denotes premium content | Nov 18 2008 
News
posted 14 Oct 2008
Bird & Bird opens four European offices
INTERNATIONAL LAW firm Bird & Bird has announced the opening of new offices in the capitals of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and The Czech Republic.
Led by technology and media lawyer Stephen Kines (titled ‘Central European head’), each office will also have a local head to oversee matters; Maciej Gawronski in Warsaw, Andrea Simandi in Budapest, Tomas Novak in Prague and Martina Maxa in Bratislava.
Kines said the simultaneous opening of four offices was a “huge challenge”.
“We are committed to genuine Greenfield investments, using local lawyers to build the reputation of the offices from the ground up,” he added.
CEO David Kerr said his firm had “a history of entering mature legal markets and building successful offices”.
In addition to the new offices, the firm has entered into a strategic association with 90-lawyer Polish law firm Grynhoff Woźny Maliński. Specialising in the technology and telecoms sectors, the two firms “share synergies”, Kines said.
Bird & Bird now has 19 offices, the majority across Europe, but also in Beijing and Hong Kong.
