Kochański & Partners is expanding its energy and infrastructure practice with the addition of a new partner, Katarzyna Barańska Ph.D., to head up the Infrastructure & Environment team. Her extensive experience covers legal advisory on major infrastructure projects, renewable energy sources, environmental law and municipal investments.

Katarzyna is an attorney at law specialising in regulatory and infrastructure projects, with particular focus on the investment process and environmental projects.

Katarzyna has considerable experience in renewable energy investments, including both due diligence and transaction advisory, in addition to representing clients before public administration authorities. She has advised on the construction and development of wind and photovoltaic farms and hydroelectric power plants, handling also projects relating to the construction of infrastructure for mineral extraction.

Wojciech Wrochna, Head of Energy, Infrastructure and Environment practice at Kochański & Partners, comments:

Due to their scale, investments in the energy market are multidisciplinary and clients expect lawyers to offer advisory on not only energy law, but also e.g. environmental law or infrastructure issues. Therefore, with Katarzyna on-board, we can provide our clients with synergy across the areas they find important, offering our unique and streamlined infrastructure, energy, construction and environmental competences. 

Katarzyna handles municipal investment projects covering planning and zoning issues and complex construction matters. She participated in works on the Revitalisation Act.

Katarzyna has broad experience in negotiating agreements and contracts between investors and public entities regarding, inter alia, public interest investments, as well as in handling road investments and locating warehouse facilities and logistics centres.

Katarzyna also advises on environmental issues, including obtaining and amending environmental permits (in particular integrated permits), obtaining environmental decisions, and carrying out legal analyses of land contamination and reclamation risks.

Katarzyna assists clients in developing and implementing environmental strategies, taking into account, inter alia,  sustainable development and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles. She advises Polish and foreign entities on ensuring compliance with legal environmental obligations.

Katarzyna actively participates in works on the implementation of the Plastics Directive, in particular the implementation of EPR (extended producer responsibility) and the waste package in Poland.

Katarzyna also teaches post-graduate classes in Environmental Law and works as a lecturer affiliated with the Warsaw Bar Association, giving specialist lectures on, inter alia, legal aspects of the construction process and is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Warsaw Bar Association.