Latest news

We are very saddened to hear of our GJN treasurer and collegue 's loss, Brian O'Reilly.

We will sorely miss his sense of humour, honesty and efficiency.

Our prayers and thoughts are with his family during this difficult time

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Our lawyers are taking part in GJN’s Spring 2016 Conference which is held in Madrid, Spain. It focuses on cross border litigation and offers workshops on financial litigation, human rights and pharmaceutical and medical devices. A panel composed by lawyers from 15 different nationalities including our American colleagues from Lieff Cabraiser, Keller Rohrback and Jack Russo are also discussing about Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” litigation, focusing on the evolution of the case in the US where things are moving quicker and more efficient than in Europe.

EgyptAir flight MS 804 from Paris to Cairo has crashed in the Mediterranean Sea, somewhere between the south of the Greek island of Karpathos and the southeast of the island of Crete. The plane was carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members, whose fate is unknown. The nationalities of the passengers were reportedly as follows: 30 Egyptians, 15 French citizens, two Iraqis and one person each from Britain, Belgium, Sudan, Chad, Canada, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Portugal and Algeria. Our law firm, as part of the Global Justice Network  (whose members are recognized as being among the most experienced aviation accident lawyers  in the world), is closely monitoring the situation and assessing its impacts in conjunction with its international partners.

It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that we received the final ruling of an arbitration Court that has granted a very substantial amount to our client a major construction company that had claims from a public State owned enterprise. The Arbitration process has lasted long -almost a year- and after many lengthy sessions and several hundred pages of supporting documents the Court has come into a very well founded conclusion that was granting right to our client. 

This success confirms our committment to the process of arbitration justice especially into international lcorporate and industrial disputes. Our Law firm in conjunction with its international network that specalizes into such solutions has a remarkable experience on dispute resolution process at the ICC Paris (International chamber of commerce) that has successfully handled in the past. In addition we are also familiar with the process and rules of the London Arbitration and of the recently unified Swiss Chambers of Commerce.  

NEW YORK: The National Law Journal announced late last month the induction of five prominent plaintiffs attorneys to its Elite Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame. The publisher awards are being  presented to each inductee at the 2015 Elite Trial Lawyers Awards today on December 8 at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
This year’s inductees are: Thomas Girardi of Girardi Keese; David Sanford of Sanford Heisler Kimpel; Robert Lieff of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein; Brian Panish of Panish Shea & Boyle; and Russ Herman of Herman Herman & Katz.
“We are excited to recognize these outstanding plaintiff advocates,” said Kenneth Gary, vice president and group publisher. “Each of these attorneys have achieved great heights in the practice of law and in generating outstanding results for their clients. This year’s Elite Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame is a strong class for sure.”

Robert Lieff and Lieff Cabraiser Heimann and Bernstein -a law firm ranked in 2015 as the number one law firm in the United States on its field-  are our selected U.S. partners for well over a decade within the Global Justice Network the international law organisation where we are a founding member and Rober Lieff is our Hon. Chairman. We are very proud of Robert Lieff and we wholeheartedly congratulate him for his induction at the Elite Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame.   

The recall of a large number of Volkswagen diesel autos (2009 and newer) is already resulting into a great deal of claims raised throughout the U.S. but also in Europe.  Our law firm is exploring the possibility  with its international associates for filing in the U.S.  a consumer class action on behalf of Volkswagen owners who have the appropriate year autos. We are already coordinating with our American partners, Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein LLP and  Keller Rohrback LLP -some of them ranked last year as top U.S. Law firms- for the consumer class action but also for a shareholders case on behalf of the stockholders  who have seen the value of their shares dropping by almost 40% in two days. Most of the publicly owned stock is traded in Germany but most stockholders are spread throughout Europe. Switzerland as several other European countries should be affected by those events both in terms of consumers/owners but also to a greater extend in terms of stockholders of the giant German automaker. Next month two of our associates are flying to San Francisco so as to coordinate on the matter with our American counterparts. We invite those interested to explore their participation into such class actions (or grouped actions in jurisdictions where law does not permit class actions) to get in touch with us as soon as possible without any obligation from their part. 

It is with great pleasure and a sense of pride that we received the important positive ruling of the Hellenic Supreme Court regarding a case which we argued representing our client Swiss International Airlines. The Supreme Court accepted our arguments and sided with our client, and essentially upheld a lower level court decision to reject compensation to a disgruntled passenger who demanded compensation as result of a flight delay due to technical reasons. Our office argued and the Supreme Court with its 824/2015 order, accepted that our client acted properly and in full compliance to the spirit and the letter of the directive 261/2004, item 5 paragraph 3 of  E.U.regulation. This important ruling will also serve as a guideline on an array of ongoing and future similar cases where the Directive 261/04 calls for interpretation.

Our Law firm specializes among other things in matters of air transportation law, with a long and distinguished tack record in this practice and a leading role in the liberalization and  modernization of air transportation law. Our senior partner Constantine  Kokkinos is the legal counsel of  the Board of Airline Representatives in Greece – “B.A.R.”;  the board represents more 250 airlines worldwide and has local presence in most countries all over  the world.

Dear clients, affiliates and friends,

Following the deadlock on its negotiations with the creditors and the expiration of the fiscal consolidation program, Greece has abruptly decided to call for a referendum and impose stringent capital controls-including banks closure and suspension of regulated markets until July 13^th or further notice.

European Legal Consultancy (ELC) expresses its deep concern about the current situation of Greece, which it carefully monitors and evaluates so as to continue providing a comprehensive legal advice under these critical circumstances.

ELC, whose Swiss managing partner is a member of the Geneva Bar, has affiliatesin Zurich, Zug, Lausanne and Bern. This solid Swiss footing combined with a far reaching international presence- founding member of the Global Justice Network with partners in more than 25 jurisdictions- allowed us to adequately prepare in such times of crisis so as to maintain a proper legal support to all of our clients doing business in or with Greece. Our comprehensive structure and a prime financial and world banking practice allow us to continue providing our clients affected by events in Greece a complete service tailored to their needs.

We wish to thank you for your continuous trust, support and confidence and we hope that the present crisis will come to an end soon and that both Greece and Europe will come out of it stronger.

Following the rapid developments, that continue to afflict thousands of Swiss franc borrowers around Europe, our office, in collaboration with specialised lawyers both in Greece and abroad, continues to closely follow the developments, to sollicit borrowers and to file lawsuits on behalf of our clients, demanding the maintenance of the monthly instalments in the currency valid during the period of conclusion of the relevant loan agreements.

Moreover, we intend to file lawsuits challenging the constant variation of the cost of loan due, based in the variation of the currency, fact that, as mentioned in the past and as realised by the parties involved, turns these loans into forever claimable. Among the arguments examined is also the fact that, practically, for all loans in Swiss franc, no Swiss francs were ever outlayed by the banks, since the borrowers never received Swiss francs, but money in euro.

We remain at the disposal of any interested party for information and sollicitation.

POLAND: During the last days, thousands of Polish citizens – holders of swiss franc loans have realised demonstrations, in order to express their objection to the new situation formed, following the decision of the Swiss Central Bank to release the currency rate between swiss franc and the national polish zloty. 

Today, on March 3, seven out of 22 polish banks, which gave loans in swiss franc, announced that they are willing to apply a negative interest rate under certain conditions. 

Ninty holders of loans in swiss franc -and two hundred more, who are expected to follow- have filed a lawsuit against Getin Noble Bank before the comptetent court in Warsaw. The hearing took place at the end of February and the decision is expected to be particularly interesting. 

CROATIA: The Ministry of Finance is waiting for the evaluation of the National Bank, in order to suggest a long-term solution in the issue, which is expected by the end of the week.

MONTENEGRO: The national parliament will discuss a draft law, in order to settle 3000 loans, the monthly instalment for many of which has raised up to 80%, in many cases.

HUNGARY: Last year, the Hungarian Minister of Finance forced the banks to convert the loans thay had given in swiss franc to euro, avoiding, this year, the 'tragedy' created to the other countries by the release of the currency. 

Our law firm, member of the Global Justice Network, closely cooperates with law firms both in Poland and in Croatia, examining possible legal options and synchronizing our actions. 

Furthermore, in Greece, we have already started filing a series of preventive measures as well as lawsuits for our clients, in order to regulate the instalments due in the initial currency.