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Izabela Szponar is the Head of the White-collar practice. She advises on litigation, including criminal, civil, and commercial law matters. She represents clients from the investment, finance, construction, real estate, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Concentrations

  • White-collar defense & investigations
  • Arbitration
  • Commercial litigation
  • Corporate litigation
  • Post-M&A disputes
  • Compliance

Capabilities

Experience

  • Represented a fintech buyer in proceedings pending before an arbitration court and common courts in connection with a dispute over earn-out.˚
  • Represented the buyer, a foreign investment fund that had invested in a Polish automotive company, in a dispute with the sellers and the insurer regarding the sellers' false representations and warranties set out in the SPA. The dispute was subject to the Arbitration Rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).˚
  • Represented a bank in a loan dispute (the value of compensation exceeded PLN 500 million).˚
  • Represented one of the largest investors in the renewable energy sector in Poland in a dispute over the renegotiation clause of the PPA. ˚
  • Represented a financial institution in a dispute regarding factoring of receivables in the fuel industry. ˚
  • Represented a general contractor, one of the largest construction companies in Poland, in a construction dispute.˚
  • Represented one of the largest media holdings in Poland in a dispute with a media house concerning the basis for contractual fees related to AVB discounts.˚
  • Represented one of the largest pharmaceutical entities in Poland in a dispute over the valuation of shares in a company subject to a squeeze-out.˚
  • Represented a client in court proceedings concerning an attempted hostile takeover of a company, including acts of unfair competition.˚
  • Advised on disputes relating to an attempt to challenge General Meeting resolutions by demands to revoke/establish the invalidity/establish the non-existence of the resolutions regarding, inter alia, increasing the share capital, granting a vote of endorsement, depriving the existing shareholders of the pre-emptive right in relation to an issue of new shares, consent to claim compensation from former members of the management board.˚
  • Represented an investment fund in court proceedings and negotiations in connection with the sellers’ false representations and warranties in the SPA concerning the target company from the automotive industry.˚
  • Represented one of the largest energy companies in Poland in a court dispute in connection with false statements and assurances by the seller in the contract for the sale of shares in an energy company.˚
  • Conducted negotiations on behalf of one of the largest development companies in Poland, combining numerous civil and criminal commercial proceedings, regarding post-M&A claims.˚
  • Acting as a defender of a former supervisory board member of a listed company who was charged with consenting to an investment in a transport company at an inflated price and causing large-scale detriment to the investing company (Art. 296 § 1 and 3 of the Polish Criminal Code).
  • Advised in cross-border extradition procedure before Interpol and foreign administrative authorities.
  • Consultant for a private company in the context of liability of collective entities for punishable offences in connection with crimes committed by its representatives in the past.
  • Advised members of the management board and supervisory board of a company who were charged with acting to detriment of the company and its minority shareholders by their corporate actions (Art. 286 § 1 in connection with Art. 294 § 1 and 296 § 1 and 3 of the Polish Criminal Code).˚
  • Acted as a defender in one of the lines of the so-called GetBack scandal.˚
  • Acted as an auxiliary prosecutor in numerous cases concerning disposals of property by former management board members of a bankrupt company.˚
  • Advised numerous listed companies, investment funds and foreign entities in the field of applicable Polish regulations and designed internal regulations for these entities.˚

°The above representations were handled by Ms. Szponar prior to her joining GREENBERG TRAURIG Nowakowska-Zimoch Wysokiński sp.k.

Recognition & Leadership

  • EMEA Legal 500: Recommended in Dispute Resolution (2022-2024) and White-Collar Crime (2023-2024)
  • Member, Warsaw Bar Association

Credentials

Education
  • Postgraduate studies, The Law and Economics of Capital Markets, SGH Warsaw School of Economics
  • Advocate, 2015
  • Master of Law, Warsaw University
Admissions
  • Poland
Languages
  • Polish, Native
  • English, Fluent
  • French, Conversational
  • Italian, Conversational