Bucharest, 10th of May 2016: Muşat şi Asociaţii, initiator of the Romanian business law, has successfully represented Societatea Română de Televiziune in an international commercial arbitration regarding the request for claims in amount of approximately 5 million EUR filed by the American film production and licensing company New Films International Inc.
On 5th of May 2016, the Arbitral Tribunal of California, USA, established under the auspices of Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), a permanent arbitral institution specialized in settling the disputes in the film and media industry, entirely rejected the compensations in amount of over 4 million EUR. They were requested by the film production and distribution company – New Films International, based on the grounds that Televiziunea Română had violated the obligations undertaken to New Films to buy TV series.
The dispute submitted to the analysis of the IFTA Arbitral Tribunal arose from the collaboration initiated 5 years prior between the two contractual partners, within the negotiations regarding the conclusion of a film licensing contract, with extremely detrimental clauses for TVR, such as the obligation to buy TV series as long as they are produced. “The settlement of the dispute involved, apart from the analysis of complex aspects of international arbitral procedure, the examination and application of the international private law standards on law conflicts, of the European law, as well as of certain issues of substantive law applicable to the film and media industry. The victory represents a recognition of the experience and performance of Muşat & Asociaţii in the field of international arbitration disputes.”, mentioned Prof. Gheorghe Buta, LL.D., Co-Managing Partner Muşat & Asociaţii.
Societatea Română de Televiziune was represented during the entire length of the dispute by the international arbitration team of the law firm Mușat & Asociații and was made up of Iuliana Iacob (Senior Associate), Ramona Cîrlig (Senior Associate), Răzvan Brătilă (Associate), and coordinated by Gheorghe Buta (Co-Managing Partner Muşat & Asociaţii) and Ștefan Dudaș (Managing Associate).
Muşat & Asociaţii is one of the few law firms in Romania listed in the GAR 100 ranking (Global Arbitration Review), a classification of the best law firms in the world in the field of international arbitration.
Muşat & Asociaţii is the Romanian law firm that is nationally and internationally recognized for its excellent results, year by year. Always a step ahead in business law, the Muşat & Asociaţii experts have always anticipated the evolving needs of their clients, by proposing new and various approaches and launching new areas of practice.
About MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII
MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII is one of the first law firms established in Romania after 1 January 1990. With 16 partners and over 100 attorneys and advisors, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII provides consulting services in all business law areas, including Mergers & Acquisitions, Privatization, Banking, Energy & Natural Resources, Competition, Corporate, Telecommunications & IT, Labor, Tax, Capital Markets, Real Estate, Environmental Law, Litigation & Commercial Arbitration.
Recognized as one of the pillars of Romania’s business law practice, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII is constantly recommended by international specialized publications (Chambers & Partners, International Financial Law Review, Legal 500 etc.) as a leading law firm in Romania. Besides, many of its attorneys have been nominated by such publications among the elite of business law in Romania.
In 2015, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII won the “Law Firm of the Year in Romania” award, a distinction handed out annually by the reputed British publisher “The Lawyer” to European law firms with outstanding achievements in the reference year.
In 2013, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII won the “The Law Firm of the Year in Romania” award granted by the International Financial Law Review. That was the second time that Muşat & Asociaţii was granted this prestigious award, after the distinction received in 2011, when Romania was included for the first time on the list of countries nominated for the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) awards.
Moreover, in 2012 MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII won the Gold Award for the “Best Law Firm in Central and Eastern Europe”, an accolade awarded by the 2012 International Legal Alliance Summit & Awards, for excellent results obtained on the Romanian market by the MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII team, both with regard to the mandates portfolio in the Mergers & Acquisitions area of practice, and to the management strategy adopted.
Furthermore, the renowned publication Chambers Europe awarded the “Romanian Law Firm of the Year” trophy to MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII, the law firm with the best performance in Romania, during the “Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence 2011” gala.
On a regular basis, MUSAT & ASOCIATII provides the most renowned and valued corporations in Romania – including a third of the Top 100 and a half of the Top 500 largest companies – as well as local public and financial institutions with legal advice on intricate corporate and financial transactions and complex dispute resolution procedures. The Law Firm’s portfolio includes over 2,500 clients, most of which are foreign investors.