 2005 and 2012 he was a legal advisor to the President of Romania and the head of the Legislative Department of the Presidential Administration and before that (2004-2005), as a director in the Senate of Romania.
Ștefan Deaconu declares:“We are witnessing companies being confronted with major challenges, which derive especially from the need to manage at the same time a number of changing factors, from the national to the European legislation, to changes even at the local level with the potential to affect investment plans. LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP is well-equipped to provide full package services so that, from an international to a national and to a local level, our clients benefit of legal assistance of the highest quality, enabling them to achieve their objectives and protect their interests. In congruence with rapid business development, our firm is consolidating its presence on the international legal services market.”
Crenguța Leaua has over 20 years of experience as a practising lawyer and specializes in international business law and international commercial arbitration
She is vastly experienced in company law, aviation law, construction law, her practice currently focusing of IT law and new technologies.
She has ample experience as counsel in international commercial arbitration and investor-state arbitration (before the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington – ICSID and in ad hoc proceedings according to the UNCITRAL Rules).
She is also a renowned arbitrator with a track record of over 130 domestic and international awards rendered, most of which in proceedings administered by the International Court of Arbitration ICC Paris and the Court of International Commercial Arbitration attached to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania, but also in ad hoc arbitration or arbitrations administered by other international arbitration bodies.
She is listed as an arbitrator with numerous arbitration centres, such as those attached to the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, the Arbitration and Mediation Centre of the World International Property Organisation (WIPO), the International Arbitration Centre of the Federal Chamber for Economy of Austria (VIAC), the arbitration centres in Beijing (CIETAC), Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur. She was a vice-president of the International Court of Arbitration – ICC Paris (2015-2018) and of the Court of International Commercial Arbitration attached to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (2008-2012), currently being a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration (ICCA).
She is an associate professor with the Academy of Economics in Bucharest (teaching Business Law and European Union Law) and external associate professor in the International Arbitration master’s program of the Faculty of Law within the University of Bucharest, where she taught Comparative International Arbitration Law and teaches Construction Arbitration. She was invited to lecture at Sciences Po (Paris), Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.) and was a visiting scholar at Columbia Law School (New York). A susținut prelegeri la Sciences Po (Paris), Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.) și a fost visiting scholar la Columbia Law School (New York).
An alumnus of the “Emerging Leaders” programme of Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, she has been featured in “Who’s Who Legal” in the field of international arbitration in all issues since 2007 and recognized also as a Thought Leader (2017 – 2018 editions).
LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP provides legal assistance and representation services to its clients in international transactions and dispute resolution proceedings, in a wide array of legal fields, such as: international and Romanian business law, corporate law – mergers and acquisitions, insolvency law, competition law, civil law and rights in rem, public law, administrative and constitutional law, public procurement, fiscal law, financial and banking law, insurance law, transport law and particularly aviation law, construction and urban planning law, energy and natural resources law, environmental law, intellectual property law, data protection, IT law and new technologies, labour law. The project teams are coordinated by the 11 partners: Crenguța Leaua, Aurora Damcali, Stefan Deaconu, Răzvan Ioan Păunescu, Gheorghe Matei, Irina Șarcane, Marius Grigorescu, Mihaela Maravela, Gina Gheorghe, Andreea Simulescu, Cleopatra Cadar.
The lawyers of LEAUA DAMCALI DEACONU PAUNESCU – LDDP are members of various international associations: the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators – CIArb, London Court of International Arbitration – LCIA, International Bar Association – IBA, Swiss Arbitration Association – ASA, International Fiscal Association – IFA, the Romanian branch, Union des Avocats Européens (U.A.E.) Bruxelles, INSOL Europe.
