Expertise

If you are looking for solutions based on professional expertise, experience and ingenuity, our broad range of practice areas will offer such solutions, customized to your specific needs.

Ionescu si Sava is active in a wide range of industries. In a constantly changing world, we have multidisciplinary teams that keep our sector expertise up to date. The solutions we offer are based on economic trends and the latest laws and regulations.

We concentrate on specific areas of the law. This means you will always get personal attention from a recognized professional in the areas of practice in which we operate.

INDUSTRIES

The industries that we're currently serving

BANKING & FINANCE

Our banking and finance team has acted on behalf of both lenders and borrowers in complex financing deals. We have advised and continue to assist clients from various industry sectors, such as real estate, energy (oil and gas), automotive, food processing, as well as individual and syndicated lenders. Ionescu si Sava has one of the leading practices in Romania in the field of NBFIs – from incorporation and regulatory approvals to designing financing products, internal audit, designing internal processes, debt restructuring and debt recovery. Banking Banking & Finance.

PHARMA

Pharmaceuticals is one of the main business sectors on which we have focused over the years. Our consultants have provided valuable advice to some of the largest international pharmaceuticals producers acting on the Romanian market to successfully register and commercialize products, addressing issues of regulatory approvals and compliance, coverage, reimbursement, claw-back and pricing, as well as proper use of intellectual property and enforcement of IP owners’ rights. Ionescu si Sava assisted an important number of international producers in setting-up or transforming their local operations into light and/or full subsidiaries, as well as implementation of distribution networks, and we continue to provide specialized consultancy for the day-to-day operations of an important number of key players in this field.

REAL ESTATE & INFRASTRUCTURE

Real estate is one of the core practices at Ionescu si Sava, and the members of our team have advised and continue to assist a large number of real estate developers, in all aspects of the acquisition, development, resolution of disputes, financing and disposition of commercial and residential real estate, including office buildings, commercial retail and shopping-centre developments, apartment and other multi-family projects. We represent both purchasers and sellers of commercial and residential properties in financing, development, construction of projects across the country, formation of limited liability companies and other vehicles for the ownership, development and investment. A special focus in our real estate practice is given to assisting both contractors and clients in construction-related issues, particularly in infrastructure projects. Our services in this field include negotiation of construction, construction management, design and architectural contracts for both owners, developers and real estate service providers, including contractors, property managers, architects and others. As part of our real estate practice, we represent landlords and tenants in drafting and negotiation of leases for all types of properties, and provide analysis, interpretation, advice and litigation support for existing leases.

AUTOMOTIVE

We advise clients based on hands-on, in-depth knowledge of the automotive industry. Our automotive practice developed gradually, assisting automotive players from the set-up of local entities to the set-up of major investments in manufacturing plants. Over the years, our automotive team has dealt with complex safety regulations, dealer disputes, concerns over environmental impact, designing contract systems and intellectual property disputes. The team advising our clients in the automotive industry includes attorneys specialized in M&A, corporate, antitrust and competition, litigation and arbitration and intellectual property.

SERVICES

Our range of services

COMPETITION LAW

In an environment of regulatory instability and increased antitrust authority supervision, antitrust and competition matters are no longer incidental in the business activities of corporate clients, but have become a main concern for some of the most developed industries in Romania. Constant monitoring of legal and market developments, as well as a sound academic preparation in this area, allows our lawyers to respond in a timely and accurate manner to any specific competition issues affecting the clients. Our services range from competition compliance issues to merger control, vertical control, leniency regime and regulatory investigations. Our recent projects include the acquisition by a major player in the food processing industry of key assets from a competitor, the acquisition by a leading German automotive producer of its local general importer, assistance in the field of vertical restraints in automotive distribution and pharmaceuticals sectors, advice on competition compliance to a major financial services provider, and assistance during an antitrust investigation in the pharmaceuticals field.

CONSUMER LAW AND PRODUCT LIABILITY

As consumers and consumers rights associations emerge as a growing force in the Romanian business environment, specialized legal advice is of paramount importance to businesses that deal directly or indirectly with consumers. Our services in this field are focused both on the compliance with the rapidly changing and ever more restrictive consumer protection regulations, as well as on the assistance in connection with consumers’ complaints and investigations of the consumer protection authority. Our consumer law practice is particularly centred around product liability claims, especially in the retail, real estate and industrial production fields, as well as on the consumer liability of financial services providers. We are also proud to represent consumers, most of whom have benefited from our services pro-bono, in instances where their rights have been disregarded by service or products providers.

COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATE LAW

The consultants at Ionescu si Sava act either as outsourced counsel for most of our clients, or team-up with in-house counsels, where such internal positions exist, in order to deliver ideally customized legal services to our corporate clients. Our range of services extends from legal consultancy related to the incorporation, changes in the corporate structure, and day-to-day activity of our clients to preparing legal opinions and memoranda on complex matters with which our clients may be faced, including: -assessment and advisory services in determining the type of business entity best suited to the interests and projects of the clients, assessment of legal requirements related to each projected activity, assistance and representation for the set-up/incorporation of business entities and obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals, clearances and permits; -legal assistance for negotiations and conclusion of commercial contracts, assessment of legal and corporate compliance of such contracts, supervision of contracts performance, assistance in case of non-performance by contractual partners; -assistance and representation in preliminary conciliation procedures, and for judicial, arbitration or mediation procedures; -assistance and representation in labour law issues, including mediation and litigations; -general commercial and fiscal consultancy.

EMPLOYMENT

Our lawyers can address the full spectrum of employment and labour law issues, from providing practical advice and counselling to representation before the courts of law. We help employers with all aspects of labour relations, including defending against union actions, negotiating and implementing collective bargaining agreements, responding to employee claims. On occasion, we act for private clients in relation to wrongful or unfair dismissals, management and employments agreements and other similar matters. We represent our clients in the full range of employment-related litigation matters, including discrimination, breach of employment or non-competition agreements, misappropriation of trade secrets, defamation, mobbing, bullying and wrongful discharge. Our lawyers act first and foremost in the direction of amicable settlement of disputes, but also as advocates assisting our clients reach timely and effective solutions. We are experienced in mediation, arbitration, and other forms of dispute resolution.

INSOLVENCY

In a context where the need of business restructuring is felt by an ever wider section of the Romanian economy, our ability to provide specialized services catering to both creditors and insolvent companies has enabled us to properly protect the interests of our clients, irrespective of their position pre or during the insolvency procedures. The insolvency practice at Ionescu si Sava combines the experience of our consultancy specialists, who assess the financial standing of the parties involved in each potential or existing insolvency or bankruptcy case, with the expertise of the litigators, thus helping to determine the best course of action for a particular situation.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Securing intellectual property rights has become important in the current growingly competitive economic landscape. Ownership over rights of intellectual property may be a key component used in determining the value of a company and when properly secured, it can generate continuous financial returns, open windows of opportunity, or a strong position in the development of an economic sector. At Ionescu si Sava, we understand the value of our clients’ ideas. Our attorneys assist clients in acquisition and protection of all forms of intellectual property. Preparation, filing and prosecution of infringement of patents, trademarks and copyrights are done with an eye toward maximizing protection.

LITIGATION AND ARBITRATION

Ionescu si Sava prides itself with one of the most prominent litigation teams on the Romanian legal scene. Under the coordination of practice leader Albert George Ionescu, our litigators have recorded substantial successes in many ground-breaking cases, both for corporate and private clients. In clients’ best interests, our primary aim is to help avoid litigation whenever possible. However, when it becomes unavoidable, we are prepared to assist and represent our clients with all our resources, in commercial, corporate, labour, insolvency, construction and real-estate and intellectual property litigation and arbitrations. An important part of our litigation practice is dedicated to high-profile private client cases, under the supervision of partner Otilia Sava. Regardless of the chosen path, our litigation team is trained to focus on the commercial objectives of our clients, while assessing legal, commercial and reputational risk. Because litigation usually overlaps other practice areas, any litigation team works closely with expert lawyers from other areas of expertise relevant to a particular case, so that the interests of the client are best protected.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Our team is experienced in handling complex deals from initiating and planning a deal structure independently, or together with in-house or foreign counsels, for both corporate and equity fund acquirers, as well as for acquisition targets, to undertaking legal due diligence processes and representing our clients in early and late-stage negotiations, to ensure a sound completion of each transaction. As such deals are almost always multi-faceted transactions, the M&A team is assisted by lawyers from the competition, labour, corporate and litigation practices, to ensure that all aspects of the process are properly covered. Furthermore, Ionescu si Sava collaborates with external tax, technical and environmental advisors, in order to provide its clients the full range of services required for a successful transaction.

TAX

With imaginative and restless, at times flamboyant, tax legislators, Romania has one of the most unpredictable tax environments in Europe. The added external pressure, combined with the lack of transparency and communication between the government authorities and the business environment, often expose businesses to severe risks associated with their tax obligations. It is in this context that our clients benefit from the highest level of tax advice provided by the experts of our team, who have a dual legal and economic academic backgrounds. At Ionescu si Sava, we are constantly monitoring not only the new legislation, but also the legislative initiatives of the main actors on the tax scene, to equip our clients with the best tools in order to deal with any existing or potential change in the applicable tax legislation. Our experts also provide legal opinion and interpretation of the often intricate existing legal provisions in this field, as well as assistance and representation before tax authorities and in complex tax litigation.

WHITE COLLAR CRIME

We have long provided representation to clients in areas of corporate compliance (including FCPA), white-collar criminal matters, and related administrative enforcement and civil litigation matters. Our representation includes corporate counselling, internal investigations, criminal liability of directors and companies, defending company officers in criminal complaints lodged by the shareholders, as well as representation of shareholders and companies in criminal proceedings against their officers and employees. The members of our white collar crime practice are former law-enforcement professionals, with outstanding experience in the field of organized and business criminality.