The Legal 500 Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) 2023 rankings were released. PRIMUS is among top-tier law firms in Lithuania. The joy of recognition stands behind uncountable hours of work. We have the honour to work with such a talented team.
Loads of thankyous to our dear clients, for co-creating this success story together!

The Legal 500 Series is widely acknowledged as the world’s largest legal referral guide. More than 300,000 corporate counsel have been surveyed and interviewed globally in the past 12 months. The Legal 500 is an independent guide, and firms and individuals are recommended purely on merit.

The Legal 500 noted practitioners 2023:

1. Robert Juodka
2. Ernesta Žiogienė
3. Giedrė Dailidėnaitė
4. Marius Devyžis
5. Tomas Venckus
6. Agnė Jonaitytė
7. Andrius Lukašonokas
8. Paulius Docka
9. Jonas Platelis
10. Jaroslav Pavlovski
11. And our rising star – Greta Bagdanavičiūtė

BANKING, FINANCE AND CAPITAL MARKETS

PRIMUS Law Firm – TIER 2
RISING STAR – Greta Bagdanavičiūtė

PRIMUS Law Firm offers support in regulatory and licensing matters for international clients, many of which are from Europe, but also including companies based in Asia. Agnė Jonaitytė, who is well versed in financing transactions and also advises on private wealth, and Robert Juodka, who has over two decades of legal experience in the banking and capital markets space, jointly lead the team. Capital markets specialist and senior associate Greta Bagdanavičiūtė is a further key name. Corporate lawyer Giedrė Dailidėnaitė also supports the practice.

Practice heads: Robert Juodka; Agnė Jonaitytė
Other key lawyers: Greta Bagdanavičiūtė

• Testimonials
  “Robert Juodka and Giedrė Dailidėnaitė are excellent specialists and team leaders. Giedrė is to the point and highly efficient, with deep knowledge of law and the legal practice. Robert is very easily approachable, an excellent leader.”

Work highlights

• Advised AoN and Airbnb on the regulatory aspects of potential business models in Lithuania.
• Advised China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) on the regulatory and licensing environment and requirements in Lithuanian for cross-border financial futures, options and other derivatives trade.
• Advised Raiffeisen-Leasing on the applicable legal requirements in Lithuania for the entities intending to commence provision of leasing services to consumers in Lithuania.

COMMERCIAL, CORPORATE AND M&A

PRIMUS Law Firm – TIER 2

PRIMUS Law Firm chiefly handles M&A in the real estate and energy sectors, key areas of focus for managing partner and practice head Robert Juodka, who is noted for his experience ‘not only in legal work, but also business‘. Co-head of the practice Giedrė Dailidėnaitė, ‘a strong negotiator‘, advises on corporate matters and regulatory compliance. Ernesta Žiogienė, an IT specialist, is also recommended.

Practice heads: Giedrė Dailidėnaitė; Robert Juodka
Other key lawyers: Ernesta Žiogienė; Greta Bagdanavičiūtė

Testimonials

• ‘The M&A practice team is very capable, demonstrates good negotiation and understanding of business skills, provides quick turnaround.’
• ‘Giedrė Dailidėnaitė is always a strong negotiator for the client, leads the team and seeks to find solutions. Ernesta Žiogienė always demonstrates very to-the-point insights in IT-related deals.’
• ‘The M&A team is very diligent, accurate, understands clients’ needs, and is proactive to indicate risks and provide solutions. Team delivers on time, fulfills promises and meets expectations.’

 Work highlights

• Advised SCHWENK (Germany) group companies and Akmenės cementas on the acquisition of sole control in a local natural resources extraction company and the acquisition of surrounding real estate properties.
• Advised real estate company Sorvita, UAB on the acquisition of 100% of the shares of closed-type real estate investment company Diff Residential.
• Provided legal assistance to public institution Utenos Utenis in the process of change of stakeholding structure and negotiations regarding financial support to be provided to the client by the new stakeholder.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

PRIMUS Law Firm – TIER 2

PRIMUS Law Firm covers a great variety of work, from representing American actor and director Clint Eastwood in the enforcement of a US judgment in Lithuania to assisting a Lithuanian football club in a dispute with an Egyptian team. The practice is led by sports law specialist Marius Devyžis, who has built lasting relationships for the firm with many Lithuanian national and club-level teams in various sports. Robert Juodka, who speaks English, Polish and Estonian, is engaged by many foreign businesses operating in Lithuania for construction, insurance and shareholder disputes. Further key contacts Andrius Lukašonokas and Jonas Platelis specialise in construction matters, while Paulius Docka works on arbitration in the transport sector.

Practice head: Marius Devyžis
Other key lawyers: Robert Juodka; Jaroslav Pavlovskij; Andrius Lukašonokas; Jonas Platelis; Paulius Docka

Testimonials

• ‘Primus is a pleasure to communicate with. Everything works like a well-oiled system. Email exchange is fast and meticulous.’
• ‘Robert Juodka is my main contact in Primus. He is a skilled attorney, fast in replying and knows his department inside-out.’
• ‘The team is well organised, responsive and offers high-value services for reasonable prices.’

Work highlights

• Represented Clint Eastwood in several civil cases against now liquidated Lithuanian company Mediatonas, UAB and its sole shareholder for recovery of over $6m.
• Advising and representing DB SCHENKER and subsidiaries of DB Schenker in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in ongoing transport and client disputes.
• Represented Lithuanian professional football club FK Sūduva in an international dispute between Egyptian professional football club El Zamalek Sporting Club and professional football player Hamdi Bin Abdel Salam Naguez.

EMPLOYMENT

PRIMUS Law Firm -– TIER 2

PRIMUS Law Firm advises on international secondments, employee transfers, outsourcing and regulatory compliance, among other areas, for multinational clients in a range of industries, including IT, hospitality, logistics and shipping. The team is overseen by Giedrė Dailidėnaitė, who works on immigration and dismissal matters alongside her corporate and commercial practice, and managing partner Robert Juodka. Senior associate Greta Bagdanavičiūtė is also noted, having supported on many of the firm’s key employment matters in 2022. The firm has strong relationships with clients from Germany, Poland and Estonia with operations in the Lithuanian market.

Practice heads: Giedrė Dailidėnaitė; Robert Juodka
Other key lawyers: Greta Bagdanavičiūtė

Testimonials

• ‘A leading Baltic firm.’
• ‘Robert Juodka is a very experienced and well-connected lawyer with a strong focus on client’s needs and a clear eye for commercially sound solutions.’
• ‘Greta Bagdanavičiūtė – very responsive, clear and on the spot advice.’

Work highlights

• Advising Michelin on its daily cross-border employment, GDPR and employment regulatory matters in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
• Advising DELL on the cross-border and cross-continent transfer of employees to its Lithuanian branch operating in Vilnius.
• Advising IBIS Hotel on various employment regulatory and outsourcing matters.

EU AND COMPETITION

PRIMUS Law Firm – TIER 4

Providing regulatory compliance advice and representation in competition disputes, PRIMUS Law Firm’s competition team represents clients from several Baltic, Nordic and CEE nations. Practice head Giedrė Dailidėnaitė is a specialist in the technology and financial services sectors, with a good deal of experience in merger clearance matters. Tomas Venckus works on public procurement and has specific expertise in food supplement regulations. Associate Šarūnė Prankonytė-Segen is a further name to note.

Practice head: Giedrė Dailidėnaitė
Other key lawyers: Šarūnė Prankonytė-Segen; Tomas Venckus

Work highlights

• Provided advice to Vestas Central Europe on the applicable Lithuanian regulatory requirements related to competition law, licensing, operation, subcontracting and compliance of a new Vestas business operation in Lithuania.
• Representing real estate development and management company PP6, UAB in a dispute related to receipt of a pandemic-related state aid measure.
• Assisted DOBELES DZIRNAVNIEKS in the preparation of tender proposal documentation for the open procedure conducted by viešoji įstaiga Europos socialinio fondo agentūra (European Social Fund Agency).

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Submitted in 2020 for the 1st time and are work has been noted by research team.

PRIMUS Law Firm is carving out a niche for itself in film and media industry IP, representing film companies from the CEE region and, notably, famous Westerns actor and director Clint Eastwood; Giedrė Dailidėnaitė and Ernesta Žiogienė are the key names.

PROJECTS AND ENERGY

PRIMUS Law Firm – TIER 2

PRIMUS Law Firm has established a solid reputation for providing assistance to companies from Estonia, Poland and the wider EU investing in the Lithuanian energy market, particularly regarding the renewables drive. Robert Juodka is a foreign direct investment specialist with a particular niche for supporting Polish clients operating in Lithuania. Tomas Venckus handles matters relating to public procurement, including contentious work.

Practice heads: Robert Juodka; Tomas Venckus

Testimonials

• ‘The team has broad understanding of regulatory aspects, decision makers, processes and etc. Wide range of knowledge allows it to handle even the most complex tasks.’
• ‘Team is completely focused on solving the client’s problem. It offers a variety of approaches and selects the most appropriate one.’

Work highlights

• Assists Evecon, an Estonian capital renewable energy generation capacity developer, in the development of new wind and solar power plants, including in the dealings with the energy market regulator National Energy Regulatory Council (VERT).
• Providing consultations to ENEFIT on applicable Lithuanian regulatory requirements related to electricity trade, supply, e-commerce matters and compliance of its business operation in Lithuania.
• Advised Rafako on a major international project by UAB Vilniaus kogeneracinė jėgainė (Ignitis Group) for the construction of a combined Heat and Electricity Generation Power plant in Vilnius.

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION

PRIMUS Law Firm – TIER 2

PRIMUS Law Firm has carved out a niche assisting Estonian and Polish companies making acquisitions in the energy and real estate markets in Lithuania, and is undertaking a growing amount of renewable energy-related work. Practice heads Ernesta Žiogienė and Robert Juodka divide commercial real estate, and energy and infrastructure work between them, with Žiogienė focusing on the former and Juodka on the latter. The arrival of Jonas Platelis from KPMG Law ZAB SIA – with his experience in construction disputes and insolvency – has added a contentious arm to the practice.

Practice heads: Ernesta Žiogienė; Robert Juodka
Other key lawyers: Jonas Platelis

Work highlights

• Assisted Evecon, an Estonian capital renewable energy generation capacity developer, in the acquisition of two companies operating in Lithuania in order to be able to develop 12MW and 15MW wind farms.
• Assisted ENEFIT in the international public tender announced by Kaunas District Municipality on the infrastructure project of modernisation and servicing of street lighting system in Kaunas district.
• Advised SCHWENK Latvija SIA, SCHWENK Zement Beteiligungen and Akmenės cementas on the acquisition of 100% of shares in Glomus, UAB and the surrounding real estate properties from related parties.

SHIPPING AND TRANSPORT

PRIMUS Law Firm – TIER 2

PRIMUS Law Firm counts regional energy and shipping companies among its clients, as well as multinationals in the transport sector. The team, led by managing partner Robert Juodka and PPP specialist Tomas Venckus, advises on cross-border deals, public procurement, financing, data protection and employment law. Further key names include Paulius Docka and Jaroslav Pavlovskij.

Practice heads: Robert Juodka; Tomas Venckus
Other key lawyers: Jonas Platelis; Paulius Docka; Greta Bagdanavičiūtė; Jaroslav Pavlovskij

Work highlights

• Advising DB Schenker on transport law, disputes, management issues and matters of customs warehousing in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus and Ukraine.
• Advising CONTAINERSHIPS CMA on transport law, including transport-related disputes and shipping law.
• Assisted Goswift OÜ in the preparation of tender proposal documentation for the international public procurement conducted by the Directorate of Border Crossing Infrastructure under the Ministry of Transport and Communications.