US law firm Littler has continued to build out its global partner platform having secured an alliance with Polish employment specialists Paruch Chrusciel Schiffter.

The partnership with PCS — which has five offices across Poland — follows a similar deal with Austrian firm Gerlach Rechtsanwalte earlier this year, taking Littler’s European expansion to nine countries.

In a joint statement, Littler co-managing directors Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, said: “The founding partners of PCS are well known in the Polish labor and employment market as leaders in their fields. We have been impressed with the strong team and client base they have cultivated and are excited to further expand our services to employers operating in Central Europe with the addition of PCS to our global platform.”

PCS has 21 lawyers and 21 paralegals across its offices in Warsaw, Katowice, Krakow, Poznan and Wroclaw. The firm was founded earlier this year by Slawomir Paruch and partners Lukasz Chrusciel, Karolina Schiffter and Robert Stepien. All four founding partners previously worked together at Raczkowski Paruch, which split at the end of last year with Paruch forming PCS. 

Paruch has more than two decades of employment law experience, having started his career at Warsaw-based Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak in 1998, rising to head of its labour law department.  

Paruch said: “The Littler name is synonymous with quality client service and unmatched experience in labour and employment law. The firm has an excellent reputation in Europe for bringing significant value to companies on local and international employment law matters. We are thrilled to join forces with the leading labour and employment powerhouse and believe our respective platforms will be a formidable combination in Poland and beyond.”

Chrusciel is head of PCS’s Katowice office, while Stepien is head of the Krakow office. The firm advises clients on a range of employment issues, from hiring and firing, employee privacy and data protection, compensation and benefits, and discrimination. Its Global Mobility & Immigration practice, which Schiffter is helping to grow, advises on international employee mobility, tax and social security issues.

Stephan Swinkels, a Littler shareholder who helps lead the development and integration of the firm’s global practice, said: “Expanding into Poland furthers our commitment to providing top-notch labour and employment counsel to companies in the many regions in which they operate, and we are very excited to grow our presence in Central Europe.”

In April, CMS Poland hired a group of private equity lawyers from Clifford Chance to bolster its transactions practice ahead of a hoped-for revival in M&A deals later in the year once the Covid-19 pandemic has receded.