News

Leadership change at the Prague Office of White & Case

The global law firm White & Case LLP has announced changes in the leadership of its Prague office, effective 1 June 2018.

Petr Pánek, a partner in the Firm’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice who joined White & Case in 2003, has been appointed Office Executive Partner in Prague.  He succeeds David Plch, a partner in the Global Banking Practice who joined White & Case in 1997, and who has been a partner and led the Prague office since 2013.  Alongside continued legal advice for clients, Plch is taking on broader leadership responsibilities in the Firm’s banking practice in EMEA.  He will continue to be based in Prague.

“I’m both humbled and excited by the opportunity to lead the Prague office,” said Pánek. “I would like to thank David for his leadership over the past five years, during which we strengthened our position as the leading international law firm in the Czech Republic. Our ambition is to further grow our practice advising clients on their most important transactions, disputes, and other legal matters of key importance to our clientele.”

Plch said: “Leading the Prague office’s fantastic, highly talented team of lawyers and business services colleagues has been both a pleasure and a privilege.  Under Petr’s leadership, this team will continue to deliver the highest standard of service to our clients.  I am looking forward to the new challenge of helping drive forward our banking practice across the EMEA region, and to the further collaboration with our clients whose projects increasingly play out on an international scale.”

More information about Petr Pánek is available here. More information about David Plch is available here.

White & Case Prague office – key facts

Established in 1991, the Prague office of White & Case is one of the largest international law firms in the Czech Republic, with around 50 lawyers including eight partners advising Czech and international clients on the Czech, English and U.S. law aspects of complex, cross-border deals and disputes. More information about White & Case in the Czech Republic is available here.

External recognition

• The Prague office attained the best overall results in the prestigious independent legal directory IFLR 1000 and over the last few years has been the only law firm on the Czech market to score a highest ranking in all categories.
• For the fourth time in the past five years, the Prague office was named “Law Firm of the Year” in the Czech Republic by IFLR 1000.
• Mergermarket named White & Case “Central & Eastern Europe M&A Legal Adviser of the Year 2017”

Business success

• IT mega-deal: White & Case advised Prague-based Avast Software, one of the world's major players in the security software market, on the acquisition of New York Stock Exchange-listed AVG Technologies N.V., a developer of business, mobile and PC device security software applications, for US$1.3 billion. 
• The largest M&A transaction in the CEE telecoms sector: White & Case has advised global investor PPF Group on its acquisition as well as related financing of Telenor’s telecommunications assets in Central & Eastern Europe for €2.8 billion on an enterprise value basis. The acquisition represents the largest M&A transaction in the CEE telecoms sector, and the largest loan syndication in the region, since 2011.
• According to an independent survey, the Prague office of White & Case is for the first time in history the most desirable employer among all law firms for Charles University Law School students.