Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații

Practice profile

Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații is home to Romania’s largest team of data protection and privacy lawyers and offers an exhaustive menu of services to domestic and international companies in telecoms, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, e-commerce, energy and other key sectors. In ticking all the boxes, the firm is well-placed to handle large, complex and important data projects – something client referees particularly recommend it for. Further helpful in this regard is international expertise and a collaborative approach – Țuca Zbârcea’s data experts have no problem slotting into cross-border legal teams whose members come from peer firms around the world. Further worth noting are the firm’s extra-curricular activities in this area of practice, which go beyond just penning articles; the firm is a founding member of the PrivacyRules worldwide alliance and hosts many events in partnership with leading companies such as Oracle Romania.

Leading individuals

Stars in the firm’s constellation include Ciprian Timofte, Ciprian Dragomir, Horia Ispas and Ioana Hrisafi. Timofte, who earned a well-deserved promotion to partner in January 2020, has a passion for data protection and is an innovative thinker in the practice. Dragomir is the firm’s top IP mind but has a deft touch on data matters particularly of a transactional nature. Ispas hails from a corporate and commercial background and has a flair for optimising data strategies. Contentious IP and data work is the preserve of Hrisafi.

Work highlights

The team represents Vodafone extensively and has recently provided full due diligence support in connection with its acquisition of Liberty Global’s operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. As part of this deal, Vodafone absorbed UPC Romania, which necessitated complex legal analysis around extensive data issues. The group has also been retained by the company to advise on data protection impact assessments.

Accord Healthcare is another major client and one for which the group plays an important day-to-day data privacy and protection advisory role; services rendered by Horia Ispas and Ciprian Timofte include reviewing internal policies and notices, overseeing GDPR compliance, assisting on data processing agreements, and more.

In litigation, Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații successfully represented ING Bank in a case filed by the Assistance Service for Human Rights concerning an alleged failure by the bank to erase a natural person from a credit risk database. In a consequential decision for the bank, which would otherwise have been left open to potential class actions, the plaintiff’s claim was rejected by the Bucharest Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal.

Client feedback

The firm’s name elicits a vigorous response from market sources: “Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații has a remarkably good team of data privacy lawyers who respond quickly, meet tight deadlines and think ahead to potential problems and solutions. The team really understands the telecommunications industry and gives practical advice that is tailored to its clients.”

“The group is highly creative and strikes the right balance in terms of giving legal and business advice. Its lawyers are open minded, flexible and good active listeners who know how to make you feel comfortable. Their internal and external communication is very effective, and their advice is consistently accurate and reliable.”

Several individuals come in for high praise, too: “Ciprian Timofte is an excellent team player and a determined, enthusiastic and innovative lawyer.” “Bogdan Halcu is commercial and creative, as well as good at contextualising data privacy issues in their wider context.” “Sergiu Cretu has an analytical mind and has amassed considerable data privacy and IP experience. He is proactive and straightforward.” “Ciprian Dragomir has a strong background in data privacy and intellectual property. He delegates effectively and has built up an experienced team around him.”