Eastern Europe’s China Play: First-Mover Lessons from Poland
An Interview with Paweł Sikora, Warsaw Office Managing Partner at KKG Legal
“I was fortunate enough to meet a Chinese lawyer in DC back in 2016 who invited me to take part in a publication about different jurisdictions and legal systems,” Paweł Sikora recalls from Warsaw. “Which resulted later in invitation to join SCLA as a founding member, and that’s how I got quite good connection to Chinese lawyers and different organizations. That’s how it brought my first clients.”
As Warsaw Office Managing Partner at KKG Legal and the first Eastern European law firm to establish a representative office in China, Sikora offers unique insights into navigating the China-Europe legal corridor from a market often overlooked by both sides.
The Network Reality
“Speaking of competition, I can only speak in terms of inbound work from Chinese colleagues to Poland and Europe,” Sikora begins with characteristic precision. “The most important thing in the market is to have a good connection and a good network. I believe the competition comes in place where there is no good established network of reliable and price-wise lawyers. If you get a good network of lawyers that you work with, you simply stick to them.”
The challenge for newcomers is stark: “When I get questions from different law firms from China, it happens that I am receiving the same bid from different law firms in China, but regarding the same project. So you can imagine—it’s totally different, different like Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou. The law firms, they have—it seems like China has a very good network inside, but when it comes to send the work to Europe, I would say that there is very high competition.”
“If you have no good established relationship, it’s mostly the financial terms,” he states bluntly.
The Relationship Economics
“It works the same in Europe,” Sikora explains the universal nature of relationship-based business. “If you know some people in a firm, you spend time together, you go sailing, you go shooting, whatever, or golfing together. It’s easier to send the work to your friend than to the anonymous lawyer from the other firm.”
But geography creates unique challenges: “For Europeans, it’s like China is very far away. So it’s hard to go to pub with friends from Shenzhen if you sit like in Berlin or Prague, whatever the name, Paris or London, basically. So the relationships, I would say it’s the core of every business, including legal business.”
The Chinese Firm Paradox
Sikora identifies a fascinating difference in how Chinese law firms operate internationally: “Even if there is a Chinese law firm, I will not use the names, having presence in Europe, the lawyers from the Chinese offices of the very firm would rather not stick to their own firm’s policy, but would seek different opportunities for their clients.”
“In Europe, if you are in a network, like in a big law company, big law name, you rather stick within your firm and you don’t send work elsewhere,” he contrasts. “And in China it works different, which I assume is a matter of clients’ needs. The clients want to have best choice, no matter if your firm has presence in the country. They probably want the best and the most reasonable in terms of pricing lawyer.”
This client-first approach reflects market sophistication: “So in this way it works a bit different. So I would say the Chinese clients are very fee sensitive, but I think the same is going to Europe anyway.”
The Fee Model Evolution
“I would say that hourly rate settlement had the best times already,” Sikora observes about the changing economics of legal services. “Which means when there were high budgets for lawyers, nobody paid attention about the spendings on the legal side. Currently when the market is competitive and the companies are cutting costs and are very much closer looking at how much they spent on different services, it’s not that the hourly rate is out of the table, it’s not.”
His solution has proven effective: “What works best for both Chinese domestic and other countries’ clients is an hourly rate accompanied by a capped fee, which means that the client can agree at quite a decent hourly rate. But at the end of the day, they want to have certainty how much they will spend on a certain project.”
“As for me as a lawyer, I can market this as, you see, we have an hourly rate, it’s our policy, but we will not spend more than X, but we can always spend less. I believe this is the future of settlement, although there still are some clients which are very much tied to hourly rates, and somehow they find it more beneficial, probably because of the type of the work that they send.”
The Green Energy Opportunity
Looking at emerging sectors, Sikora sees clear patterns: “The green energy is ESG is a hot topic and I know lots of PVs are coming from China. Even I’m going to buy PVs for my own house. I’m going to buy from China, so I’m sure that green energy is first and a very important market.”
“Secondly, automotive. You see, Poland has been flooded with Chinese vehicles like JAC, OMODA, Beijing. It happened in less than a year. It was a strong offensive of Chinese brands. And it will come—it will follow, you know, the marketing claims, potential disputes, China supplies, everything.”
He’s pragmatic about AI: “I am not sure about AI. I think that we need to see whether it’s not that balloon to blow at some point. I would say more like fintech. The Chinese fintech is something that surely will want to expand to Europe. We see examples, we have clients from China.”
The Ukraine Reconstruction Factor
Sikora identifies a massive opportunity on the horizon: “As much as it is a sad situation, I believe that upon the conclusion of Ukraine-Russia war, it’s gonna be a huge, huge market for rebuild of Ukraine, which I don’t believe Europe has capacity to provide enough of steel, concrete and manpower.”
“I think this is something for Chinese market to fill the gap. And I believe European lawyers will have a big stake in making a work for this to work here.”
Building Bridges in the Digital Age
“I believe it was back in 2016, the world has changed since then. It was pre-COVID,” Sikora reflects on how relationship building has evolved. “Now you can do most of it online. So I believe getting into online connections is also a good start to work with Chinese lawyers.”
This digital transformation has democratized access to the Chinese market, but Sikora emphasizes that virtual connections must still translate into real trust. His own journey—from a chance meeting in Washington to founding membership in SCLA to establishing the first Eastern European law firm presence in China—demonstrates that relationships remain the foundation, whether built in person or online.
Strategic Advice for Market Entry
“If I agree with Godson that the connections you have is the best place to start,” Sikora advises firms considering China entry. His experience suggests a phased approach: build relationships first, understand the market dynamics, then formalize presence when the business case is clear.
The competition from within China is intense—”It’s very often, so we can imagine how the competition is very high there”—but Sikora’s experience proves that specialized expertise combined with strong relationships can overcome pure price competition.
About Paweł Sikora
Paweł Sikora is the Warsaw Office Managing Partner at KKG Legal and leader of both the Employment Law & HR Practice and the New Technologies Practice. An attorney-at-law admitted to the Kraków Bar Association since 2010, Sikora specializes in labor law, M&A transactions, and regulation of new technologies. He serves as Regional Honorary Advisor to iBNex – International Lawyers Network and chairs the Arbitration Council of the Arbitration Court at the Regional Chamber of Commerce in Kalisz.
A founding member of the Swiss-Chinese Law Association (SCLA), Sikora has pioneered Eastern European legal connections with China, leading to KKG Legal becoming the first Eastern European law firm to establish a representative office in China. He is a member of the American Bar Association, International Bar Association, Elite Global Legal Alliance (EGLA), and The European Federation for Investment Law and Arbitration (EFILA). He also serves on the Council Board of the Ania Buchacz Foundation for Psychotherapeutical Rehabilitation of Children with Cancer.
