10 Questions with Christoph Lindinger

In these tough times, expansion has all but frozen in the business world, and the law firms that advise corporations are taking a similar hit in step with their clients. Law firms are either downsizing or finding their clients' needs are changing course, from mergers to restructuring and layoffs. Christoph Lindinger, a managing partner at Schoenherr, spoke to The Prague Post about why his law firm recently announced its expansion into the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.

1. Why these three countries? Do your clients frequently overlap in these particular markets?

Our long-term strategy is to cover the whole of Central Europe. The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia were the missing pieces in our geographic puzzle. You cannot say you cover the whole region without being present in these important markets. Our clients no longer focus on just one jurisdiction but on the entire region, so they overlap between these three jurisdictions as well as with our other markets such as Romania or Serbia.

2. How are you expanding at a time when everyone is either holding steady or downsizing? Has this been a long-term strategy and you've simply chosen not to alter the course?

There is one fundamental fact underlying the deal: A one-stop, high quality firm covering all of Central Europe is a very attractive offer to clients. We are not only looking at the prospects for next year and the year thereafter, but to the prospects of the firm's position in five years and more. The decision to expand into these new markets at this moment has therefore been made independently [of] the current economic situation.

3. Corporate law firms found a lot of business during the big privatization push in CEE countries. That has slowed down. Now, where do you expect your services to primarily be needed?

Although Schoenherr has advised on large privatizations in Central Europe, we have always aimed to establish a lasting presence in all the markets we enter. We advise investors on greenfield operations, private and public takeovers, as well as on large infrastructure projects. Throughout the region, we have a strong energy, infrastructure and public procurement practice, and the big-ticket work in these areas in the region has only just begun.

4. You are hiring more than 50 lawyers. From which countries are they chiefly coming?

The lawyers joining the firm are coming mainly from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Germany. In Prague, the existing team of Martin Kubánek and Martin Nedelka will remain the same.

5. How will you draw on local expertise to build the bases in these new outposts?

You can only enter a sophisticated market like the Czech Republic if you are able to guarantee clients the best possible legal expertise. That is why Schoenherr chose to enter these markets by merger instead of growing an office from scratch. Recognized lawyers such as Kubánek and Nedelka, who head the Prague office, are not only able to give Schoenherr a good start in the Czech Republic, but will be able to contribute to the development of the firm as a whole with their experience in high-profile cross-border transactions. The lawyers in the Prague office have traditionally advised clients on transactions in Slovakia, too. The new office in Bratislava will allow them to grow the Slovak client-base.

6. You want to offer regional investors a one-stop shop. What sort of investors are they, and are you concerned that FDI is dropping off in these countries?

Our clients include companies from the energy, oil and gas, real estate, food and beverage, insurance and pharmaceutical sectors. Although the economic growth in Central Europe is slowing down, contrary to Western Europe it is still witnessing growth. The lesson we have learned from the crisis so far is that the best legal advice is important when the stakes are high. We have noticed a shift of work to restructurings, litigation and re-financings and believe that this will continue for the time to come. In Austria, we have been instructed on the first nationalization of a bank and are currently working on a restructuring in the financial sector, which is actually the largest mandate in the firm's history. In the future, our competition practice will probably be handling more state-aid cases, thrown up by the current crisis and state rescue packages, than merger control filings. Our employment team will arguably do more mass dismissals, and our corporate teams will be dealing with complex acquisitions of distressed targets and with restructurings.

7. Linklaters recently left the Czech Republic. Do the recent "closings" of law firms make it an ideal time for Schoenherr to come into these markets?

The strategic choices of other law firms do not really affect us. We firmly believe that there is room for at least one top-tier firm covering all of Central Europe as a one-stop shop, and, in our case, it makes sense to maintain our own high-quality offices in the separate jurisdictions.

8. How will you ensure that the advice is seamless across Central Europe, especially when these economies are moving farther apart as of recently?

Schoenherr is organized in firm-wide practice groups, formed by lawyers who are working in the same field of practice, e.g. banking and finance or real estate. In this way, the firm is able to share the experience and talent of [more than] 300 lawyers based in 12 countries. In practice, that means lawyers from Romania can advise a client on a takeover in Bulgaria, or lawyers from Hungary can assist their colleagues in the Belgrade office on an energy project in Serbia. The close-knit cooperation within and between these practice groups ensures that the teams based in different offices deliver a seamless service to the client.

9. You have three core activities in Prague. Which do you anticipate will be the biggest part of your business? Which do you hope to grow?

The Prague office is a full-service office and offers advice in all areas of corporate and commercial law. But, traditionally, corporate mergers and acquisitions, real estate and competition law have been the drivers of the Prague office. We have already seen an increase in fields such as restructuring and public procurement. These are fields in which we expect major growth.

10. What is your long-term strategy in the Czech Republic, and in the CEE region as a whole?

Our goal is to become a leading law firm in every jurisdiction we operate in. In markets like Serbia and Romania, we have already achieved this, but our goal is to have leading individuals in all of our offices. That means: lawyers [who] are recognized by the market as the best in their practice area. It was therefore important for us to enter these new markets with leading lawyers from the start; in the Czech Republic, Nedelka is recognized among a handful of top competition lawyers.

Want your manager to answer our 10 Questions? E-mail Claire Compton at

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