#Breaking: The #Legal500 is pleased to host an exclusive summit for in-house counsel in Romania.

The Legal 500 is pleased to host an exclusive summit for in-house counsel in Romania. In partnership with Dentons, NNDKP, Mares & Mares, Schoenherr si Asociatii SCA, and Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii, corporate counsel from across Romania will convene in Bucharest to consider contemporary issues for Romanian counsel, as well as the broader picture for Romanian business and foreign investment. Expert panelists will cover crisis management, compliance, business and legal leadership, the digital economy, and more. In addition, panel discussions will look at the challenges in-house counsel have and will face in Romania and the opportunities presented by the current market.

As one of the most open market economies in Europe, Romania has spent the last decade implementing major economic reforms that have left the country well-placed to enter into a new period of prosperity. Our panels will draw upon leading Romanian legal experts to highlight critical factors for in-house counsel.

AGENDA

12.30pm–1.30pm Registration and lunch

1.30pm–1.55pm Welcome address and keynote speaker

2.00pm–2.45pm Navigating the digital economy: Disruptive innovation and the future of legal services

As an increasing number of business look to AI, digitalisation, blockchain, and a range of other new technologies to drive profits, we ask what disruptive innovation means for GCs and their advisers. Are GCs and law firms equipped with the relevant skills to help their businesses move fully into the digital economy and drive transformational change? And should legal teams and law firms look to structure themselves in response to the new business environment?

• Cornel Popa, partner, Tuca Zbârcea & Asociatii
  
• Camelia Nicoara, legal and public affairs director, Michellin
• Arina Dobrescu, legal director, Tenaris
• Mihaela Dumitrache, head of legal department, Carrefour Romania

2.45pm–3.00pm Coffee break

3.00pm–3.45pm What do clients want from their law firms?

This panel will explore the topic of managing legal resources in an ever changing and challenging business environment. Driving efficiency and added value for business will bring into discussion the training and upskilling needs for in-house legal teams, as well as the advantages of a long-standing collaboration with the same external advisors, including in case of crisis management. Our panel of leading GCs share their view on what they want to see from their external advisers, from proposing new ways of staffing matters to working with technology providers and specialising in niche areas of law.

• Roxana Ionescu, co-head of data protection and head of environment practices, NNDKP
  
• Alina Radu, head of banking and finance practice, NNDKP

3.50pm–4.35pm Fireside-chat: From GC to CEO/Board Member

As a growing number of GCs are granted P&L responsibility within their organisations, we ask what they can do to break through the glass ceiling and ascend to the role of chief executive. We will hear the thoughts of senior business figures and a leading executive on how GCs should position themselves to land the top job

• Simon Dayes, partner, Dentons

4.35pm–4.50pm Coffee break

4.50pm-5.15pm From risk hunter to a tactical adviser: The role of professional advisers in crisis management 

In this session we will explore how GCs and their external advisers can join together to plan an effective response to a corporate crisis. The session will look at practical strategies to manage different stakeholders in a range of crisis situations and deliver war stories that contain lessons for all GCs.

• Mihai Mares, founding partner, Mares & Mares
• Alina Arsene, general counsel, Interbrands Marketing & Distribution

5.20pm-6.05pmThe changing function of GC: Finding the right balance between legal advisory and leadership roles

• Sebastian Guțiu, managing partner, Schoenherr si Asociatii SCA

6.05pm-6.10pm Closing remarks

6.10pm–7.00pm Drinks and networking

SPEAKERS

Cornel Popa, partner, Tuca Zbârcea & Asociatii

Cornel Popa is a Partner at Tuca Zbârcea & Asociatii. Cornel combines top technical skills with commercial acumen to deal with complex and diverse matters. His multi-disciplinary approach covers large domestic and international joint-ventures, mergers, acquisitions and privatization projects, as well as dispute resolution. During the past few years, Cornel Popa has advised on the legal implications of artificial intelligence and cloud computing, being a regular speaker and a writer on such topics.

Camelia Nicoara, legal and public affairs director, Michelin Central Europe

Camelia Nicoară is the Legal and Public Affairs Director for Michelin Central Europe, a region containing 30 countries. She is also one of the active members of the board of directors of Michelin Romania.

Camelia has an extensive experience in business law, leading for more than 15 years the company’s legal and public affairs being a proactive partner for sustainable growth by supporting the company’s business objectives in an efficient, innovative and sustainable way. She contributes to business strategy implementation, including integrating new companies and business activities, standardizing, and simplifying legal processes and regulatory compliance matters, and driving a culture of integrity and ethics. In addition, she is representing the company in local and international organizations, promoting a sustainable business environment.

She is an advocate for sustainable growth and is highly motivated to support the company’s business objectives in an efficient, innovative, and sustainable way.

Camelia Nicoara, legal and public affairs director, Michellin

Arina Dobrescu, legal director, Tenaris

Mihaela Dumitrache, head of legal department, Carrefour Romania

Roxana Ionescu, co-head of data protection and head of environment practices, NNDKP

Having established NNDKP’s environmental and data protection practices and coordinating them over the past 17 years, Roxana Ionescu has consolidated her theoretical and practical background in these areas, which allows her to navigate the complex and sometimes highly uncorrelated legal frameworks in order to find practical solutions to clients’ projects and needs. Roxana is closely connected to EU data protection developments and she regularly assists clients on complex privacy matters related to core-businesses, marketing or employment activities, database sharing and data protection implications of business transfers, projects and mergers, both national and cross-border. In the environmental field, her expertise covers the full spectrum of environmental legal aspects, including regulatory and permitting requirements applicable in specific fields or assessment of environmental-related risks in the context of various projects.

Alina Radu, head of banking and finance practice, NNDKP

Alina Radu heads NNDKP’s Banking and Finance practice and has developed her expertise during more than 25 years of practical experience in a wide range of projects, including complex mergers and acquisitions projects in the banking sector, financing transactions, sales/acquisitions and development of real estate projects, as well as assistance on corporate matters, contracts and a large number of projects requiring thorough knowledge of regulatory matters in the financial services field. She has assisted clients in landmark deals on the Romanian market, advising on multi-jurisdictional or domestic financing and refinancing facilities, providing support on complex financing and security structures, as well as in relation to core aspects of activity of credit and financial institutions. Alina also addresses key financing aspects in various borrower default or insolvency scenarios.

Mihai Mares, founding partner, Mares & Mares

Mihai is the founder and the Managing Partner of Mareș & Mareș. Highly regarded by clients and peers alike as one of the brightest white collar crime attorneys, he specializes exclusively on criminal defense for senior executives, entrepreneurs, major industrial groups, financial institutions and large international and domestic companies, in a wide range of matters involving money laundering, fraud, bribery and other forms of corporate misconduct. Described by The Legal 500 as “an energetic legal brain” and named one of the top White-Collar Crime lawyers in Romania, he is recommended as a Leading Lawyer in disputes. With a Ph.D. in criminal procedure from the Romanian Academy’s Legal Institute, Mihai regularly publishes articles and studies on criminal law and criminal procedure and participates in international and national conferences related to these fields.

Alina Arsene, general counsel, Interbrands Marketing & Distribution

Alina Arsene is Head of Legal at Interbrands Orbico Romania with over 15 years of experience, mainly in commercial business law, M&A, competition law and corporate governance. Alina has a track record in FMCG, tobacco, professional beauty and pharma distribution businesses thanks to Interbrands’ opportunities in playing among these industries.

Alina’s main achievement, besides being a strategic adviser for the management board of Interbrands, she successfully led the merger of 4 Orbico Group companies in Romania under one umbrella company – Interbrands Orbico and from the operational point of view, she acted as an integrator role.

Alina was also ranked and awarded in 2022 by the Romanian legal community “Lady Lawyer magazine and Juridical Universe” publications as the best legal leader in a private company.

Currently, Alina Arsene plays a strategic role in business development projects as a tactical legal adviser for both local and group development perspectives. At the same time, she continues her leadership role in coordinating the Romanian legal team.

Simon Dayes, partner, Dentons

Simon is a Partner in the Banking and Finance practice in Bucharest. Qualified as an UK solicitor, he has been advising banks, international financial institutions and project sponsors in cross border credit transactions in Central Europe from a Bucharest base for over 15 years.

Simon works on project finance, structured trade finance and financial restructurings, corporate and real estate lending, and syndications. With sector focuses including energy and renewables, concession-based infrastructure and hotels, Simon has worked widely across Central and Western Europe and Africa.

Sebastian Guțiu, managing partner, Schoenherr si Asociatii SCA

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