ABOUT US

Czesław Śliwa, using the name of Jacek Ben Silberstein and Jacek Silberzfaig, was the most famous Polish impostor and forger. He was in business in Wrocław in the 60s of the 20th century; opening a fictional Austrian consulate in Wrocław was his most renowned fraud. In 1989 his story was filmed by Mirosław Borek in "The Consul" with the main character played by Piotr Fronczewski. Czesław Śliwa chose Franciszek Ziemblicki, the well-known attorney at that time in Wrocław, to be his main defender. In view of the overwhelming evidence and the ridicule of local authorities of the communist regime, Czesław Śliwa was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.

In Poland the profession of a legal counsel was established on the grounds of the act on legal counsels in 1982. It was a response to the needs of people and the market for lawyers providing services at a more flexible basis. Legal counsels, unlike attorneys, are not required to work in legal chambers and may be employed on a contract of employment or agreements based on civil law in a company or a public body. In addition, they are entitled to solicit business transactions which can not be made by attorneys. Currently, legal counsels are authorised to represent clients in front of common and administrative courts along with advocates, with only one exception: they cannot be defenders in criminal proceedings.

Changing the economic system from central planning to free market has fundamentally changed a demand for legal services. The introduction of freedom of economic activity meant that the market was dominated by private entities. This event led to the unprecedented development of business law in Poland, as well as legal chambers specialised in this field.

Andrzej Ziemblicki won a very important case in the field of labour law in front of the Supreme Court. According to the judgement of the Chamber of Labour, Social Security and Public Affairs dated 2 October 2003 (ref. I PK 416/02): "The provision of a longer (than projected in the Labour Code) notice period for both parties in a contract of employment may not be automatically regarded as detrimental to the employee if it results in a longer notice period obtained from the employer and circumstances at the labour market, taking into account the place of work performance and a demand for a particular kind of work, in practical terms made it impossible to terminate the contract by the employer". Apart from the one, Andrzej Ziemblicki won two more cases in front of the Supreme Court.

In October 2012 Bartosz Ziemblicki defended his doctoral thesis in the field of international economic law. As a result, the Council of the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics at the University of Wrocław granted him with the degree of Doctor of Law with double specialization: international and European law. The promotion ceremony took place in December 2012.