Outstanding Legal Services

With more than 50 experienced legal experts, our Banking and Finance Department is one of the largest in the Southeast European market, ready to support clients operating in various segments of the financial sector. Our legal team advises clients throughout the Serbian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, Northern Macedonian, Albanian and Kosovo markets.

This is where our legal practice has initially started building its expertise and knowledge for more than 15 years. Since then, we have positioned ourselves as the leading, regional legal experts providing legal support to commercial banks, international financial institutions, insurance companies, investment funds, but also entrepreneurs, business associations from various industries and other micro, small and medium enterprises.

As soon as a claim has become overdue, we are able to advise our clients on how to minimize their recovery risks and fully utilize all the collateral at their disposal. We provide our clients with a complete set of outsourced services in this area of expertise, from the very first indication that there may be difficulties with recovering a claim up to the final stages of collection.

• Legal due diligence;
• Transaction assistance;
• LSPA drafting and negotiations;
• Financial regulatory compliance;
• Out-of-court and in-court enforcement;
• Representation in alternative dispute resolution and CFR matters.

Our extensive experience in this area has allowed us to develop internal software and detailed case management systems to ensure maximum cost optimization and time efficiencies for our clients, which permits us to provide market-leading services in this area.

Our team successfully assists our clients with any legal challenges they may face when structuring their financial investments in Serbia. We have supported clients in many successful privatizations in Serbia and have helped establish greenfield ventures, which has allowed us to gain in-depth knowledge of general financial structuring and various modes of project financing.
We are particularly proud of our experience and quality of our services to foreign investors in helping them navigate Serbia’s complex foreign exchange transactions regulations, especially as this area is yet to see full liberalization. Our wealth of experience and knowledge in this field often contribute greatly to our clients’ success in the Serbian market.

Our legal experts can rely on support from our firm’s other legal teams that specialise in corporate law, real estate and construction, valuation, accounting, and auditing, which makes them ready to consider each challenge from a broader perspective and come up with the best available solutions.

Bankruptcy and restructuring team at act legal Western Balkans have broad experience developing effective strategies to address the highly complex issues both domestically and regionally.

• Financial restructuring;
• Bankruptcy proceedings;
• Pre-prepared Plan of reorganisation;
• Insolvency / bankruptcy-related, litigation;
• Separate settlement in bankruptcy through enforcement proceedings;
• Restructuring strategy and procedures;
• Insolvency issues in corporate and financing transactions.

Commencing a business is the first and the most challenging step in a company’s life cycle. Shaping the business idea into the right business model and legal form is usually essential for its success and can be quite burdensome for business founders. This is where our legal specialists can help.

We offer a wide range of corporate law advisory starting from support in choosing the optimal company structure and incorporation to daily legal support, advisory on corporate governance issues, compliance, capital increases / reductions, financing, board and management liability issues, to status changes and restructuring.

Being present in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania we can support our clients’ businesses across regional markets offering the industry specialist legal support. Our clients operate in a wide range of industries such as: real estate and construction, banking and finance, retail, FMCG, TMT. We provide legal support to start-ups, small, medium and large businesses, public utilities and enterprises, pharmaceuticals, business associations, private equity funds, and other.

Drawing on both legal expertise and the experience of our legal advisors, we can seamlessly craft the most efficient and legally compliant solutions for our clients. Our services are based on a thorough understanding of our clients’ businesses, objectives, and overall market conditions, while always focusing on client’s business goals. We put special attention on the clarity and cost-effectiveness of our advice, so that our client’s commercial goals are fully met.

The advancement of digital technology and social networks brought a wide variety of benefits to the overall society, but it also resulted in a volume of threats, especially when it comes to data analysis and data privacy.

The rising trend in data security breaches comes at a time when entities are collecting enormous amounts of data to enhance development, sales and delivery of products and services to their customers.

Today, the misuse of collected data is heavily sanctioned and can cause significant damage to companies managing various types of data. Inadequate data protection and data security may compromise company’s revenue and its reputation.

Our attorneys help companies navigate and comply with rapid changes in this dynamic landscape and are closely monitoring legislative developments at local, regional, and the EU level, including practice shaping and change in implementation of GDPR regulation.

• Compliance and review of the data protection and privacy procedures;
• Data privacy impact assessment and amendments of company policies for the purpose of compliance with relevant laws;
• Data transfers both to EU and countries that provide an adequate level of data protection, as well as to non-EU countries in relation to which the special transfer rules applies;
• Data transfer agreements and data transfer approval procedures;
• Data breach response and advising on data security incidents including representing clients before data protection authorities, other supervisory authorities and courts;
• Regular updates on ePrivacy Directive, GDPR and the relevant national and regional implementing laws.

Understanding how our clients conduct their business and industries they operate in and matching it against local, regional, and global market context, are at core of our professional approach. By skillfully mitigating the risks they might face, we take preventative approach to all potential business challenges.

With clients we have a longstanding relationship we integrate a proactive, cautionary approach, since the very beginning of our collaboration, in all their business operations, thus proactively preventing potential disputes, which can be time-consuming, reputationally damaging, resulting in significant unsolicited cost.

We pride ourselves in being able to offer a wide range of alternative dispute resolution services.

For new clients that turn to us with a pending or ongoing dispute, we offer a sound guidance throughout the process. We offer a straightforward assessment of the matter at hand, so you understand how to proceed next. If the dispute is unavoidable, we clearly set out what is involved in using different litigation strategies and dispute resolution models.

• Domestic and regional commercial litigation;
• Mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution;
• Negotiations with regulatory and government agencies;
• Bankruptcy proceedings;
• Enforcement procedures.

Through a cooperation with the leading regional law firms, the dispute resolution group at act legal Western Balkans offers a genuinely regional service and assistance in multijurisdictional cases.

The dispute resolution team at act legal Western Balkans is highly diversified and effective.

All team members invest adequate time and resources in understanding our clients’ business and create a thorough analysis of all details related to each potential or existing matter striving to save the client from expensive and time-consuming court procedures.

Our cases are related to many different industries such as manufacturing, construction, financial and consultancy services, and different areas of practice, such as finance and bankruptcy-related matters, enforcement, real estate, intellectual property, and tax and labor related disputes.

Employment law is an evolving field that is often highly challenging for corporations and businesses. Our employment team with over 15 years of experience provides legal advices in employment law and human resource management to local, regional, and international firms.

We regularly advise our clients on daily employment issues starting from: drafting employment contracts and employment termination documents, flexible employment relationships, incentive programs, internal employment documentation, personal data protection matters to more complex issues such as: employment law aspects relating to mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, internal procedures (disciplinary, mobbing, discrimination), and labor inspections, negotiation and conclusion of collective agreements, employees redundancy issues, whistleblowing.

• Consulting clients on how to best structure employment agreements with staff and optimize salary policy for tax purposes;
• Assisting with adoption of the legally required internal rules, formal procedures, and other corporate bylaws that govern the rights, duties, and responsibilities of both employers and employees;
• Advising clients and participating in collective bargaining with the aim of improving labour relations and reconciling differences between employers and trade unions;
• Ensuring compliance of clients’ activities with Serbian primary and secondary legislation, international conventions, and HR management standards;
• Representing clients in formal labour disputes and alternative labour dispute resolution;
• Consulting clients on how to apply non-compete clauses, non-solicitation clauses, confidentiality clause and personal data protection clauses in labour and management service contracts;
• Consulting clients with assigning Serbian employees to postings abroad, as well as with hiring foreign nationals and obtaining the required work permits.

Environmental attorneys at act legal Western Balkans  assist clients and communities on their path to a more sustainable future. Through a range of issues such as land, water, air contamination, climate change to sustainability, energy efficiency, waste disposal and use of renewables, the team solves unique legal challenges and needs of each client while monitoring changes in regulations and legislation that might affect the clients’ future business plans.

Environmental practice at act legal Western Balkans consists of local and regional legal experts to assist clients when implementing changes related to environmental policy and regulations, never losing sight of compliance in their operations.

Combining years of experience our lawyers provide legal services across the full spectrum of environmental issues, from basic contracts and permits to complex site cleanups, litigations, and compliance matters.

• Environmental impact assessment of projects and obtaining report approval;
• Preparation and implementation of environmental damage remedy plans;
• Preparation and implementation of plans to bring operations into line with environmental standards in force in Serbia and / or EU and sustainability;
• Inspection and other proof of compliance procedures for prescribed emission, technology, waste disposal and products standards.

In today’s information-driven market, with new advertising and marketing options becoming increasingly available, successful products must be able to cross borders and harness disruptive methods for capturing user feedback, while at the same time ensuring that trade secrets remain proprietary information. Innovation is now key to commercial success and protecting and exploiting any innovations has become a major challenge.

Our intellectual property (IP) department offers all types of services in this field, from advising and drafting legal opinions on options and methods for protecting IP, to registration and exercise of IP rights, management of IP portfolios, to pursuing IP infringement disputes.

• Registration of trademarks, patents, industrial designs, and other IP rights;
• Preparation of licensing agreements, work for hire agreements, sponsorship agreements, and other IP contracts;
• Protection of copyright and related rights;
• Protection of phonogram producers and performers;
• Drafting of legal opinions exploring options for registering trademarks, patents, industrial designs, and other IP rights;
• Internet domain name search, registration, and protection;
• Representation before the Serbian Intellectual Property Burau and Customs Administration;
• Protection of IP rights before courts and arbitration tribunals.

If you own a unique invention or seek to trademark your brand, if you have created a work of art ready to meet the world, if you have sketched an industrial design ready for production, or if you want to preserve a recipe handed down the generations for tourists to taste only in your region – our law firm will guide you through the registration process and ensure your intellectual property is protected.

With client base made of developers, independent investors, investment funds, lenders, and contractors, we offer an in-depth knowledge, legal support, and insight into the dynamic construction and real estate market. We support clients in property acquisitions, dispositions, development, leasing, financing, and zoning of real property assets including compliance of their projects with relevant national and regional regulations.

Where we especially excel is our ability to skilfully leverage the experience and know-how of our corporate, banking and finance, and dispute resolution department to guarantee a multi-disciplinary and seamless service to our clients.

• Sale, purchase, and financing of real estate, and property leasing / rentals;
• Construction site / land ownership issues, land conversion;
• Obtaining building permits, facilitating compliance with building regulations, coordinating occupancy permit procedures;
• Legal support and preparation of legal acts related to the sale / purchase of real estate;
• Representation clients in various procedures before relevant authorities.