February Edition 2021

18 There are many flagship real estate projects. Penteris advised Apollo-Rida and Ares-Management on its acquisition of three buildings in Kraków (Equal Business Park) from Cavatina Holding - one of the largest transactions of its kind during the global lockdown worth €100 million – as well as Immofinanz on the acquisition of Warsaw Spire, the tallest office building in Poland for €386 million, one of the largest ever single asset transactions on the Polish and CEE office market. “Unlike in Israel, in Poland, foreign, mainly City of London and U.S. law firms dominate the scene. The three largest law firms (measured by turnover) belong to international giants such as Dentons, Clifford Chance and CMS. Local firms occupy the medium and small segment,” adds Tokaj. “There are several similarities between two countries with respect of trends relating to legal or business culture. For example, World Bank Group compares Ease of Doing Business in 2020 with Israel ranking 35th and Poland at 40th,” points out Tokaj. “In both Poland and Israel, the legal profession is perceived as elitist, requiring high ethical standards and continuous broadening of knowledge and, nowadays, requiring more and more characteristics of an entrepreneur from its representatives. This is when it comes to seeing lawyers as such. Similarly, local law firms play an important role in both countries,” points out Tomczykowski. “When it comes to talent, passion, entrepreneurship – we are very, very similar. Weneed to knowhowto talk toclientswhousuallywant tonegotiateeverything, how to find ourselves in the maze of constantly changing regulations. And find yourself in it. I think our colleagues from Israel may be ahead of us when it comes to using new technologies in our profession,” he adds. Uss adds : “I believe there are many things Polish and Israeli law firms have in common. We are both focused on problem solving, combining domestic and international knowledge to serve both local and international clients- including high-tech companies, infrastructure corporations, financial institutions, VCs, low-tech companies, and private investors. This combination of knowledge, professionalism, innovative thinking, work ethic, extensive experience and broad network of connections with law firms enables them to provide comprehensive legal services.” With regards to law firms and lawyering, how do Poland and Israel compare?