Piotr Kochański

Piotr is experienced in commercial litigation, investment arbitration, technology transfer, IP protection and Life Sciences. While managing and developing one of the largest law firms in Poland, he has represented a number of leading Polish companies of key importance to the global economy, many of which are Polish subsidiaries of the world’s best known corporations.

Piotr is a co-founder of several well-known Polish pioneering law firms, including the first private law firm in Cracow set up at the end of the 1980s, that specialized in providing services to private businesses and to the first foreign investors in Poland.

In 1990, Piotr brought the Washington, D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson to Poland (only the third US law firm to be introduced to Poland), which he then developed and co-ran as the Polish Partner until February 1996. Subsequently he joined White & Case from New York and, as a MB member of the Polish branch, developed from scratch one of the very first teams of Polish lawyers and experts in the then brand new Intellectual and Industrial Property Law area, and also headed IP, technology transfer, commercial litigation and commercial arbitration legal practices.

During the systemic transformation which took place in Poland in the 1990s, Piotr not only managed the development of private law firms on the Polish market, but also ran controversial, precedential cases in IP protection, technology transfer, and other landmark transactions during that critical period.

Moreover, he ran the first investment projects concerning commercialization and privatization of state-owned enterprises and advised on major business ventures involving the organization and financing of companies and projects. He also conducted numerous complex multijurisdictional commercial litigation before common courts and arbitral tribunals.

In January 1999, Piotr founded Kochański & Partners, and has been successfully expanding and developing this firm to this day.

Piotr is actively involved in a number of ESG initiatives and pro bono cases, and is consistently building and promoting the idea of sustainable business. His vision is to marry law with technology, and in line with this is the author of IRAAPORT (Internet Remote Actions and Paper Observance Register Technology), a proprietary ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system for professional law firm management, and communications with clients.

Languages: Polish, English, French.

Membership: The Warsaw Bar Association, The Washington D.C. Bar Association.

Education: The Jagiellonian University of Kraków (Master of Law, 1985), George Washington University (Teaching Visiting Scholar, 1993-95), The University of Warsaw (Postgraduate studies on ADRs – Negotiations, Mediations, Arbitration, 2008).

Recommendations: The Legal 500 EMEA, Chambers Europe, Global Law Experts, IP Stars and PLC Which Lawyer. Piotr was awarded the prestigious title of‘ Lawyer of Thirty Years’ by the Polish Association of Legal Employers and the „Rzeczpospolita” daily newspaper – given his „meaningful input in building of the new legal business market and his personal work engagement, including social and academic work, which has contributed to Poland and its legal and economic development”.

Piotr has been shortlisted twice in the “Managing Partner of the Year” category by The European Lawyer Awards.