In The Corner Office, we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. This time around we turn our attention to setting up new practices and ask: When launching a new practice, what is your go-to strategy – do you look at internal team members to spearhead it, or are you more likely to turn to lateral hires? Why?

On December 30, 2024, a new European Union crypto-asset regulation, known as MiCAR (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation), came into effect. This regulation establishes unified rules for the crypto-asset market and imposes stricter requirements on crypto service providers. Additionally, on July 1, 2024, a new crypto-asset market law came into force in Estonia (krüptovaraturu seadus or KrüTS in Estonian).

The labor shortage issue has been a growing problem in the job market for a long time now. In the long-term employers are looking for ways to improve working conditions, to keep employees engaged and to attract new ones. One of the ways to fix the labor shortage issue is employee poaching. What are the legal and ethical aspects of employee poaching and how to lessen the risk of another job market recruiting employees?

The ongoing war in Ukraine has sparked governments to take defense seriously. The Lithuanian government is no exception here – as of 2025, Lithuania is set to increase defense spending.

Presumably many of us have watched Bonanza when they were younger. Bonanza is an American Western TV series about the Wild West of the 1860s. It wasn’t an easy life – lawlessness reigned, and justice was only for the strong.However, in 2024, it’s a different story – the laws are in place and being effectively enforced. The development and use of artificial intelligence is no longer a lawless environment. Existing regulations remain in place, and now a new Artificial Intelligence Regulation has entered into force, carrying hefty fines of up to €35 million or up to 7% of a company’s global turnover. So, the answer to the question in the headline is already a pre-emptive 'no'.

People, as individual sources of evidence, are crucial in criminal cases. In more complex cases, even hundreds of people may be interrogated. So it is not uncommon in Widen’s practice to receive a concerned phone call from a client who has been called in for questioning. What to expect in such a case?

Healthcare is a fundamental component of any society, reflecting its core values and priorities. In Lithuania, the healthcare system is marked by a pronounced division between private and public hospitals. Lithuania’s healthcare services are divided into outpatient (ambulatory) and inpatient (stationary) services.

CEE Legal Matters is proud to introduce the latest in our Comparative Guides series. This one focuses on Oil & Gas in CEE.

Contributed by Widen.

When importing goods from third countries into the European Union (EU), you must adhere to EU and national laws regarding importing, declaring, and applying customs duties (such as import duty, value-added tax, and excise duty on certain products).

In The Corner Office, we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. With managing firm clients being a critical aspect of firms’ operations, we asked: What are the three most important elements when onboarding a new client?

The Baltic region, comprising Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, boasts an emerging public capital market facilitated by the unified securities trading platform – the Nasdaq Baltic Stock Exchange.

Articles 13 and 14, along with other provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR), require businesses to provide individuals with comprehensive information about the processing of their personal data.

On April 24, 2024, the European Parliament adopted a resolution for a directive aimed at improving working conditions on platforms. This is a significant step towards addressing the needs of platform workers, such as 'Bolt' and 'Wolt' couriers, throughout the European Union.

Estonian law firm Lextal, Latvian law firm RER Lextal, and Lithuanian law firm ILAW Lextal have unveiled their new name and identity: Widen, "a Baltic law firm that sees itself as the Legal Jazz Company."

Contributed by Ilaw Lextal.

Family law specialist Mindaugas Vaiciunas has joined Ilaw Lextal as an Associate Partner.

Lextal, working alongside Finnish Dittmar & Indrenius, has advised Dasos Capital on its sale of a forest asset portfolio to Ingka Investments.