About Vernon | David
Vernon | David is a boutique law firm specializing in complex commercial transactions and disputes, regulatory matters and compliance issues. We provide high-end bespoke legal advice to a wide array of domestic and international clients ranging from start-ups to large multinational companies and foreign governments. Currently, we have offices in Bucharest, Romania and in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova.
Our law firm is structured to provide comprehensive, high-quality legal services to serve the domestic and international needs of our clients drawing on the combined resources and varied expertise of our lawyers. Our goal is to accomplish the client’s objectives in a succinct and efficient manner.
The law firm has worked on some of the largest deals and transactions in Romanian history, including advising TMK with its acquisition of Resita Steel (currently the largest steel producer in Romania), assisting Iulius Mall with the Palas Mall (one of the Romania’s largest retail centers) as well as representing Xannat (former Anglo-American group company and Romania’s largest aggregates mining company) with its management buy-out.
Our Chisinau-based team of American and Moldovan attorneys works closely with our Bucharest office in advising clients on a range of investment-related matters, including financings, mergers and acquisitions, real estate issues, labor matters, tax, IP, environmental regulations and general commercial transactions. We also have a dynamic commercial litigation practice.
As active members of the local and foreign business community, we have been involved in a variety of business and legislative initiatives, including drafting the leasing laws of Moldova and taking a leading role in the reform of the Moldovan labor legislation. In addition, members of our firm act on various local boards and charities, including being board members of the American Chamber of Commerce and the European Business Association (EBA).
Vernon│David today has 5 partners (Charles Vernon, Daniela David, Maria Nica, Corina Tiganas and Diana Neagu) and over 25 associates and staff in both Bucharest and Chisinau.
Our Vision
Honesty, integrity, hard work. Many say it, few live it.
We are a boutique law firm that provides our clients with close one-on-one attention, in a collaborative and business-focused setting. This allows us to offer highly skilled representation on a broad range of legal topics. To deliver high quality cost effective services, we place a premium on common sense, creativity and experience.
We bring enthusiasm, passion, innovation, entrepreneurial zeal, and commitment to advancing the interest of our clients. We are results oriented and goal focused. Honesty, integrity and hard work are core values; not just a line on a website.
We will strive to maintain a firm culture that reflects our shared, and sometimes colorful, personalities and styles. Our goal is to create a collegial environment in which our team members can flourish and enjoy the practice of law, while managing our clients' matters in an efficient, caring and proactive manner. We believe that the client’s success is our success.
We want to continue to enhance our image as informal, collegial, hardworking and principled lawyers.
Our Evolution
With over 19 years on the Romanian market, Vernon | David has grown to be become a leading international commercial law firm with offices in Bucharest, Romania and Chisinau, Moldova.
Originally established to be the associated law firm of Ernst & Young, the firm became independent in 2004. Daniela David, a founding partner of the firm in 2001, was joined by Charles Vernon (an American lawyer working in Romania since 1997) in 2008 to form Vernon | David.
Although active in Moldova since 2001, Vernon | David opened a full-fledged office in Chisinau in 2009. Since then, we have become one of Moldova’s leading commercial law firms, and in 2010 we had the honor to be recognized in the Legal 500 directory as one of Moldova’s 1st tier law practices.
Our logo suggests our strong values. With a Scottish legacy by his mother, Charles learned from his childhood the legend of the family’s crest, a lion holding a sword with the words “fide et fortitudine” (Latin for “faith and fortitude”). The story inspired the logo of the company as well as the firm’s ideals: honesty, integrity and hard work.
International Rankings
Since our foundation in 2001, Vernon | David and its lawyers in both Bucharest and Chisinau have been mentioned and ranked in all of the major international guides and reference services, including Chambers and Partners Global and Europe, Legal 500, and IFLR 1000.
Chamber and Partners’ rankings appreciate our versatile Bucharest team: “The experts in finance at this firm have excellent relationships with major international banks and have been involved with impressive corporate files in the banking, real estate and energy sectors. A versatile team handles litigations, employment issues, bankruptcy filings and restructurings in addition to M&A. Loyal clients are impressed by a “trustworthy and client-oriented” set of lawyers led by US-qualified Charles Vernon.”
In Moldova, our rankings describe Vernon│David as follows: “The Moldovan branch of this Romanian firm is praised by clients for its "robust service" and useful working relationships with the Moldovan business community. It often co-operates with international law firms, giving local law advice on cross-border matters”.
We have been ranked over the years in many different categories of Legal 500, including Corporate and M&A, Real Estate, Banking and Finance, Project Finance, IT Telecoms and Media, Energy and Natural Resources, PPP and Procurement, and Dispute Resolution. Our office in Chisinau, Moldova is highly regarded, and over the years is commonly ranked in the first or second tier.
Ranked repeatedly over the years in IFRL 1000 as one of Moldova’s leading law firms, since our formation we have been recognized for becoming one of the major firms on the market.
By publications
LEGAL 500
We have been ranked over the years in many different categories, including Corporate and M&A, Real Estate, Banking and Finance, Project Finance, IT Telecoms and Media, Energy and Natural Resources, PPP and Procurement, and Dispute Resolution.
In addition, our office in Chisinau, Moldova is also highly regarded, is often ranked in either the first or second tier.
Highlights include:
- Vernon│David is a ‘top-notch boutique firm’ according to clients, with partner Charles Vernon, in particular, praised for his ‘customer care skills’.
- According to one client, ‘the service was fantastic, with friendly intelligent lawyers you can actually reach on the phone’.
- The team has great strength in real estate financing, as well as acquisitions and development expertise.
- Real estate and regulatory work are areas of expertise for Vernon | David. Diana Neagu and Charles Vernon are the names to note.
- Clients say the service offered by the banking and finance team at Vernon | David is ‘exceptional’.
- Charles Vernon, the US qualified managing partner is described as ‘affable, with a big legal brain’.
- Vernon│David is one of the market leaders in this area (IT, Telecoms and Media)….
- According to clients, the team ‘understood our needs and managed the process up to completion with great skill’.
- […] clients are impressed with the firm’s ‘commercial awareness’….
- Clients enthuse about the firm’s ‘ability to deliver swift responses every time’.
- Vernon│David partner Daniela David is a ‘talented litigation lawyer and someone you definitely want arguing on your side, not against you’.
- Employment, tax and competition disputes are all areas of strength for Vernon | David. Clients are impressed with the practice’s ‘legal prowess and commercial insight’.
- […] corporate finance partner Diana Neagu ‘is a very good person to have on your side in negotiations and for complex banking and lending matters;’
- […] Vernon | David has made very good inroads into the market. The firm acts for an impressive range of international banks, blue-chip companies and law firms.
Chambers and partners
- Clients commend the firm for its “efficiency and promptness” and for “having an answer yesterday.” Their cases are invariably large and complex but feedback has found this relatively large Romanian practice refreshingly free of bureaucracy.
- This impressive commercial outfit makes waves for its alternative pitch and extensive client roster, as well as its “prompt and responsive” lawyers who “not only identify problems but provide pragmatic solutions.”
- The experts in finance at this firm have excellent relationships with major international banks and have been involved with impressive corporate files in the banking, real estate and energy sectors. A versatile team handles litigations, employment issues, bankruptcy filings and restructurings in addition to M&A. Loyal clients are impressed by a “trustworthy and client-oriented” set of lawyers led by US-qualified Charles Vernon.
- Interviewees appreciate the “hands-on approach” of managing partner Charles Vernon, asserting that he “delegates work well, but also keeps a close eye on what is being done.” Sources were quick to praise his commercial nous, with one client remarking: “He puts himself in our shoes and views problems from a business as well as a legal perspective.”
IFLR
We have been ranked repeatedly over the years in IFLR 1000 as a leading firm in the region. In Moldova, we have been ranked as a top firm in financial and corporate transactions and our Romania practice is noted for its M&A practice.
Highlights include:
- Moldova - we are currently ranked in Tier 1 for Financial and Corporate.
- Diana Neagu - is "Highly Regarded" as a leading banking lawyer.
- Maria Nica - is ranked in M&A in Romania.
Networks and Associations
We have much more to offer than just our local legal knowledge and expertise. We have managed commercial transactions and litigation from Kazakhstan to the United States, and many places in between. As part of one of the world’s largest legal networks, SCG Legal, as well as active in various boutique networks, we have the ability to help clients wherever in the world their business takes them. Have an issue in the US, UK, Europe or Middle East? Through our networks and past work, we have the legal and business contacts to provide quick and efficient assistance almost anywhere in the world.
In addition to our global reach, we are associated with Cromwell Evan Global (CEG), a specialized tax and financial services company with offices in Romania and Moldova. Together, we can provide a full range of services and business advice to support your company’s growth. We also have a strong and effective tax litigation practice. From initial tax inspection to cases before the Romania or Moldovan Supreme Court, we have the skills, people and experiences to help. Over the years, our team has assisted many of the region’s largest companies with their tax needs.
