W e are proud of our history, enclosing both successes and pitfalls. We decided to openly present to public the path of our firm through time, from its very begging up to its current form. “Ştefănică & Ţipa” April 1997 – January 1999 In the spring of 1997, Daniel Ştefănică & Brînduşa Ţipa set up the firm. At the beginning of 1999 Brînduşa Ţipa left the firm to work for Linklatters in London. “Ştefănică & Şova” May 1999 – June 2001 Dan Şova joined the already operational firm, as co-managing partner. The partnership split in June 2001 upon Dan Şova’s decision to set up his own firm. The firm managed projects and cases exceeding USD 10 million and represented clients such as: Mobifon (Connex), BRD, Medicare. “Ştefănică & Asociaţii” June 2001 – August 2002 The firm had a partnership of four, whereof Daniel Ştefănică was the managing partner and Florin Duţu, Bogdan Vîrjan and Eduard Făgărăşeanu, three of the firm seniors, were promoted as partners. A portfolio of corporate clients was created and important projects in the M&A, energy field, financing and banking were successfully carried out. In this line, the firm structured departments by practice area and over 15 lawyers were hired and support staff reached 6. Ştefănică, Osmani & Asociaţii” August 2002 - January 2004 In April 2002 Patricia Osmani, lawyer in the New York Bar and graduate of Columbia Law School (NY, USA), became senior partner with the firm and co-managing partner. Experienced in working with large international firms and speaking 7 languages, being a graduated linguist as well, in January 2004 Patricia Osmani decided to go for an international career and started to work for Phillip Morris International. Răzvan Răduţ joined the firm partnership in the spring of 2002. In 2003 the partnership increased to seven with the promotion of Oana Fircă and Mihai Mareş. Important projects in diverse industries and areas were carried out by the team of 36 lawyers. The projects pertained to syndicated loans exceeding EUR 75 million, EUR 120 million Eurobonds issuance, public procurements of utilities and services above EUR 20 million. “Ştefănică, Duţu & Asociaţii” January 2004 – September 2007 In January 2004, Florin Duţu became co-managing partner with the firm and Omar Asan was promoted as partner with the firm. In June 2005 Oana Fircă announced her intention to set up her own firm and left the partnership. In February 2006 Mihai Mareş left the partnership. His leave did not trigger other departures, be it lawyers or administrative support. In 2005 Mihai Guia, one of the firm seniors, joined the partnership of the firm for a short period. In 2006 he founded his own business. At the end of 2006 two new deputy partners were appointed: Alexandru Stănoiu and Octavian Banu and the partnership of the firm was consisted of: Daniel Ştefănică – managing partner, Florin Duţu – co-managing partner, and partners: Bogdan Vîrjan, Eduard Făgărăşeanu and Omar Asan. At the same time, the senior lawyers were invited to participate to the management board meetings. The growth of business in corporate, M&A, financing, energy and real estate area led the firm to an increase of the legal staff up to 42 lawyers and to the setting of paralegal and editor positions, truly innovative on the market. Moreover, more than 70% of firm’s legal and support staff benefited of trainings and seminars abroad, based on full tuition from the firm. Ştefănică & Duţu” September 2007 - March 2008 In 2007 the firm passed through various changes from headquarters and name change to management alteration and finally partnership split up. In September 2007 Eduard Făgărăşeanu left the firm and went from partnership to single practice. In November, Daniel Ştefănică, the Managing Partner, decided to set back for a period due to health reasons. His role was exercised by the deputy managing partner, Florin Duţu, backed up by Mioara Flucus, the office manager at that time. December 2007 brought the SD team to new headquarters in a three floor building, located right in the historical centre of the city. The stay was not for long, as in March 2008 Florin Duţu joined Voicu & Filipescu law firm as senior attorney, along with part of the firm’s associates and junior attorneys, no administrative staff being taken over. In March 2008, as well, Omar Asan and Bogdan Vîrjan founded their own law firm – “Vîrjan & Asan”, supported by one of the firm’s seniors. Octavian Banu and Alexandru Stănoiu were retained by two local firms as seniors in their fields: corporate and litigation, respectively. The firm’s portfolio of clients and marketing contacts was mainly divided between the newly formed Vîrjan & Asan and Voicu & Filipescu. Between March 2008 and June 2008 the firm stood as entity registered with Daniel Ştefănică. In June 2008 Daniel Ştefănică returned to the lawyer practice and entered into partnership with Daniel Florea, founding “Ştefănică & Florea”. As of September 2008 the firm is extending its business and enjoys the work of twelve attorneys and support staff, along with close collaboration of formal colleagues.