An attorney-at-law since 2002, Marcin Olejnik has more than twenty years of experience providing comprehensive legal services to business entities, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, business and corporate law, civil, contractual, and labor law, real estate, intellectual property, new technologies, and energy law. He worked with top international consulting firms and several Polish law firms, advising clients on a wide range of legal issues. He was involved in several local and international M&A transactions and discussions, as well as advising one of the leading energy firms on numerous complex projects.
Marcin is a co-author of the section on Poland in the book “Legal Aspects of EU Energy Regulation” edited by Prof. Peter Cameron and published by Oxford.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Tell us more about the firm.
OP LEGAL was established in 2011 and its team currently consists of 10 lawyers with extensive professional experience in rendering legal services to entrepreneurs conducting their business activities in Poland. Each of the partners combines longstanding experience gained in law firms and as in-house lawyers of large companies, whereas the remaining OP LEGAL lawyers have broad experience in rendering legal services to entrepreneurs. We call our firm a “legal boutique”. We are experienced in M&A, corporate, real estate, all kinds of contracts, energy, dispute resolution, labour issues, GDPR, and others. Our clients value cooperating with us as we try to be a “one-stop shop”.
The fundamental philosophy of OP LEGAL is to render comprehensive legal advisory services to entrepreneurs in various fields based on a deep understanding of their needs. Thanks to our extensive professional experience and expertise, OP LEGAL offers its legal advisory services covering practically all business law matters for our clients. The foundations underlying the services rendered by OP LEGAL are expert theoretical and practical knowledge, an innovative and pragmatic approach, flexibility, and the personal involvement of the partners.
Why did you choose to become a mergers and acquisitions expert?
M&A transactions are the essence of business life. Lawyers support business people in their visions and plans and participate in the creation of various transactions, the future of the market and various business constellations. This part of practice is very dynamic and helps to develop during each transaction. It helps to better understand business circumstances, business decisions, and decision-making processes that are complex and multi-level. My nature is much closer to a “fight” approach than to academic work. M&A is much more dynamic than courts in Poland, so it is much more addictive.
As a partner, what are your major roles and responsibilities in the company?
I supervise all my team of lawyers. I review all opinions and reports. I participate and conduct most important projects and negotiations. I stay in day-to-day contact with our clients to address their needs and protect their positions from a legal perspective. I support my team with my experience. My main goal is to teach them that our profession is to support clients and anticipate problems and avoid/prevent them rather than to provide theoretical advice, which in some cases is not what our clients need. I am responsible for business development, administration and “clients’ management”. We are a small firm, so I am personally responsible for all strategic matters in the firm. You may call me a Managing Partner (in a small scale).
Describe who you are as a person, inside and outside of the workplace.
At work, I try to be a business-oriented individual who focuses on problem solving and task completion.I believe that it is much better to be a pragmatic lawyer with a business approach than an “academic” advisor. I try not to trouble our clients with extensive legal opinions but rather prefer to contact them directly and discuss the best way to solve their problems. I want to be and I am a direct person and like to cooperate with such people. They are business-oriented and focused on the goal of the transaction. I like clear instructions and precise tasks.
In private life, I am a father of 2. I want to protect them, especially in this difficult time, I want to be their best friend and support, but also an authority. They are my greatest value and investment. I enjoy sports, I play table tennis quite well, squash, boxing, cycling (I was a guest of the Polish team during the Giro d’Italia in 2019, it was really exciting), jogging, and traveling. I am a member of Legia Warsaw sport shooting section. Due to my profession, I am interested in politics and economy.
What changes do you wish to bring in society?
In respect to the lawyers’ society, I would like to see more openness, fairness, and a business approach. Many times, lawyers themselves cause or aggravate problems instead of solving them. I think there is a lot of work to be done in this regard.
When it comes to Polish society, I would like to encourage Polish people to not be afraid to cooperate with lawyers before problems arise. I would like the legal culture that applies in the USA to become the norm in Poland. It is much more efficient to prevent problems/conflicts by way of open negotiations than to solve an existing complex conflict (in many cases involving bad emotions, vanity, and ambitions), which sometimes takes a long time and a large cost, and then results depend on many factors/conditions.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement so far and why?
My biggest achievements are: conducting my own business, employing people, giving them opportunities to develop their professional and private lives, and contributing to the economy.
From a business perspective, the greatest achievement was the privatization of Mazeikiu Nafta – a refinery in Lithuania. I was the manager/coordinator of a multi-national team of lawyers representing several jurisdictions. At that time, it was the biggest foreign investment by a Polish company. At PKN ORLEN I participated in international mediation and arbitration proceedings of significant value and complexity, but the Mazeikiu privatization was my biggest transaction.
What advice would you give to the emerging leaders and enthusiasts considering a career in legal sector?
I would advise being as close to business as possible instead of focusing on theoretical work and advice. Theoretical advice is sometimes important, but being close to real business life is essential for business lawyer.
Where do you see yourself and the firm in upcoming years?
The market is very demanding, but we are doing our best to survive and develop our business. I hope to gain more international/foreign clients as I feel that my experience in international law firms may be useful. We will continue to be a professional legal boutique with high international standards and reasonable “local” rates. We will continue to be a “one-stop-shop” for our clients, as we want to gain their trust as their business law advisers in Poland.
Website: www.oplegal.pl
