act legal Poland used its multidisciplinary expertise as a legal advisor to and representative of Profit Development Group in a litigation concerning a big residential project in Warsaw

The dispute was focused on a property on which Profit Development Group carried out a residential project, through its subsidiary, based on inter alia a number of development contracts signed with residential unit buyers.

The housing cooperative (“W” Cooperative), which is controlled by a single individual, took steps aimed to frustrate the sale of residential units and take over the developed property. One of the steps involved filing a claim challenging the accuracy of records in the land and mortgage register kept for the property concerned as compared to the actual legal status.

Business solutions

The Client was offered a wide range of services beyond mere conducting the litigation. In particular, in order to protect the Client’s financial interests and restore the Client’s ability to sell the units, we proposed additional solutions which resulted in harvesting offers as well as negotiating and concluding, in cooperation with Marsh – a leading insurance broker – a trailblazing insurance policy aimed at protecting the Client and the buyers of the units against potential consequences of an unfavourable court ruling.

Litigation issues

After professional and swift court proceedings (proceedings in two instances took only two years), the court dismissed the appeal of “W.” Cooperative and ruled in favour of our Client. The courts of both instances had no doubt that the Cooperative’s claims were completely unfounded.

The key point of the argumentation which led to winning the case and which was prepared with active support of the Client was that of the public credibility of land and mortgage registers; our lawyers demonstrated that the principle effectively protected subsequent purchasers of the property, including the developer.

The developer was represented by Marek Wojnar, attorney at law, co-managing partner of act legal Poland, who was assisted by a team including:

• Marek Miszkiel – attorney-at-law, partner
• Marta Kosiedowska – attorney-at-law, partner;
• Michał Sołtyszewski – attorney-at-law, partner;
• Joanna Szymanowska – attorney-at-law, senior lawyer.

The court proceedings were conducted jointly with attorneys from Wrocław-based law firm SWK legal. We also cooperated with attorneys representing the buyers who participated as interveners.

The scope of our team’s work included: provision of comprehensive legal services in the case, including representation of the Client in court of first and second instance, participation in the preparation of the structure and development of specific measures to secure development agreements and other agreements concerning the sale of units. act legal coordinated the procedural positions with the representatives of the unit buyers, ensured transparent communication and secured the rights of the buyers in the course of the proceedings, as well as conducted negotiations and, in cooperation with Marsh, obtained a trailblazing insurance policy covering the risks related to the case for the Client’s needs.

”Cooperation with the Client in this case was not limited to strictly procedural aspects but concerned the development of a comprehensive set of solutions to ensure the security of the Client and the unit buyers. We are particularly pleased with the positive final ruling in the context of the interests of the unit buyers. For both Profit Development and for us, the social aspect and efficiently achieved fair ruling were the most important factors in this case,” emphasises Marek Wojnar, attorney-at-law, co-managing partner of act legal Poland.

We would like to thank the Client for entrusting our law firm with the case and for confidence they have placed in us.