Beata Gessel Kalinowska vel Kalisz

Beata GesselKalinowska vel Kalisz

GESSEL Attorneys at Law

Warsaw www.gessel.pl

b.gessel@gessel.pl Tel: +48 22 318 69 10

Biography

Expert in arbitration, M&A, PE and commercial law. Participated in approximately 150 arbitrations (ICC, SCC, VIAC, IAA, SCAI, UNCITRAL, FCC, Lewiatan, KIG, SIDiR and National Depository for Securities). Former member of the ICC International Arbitration Court (2015–2021) and president of the Lewiatan Arbitration Court (2011–2017). Chairs the audit committee of the Polish Private Equity Association. Adjunct professor in international commercial arbitration and M&A transactions at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University.

I started my career as a transaction lawyer. Once I gained a reputation in M&A/PE, I began to receive appointments as an arbitrator, mostly in M&A cases. Thanks to my background, I could bring to the table an understanding of the transaction in its business aspects. Over time, there were so many nominations, and the portfolio of cases increasingly diverse, that I decided to focus mainly on arbitration, and it became the crowning achievement of my career so far.

What qualities make for a successful arbitrator?

The ability to analyse and synthesise, to identify and define key problems at hand, are crucial, yet these skills will be of little use in the absence of business sense, management skills, and authority among the parties.

Given your expertise in M&Arelated disputes, are you noticing any recent developments in the types of cases you are instructed on?

So far, I haven’t noticed too many changes in M&A disputes. Although the M&A sector is unique, with its own special characteristics and practices, and each case has its own circumstances – the legal character doesn’t differ that much. M&A disputes usually concern breach of R&W, interim management of the company between signing and closing of the transactions, or price adjustments. That said, the extraordinary circumstances (covid-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine) may be affecting the preclosing stages of transactions, so it’s possible that, over time, we will notice some changes.

In your experience, what advantages can clients benefit from in hiring a multilingual arbitrator?

I speak Polish (my native language), English (indispensable in international arbitration) and Russian. In my experience as an international arbitrator, most cases were in English. However, my knowledge of Russian was useful in matters where documents were originally in Russian. It’s just a matter of better understating nuances, sometimes lost in the translation. For the parties, it also comes down to more efficient conduct of the proceedings and possible cost reduction. In several of my cases, the documents submitted by the parties were presented in an original language other than the language of the arbitration, without the need for providing translation.

What role do you see thirdparty funding (TPF) playing in arbitration moving forward?

TPF is an interesting solution. Arbitration can be quite costly, and TPF gives parties who have a strong, solid case but lack funds access to all the advantages that arbitration has to offer. Especially now, when this institution has been regulated by most of the arbitral institutions, it affords more equal access to justice irrespective of financial circumstances.

How has your membership of the of ICC International Arbitration Court enhanced your dispute resolution practice?

It was an amazing six years. Through this time I’ve scrutinised hundreds of awards by some outstanding arbitrators from all over the world. That gave me a completely new perspective and much deeper understating of the arbitration process, not limited by my geographic origin or the legal system I’m coming from. Thanks to this experience, I’ve grown as an arbitrator. But this time also had a more practical effect for me both as an arbitrator and as counsel – knowledge of how the ICC operates as an institution, how to efficiently navigate the procedures, what the secretariat takes into account when deciding on arbitrators’ challenges, etc.

I believe this experience has been appreciated when, in 2021, I was first named in the Most in Demand Arbitrators Europe ranking as the only arbitrator from the CEE region.

As senior partner at GESSEL, what are your main priorities for the firm’s development over the next five years?

M&A has been one of the core areas of GESSEL’s practice ever since our inception; the dispute resolution practice group is now equally important. We are now recognised as a Polish market leader in these fields. Our efforts focus on strengthening this position, but we do not care about growing in numbers (employees), we prefer to see ourselves as a boutique firm offering excellent intellectual skills. This is why we appreciate the unique values of our practitioners, we try to keep up with the new generation for whom, I hope, we create conditions conducive to growth not only in the above mentioned fields. They, in turn, open new opportunities before us, so that we can offer our clients not just knowledge, but also unrivalled experience and a fresh perspective.

You have enjoyed a very distinguished career so far. What would you like to achieve that you have not yet accomplished?

Although I feel professionally fulfilled, I hate stagnation. And because I found great pleasure combining a legal career with academia, every now and then I choose a fascinating legal problem that absorbs me completely as I explore it. In 2019, I published my habilitation thesis, “The Legal, Real and Converged Interest in Declaratory Relief”, focusing on declaratory relief in litigation and arbitration. At present, I’m researching the problem of discretionary powers granted to arbitrators in terms of application of substantive law.

Peers and clients say: “Beata has a great deal of organising, creative and executive ability” “Determination and strength of character are among her most outstanding features” “She is resourceful, and responds to any challenge with great vigour and resolution” “She is highly experienced in commercial arbitration”