Czech Republic
From 2009 to 2010, Dean’s firm represented a successful Czech entrepreneur and his significant commercial enterprise. The enterprise owns and operates a massive real estate complex and the largest coal mine in the Czech Republic. The clients became entangled in litigation before the Czech national courts, including the national Constitutional Court. They also became embroiled in arbitration proceedings commenced by the Czech Republic through the auspices of the Czech Chamber of Commerce.
At the same time, a Czech left wing political party openly accused the entrepreneur of corruption in the midst of a hotly contested election campaign. The leaders of the party leveled a fierce personal attack in the Czech media against the entrepreneur.
Dean’s firm was instructed to serve as outside general counsel. The firm took over strategic management of the existing Czech litigation and initiated a vigorous public campaign to defend the entrepreneur’s reputation.
To this end, Dean spent substantial time on assignment in the Czech Republic. He was personally involved in directing the local litigation team in respect to the arbitral and national court proceeding. He also coordinated all activities taken by the Czech consultants who were retained to support the firm’s public advocacy on the client’s behalf.
At the same time, Dean’s firm kept in constant touch with the clients’ in-house general counsel. The firm regularly reported to general counsel on all major steps taken in the clients’ defense.
Hungary
Dean represented a Canadian company that acquired the largest factory in Hungary for the production of canned vegetable products. The client acquired the factory from a US based public company. The US company previously purchased the facility from a large state owned enterprise that was privatized after the Soviet bloc disintegrated.
Dean was asked to work as co-counsel with a leading Hungarian litigator in a local arbitration proceeding that was conducted under the authority of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce. In the process, Dean secured the intervention and assistance of the Canadian embassy in Budapest. He also retained US counsel to commence discovery proceedings in the US federal court against the public company that sold the factory to the client. The federal court ordered the deposition of the top executives in the public company and the production of substantial documentation. In the end, the discovery process uncovered evidence of collusion between the public company and the client’s local competitors. Dean then submitted this evidence to a Hungarian arbitral panel. The tribunal ultimately ruled in the client’s favor and the client won the arbitration.
Bulgaria
Dean represented a Canadian entrepreneur that had been illegally incarcerated in Bulgaria for over ten years. The Canadian Government had previously applied for the client’s transfer to Canada but the Bulgarian Government unjustifiably denied the application.
Dean sought the intervention of the Canadian Prime Minister who appointed his parliamentary assistant as a special envoy assigned to the client’s case. The special envoy has since become a cabinet minister.
Dean worked closely with the special envoy. They travelled to Sophia, Bulgaria, to meet with the Prosecutor General of Bulgaria, the highest official in the executive branch responsible for the administration of the country’s legal system. They also travelled to the Council of Europe, the human rights body responsible for mediating the dispute over the client’s transfer to Canada. On both occasions, Dean collaborated with the special envoy to press for the client’s release.
At the same time, Dean conducted a public campaign in Canada and the European Union (EU) designed to spotlight the client’s plight. In the process, Dean pressed the EU authorities to offer their assistance in resolving the matter.
In the face of this mounting political and media pressure, the client ultimately secured his freedom. The Bulgarian Government released him from prison and permitted the Canadian Government to arrange for his immediate repatriation to Canada.