The years-long trust that law firms have lent The Slovak Spectator, as well our cooperation with the Sme daily and with the Finstat company, has allowed us to bring the professional and general public a more comprehensive picture of law services in Slovakia.
“Apart from the main categories, the results of which we have provided since 2015, we have added five new, partial categories this year,” said Ján Pallo, the publisher of The Slovak Spectator, who is in charge of the methodology of the rankings.
In this article, we are bringing the results in the main categories, while the articles with the results for partial categories are the following: M&A, Banking & Finance, Real Estate & Development, Labour law and Litigation & Arbitration. Sme daily reporter Adam Valček has summed up the most significant deals in 2020-2021. Find more details about the ranking methodology here.
The law firm SOUKENÍK – ŠTRPKA placed first in the general ranking with the highest number of lawyers working for the company. The most important deals with which this law firm dealt with in 2019/2020 include:
Národná dialničná spoločnosť (Ministry of Transport and Construction): Legal advice in connection with the D4/R7 project (€1.7 bn).
Ministry of Transport and Construction of SR: Co-representation of client in the international arbitration.
ESIN Solar: The loan funds were used for the early redemption of issued bonds (€34 mil.).
PREMIUM Insurance Company Limited: Complex legal advice to an insurance company operating in the SK territory through a branch of an insurance company from another Member State.
Health Care Surveillance Authority: Representation of a client in a proceeding related to damage compensation (€280 mil.).
LARGEST LAW FIRMS IN SLOVAKIA 2020
1. SOUKENÍK – ŠTRPKA
2. RELEVANS
3. Allen & Overy
4. RUŽIČKA AND PARTNERS
5. TaylorWessing e/n/w/c
6. Dentons Europe CS LLP
7. HAVEL & PARTNERS
8. Kinstellar
9. White & Case
10. Hamala Kluch Víglaský
Law firm SOUKENÍK – ŠTRPKA had the highest growth in sales and Kinstellar in profit. In 2019, the 10 largest law firms saw a 1.5-percent decrease year-on-year in revenues. The aggregate net profit of the first 10 law firms rose 3.5 percent compared to profits in 2018.
Largest law firms in Slovakia (source: Investment Advisory Guide)
The annual Investment Advisory Guide 2020/21 published by the English language newspaper The Slovak Spectator provides more detailed data with published results of the analysis as well as complex ratings.
When looking at partial criteria used for setting up the general ranking, Allen & Overy Bratislava once again achieved the highest sales revenues in 2019 out of all assessed law offices, while SOUKENÍK – ŠTRPKA dominated in the number of law graduates (57) as well as the highest profit and RUŽIČKA AND PARTNERS had the highest number of attorneys in 2019.
The position of law firms in the ranking of local and international attorneys is interesting when considering whether they have most of their lawyers in the Czech and Slovak republics or not.
LARGEST LOCAL LAW FIRMS 2020
1. SOUKENÍK – ŠTRPKA
2. RELEVANS
3. RUŽIČKA AND PARTNERS
4. HAVEL & PARTNERS
5. Hamala Kluch Víglaský
6. Barger Prekop
7. Škubla & Partneri
8. PRK Partners
9. Bartošík Šváby
10. Paul Q
Largest local law firms in Slovakia (source: Investment Advisory Guide)
Allen & Overy Bratislava placed first among international law firms operating in Slovakia. The most significant cases in which the law firm provided legal services in 2019-2020 were:
Representing of Zero Bypass Limited (D4R7 project) in arbitration, arising out the delay of the project and related time extension and cost increase (€1.9 bn).
Representing of Západoslovenská distribučná and Východoslovenská distribučná in large number of significant energy regulation disputes.
Assisting Všeobecná úverová banka: On the sale of a portfolio (asset deal) of more than 300 real estate properties across Slovakia that included a partial leaseback of premises.
Advising W.A.G. payment solutions , a.s. (CZ) on acquisition of a majority interest in Sygic, a.s, leading provider of mobile-app-based navigation.
Advising the arrangers on the financing of the acquisition of the CME group (including TV Markíza, TV Nova) by PPF Group (€1.15 bn).
LARGEST INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS IN SLOVAKIA 2020
1. Allen & Overy
2. TaylorWessing e/n/w/c advokáti
3. Dentons Europe CS LLP
4. Kinstellar
5. White & Case
6. PETERKA & PARTNERS
7. bnt attorneys-at-law
8. CMS Slovakia
9. BDO Legal
10. Squire Patton Boggs
Largest international firms in Slovakia (source: Investment Advisory Guide)
More complex information was published in the yearbook about the investment environment Investment Advisory Guide 2020/21.
Financial data on profits and revenue has been provided by the company FinStat.sk, which is published along with other details concerning Slovak companies. This data helps companies analyse business partners, competitors, and the whole general market. It also leads to potential new deals and the development of new business.
A few law firms decided not to provide information and were not analysed in this ranking. Based on the calculations of The Slovak Spectator, their potential involvement this year would have had a minimum impact on the ranking of the top positions.
Investment Advisory Guide
The yearbook on the business environment, published yearly since 2000 by The Slovak Spectator, gives an overview of investors either from Slovakia or abroad. This year’s edition was published thanks to the cooperation of the Investment Support Association (ISA). The general partner of the guide is the law firm SOUKENÍK – ŠTRPKA. The content provides well-arranged information on the economy, labour market, investor support, legislation, and real estate, as well as investment opportunities in Slovakia. This guide also contains a large analysis of the law firm market, providing more detailed information on the most important ones. Within this section, rankings of the largest law firms in Slovakia are also published. The yearbook traditionally contains a wealth of statistics, including the regional comparison of wages, unemployment rates, industrial structure and an overview of the largest companies in individual regions.
