In the TOP 10 largest law firms ranking, which is compiled by the SME daily and The Slovak Spectator according to combined measurable criteria, HAVEL & PARTNERS is the largest Czech law firm, the third largest regional law firm, and the fifth largest law firm active on the Slovak market. In addition, this year it defended its victory from last year and for the second time in a row was ranked first in the Intellectual Property and Competition Law categories. This year it was ranked among the top 10 largest law firms for Mergers and Acquisitions, Real Estate, Employment law, and customer-supplier relationships.

“We are very appreciative of being ranked in leading positions in the TOP 10 largest law firms ranking and we are pleased that we are the only law firm to have won in two categories and also scored in new ones, so we are constantly rising in the ranking despite the fact that we have had a year full of unexpected challenges. We want to continue to strengthen our position as the largest and most successful Czech-Slovak law firm, which is the first choice for Czech companies operating in Slovakia and Slovak companies operating in the Czech Republic. I thank our clients for their trust, which motivates us to keep working on ourselves, and all my colleagues in Slovakia for their commitment and loyalty,” said Jaroslav Havel, the firm’s founder and managing partner. “Once again, we have shown that our priority is professional background and also perfect service for our clients. In addition to the excellent expertise and deep work commitment of all colleagues, I appreciate especially their teamwork.” 

Being ranked in the TOP 10 not only confirms the significant position of HAVEL & PARTNERS on the legal services market, but also reflects the high quality of the services provided, the exceptional versatility of the specialised teams and the cutting-edge know-how of the firm’s lawyers.

Intellectual Property Law

For the second time in a row, the firm won the Intellectual Property Law category, where it was ranked first among the largest and most prestigious law firms: “We are extremely pleased to have defended our last year’s victory and to have once again been ranked first among the largest law firms in the field of IP law. Our Intellectual Property practice and team remains ranked as one of the most successful practices in Slovakia and abroad. This year we were also recognized by prestigious foreign ratings IP Stars and World Trademark Review, which confirms that our work is of exceptionally high quality and that we are able to assist our clients in the most challenging cases not only in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, but also internationally,” commented Štěpán Štarha, partner of the law firm, on this year’s victory. Intellectual Property law has long been one of the firm’s major practice areas. The team of more than 20 experienced professionals is one of the largest ever advisory groups with this specialisation in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It works for global brands, as well as major Slovak and Czech companies and prospective start-ups, to which it provides legal services in connection with the effective protection of intellectual property, ranging from the registration and management of a portfolio of industrial rights anywhere in the world, through the enforcement of rights to comprehensive strategic advice. At the same time, the team profiles primarily in the area of new technologies and in the combination of intellectual property law with technology law and venture capital.

Competition Law

For the second time in a row, the firm also won the Competition Law category and thus became the most successful law firm in this field in Slovakia. “We very much appreciate the success in Slovakia. We have been systematically building up our competition law advice here for eleven years. During this time, we have had the opportunity to work on large projects and to gain the trust of many major Slovak, Czech and foreign clients. We thank for their trust and appreciate it very much. Winning the Competition Law category again confirms the excellence of our team and commits us to continue to improve,” said partner Lenka Štiková Gachová and partner Robert Neruda added: “We offer our clients unique know-how for addressing complex competition and regulatory issues, as we are the only firm on the market that effectively combines legal and economic competition law advice.” With two dozen top lawyers and economists, the competition advisory group is one of the most experienced, largest and fastest growing practices not only in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, but also in the whole of Central Europe. The quality of our services in the field of competition law is confirmed not only by our constantly growing clientèle, but also by a number of prestigious local and international awards. The firm defended its position this year and won again the Competition Law category also in the prestigious Law Firm of the Year competition.

The 10 LARGEST LAW FIRMS 2022 ranking, the results of which were published on 28 November 2022, has been compiled since 2015 by the SME daily in cooperation with the English newspaper The Slovak Spectator according to combined objective criteria.

Methodology:

The 10 largest law firms ranking in Slovakia was compiled in cooperation with the English newspaper The Slovak Spectator. Six criteria influenced the ranking (for the number of lawyers and the number of cases, data from 2021 were taken into account; for revenues and profit, the averages for 2019-2021 were taken into account). The weighting of each criterion was as follows: number of attorneys  (30%); number of persons (excluding attorneys) with a law degree with more than three years’ experience (16% weighting); number of persons (excluding attorneys) with a law degree with less than three years’ experience (8% weighting); revenues from the sale of own products and services (23% weighting); profit or loss after tax (7% weighting); number of cases for which it has been paid a fee of EUR 20,000 – 50,000 (1 point) and a fee of more than EUR 50,000 (1.5 point) (16% weighting).

Full results are available HERE