HAVEL & PARTNERS, the largest Czech and Slovak law firm, has promoted a total of 14 lawyers with the start of the New Year. Ondřej Majer and Jan Šturm have become equity partners with effect from 1 January 2021. Josef Adam has moved from the position of counsel to partner. In addition, another 11 lawyers at three other senior levels have been promoted.
“This year, the firm will celebrate its 20th anniversary, experiencing continuous growth in terms of turnover, quality and the scope of services as well as in terms of staff. It was in these difficult times when this extraordinary success proved to be based on the enormous commitment, the ability to adapt as well as the team cooperation and loyalty of our colleagues. The rule in our office is that the growth of the firm means career growth for our personnel. This is how we pursue our long-term strategy to create the best conditions possible for fast professional growth at all seniority levels,” says Jaroslav Havel, the firm’s managing partner.
Ondřej Majer (42) specialises in commercial and contractual law, company law, mergers and acquisitions, real estate law, litigation and insolvency law in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. As an equity partner, Ondřej will be responsible, jointly with the managing partner Jaroslav Havel and other partners, for the development of the firm’s office in Bratislava, in the management of which Ondřej has participated since 2017. With his professional experience and long-term cooperation with French clients, Ondřej jointly with Václav Audes will head a team providing comprehensive legal services to French clients. He will also focus on the growth of the legal team specialising in the tourism, hotel, entertainment and catering industries. Before joining HAVEL & PARTNERS in 2016, Ondřej worked for nearly 15 years at PETERKA & PARTNERS.
Jan Šturm (39) has 17 years of practice at the top of the legal profession, mainly of resolving complicated and complex disputes before civil courts and arbitration tribunals. He has participated in successful dispute resolution for leading Czech and multinational companies, with an aggregate value amounting to several billions of Czech crowns. Jan is also an arbitrator in the Czech Republic and at arbitration tribunals in Vienna and London. As an equity partner, Jan will be responsible, jointly with the managing partner Jaroslav Havel and partners Marek Vojáček and Dušan Sedláček, for the development of a practice group specialising in complex dispute resolution. He will continue to deal with and develop the provision of such services mainly to banks and other financial institutions and in respect of disputes relating to technology law, competition and unfair competition, intellectual property, new media, healthcare and pharmaceutics. Before joining HAVEL & PARTNERS, Jan worked for more than 10 years at the leading international law firm Weil.
Josef Adam (40) has been counsel for nearly two years and has now moved to the managerial position of partner. He has many years of experience as a manager: before joining the firm in 2019, Josef was a member of the Board of Directors of Český Aeroholding and Czech Airlines for 9 years, managing the legal department as well as the finance, HR and IT departments. With the large scope of his legal specialisation, Josef will continue to specialise in real estate, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, corporate governance and compliance, employment law and HR law.
HAVEL & PARTNERS has promoted other lawyers as well. Ondrej Čurilla has moved from the position of managing associate to the position of counsel. Adam Forst, who was a senior associate until now, has become a managing associate. Another nine colleagues have been promoted to senior lawyers – to wit Tomáš Havelka, František Neuwirth, Juraj Petro, Denisa Rajdová, Ivo Skolil, Kateřina Slavíková, Miroslava Spodniaková, Pavel Zahradníček and Jakub Zámyslický.
“All promoted colleagues have worked in support of our individual practice groups for many years. I am pleased that we are successful in educating the next generation of top senior experts and managers from a pool of extraordinary legal talent. They have long provided the exceptional quality services our clients are used to and have done excellent work to support the brand and trustworthiness of our firm,” adds Jaroslav Havel.
