The Lawyer European Awards 2024 – for defending the media and freedom of speech in Poland, we are among the nominees for European Litigation Team Of The Year

News | 2024-09-20

In recent times, we have on a daily basis seen how important the freedom and independence of the media is to the stability and quality of democracy. It’s not hard to imagine a world in which politicians and corporations silence journalists, block material and commentary that is inconvenient to them, and buy up and shut down recalcitrant newsrooms. We live in the deep shadow of such times and in close proximity to countries that no longer have a free media, one of the last bastions of democracy.

This is a reality that Polish journalists and publishers faced until recently. And we, at Kochański & Partners, were among the few who stood by those journalist and publishers, blocking the avalanche of lawsuits that were forcing the media into silence and suppressing free public debate in our country. And it is for this reason that we are among a small group of nominees for this year’s The Lawyer European Awards 2024 in the European Litigation Team of the Year category. We are one of only eight European law firms to be recognised in this area, and the only one from Poland.

Truth has its cost. We know it

Being nominated for this award is not only prestigious, but above all is an opportunity to draw widespread attention to a problem that is slowly depriving entire societies of their basic rights. One of these is the right to know what those in power are doing.

In Poland, during the years of near-absolute rule by the far right, only a handful of the most determined journalists and publishers had the courage to expose scandals involving the misappropriation of public funds, subversion of the rule of law in legal and judicial circles, abuse of power, violations of the law during the coronavirus pandemic, environmental disasters, military dysfunction and even the use of domestic violence by public figures.

They have paid a high price, falling victim to strategic lawsuits brought by senior government officials or private individuals (SLAPPs). These are not isolated cases, but typically occur as hundreds of lawsuits filed by state-owned companies, government agencies, ministries and entities linked to state funds. Their sole purpose was to intimidate the media and stifle debate and public criticism.

We have been an effective and, it turns out, a not anonymous weapon against these dangerous practices.

For more than 21 years we have represented one of the largest press publishers, Ringier Axel Springer Polska. A powerful multimedia conglomerate with 16 press titles in its Polish portfolio, including brands such as Forbes, Newsweek, Fakt, Onet.pl and Business Insider.

We stand up for media and journalists who have the courage to report on irregularities and injustice, regardless of the consequences they may face.

I feel that I am one of the creators of my client’s success and of the vision of Ringier Axel Springer in Poland. Soon after the first issue of the American Newsweek appeared on the Polish market, RASP’s first weekly newspaper in our country, I spent many hours together with those who had the ambition to create modern and committed journalism, analysing the risks and working out the best solutions, preparing the first model issues of the Fakt newspaper, the so-called “issues for the desk drawer”, not yet intended for publication, helping to harness all the enormous energy of those who, as warriors of freedom of speech, dreamt up this unruly newspaper and pledged to fight for it, in it. We resolved countless issues, which helped build our strong and lasting relationship. That was over 21 years ago, recalls Piotr Kochański.

And thanks to that, we are still together today, standing shoulder to shoulder, ready to defend the values that are fundamental to us. Like liberty, freedom of speech and democracy, adds our Managing Partner.

European Litigation Team of the Year

Alongside Piotr Kochański, Mateusz Ostrowski, Partner and Head of the Media and Press Practice, has for 10 years led the team that has been so effective in promoting the democratic rule of law and journalistic freedom.

In our daily work we approach each claim individually, because the defendant bears the burden of proving that they have not violated personal rights. The plaintiff enjoys a much more comfortable position, being able to claim a violation without the inconvenience of having to provide evidence, reminds Mateusz Ostrowski.

However, we have such a broad know-how and experience that we are even able to obtain discontinuance of proceedings before a hearing has been scheduled, which is definitely not standard in such cases.

We also have a number of victories to our credit, thanks to which for example we have been instrumental in establishing a case law finally distinguishing the editor-in-chief of an online portal from the editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper, which has led to the dismissal of many incorrectly drafted statements of claim, Ostrowski says.

The high number of discontinued proceedings and the effective representation have strengthened the confidence of publishers and given journalists a sense of security when tackling difficult issues.

Together with Mateusz, other specialists including Witold Głuchowski, the Partner heading the Litigation Practice, Bartłomiej Galos, Olga Senator, Katarzyna Pastuszyńska, Mateusz Koc and Katarzyna Jęcka, have created an invisible shield that allows the media to operate freely.