DLA Piper bolsters its offering with three major Czech hires

DLA Piper’s Prague office has significantly bolstered its position in the Czech legal market and in the wider CEE region with the appointment of Corporate partner with focus on technology Tomáš Ščerba, Real Estate partner Michal Hink and Banking, Finance and Restructuring counsel Leo Javorek.

Tomáš Ščerba has almost 12 years’ experience as an attorney focusing on information and communication technology, commercial and contract law, intellectual property, antitrust and competition and energy. He joins DLA Piper from White & Case, where he was a local partner for four years. During his career, he has advised major Czech and international clients from information and communication technologies, energy and critical infrastructure, clients from banking and financial sectors and public authorities. In addition to his law practice, he is a lecturer at Masaryk University in Brno and other foreign institutions, is a member of the editorial boards of prestigious professional journals and the author of a number of publications and articles focused on IT law and cyber security.

Michal Hink has more than 20 years’ experience, many of them as a partner in the real estate team and then as managing partner of the Prague office of Dentons. He followed this by joining Heimstaden, which focuses on investment and asset and property management in the private rented sector (PRS) across Europe. Here he was appointed as Investment General Counsel/Head of Legal of the investment team. Michal is a recognized lawyer in the areas of real estate, development and logistics. He has been involved in many of the most significant real estate transactions in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Central and Eastern Europe and during his two years in Heimstaden, he was responsible for legal side of transactions in excess of EUR12 billion across eight European countries. During his legal career, he has received numerous awards and rankings in Chambers Europe and Legal 500.

Leo Javorek brings more than 20 years of experience in banking, finance and financial restructuring and insolvency. He has advised local and international companies in the financial, energy, real estate and telecommunications sectors. He regularly assists lenders and borrowers with acquisition, project, real estate, export financing and debt restructuring. He joins DLA Piper from international law firm Kinstellar, where he worked for ten years. He has for many years been listed in the IFLR1000 as a notable practitioner in banking.

Miroslav Dubovský, DLA Piper’s Country Managing Partner for the Czech Republic, commented: “I am delighted to welcome our three new experienced lawyers, who are at the top of their respective fields and who will no doubt thrive within the Prague office. The office not only provides access to a worldwide network but is also an integral part of the Central and Eastern Europe region, with offices in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Austria in addition to the Czech Republic. We believe the addition of our new lawyers will greatly strengthen our position not only in the Czech market but also in the wider CEE region, which is of strategic importance to us.”

Dubovský further commented: “In addition to a wide range of experience in corporate and commercial law, Tomáš will bring increasingly sought after knowledge of IT and cybersecurity and digital economy. Leo's experience in bank financing will strengthen our finance and financial restructuring practice, which is growing rapidly each year, and Michal has an excellent combination of experience in both top tier advocacy and the European real estate investment market. I am confident that this will allow us to focus and further deepen our cooperation with real estate clients, not only in the dynamically growing investments into the private rented sector market in both the Czech Republic and CEE region.”