Bernadeta Kasztelan-Świetlik
Partner
Attorney-at-law
Expert in competition and consumer protection law, with a unique track record featuring private practice as well as the public sector. Worked at the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) for a total of 13 years, most recently (2014-2017) as Vice President charged with three departments – Concentration Control, Competition Protection, and Legal. Active in amateur theatre, avid reader and pianist, gardener.
Languages:
BIO
After a brief period as a junior judge, Bernadeta developed an interest in competition law, then a new discipline in early 1990s Poland. After her first stint at UOKiK, she spent one year leading the legal department of UPC and then joined GESSEL in 2001.
In 2014, after moving to the head office of UOKiK, she oversaw the authority’s activities in the realms of corporate concentrations, market collusions, and abuse of dominant market positions. Propagated compliance culture; initiated and oversaw preparation of two publications recognised by the World Bank and the International Competition Network (in, respectively, 2016 and 2017) in contests for the best educational / information project in the field of competition law: guidelines concerning funerary services and municipal water and sewage utilities.
In 2017, returned to GESSEL, becoming a partner and building up the firm’s competition and consumer law practice. Advises clients on cases concerning mergers, market agreements, abuse of dominant market position, abuse of contracting advantage, and payment backlogs.
Experience
Competition law
- Verifies the necessity of filing intended concentrations to the regulatory authorities in Poland and in other jurisdictions
- Drafts merger filings (descriptions of the relevant markets, estimation of market shares)
- Represents business enterprises before the antitrust authorities in merger control proceedings
- Assists with filling out official market study questionnaires
Consumer law
- Represents clients in all proceedings before UOKiK and any ensuing appeals before the courts
- Advises on preparation of notifications to UOKiK concerning violations of competition law and of applications for leniency
- Advises on due diligence and internal revisions
- Advises on implementation of compliance programmes
- Leads training sessions / webinars on competition law (e.g. distribution agreements and franchise agreements) and consumer law (regulations, standard contract terms)
- Advises on consumer protection in e-commerce (also as regards compliance with the OMNIBUS Directive)
News
& Insights
12.07.2023
M&A transactions – new obligations for entrepreneurs using foreign subsidies
As of July 12, 2023, Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 14, 2022 on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (th...
28.06.2023
We advised the Avallon MBO fund in the process of preparing, negotiating and signing transaction documentation for the acquisition of a majority stake in SAT sp. z o.o.
We advised the Avallon MBO fund in the process of preparing, negotiating and signing transaction documentation for the acquisition of a majority stake in SAT sp. z o.o.,...
28.06.2023
We advised the Avallon MBO fund in the process of preparing, negotiating and signing the transaction documentation for the acquisition of a majority stake in SAT Ltd.
We advised the Avallon MBO fund in the process of preparing, negotiating and signing transaction documentation for the acquisition of a majority stake in SAT sp. z o.o.,...
26.06.2023
The latest amendments to the legislative Act regarding competition and consumer protection
It is axiomatic that antitrust / competition protection law originated in the United States, yet certain recent developments there are driven by political and economic f...
Education and achievements
- Faculty of Law and Administration, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan
- Judge’s training articles with the Regional Court in Poznan; called to the bar as a judge, admitted practicing as an attorney
- Internships and study visits (including the Bundeskartellamt in Berlin, the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.
Awards
Science publications
