Sofia/Vienna, 10 January 2011   WOLF THEISS, one of the leading law firms in Central and Southeastern Europe, is pleased to announce the sizeable expansion of its Sofia office with former DLA Country Managing Partner Anna Rizova and her team of 11 lawyers coming on board effective January 1st 2011.

"With DLA Piper's decision to pull out of the Bulgarian market, and our commitment to strengthen our existing offices and expanding into new markets in the CEE/SEE region, it was the perfect opportunity for us to add a group of highly skilled and experienced lawyers to our existing team in Bulgaria," explains Erik Steger, partner and spokesman of the Wolf Theiss management board.

Wolf Theiss opened in Bulgaria at the beginning of 2008 and is headed by partner Richard Clegg, who has been working in Bulgaria since 2002. The Bulgarian team acts for some of the largest Bulgarian and international clients by providing commercial legal support in all areas of public and private corporate/M&A, banking & finance, real estate, energy, nuclear, telecommunications as well as regulatory and procurement matters.

"We welcome Anna Rizova and her colleagues on board and are certain that they will seamlessly integrate into our existing team. Wolf Theiss has now become one of the largest law firms in Bulgaria and our existing clients, as well as those we will attract, will receive the high level of quality and service of two international practices combined," says partner Richard Clegg.

Wolf Theiss has a long track record in attracting lawyers from Magic Circle and other high-profile firms: In 2004, the firm took over the former office of Allen & Overy in Tirana, Albania. In 2006, a team of former Clifford Chance lawyers led by Zoltán Faludi joined Wolf Theiss to establish its branch office in Budapest. In 2008, top US lawyer Ronald Given, who spent close to 30 years with global giant Mayer Brown, came on board to head the Zagreb branch of Wolf Theiss.

About Wolf Theiss
Founded in 1957, Wolf Theiss is one of the leading European law firms in Central and Eastern Europe with a focus on international business law. Its 12 offices, in Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine, employ 300 lawyers, working for local and international industrial, trade and service companies, as well as banks and insurance companies. Combining law and business, Wolf Theiss develops comprehensive and constructive solutions on the basis of legal, fiscal and business know-how.

Award winning...
We concentrate on winning cases, rather than awards. But one tends to lead naturally to the other. Over the years, we have won numerous awards, consistently ranking as one of the leading law firms in the CEE/SEE region:

"Law Firm of the Year: Central Europe" 2010
(The Lawyer European Awards)
"Law Firm of the Year: Eastern Europe and the Balkans" 2009
(The Lawyer European Awards)
"Eastern European Law Firm of the Year" 2006
(Chambers & Partners)
"Law Firm of the Year" 2008 and 2009
(South-eastern Europe Real Estate Awards)
"Austrian Law Firm of the Year" 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010
(IFLR - International Financial Law Review; Chambers & Partners; PLC Which lawyer?; ILO - International Law Office)
"Austrian Tax Law Firm of the Year" 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010
(International Tax Review)
"Czech Law Firm of the Year" 2007 and 2010
(IFLR - International Financial Law Review)
"Hungarian Law Firm of the Year" 2009
(IFLR - International Financial Law Review)
"Highly commended" for numerous complex and innovative transactions in 2008
(FT Innovative Lawyer Report)
"Worldwide – Entertainment and Media Law Team of the Year" 2009
(World Leaders International IP Awards)