Assisting and representing a well-known bank with respect to a claim based on an alleged breach of contract, filed with the Romanian courts by a large state-owned company. The alternative grounds were undue payment and unjust enrichment. Although the claim seems to target only classical topics of Civil law, the complexity of the case was enhanced by the subtlety of the tripartite mechanism of the credit letter governed by Uniform Rules For Demand Guarantees 758 (URDG 758). By gathering knowledge ranging from Banking & Finance, Trade Law, Enforcement Law and Civil Law, the preparation for this litigation demanded great experience and full engagement. Furthermore, the evolution of the proceedings brought new challenges with respect to the civil procedure rules regarding the possible decisions which can be rendered by a court of appeal, expressly regulated under the art. 480 of the Civil Procedure Code. Since the Bucharest Court of Appeal decided to set aside the first judgement and to remand the case to the first instance, even though there was no such claim made by any party, as required by art. 480 of the Civil Procedure Code, the Decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal was challenged by ING Bank. Therefore, the casefile is currently due to be decided upon by the Supreme Court of Justice.

Assisting and representing a well-known bank with respect to a claim filed against the Romanian tax authorities for the reimbursement of a sum amounting to more than lei 210,000,000 plus interest (more than Eur 43 mil.), which was forcibly paid by the bank through an unlawful enforcement procedure. Although the enforcement procedure has already been construed null and void by the national courts, this litigation implies new challenges in demonstrating how the tripartite mechanism of the credit letter operates in business relationships and hence how the reimbursement shall also be carried out.

Advising and delivering legal opinions to various major local banks in connection to a series of collective action claims initiated by the banks’ clients regarding challenging of alleged abusive clauses contained in the credit contracts. The cases are raising very complex legal issues and are deferred to many courts throughout Romania. The most significant strength of STOICA & Asociații lawyers lies with their wealth of knowledge and experience in the banking sector. Having a pro-active attitude and using negotiation skills, the lawyers from STOICA & Asociații mediate the relation between banks and their clients. Responsiveness to the bank’s demands, an in-depth understanding of the entire loan contract represents key elements in successfully solving the disputes over alleged abusive clauses.

STOICA & Associates is representing major Romanian banks in collective damages claims launched by National Authority for Consumers Protection in a consortium litis with the bank’s customers, aiming the denomination of CHF credit contract costs, and a rate exchange frozen as for 2007 -2008 level. Our lawyers convinced the courts to dismiss all those collective damages claims as groundless, proving that the banks obligation to inform their clients about the CHF currency risk has been entirely respected and should be analyzed in the context of the specific information available at the time of credit agreements conclusion. Our lawyers also proved that CHF currency risk is actually applicable to any foreign currency credit and the Banks cannot be held responsible for the customer choices. 

Legal assistance and representation in a litigation package having as object the claims made by the shareholders who have submitted withdrawal requests following the merger procedure. Following the merger, several shareholders filed a request to withdraw from the company and requested the redemption of its shares - worth approximately Eur 8,000,000. The disputes were settled in favour of the Bank, noting that the redemption obligation is not due in the conditions in which the approval of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) was not given in this respect. The dispute with the shareholder holding the largest number of shares for which he requested the redemption is being appealed to the High Court, and has so far been won by Patria Bank, including on appeal.
Representing a major Romanian bank in a litigation case against a fiscal deed concerning tax adjustments performed as result of fraudulent loans. It is the first litigation of this magnitude, considering that the fiscal authorities have determined significant additional income tax obligations. Considering the complexity of the case, the court has ordered a team of financial auditors to conduct a detailed analysis of all the fraudulent loan files, as well as all the banking rules to have been breached.

Assisting and representing one of the largest Romanian banks in relation to its entire portfolio of civil and commercial litigations spread out over half of the country, including enforcement, insolvency and consumer protection disputes.
On April 2016, Romania has adopted a law that offers the consumers in financial difficulty the possibility to be released in full from the underlying debt by handing their mortgaged property over to the lender. This law has a great impact on the legal and economic plan, with consequences especially in the banking system. In this regard, STOICA & Asociații is representing and assisting a group of important local banks in the administrative and judicial procedures related to the Giving in Payment Law. More specifically, our contribution consisted in drafting the complaints against giving in payment notifications received from the bank’s debtors and asking the Romanian Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of this law’s provisions by reference to retroactivity issues, property rights, economic freedom, access to justice and the right to defence.

Set of litigations pertaining to the recovery of the claim in the amount of lei 459,289,406.64 (approx. Euro 9 mil.), representing the damage caused to the client. The claim was established by a court Decision, arising from non-reimbursed credit agreements granted by Dacia Felix Bank. The creditor initiated the enforcement proceedings against the debtors, in order to capitalize all their assets, thus initiating several cases pending before several bailiffs, in order to force the pursuit of several properties in order to recover the underwritten claim. In one of the enforcement cases, the bailiff attributed the entire amount collected from the enforcement, although the Bank was the sole creditor. The bank assisted by STOICA & Asociații filed an appeal against the distribution, admitted by the Cluj Napoca Court. In addition to this case, several enforcement files were pending regarding the capitalization of real estate (located in Bucharest and Cluj) owned by the debtors.

Representation before the courts of a subsidiary of an important European electronic communication provider in two litigation regarding the cancellation and suspension of a Competition Council decision. 
STOICA & Asociații is involved in building the defence in the case sanctioning our client for an alleged abuse of dominant position as well as for imposing fines deriving from the alleged anti-competitive facts. The value of the fines is quite significant and amounts to approximately Eur 13,300,000 representing 1.21% of the 2017 turnover, thus enhancing the importance of this dispute. Important to note is the significant success already obtained in an injunction claim aimed to suspend implementation of the afore-mentioned Competition Council decision regarding the huge fine payment. Now that this high financial stake is temporary settled, the focus is on the principal claim grounds. 

Assisting and representing a major player in the proceedings before the Competition Council and in annulment proceedings before the courts related to, inter alia, an alleged price-fixing cartel. It is for the first time when the Romanian Competition Council fined several undertakings, members of a collective association for collection and management of WEEE (waste of electric and electronic equipment), for allegedly fixing a discount in commercialization of new EEE products during buy-back campaigns and also, for an alleged control of commercialization of their products. Neither the European Commission, nor the European Court of Justice have issued to date decisions concerning anti-competitive behaviours related to this specific field of WEEE management. The lawyers from STOICA & Asociații have prepared the defence for the client, both in front of the Competition Council and in front of the Courts of law, by - including without limitation - preparing strategy, drafting claims, representing the client in front of the national competition authority and in front of the Court.

Assisting a major player on the market of oil and gas drilling services, in an investigation conducted by the Romanian Competition Council concerning an alleged infringement of article 5 of Competition Law 21/1996 (horizontal agreement – hard core cartel). The investigation was launched following an application for leniency, filed by an undertaking. STOICA & Asociații has been part of the team of lawyers who prepared for Foraj Sonde Craiova S.A. the statement of objections against the investigation report and orally presented the defence in the hearings in front of the Romanian Competition Council. No solution has been issued by the national competition authority up to date. The lawyers from STOICA & Asociații have prepared the defence for the client, by preparing strategy, drafting claims, representing the client in front of the national competition authority and in front of the court.

Assisting and representing a major aluminium producer with respect to the investigation carried out by the Competition Council and the European Commission regarding a state aid granted before the EU accession of Romania, as well as the existence of an anticompetitive understanding between the client and a major producer of electric energy. The investigation carried out by the European Commission ruled out the existence of an illegal state aid. The investigation conducted by the Romanian Competition Council found that the client was part of an understanding contrary to the competition law and inflicted a fine. STOICA & Asociații is currently providing legal assistance and representation in front of the national courts in the judicial procedures pertaining to the suspension and cancellation of the sanctioning decision issued by the national competition authority.

Assisting and representing the Romanian State in the arbitral investment dispute initiated by the Sukyas Brothers in relation to claims arising out of the Government’s alleged failure to restitute assets in Cinegrafia Română (CIRO Films), a film company held by the claimants’ family members before its seizure by the communist regime in 1948. The Romanian State is represented by the counsels’ association consisting of Stoica & Asociatii, Savoie Laporte s.e.l.a.s.u., Anca Liana Caraiola Buftea, Laborde Law and Professor Alina Miron. Other information cannot be revealed at this stage of the proceedings, due to the confidentiality requirements.

Assisting and representing the client in a litigation initiated by a public institution of national interest for the recovery of a real estate (allegedly public, inalienable property administered by the claimant in the proceedings) whose owner in present is the client by virtue of a previous giving in payment agreement concluded with two clients of the bank (former owners of the real estate). The litigation is a complex one as there were successive transfers of property (also from the public domain to the private one) and the legal regime of the good and its destination at the moment of each successive transfer are questioned (also due to inconsistent documentation from the public registries, which makes the case even more difficult). The legal strategy construed by Stoica & Asociatii team was focused on proving that at the moment of the transfer of the real estate to the patrimony of the bank’s clients the real estate was the municipality’s private property, by also making application of the general civil theory of the obligation against eviction incumbent on the Romanian State (given the quality of the claimant in the proceedings, as the latter is a public institution). This litigation is all the more important that, by analysing the chain of the successive property transfers and the status of the real estate from 1930 up to present, it resulted that the real estate at issue was a former restitution made in accordance with the provisions of the Law no. 10/2001 concerning the legal status of some buildings taken improperly from 6 March 1945-22 December 1989 and such restitutions shall be carefully analysed in the light of ECtHR’s case-law. So far, by analysing the case-law of the Romanian courts, the applicability of the obligation of guarantee against eviction in the specific matter of the transfers in compensation based on the provisions of the Law no. 10/2001 has not been clearly settled.

Assisting and representing the client in a complex real estate litigation initiated by the Prefect as regards the annulment of the building permit allowing the client to build an extension of logistic warehouse and construction of truck parking, pallets warehouse, enclosures and utilities. A complex technical expertise in the specialty of urbanism is currently administered in the file. The legal problem raised in the case is all the more important as, in the meantime – prior to the litigation initiated by the Prefect (without the client being informed about the control carried out by the state construction authority), the real estate project was modified based on an amended building permit (which is not subject to the annulment request filed by the Prefect) and subsequently finalized. The defence within the dispute involved an intricate strategy involving, among others, a complex analysis regarding the legal effects of the amended building permit and the combined effect of the two building permits, as well as an in-depth analysis grounded on the principle of proportionality and the nature of the annulment remedy and its legal effects, considering the particular factual circumstances underlying the case. A rigorous inventory of the necessary urban planning documentation considering the particularities of the real estate project was also necessary. 

Assisting and representing the client in several disputes in which a company located in the vicinity claims infringement of its property rights and breach of common ownership of access roads. The rejection of the applicant's claims is important because it will allow the Client to exploit the land for the purpose for which it was purchased, namely the construction of a residential complex and the provision of housing for several thousand people, close to the centre of Bucharest.
The dispute is carried out between the contractor and the beneficiary of some construction works located in Bucharest; the evidence adduced in the trial is complex, including technical expertise and accounting expertise. The dispute is particularly relevant for the interpretation of the clauses in FIDIC contracts in terms of the termination for fault of works contracts, the extent of the unilateral termination of the contract by the beneficiary and the possibility of choosing a new contractor to continue the works given their urgency. Stoica & Asociații represents the beneficiary of the works in this litigation.

Assisting and representing a real estate developer in a litigation against CNAIR regarding the request to extend a previously performed expropriation of the client’s land in order to build the Bucharest-Ploiesti highway, to a supplementary surface of the land which cannot be used due to the initial expropriation. 
The application also refers to the request to grant access to the highway to the client’s land (surface of approx. 100.000 sq.), which remained without access following the expropriation for the construction of the highway. The case is particularly important given the financial relevance of the expropriation measures and the possibility to exploit the land according to the market needs. Romanian case-law in this domain is either unclear or scarce. At the hearings on 5 March 2021, the applicant won a partial victory, bearing in mind that the court rejected the plea of unlawful stamping of the summons, the plea of late amendment of the plea, the plea of inadmissibility of the action and the statute of limitations, ruling that they are unfounded.

Representing and assisting the company in litigations regarding the cancellation of a real estate construction permit regarding a land with an area of 94,997 ha. The object of the dispute is the annulment of Decision no. 116 / 25.02.2009 adopted by the Local Council of Constanța Municipality, the Zonal Urban Plan (PUZ) ʺHigh-rise Real Estate Complex - Collective Housing, Commerce, Offices and Hotel, Str. Chiliei", on the site of the former RATC base, land with an area of 94,997.56 sqm. As a result of the PUZ approval, the land area of 94,997.56 sqm was dismantled into 10 UTRs (territorial reference units) of which one mixed unit, intended for trade and services), and the other 9 units intended for high-rise collective housing . After 9 years from the adoption of this PUZ, an action was formulated in its annulment. Stoica and Associates had an important role in the league, the action being rejected at the court of first instance, Constanta Tribunal, the case is now being appealed.

Assisting and representing two real estate developers in a litigation against Municipality of Bucharest regarding the request for the annulment of the Zonal Urban Plan of Sector 2, Bucharest, as well as the obligation of the issuing authority to partially rectify it in accordance with the real legal situation of the lands, with the consequence of changing their classification, from the green spaces zone to the mixed zone of buildable lands. The applicants claim that the area of green spaces may target only publicly owned land, while their land does not fall into that category. Also, the land could not be included in the category of green spaces except as a result of fulfilling the expropriation procedure according to the relevant legislation, or the local authorities did not start at any time the expropriation procedures for the construction of parks, the lands being still in private ownership of the applicants. The importance of the dispute lies in the fact that there is a possibility for a court to oblige the authorities with urban planning responsibilities to stop a discriminatory situation between the owners of neighbouring lands, but also to end the impossibility of using the land for the purpose for which they were acquired by the two companies. The situation is still unclear at national level, with the courts reluctant to give real estate developers the upper hand, as an environmentalist view seems to be preferred. The litigation was lost at first instance, with a final decision to be rendered by the Bucharest Court of Appeal on appeal, probably at the end of 2022.

Assisting and representing a group of individuals from around the world belonging to a notorious Romanian family in connection with the management of a significant real-estate portfolio estimated at approx. Eur 30 mil. STOICA & Asociatii assisted and represented its clients in litigations and administrative procedures in connection with property restitution cases concerning land plots and constructions, in transactions with real-estate (ie sale, lease, management of real-estate).

Assisting and representing the client in a claim which lead to the relocation of the trial, in recourse, from Constanta Court of Appeal to Galati Court of Appeal. The relocation claim has highlighted the risk of an unjust trial due to local influences performed by the parties involved (public authorities and influential private persons as City Major and City Manager of Constanta City).The High Court of Justice endorsed our fears and ordered the relocation of the trial to another Court where the personal and public interest for the case is supposed to be lower.

Assisting and representing a client regarding a rescinding and damages claim in justice in connection with a real-estate contract. The litigation concerned damages arising from a breach of the sale-purchase promise by the other party.
Assisting and representing a client regarding a rescinding and damages claim in justice in connection with an real-estate exchange contract against the Municipality of Bucharest. S&A filed an action to rescind the exchange contract and claimed damages representing approximately 200,000,000 Euros in contradiction with the Municipality of Bucharest.

Assisting and representing the client in a package of litigations on complex real estate environmental issues regarding the ecological landfill in Pojorîta co-financed with non-refundable European funds, in the context of the legal requirements incumbent on the EU Member States in the matter of environmental issues (particularly, in the context of complying with the obligation to close, seal and ecologically restore the illegal landfills). The subject of the successive disputes mainly consists in the annulment of all the administrative acts issued in order to build the ecological landfill from Pojorîta. This litigation is extremely complex and has major implications in terms of the capacity to act as claimant in environmental cases, where the claimant is neither an individual living in Pojorîta, nor an NGO specifically constituted for environmental protection purposes. The dispute largely raised the issue of admissibility of class action/ actio popularis in environmental matters. Stoica & Asociatii construed an extensive argumentation, through an interpretation of the national legislation and case-law (in general administrative matters and in environmental cases), of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention and the case-law of CJEU and ECtHR, leading to the dismissal by of the claim for lack of procedural capacity of the claimant and also for lack of procedural interest. The case (in special appeal phase) is now suspended as CJEU was referred with a request for a preliminary ruling on the provisions of the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention).

Assisting and representing the clients within the extraordinary appeal phase in a complex administrative and real estate litigation where the annulment of many administrative acts in the matter of urbanism and the demolition of the house of the claimants are at stake. The litigation was initiated by the clients’ neighbours in the context of some misunderstandings between them. Given that the first instance court ordered the demolition of the construction, the legal strategy implemented by Stoica & Asociatii team is aimed to rigorously dismantle the alleged irregularities in terms of urban planning and to emphasize the lack of proportionality of the measures ordered by first instance court, by pointing out that the demolition is the ultima ratio remedy solution.
Assisting and representing the client in damages claim aiming to recover the loss occurred by the noncompliance of duties assumed by a contractor based on a FIDIC contract. The dispute is settled on the background of Russia – Ukraine war which determined a quick raise of the materials’ costs and led to breaches of the contractual duties. Assisting (and representing) the Client in negotiation and legal claims related to building permits and building works contracts for several shopping malls.

Assisting and representing the Client in a dispute related to the performance a construction agreement for building one of the Client’s biggest hypermarkets. The dispute involves complex questions related to alleged flaws in design, hidden defects, flaws in the performance of the works and damages claimed by both parties. STOICA & Asociații successfully managed to dismiss all the damages claims and to obtain self-help remedies for the client in order to dismiss the claim for the payment of the remainder of the price. The dispute is pending before Bucharest Court of Appeals.

Assisting and representing the client in front of the Romanian Courts in a dispute related to a joint venture agreement for the construction and functioning of a series of gas stations in Bucharest. The dispute involves subtle questions of law related to the authority of Bucharest City Hall in executing private joint ventures. STOICA & Asociații successfully managed to dismiss the entire claim against the client.

Assisting and representing the Romanian State in the arbitral investment dispute initiated by the Sukyas Brothers in relation to claims arising out of the Government’s alleged failure to restitute assets in Cinegrafia Română (CIRO Films), a film company held by the claimants’ family members before its seizure by the communist regime in 1948. The Romanian State is represented by the counsels’ association consisting of Stoica & Asociatii, Savoie Laporte s.e.l.a.s.u., Anca Liana Caraiola Buftea, Laborde Law and Professor Alina Miron. Other information cannot be revealed at this stage of the proceedings, due to the confidentiality requirements.

Successfully representing and assisting of one of the most important generic pharmaceutical products in litigation aimed at obtaining the benefits of a tax amnesty law. The challenged posed by the case was convincing the court that although the client didn’t meet the conditions as strictly provided by the law for the amnesty, his specific situation was similar to that of other entities which obtained the benefit.

Legal assistance and representation in a litigation package having as object the claims made by the shareholders who have submitted withdrawal requests following the merger procedure. Following the merger, several shareholders filed a request to withdraw from the company and requested the redemption of its shares - worth approximately Eur 8,000,000. The disputes were settled in favour of the Bank, noting that the redemption obligation is not due in the conditions in which the approval of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) was not given in this respect. The dispute with the shareholder holding the largest number of shares for which he requested the redemption is being appealed to the High Court, and has so far been won by Patria Bank, including on appeal.

Successfully representing and assisting of one of the most important international manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in a litigation regarding the damage claims requested by one of its distributors. The file involved examination of an extremely large amount of documentation and the construction of an effective defensive argumentation towards the introductory claim, as the first degree court’s decision forced the client to pay damages in the amount of over 20 MEUR.

Representing an important local actor on the energy market having as main objective to monitor the fulfilment of the obligations resulted from the privatization contracts concluded by the former Electrica S.A., regarding the electricity supply and distribution subsidiaries, as well as the agreements concluded by Electrica S.A., in connection with the privatization agreements. The position of our Client within this litigation aim to reject the claims of a former manager of the company, claims representing the alleged prejudice caused by the termination of the management contract. Therefore, our lawyers built a serious defence for the company to prove that the termination of the contract was not unexpected and well grounded, so that the initial claim should be totally rejected.

Representing and assisting the company in litigations regarding the cancellation of a real estate construction permit regarding a land with an area of 94,997 ha. The object of the dispute is the annulment of Decision no. 116 / 25.02.2009 adopted by the Local Council of Constanța Municipality, the Zonal Urban Plan (PUZ) ʺHigh-rise Real Estate Complex - Collective Housing, Commerce, Offices and Hotel, Str. Chiliei", on the site of the former RATC base, land with an area of 94,997.56 sqm. As a result of the PUZ approval, the land area of 94,997.56 sqm was dismantled into 10 UTRs (territorial reference units) of which one mixed unit, intended for trade and services), and the other 9 units intended for high-rise collective housing . After 9 years from the adoption of this PUZ, an action was formulated in its annulment. Stoica and Associates had an important role in the league, the action being rejected at the court of first instance, Constanta Tribunal, the case is now being appealed.

Assisting and representing the client before Cluj Commercial Court in a dispute derived from a contract for providing services in derivative financial instruments. The dispute deals with complex questions of international jurisdictions under EU Regulation 1215/2012 (a preliminary referral to the European Court of Justice being needed for ruling on the jurisdiction), alleged misrepresentations made before the execution of the agreement and during the performance of the contract, the existence of unfair terms in the contract and a breach in performance of the contract. The case is pending before Cluj Court of Appeals. STOICA & Asociații successfully managed to dismiss the entire claim against the assisted client.

Assisting and representing one of Romania’s major banks, as defendant, in an application for setting aside an ICC international arbitration award. The arbitration award, favourable to the client, previously obtained by our law firm was challenged by the opposing party. The dispute involves subtle issues around the statutory provisions that refrain the courts from reviewing the merits of the arbitral awards when ruling in an application for setting aside the arbitral award. STOICA & Asociații successfully obtained the rejection of the application. The case is now pending before the Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice and before the Competition Court.

Representing a major contractor in a litigation before the Romanian competent courts in connection to a fiscal litigation against the central fiscal competent authorities. The litigations is related to the amounts established by the authorities after a complex fiscal inspection regarding the obligations to pay profit tax and VAT, for the period 2013-2018. The fiscal authorities reconsidered a large number of services acquisitions and appreciated that the amounts cannot be considered as deductible revenues and that company cannot benefit of the deduction right for VAT. Moreover, during the litigation the competent court shall clarify several procedural and legal interpretation issues, such as the status of limitation for establishing a part of the obligations, aspects regarding the evidence filed by the company and their interpretation based on the relevant fiscal legislation.

Representing an important distributor of water heating and heating systems, belonging to Ariston Group, a significant world leader on thermal comfort, within a litigation against the Romanian competent authority for environment issues. The object of the fiscal litigation consists of challenging the obligations established in 2021 for electric and electronic equipment placed on the relevant market. The litigation is very important that it aims to clarify the manner the competent authorities calculated the environment contribution for the period 2017-2019, by using a calculation formula which is applicable only after January 2020.

Assisting and representing the current minority shareholders (the former owners and administrators of two reputed Romanian companies in the veterinary pharmacy industry, both part of the Farmavet group) in two disputes brought by each of the clients against the current majority shareholder in each company, in relation to the management of the two companies. The two cases involve extensive argumentation to consolidate that right of the minority shareholder to participate in the decision-making process, its right to be informed and to effectively be able to influence the activity of the company, despite its minority position. One of the main challenges of the litigations consist in the complexity of the evidence that need to be produced in front of the court and the turbulent factual context derived from the many misunderstandings between the parties.

Assisting and representing the client, one of Romania’s most reputable cardiologist (jointly with Damian, Dobre & Asociatii SCA) in a malpractice dispute initiated by the legal representatives of a former patient of the client, in relation to a heart transplant surgery performed by the team led by the client. The evidence is complex and the legal argumentation required a solid and an in-depth assessment of the medical field, from a legal and biological perspective as well.

Representing an important distributor of water heating and heating systems, belonging to Ariston Group, a significant world leader on thermal comfort, within a litigation against the Romanian competent fiscal authorities. The company challenged the additional amounts established by the fiscal authorities related to the income tax for revenues from salaries and assimilated to salaries for the period 2015-2019. Thus, the fiscal authorities reinterpreted the relevant economic operations related to the operations of granting gift tickets to the employees of third parties (commercial partners) and established that the gift tickets represent, in fact, incomes assimilated to the salaries, with all the fiscal consequences therein, despite of a legislation that was unclear and object to interpretations for the said period.

Representation of a client in a package of litigations on environmental issues regarding the ecological landfill in Pojorita. The object of the disputes is the annulment of all the administrative acts issued in order to build the ecological deposit from Pojorata ta, as follows:
- Litigation regarding the annulment of the decision of the local council through which the land was passed in the public domain of Suceava County - the litigation was definitively won
- The dispute concerning the annulment of the permits for the construction of the ecological landfill - definitively acquired,
- The litigation having as object the annulment of the decision of the Pojorâta Local Council regarding the abrogation of the Zonal Urban Plan afferent to the Pojorâta Waste Landfill;
- Partial cancellation of the building permit exclusively regarding the authorization of construction works for the Ecological Landfill Pojorâta;
- Abolition of the construction of the Pojorâta Ecological Landfill and finding the illegal nature of the environment permit.
Representation of the client in a package of litigations on environmental issues regarding the ecological landfill in Pojorita. The case was won on the merits and is under appeal. Stoica si Asociatii played an important role in these litigations, prior to ensuring the representation by S&A of the first litigation having as object the annulment of the decision to pass into the public domain being lost by the Suceava County Council. As a result of the defences invoked by S&A, the solutions were favourable to the County Council.

Representing and assisting one of the most important mineral water producers in a series of litigations against the National Authority for Consumer Protection and its subordinate structures regarding the existence of potential incorrect commercial practices. The litigations are intermingled and concern both the suspension and the annulment of several administrative deeds issued by the public authorities competent in the field of consumer protection, by which the commercial use of specific labels designed by the client was banned and/or by which different sanctions were imposed on the client. The litigations require an in-depth analysis of both the legal grounds for the decision adopted by the public authorities, as well as the examination of the accuracy of the commercial slogan used by the client on the labels which formed the object of the administrative decisions.

Assisting and representing the client, as defendant, in an application for setting aside a domestic arbitration award. The arbitration award, favourable to the client, previously obtained by our law firm in a complex FIDIC RED Book arbitration was challenged by the opposing party. The dispute involves subtle issues around the statutory provisions that refrain the courts from reviewing the merits of the arbitral awards when ruling in an application for setting aside the arbitral award. STOICA & Asociații successfully obtained the definitive rejection of the application.

Assisting the owner and the administrator of one of the most important industrial parks in Romania, situated in Sibiu county (Automecanica Industrial Park) in relation to the prior complaint against a decision issued by the Local Council of Medias City. By means of this administrative decision, the Local Council unlawfully established a series of new criteria that should have been fulfilled by industrial parks in order to benefit from state aids, requirements which were not included in the normative acts of superior legal force (Law no. 186/2013 and EU Regulations on state aids). As a consequence, this decision excluded the client from the benefit of the state aid for initial investments in industrial parks (state aids consisting of exemptions from the payment of taxes on land and taxes on buildings corresponding to the infrastructure of the industrial park). In other terms, Automecanica S.A. would have been prevented from obtaining the state aid starting from 2022. The importance of the dispute lies in the uncommon measure adopted by the Local Council of Medias city. After the team drafted and submitted the prior complaint, the administrative authority revoked its own decision and adopted another decision, establishing that Automecanica S.A. fulfils all legal conditions in order to benefit from state aids. This particular demeanour of an administrative authority is rather exceptional in Romania, since the majority of the prior complaints are subsequently followed by a litigation between the same parties, given the authorities’ absence of favourable responses to the prior complaint. In 2022, Automecanica S.A. was granted a state aid of 1,568,738 lei (Eur 317,558.3).

Representing major Romanian mobile electronic communication provider in a complex dispute with the Romanian fiscal authorities for the purpose of cancelling certain fiscal control decisions with considerable financial impact. STOICA & Asociatii assists the client in reversing the tax authority decision imposing payments of large amounts of income tax and VAT amounting to approximately EUR 7.5 million. This complex fiscal dispute also deals with the annulment of the decision with respect to an amount of approximately EUR 27.5 million representing reduced interest as result of transfer price adjustments. 
Representation of an important national company operating in the field of energy, in order to recover payments deemed inappropriate by the Court of Auditors, granted as a variable component to members of the board of directors and directors. In this regard, two disputes have been opened, with a view to the retroactive cancellation of the acts on the basis of which the payments were made, following the retroactive cancellation of these acts and the right to a refund of the payments made by SNN will arise.

Assisting and representing a client regarding a rescinding and damages claim in justice in connection with a real-estate contract. The dispute had as its subject the damages arising from the violation of the promise of sale-resale-purchase by the other party.

Representing a major contractor in a litigation before the competent Romanian courts in connection to a contractual dispute regarding an important public procurement contract against a local authority. The contract referred to the construction works of an important recreation park. The public authority claimed for penalties for the alleged delay in termination of the works and also for damages representing the alleged European funding lost because of the said delay.

Assisting and representing one of the biggest Romanian companies in the field of production of automobiles, superstructures, containers and chassis market, with over 75 years of experience, in a litigation concerning the recovery of the litigation costs incurred by the client, as the winning tenderer in a public procurement procedure, in its capacity as ancillary intervener in support of the contracting authority within a previous litigation concerning a public procurement procedure organized by the largest Romanian natural gas producer and supplier.  The procedural law issues raised by this litigation were very complex, given the controversial nature of the right of the accessory intervener in support of the contracting authority to recover its own litigation costs from the losing party, although the ancillary intervener voluntarily decided to intervene within the proceedings to support the position of the contracting authority. Despite many unfavourable decisions of the administrative jurisdictional authority for public procurement, and non-unitary judgements rendered by the Romanian courts, the team successfully implemented a rigorous legal strategy that led to the recognition of the ancillary intervener's right and its vocation to recover the litigation costs in full. The argumentation line was grounded on the peculiarities of the litigations in the matter of public procurement contracts and the special nature of the procedural interest to act of the winning tenderer in a public procurement procedure, as the latter is particularly interested in maintaining a favourable result).  This solution is of practical and theoretical interest especially in the matter of public procurement proceedings and the effectiveness of review procedures concerning the award of public contracts.

Representation of the major contractor in various administrative-jurisdictional appeals before the National Council for the Settlement of Appeals either as appellant or as respondent, as well as subsequently, before the court.

Representing a major contractor in a dispute arising from a joint venture agreement between two participants in the execution of a contract for the execution of works at a major airport in Romania. In this dispute, Stoica & Asociații seeks compensation for the client, given that he ended up performing the contractual obligations assumed jointly by himself, so that he suffered significant damages. The dispute is in the first instance, before the Bucharest Tribunal.

Representing a major contractor in litigation against the contracting authority (a major national airport company) for the recovery of unpaid sums for works performed under the public procurement contract, as well as contractual penalties for late payment. In this dispute, Stoica & Asociații raised an exception of unconstitutionality of the legal provisions that require the payment of a stamp duty calculated not according to the value of the claims, but according to the value of the public procurement contract. The dispute was suspended until the exception of unconstitutionality was resolved.

Representation of the major contractor in various administrative-jurisdictional appeals before the National Council for the Settlement of Appeals either as appellant or as respondent, as well as subsequently, before the court.

Customer support in the reorganization procedure of the company, involving several divisions and several departments within the commercial and logistics division. The assistance activity involved establishing the reorganization strategy, in correlation with the strategy of the international group to which it belongs, analysing the interdependencies between the divisions, preparing the necessary documents within the reorganization procedure, both internal and supporting documents and those communicated to employees. The reorganization involved both the abolition of some posts and the establishment of new ones, in line with the modification of the logistics and marketing strategies, which required the two-stage procedures. Also, the assistance activity involved the establishment of the strategy for filling the newly created positions and the correlation with the measure of dismissal of some employees, under the conditions of the applicable collective labour contract. The reorganization procedure, although affecting several divisions of the company and several employees (including dismissal), generated a single dispute in which one employee challenged the dismissal measure. Following the reorganization, Stoica & Asociații provided legal assistance and representation in the litigation that followed the reorganization procedure, a litigation that involved the administration of a complex evidence and the formulation of defences based on current jurisprudence of the courts, adapted to the current organization of work.

Legal assistance and representation of an employer in a procedure for annulment of disciplinary dismissal. STOICA & Asociații identified legislative and jurisprudential solutions regarding the conditions in which an act can be qualified as a disciplinary violation, taking into account the possibility of proving the employee's guilt, if he invoked the existence of acts of discrimination and moral harassment at the place of work. The dispute also involved an analysis of the possibility of invoking the exception of non-performance of an individual employment contract and an analysis of the conditions under which certain acts may be classified as moral harassment and the consequences of such qualification on employment and possible non-pecuniary damage of the employee.

Legal assistance and representation of an employer in a procedure for annulment of disciplinary dismissal. STOICA & Asociații identified legislative and jurisprudential solutions regarding the conditions in which an act can be qualified as a disciplinary violation, considering the possibility of proving the employee's guilt, if he invoked the existence of acts of discrimination and moral harassment at the place of work. The dispute also involved an analysis of the possibility of invoking the exception of non-performance of an individual employment contract and an analysis of the conditions under which certain acts may be classified as moral harassment and the consequences of such qualification on employment and possible non-pecuniary damage of the employee.

STOICA & Asociații provided legal assistance to the employer in a disciplinary investigation procedure, given that for the same wrongful acts the employer filed a criminal complaint against the employee. The disciplinary violations committed by the employee were investigated in the context of the application of a double legal regime, of domestic and international law, the activity of the employer being governed by specific international regulations taking into account its status of public interest. STOICA & Asociații provided assistance both in the civil labour law proceedings and in the criminal case.

STOICA & Asociații provided legal assistance and representation in a litigation aimed at challenging the dismissal ordered by the employer through a reorganization procedure and, following the annulment by the court of the dismissal measure, in the procedure for reinstating the employee. The legal assistance involved establishing the strategy in the court case, identifying the legislative and jurisprudential solutions for annulling the dismissal decision, taking into account both the formal conditions of the decision and those regarding the justification of dismissal in the conditions of a complex reorganization, determined by overlaps between the duties of the employee and those of the company's management bodies. The legal aid also involved the reintegration procedure of the employee in the conditions in which the employer did not proceed with an effective reintegration, following the cancellation of the illegal dismissal. At the same time, STOICA & Asociatii provided assistance and representation in the second litigation generated by the second dismissal of the employee by the employer, also for reasons aimed at reorganizing the company. In the second dispute, the strategy was established taking into account both the legal provisions regarding the conditions of reorganization and the conditions under which the employee was reinstated following the first illegal dismissal.