RLN Has Attracted New Experts to Further Improve Its Position in the Area of Finance and Securities Law
Raidla Lejins & Norcous Vilnius office, who has successfully completed a large number of major projects relating to financial markets, has set up a new Finance and Securities Practice Subgroup at the beginning of this year. The subgroup is led by Senior Associate, attorney-at-law Akvilė Bosaitė. Vilnius office further extended its expertise in this area when a new expert in capital markets law Karina Kuizinaitė joined the firm.

“Our expertise in the area of finance and securities law has been widely acknowledged in Lithuania and beyond. We have been working with the leaders on the local market and international markets and have always met their expectations, particularly in complicated judicial proceedings. The new practice subgroup will consolidate the knowledge and skills of Vilnius office and the international RR Alliance, which will enable us to provide our clients with all-round and premier quality services,” says Partner of Raidla Lejins & Norcous Vilnius office Elijus Burgis.

You may find more information here >>

Amendments to the Law on Public Procurement Entered into Force as of 1 January 2011
As of 1 January 2011, amendments to the Law on Public Procurement (hereinafter, the Law) entered into force. They were adopted having regard to the practical difficulties faced by suppliers participating in public procurement, and also were necessitated by the need to make more specific and rectify certain provisions of the Law.

The amendments to the Law are intended to correct the definition of low value public procurement in order to make the definition clearer and to eliminate the risk that incorrect application of the definition may lead to violations of the rules of calculating the estimated value of procurement. It has been provided that a threshold will apply at all times for low value procurement. For simplified procurement procedures for goods and services the threshold is set at LTL 100 000, net of VAT, and for simplified procurement procedures for works the threshold is set at LTL 500 000, net of VAT. This is in order to achieve that the threshold applying to low value procurement is identical, regardless of the circumstances having led to the choice of the low value procurement method. This is particularly relevant to the procurement of Services B listed in Annex II to the Law on Public Procurement, where simplified procurement is used irrespective of the contract value.

You may find more information here >>

New Amendments to the Labour Code Will Take Effect as of 1 January 2011
On 31 December 2010, the Law Amending and Supplementing Articles 109, 127, 129, 130, 141, 152, 188, 203, 206 and 256 of the Labour Code, as well as all the provisions of collective agreements agreed upon on the basis of that Law ceased to be effective. The provisions of the Law: 1) permitted to include in collective agreements provisions governing the employment relationship that are more favourable for employers (shorter notice periods where employment is terminated otherwise than through the fault of the employee, a reduced payment for time allowed for the search for new employment, etc.); 2) permitted employers to spread the payment due to the employees being dismissed over a period of time; 3) established a longer duration of overtime work (4 hrs per day); 4) permitted to agree on the terms and conditions of payment for work not only in the collective agreement, but also in working arrangements and other local regulations; 5) permitted to conclude agreements on full material liability with the employees listed not only in the collective agreement, but also in working arrangements and other local regulations, etc.

You may find more information here >>

Survey Findings: Students of Law Prefer to Study and Build Career in Lithuania
A survey carried out by Norcous Academia, the academic project of Law Offices Raidla Lejins & Norcous, revealed that future Lithuanian lawyers do not rush to study abroad, and despite competition on the market for legal services they intend to pursue career in Lithuania. Over 330 future lawyers took part in the survey which was conducted in October this year with the aim to ascertain the effects of the education and study reform on the professional expectations of the students of law.

The Draft Law on Collective Investment Undertakings Intended for Informed Investors Provides a Larger Degree of Flexibility in Legal Regulation
An inter-institutional working party, also comprising market participants, has prepared a draft Law on Collective Investment Undertakings Intended for Informed Investors (the “CIUII Law”). The draft CIUII Law is aimed at creating a more flexible legal regulation of the activities of collective investment undertakings (CIUs) intended for informed investors, including venture capital CIUs, and making it consistent with international practice. It is expected that the draft CIUII Law will be adopted as soon as during the 2011 spring session of the Seimas.

You may find more information here >>

The First Consumer Credit Law was Adopted
The Consumer Credit Law of the Republic of Lithuania was adopted on 23 December this year and should enter into force as of 1 April 2011. This Law is the first one which was adopted with the aim to establish legal framework for all entities granting consumer credits and to promote the principle of responsible lending.

Whereas the purpose of the Law is to ensure better protection of consumer rights, grantors of credit are subject to numerous new requirements that are in line with Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements.

You may find more information here >>

Irmantas Norkus and Elijus Burgis Have Been Ranked by IFLR1000 for Five Consecutive Years as the Leading Transactional and Finance Law Experts
In the 21st edition of the international financial law guide International Financial Law Review 1000 (IFLR1000) Managing Partner of Raidla Lejins & Norcous Vilnius office Dr. Irmantas Norkus and Partner Elijus Burgis have been ranked as the leading transactional and finance law experts for the fifth consecutive year.

Such a ranking of lawyers is produced based on the complexity and innovative nature of the transactions they advise on, and the quality and scope of services they provide.

You may find more information here >>

RLN Assisted SEB Venture Capital Portfolio Company UAB Viginta (VDNET) with the Acquisition of Cable TV Business from Tele2
Raidla Lejins & Norcous Vilnius office advised UAB SEB Venture Capital controlled company UAB Viginta (operating under the brand name VDNET) in the acquisition of UAB Kabeliniai ryšių tinklai (operating under the brand name C gates) from the Swedish telecommunications operator Tele2 for approximately 15m litas. It is estimated that, by the end of the year, the number of UAB Viginta clients will increase from nearly 70 000 to 110 000 subscribers.

By this transaction UAB Viginta seeks to strengthen its market position and realise its ambition to become the second largest cable TV services provider in Lithuania in terms of number of clients and the second largest wired internet connection services provider after TEO. The transaction is pending approval from the Competition Council of Lithuania.

The transaction was led by Managing Partner of Raidla Lejins & Norcous Vilnius office attorney-at-law Dr. Irmantas Norkus and Senior Associate attorney-at-law Dr. Juozas Rimas. Vilnius office provided legal advice in connection with the submission of an offer, conducted a legal due diligence and drafted transaction related documents.

RLN Assistant Lawyer Asta Augutytė among the World’s Best Human Rights Experts
Asta Augutytė, a student of Vilnius University Faculty of Law and an assistant lawyer at Law Offices Raidla Lejins & Norcous, took part in World Human Rights Moot Court Competition 2010 and, together with a student Vilnius University Faculty of Law Karolis Liutkevičius, were recognised as the best in the Eastern European Region and were ranked among the top five teams in the world.

Fifteen teams from various countries all over the world – Switzerland, Australia, Hungary, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, etc. – reached the final, which was held on 8–9 December in Pretoria (South African Republic). Along with the Lithuanian team, among the winners were also students from universities in Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Jamaica and Australia. The first place in the category of the best written submissions went to the Philippines, and the best speaker award went to Jamaica.

In the first round more than 40 teams from over the world competed for a place in the final. The moot competition was held by the University of Pretoria to mark International Human Rights Day. The first competition of this kind was held last year.

Aušra Mudėnaitė, a Partner of RLN, is the Only Lithuanian Female Lawyer Included among the World’s Leading Women in Business Law
This November, Aušra Mudėnaitė, who is a partner of Law Offices Raida Lejins & Norcous, was included by Expert Guides, a guide that elects the world’s leaders in business law, among the world’s leading women in business law. Aušra Mudėnaitė, who specialises in real estate and construction law, is the only female lawyer from Lithuania included in the guide.

Aušra Mudėnaitė, who has been rendering legal advice for 14 years, is heading the Real Estate and Construction practice group at Law Offices Raida Lejins & Norcous. The clients of the practice group include such major real estate sector companies as UAB Vėtrūna, UAB Baltisches Haus, UAB Newsec/Re&Solution, Nukem Technologies GmbH and others. 

Aušra Mudėnaitė’s areas of legal expertise are real estate transactions and dispute resolution, construction, design, territorial planning, land law, and real estate financing.

One legal expert woman from each neighbouring country – Latvia and Estonia – has also been included by the guide in the category “Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law”. The leader in this category in Latvia is Dace Silava-Tomsone, a partner of Law Offices Raidla Lejins & Norcous in Riga.

Expert Guides is a legal guide published by Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC publishing group, which has been providing counsel with access to the world’s premier lawyers in all areas of business law for 15 years already. Information about lawyers is updated every two years through consistent research and surveys in more than 60 countries.