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Here we share news from the firm's recent cases and commentary on the legal developments that matter to our clients' business. On the pages that follow, you can learn more about the firm – and how to reach us.
Unfair competition claim dismissed: differentiated service charges in shopping centres
A regional court has dismissed in full a tenant's claim against our client – the owner of a shopping centre in northern Poland – for damages for an alleged act of unfair competition consisting in the unjustified differentiation of service charge rules between anchor tenants and other tenants. Judgment was handed down in June 2026.
The decision departs from the approach previously taken by the courts in cases of this kind and may prove significant for the industry. Notably, the judgment was delivered by the same division of the court which, in an earlier similar dispute discussed in the trade press, had taken the opposite view.
Securing claims: prohibiting the disposal and encumbrance of real property
Interim relief is one of the most powerful tools of civil procedure.
A court order granting interim relief regulates the parties' rights and obligations 'here and now', within a timeframe that is – by the standards of court proceedings – remarkably short. Overturning such an order, by contrast, usually requires the opponent to go through considerably lengthier interlocutory appeal proceedings.
Obtaining the desired interim measure for the duration of the trial can be of enormous significance for the further course of the dispute, given the length of court proceedings – which in recent years has been breaking all the wrong records.
In commercial practice, an important form of relief – and one frequently sought by clients – is an order prohibiting the respondent from disposing of and encumbering real property.
Seizure of movable assets in the enforcement of interim relief
Conversations with court bailiffs suggest that successful enforcement against movable assets is now a genuine rarity. Movable property is the easiest to hide or transfer, and the current state of the law does little to help creditors obtain satisfaction from items which the debtor claims belong to third parties.
On the other hand, the seizure and removal of certain assets – vehicles in particular – can be so painful for the debtor that it often leads to prompt repayment of the debt. In certain situations, enforcement against movables can therefore be a highly effective tool for obtaining satisfaction.
That was precisely the case in a matter we handled for our client, one of the largest food producers in Poland, which had delivered its products to what turned out to be a dishonest counterparty.