DLA Piper’s EU-Greek practice draws from the widest pool of experience and track record in EU/international and domestic law to offer a full range of services to clients doing business with, in and from Greece and Cyprus. The team comprises highly-qualified legal professionals, each bringing a core level of skills and experience in domestic public and private law, energy law, M&A, as well as EU and competition law. Under the leadership of Orestis Omran, the team advises Greek and Cypriot businesses and governmental organisations, as well as international businesses active in the Greek and other regional markets.
The EU-Greek practice serves as a gateway in two directions: inbound and outbound – to and from Greece and Cyprus. The Brussels-based team is also in a unique position to represent the interests of Greek-speaking clients at the law and policy-making levels of the EU institutions in Brussels. The team works very closely with the London finance and projects team on transactional matters, including structured finance, project and privatisations work.
On the development of the practice Omran comments: ‘Since the launch of our EU-Greek practice group back in 2017, we have formalised the basis for the work in Greece that has built up over the last years, advising governments, multinational corporations, credit institutions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, lenders and debtors in both contentious and non-contentious/regulatory matters. We take pride in advising such clients on a broad spectrum of EU and Greek law matters, and we offer high-level legal support across practice areas and industries that are core to the Greek economy.’
One team and seamless delivery: The team has worked and continues working on some of the most complex and cutting-edge projects in the region. Clients enjoy round-the-clock access to Omran and the team, which is praised for being very responsive and meeting deadlines across time zones. Omran is fully engaged with the matters that he personally handles on a day-to-day basis alongside a seamlessly integrated team of partners and associates dedicated to each project across the DLA global platform. Smaller teams based on the required expertise are often created to improve effectiveness and cost-efficiency across all workstreams. This approach has proved successful not only to maximise results but also to develop deeper relationships with clients.
Knowledge of the market allied to global experience: In describing the practice’s unique standing in the legal market Omran says: ‘Our global footprint and the team’s expertise in EU and local law matters means that we are well placed to integrate international experience into some of the largest projects unveiling in south-east Europe. In other words, our strong local focus backed by the depth of expertise that we, as one of the world’s leading global law firms, have, provide us with a unique understanding of the international commercial imperatives and culture in the Greek market; that combined with our multi-dimensional view of the relevant legal issues to support and help our clients maximises efficiencies and adds value to our services.’
Key areas of expertise:
The practice acts as a one-stop shop covering all legal business needs, including:
- EU (regulatory) law
- EU competition and state aid
- Energy, projects and infrastructure
- Public-private partnerships and private finance initiative
- Dispute resolution
- Banking and finance
- Structured finance
- Restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy
- Privatisations
- M&A
Orestis Omran
Counsel, head of EU-Greek practice
E: orestis.omran@dlapiper.com
T: +32 (0) 2 500 1539
F: +32 (0) 2 500 1600
M: +32 (0) 476 038 400
Orestis Omran is an international lawyer, qualified to practice in Greece, New York and Brussels, focusing on transactional and regulatory matters in the energy, banking and infrastructure sectors. He has a unique knowledge of both the business and political environments in Greece, combined with a deep knowledge and understanding of EU law and the wider international legal market.
He has experience ranging from EU public-private partnerships and procurement to designing compliance programmes for large corporates and representing clients in formal and informal antitrust, state aid and other investigations before the European Commission, national regulatory authorities and subsequent proceedings before the EU courts. He has extensive experience working with teams of corporate and finance lawyers in transactional matters in a number of jurisdictions, including Greece and Cyprus.
In addition, Omran advises energy companies on both contentious and non-contentious matters. He is often involved in transnational litigation and international commercial and investment arbitration in the energy sector. He represents and advises clients on a wide range of disputes and regulatory matters involving the upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas industry. He also has experience in drafting and negotiating oil exploration and development proposals with governments.
Omran benefits from a strong network of contacts in the Greek government and industry, and advises clients on regulatory, institutional and compliance matters under EU law and on Greek law transactions, projects and other matters.
He is regularly invited to participate as a speaker in business and legal conferences in Europe and the US, and is often published in all of the above areas of law. A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar, and the Law School of the University of Athens, Omran has served as a guest lecturer in many universities in Europe and the Americas on issues of comparative campaign finance law, sovereign debt restructuring and constitutional law.
106 Avenue Louise
Brussels B-1050
Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 2 500 1500
Fax: +32 (0) 2 500 1600
Web: www.dlapiper.com
