Magdalena Dec

Counsel
Attorney-at-law
Magdalena Dec is engaged in all stages of the insolvency process, from negotiating company voluntary arrangements to administration and receivership.
Legal 500 EMEA 2024
About

Magdalena Dec is an experienced insolvency and restructuring lawyer who specialises in all aspects of debt restructuring in Poland. Magdalena provides innovative and tailored solutions, allowing clients to maximize the chances of a successful outcome, while minimizing financial and reputational risk. She has extensive experience in representing both creditors and debtors in such proceedings and has supported creditors in a number of high-profile judicial restructurings and bankruptcies in Poland.

She advises clients and their directors on compliance with bankruptcy and restructuring laws and on minimising risks and potential damage to individual stakeholders (bankruptcy compliance). She has also participated in various cross-border bankruptcy projects.

Magdalena Dec also advises clients during internal audits, particularly on issues related to corrupt practices, rules of business conduct, and compliance with ethics and internal regulations. She also conducts audits concerning violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act.

Magdalena is involved in assisting clients with matters relating to reducing corrupt practices and business conduct rules. She supports clients in developing and updating internal policies covering various aspects of business operations and ethical issues.

She is a member of DLA Piper’s team that assists clients in managing crisis situations and sudden inspections carried out by state authorities at their premises.

Magdalena’s clients are mainly in the real estate, life sciences, and energy sectors.

Professional QualificationsAttorney-at-law (Radca prawny) Registered with the Lublin Bar Association of Attorneys-at-Law (Okręgowa Izba Radców Prawnych w Lublinie)

EXPERIENCE

  • Advising and representing a client, as one of the creditors, in the complex bankruptcy proceedings of Cosmar Polska, the company that formerly owned the Regent Hotel in Warsaw.
  • Advising and representing a client, a global supplier of household appliances, as one of the creditors, in the restructuring proceedings of Komputronik.
  • Advising and representing a client, as one of the creditors, in the complex bankruptcy proceedings of Elektrobudowa.
  • Advising and representing a client, as one of the creditors, in the complex bankruptcy proceedings of Przedsiębiorstwo Napraw Infrastruktury sp. z o.o.
  • Advising and representing a client, as one of the creditors, in highly innovative simplified restructuring proceedings for approval of a partial arrangement of CRIST S.A.
  • Advising and representing a client, a leading shopping center operator in Poland, in bankruptcy proceedings of a debtor in connection with claims arising from nine large-format DIY stores filed in the bankruptcy proceedings of Praktiker Polska.
  • Advising and representing a client, one of the global investment funds, as one of the creditors, in numerous restructuring proceedings of the tenants of premises in shopping malls and office buildings.
  • Conducting an internal investigation for a client from the construction sector concerning alleged corrupt practices. The investgation included:
    • email review;
    • analysis of business policies;
    • interviews with key personnel;
    • advice on employment contracts;
    • post-audit verification and redrafting of internal policies.
  • Conducting an internal investigation for a client from the energy sector concerning serious allegations of corruption and breaches of the Polish Accounting Act. The investigation included:
    • email review;
    • analysis of business policies;
    • interviews with key personnel;
    • advice on employment contracts;
    • analysis of specific provisions of Polish accounting law and Polish criminal law as well as FCPA implications;
    • post-audit compliance.
  • Advising a leading American IT company on the following:
    • an internal legal audit of its Polish subsidiary and potential misconduct of business partners;
    • an analysis of possible liability under the FCPA of a Polish limited liability company with respect to its parent corporation in the USA;
    • an analysis of internal business policies in a Polish limited liability company;
    • the termination of employment contracts due to a violation of business policy;
    • the preparation of draft agreements regulating relationships with business partners;
    • a post-audit dispute with a former business partner concerning the payment for a service which might have led to liability under the FCPA.
  • Assisting a client from the food sector in a compliance audit concerning corruption allegations. The advice concerned local anticorruption law, food and pharmaceutical law, and employment law.
  • Assisting a client from the pharmaceutical sector in a compliance audit.
Languages
  • Polish
  • English
Education
  • Warsaw School of Economics Postgraduate studies at the Academy of Polish and European Company Law, 2007
  • Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Degree: Master of Laws, 2007
  • Centre of British and European Law, University of Cambridge at Warsaw University, Lublin Centre, Diploma in English and European Law, 2007

Awards

  • Recognised as Thought Leader in Restructuring and Insolvency – Lexology 2022 - 2024
  • Recognised as a Global Leader in Restructuring and Insolvency – Lexology 2021 - 2022
  • Recognised as a Rising star in Restructuring and Insolvency – Legal 500 EMEA 2020 - 2024
  • "Magdalena Dec is engaged in all stages of the insolvency process, from negotiating company voluntary arrangements to administration and receivership" – The Legal 500 EMEA, Restructuring and Insolvency 2024
  • “Restructuring and insolvency cases are in the hands of Magdalena Dec, Senior Associate, who is distinguished by her professionalism, speed of reaction and impressive knowledge. She always meets the set deadlines and is business-oriented.” – The Legal 500 EMEA, Restructuring and Insolvency 2022
  • Recommended in White-Collar Crime – The Legal 500 EMEA 2022 - 2024

Prior Experience

  • July 2023 - present, Counsel, DLA Piper, Warsaw
  • May 2016 - June 2023, Senior Associate, DLA Piper, Warsaw
  • January 2010 - April 2016, Associate, DLA Piper, Warsaw
  • February 2008 - December 2009, Junior Associate, DLA Piper, Warsaw
  • 2007 - 2008, British Multinational Law Firm, Warsaw

Memberships

  • Lublin Bar Association of Attorneys-at-law, 2011

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