Emil Bivolaru

Executive Partner

emil.bivolaru@nndkp.ro
+40 31 225 33 58

Practice Areas

Expertise

Emil Bivolaru is a highly experienced litigator. In the 24 years of activity before both Romanian courts of justice and arbitration courts, he has specialized in complex tax disputes, bankruptcy and restructuring cases, banking and finance litigation, civil law and property restitution cases. Emil regularly acts as coordinator of litigation specialists and offers key legal input in enforcement and insolvency cases. Furthermore, he is widely praised for his valuable expertise in tax inspection and tax evasion cases and has handled complex labour restructuring procedures and cases regarding the civil implications of white-collar fraud.

Industry Focus

Representative Cases and Transactions

  • tax litigation on behalf of a multi-national oil company, for the purpose of annulment of enforcement of a several million EUR tax debt
  • tax litigation for a multi-national company in the retail area, for the annulment of a tax ruling issued by the fiscal authorities
  • civil and fiscal aspects of a criminal investigation initiated against a leading regional media company by the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism
  • criminal investigation against a leading worldwide player active in the aviation field in relation to extremely complex fiscal problems, initiated by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate
  • recovery procedure by few of the Romanian banks of the credits offered to major investors in the real estate market
  • creditor intervention, on behalf of Romania’s largest oil and gas maintenance company, to recover a substantial debt (in excess of 60 million EUR) and to maintain a controlling position in the assembly of creditors and the creditors’ committee
  • acting on behalf of a major banking institution in the insolvency proceeding of a local agribusiness group, to recover a large amount provided to the debtor as financing for its commercial activities related to livestock and production facilities
  • title litigation, on behalf of a real estate developer, concerning 47,000 sq.m of land in Bucharest
  • administrative litigation on behalf of a real estate services firm for the purpose of obtaining a building permit for a major business office in Bucharest
  • representation of a major real estate investor in an insolvency proceeding against the contracted construction company
  • representation of a major international bank in the insolvency proceeding of one of the highest office buildings in Romania
  • representation of a local bank, the major creditor on the creditors’ list, in two insolvency proceedings against two debtors in the real estate market

Accolades

Included in international rankings since 2009; most recently:

  • Ranked, Dispute Resolution (Chambers and Partners, continuously since 2016)
  • Recommended, Dispute Resolution (Legal 500, continuously since 2019)
  • Leading Partner, Restructuring and Insolvency (Legal 500, 2025)
  • Leading Individual, Restructuring and Insolvency (Legal 500, 2024)
  • Recommended, Restructuring and Insolvency (Legal 500, 2020-2023)

“I wholeheartedly recommend Emil for any work in the litigation field. His impressive court experience and strong track record of legal wins position him as one of the best litigators in Romania.”
(Chambers and Partners, 2025)

“Emil Bivolaru has been our partner for so many years now. He is one of the best litigators I have ever worked with in Romania, with more than two decades of experience.”
(Legal 500, 2024)

“I particularly appreciate Emil’s strategic mind and his ability to stay one step ahead of his opponents. He is very resourceful and highly efficient.”
(Chambers and Partners, 2024)

“Emil Bivolaru is an excellent litigator, very easy to work with and innovative in finding solutions. He has a good grasp of the legal and technical matters entailed by the cases we bring to his attention, and I always appreciate his practical approach.”
(Legal 500, 2023)

“Emil is a reputable and very experienced litigation lawyer. He is rigorous, thoughtful, and extremely clear and logical in his approach, which has made a huge difference in handling complex and complicated matters. We trust his advice and intuition.”
(Chambers and Partners, 2023)

“[He] brings a depth of experience that can only be obtained through involvement in various projects, from high profile to more technical cases.”
(Legal 500, 2022)

“He is very clear and logical in his approach and knows how to break complicated issues into information that is easy to grasp.”
(Chambers and Partners, 2022)

“Emil Bivolaru has the ability to pin point exactly the implications and relevance of the legal matters in a business context. His pleadings are very convincing and well grounded, as his skills are both technically and strategically very strong.”
(Legal 500, 2021)

Education

  • Nicolae Titulescu University Law School and International Relations, Law Degree

Memberships and Affiliations

  • Bucharest Bar Association

Notable Contributions

  • speaker at the first NNDKP CELF event in 2024
  • speaker at 4th NNDKP CELF event in 2023
  • speaker at the NNDKP CELF event in Cluj-Napoca – Tax inspection in The Digital Era (2023)
  • speaker at the NNDKP CELF Conference: Fiscal disputes in times of the pandemic, organized by NNDKP and Ziarul Financiar (2021)
  • speaker at the event “Legal&Tax Conference, 3rd edition – How do we manage tax and (macro)economics risks in 2020?”, organized by NNDKP and Ziarul Financiar (2020)
  • contributor to NNDKP – COVID-19 Legal & Tax Resource Center
  • speaker at the event “Trends: Economy. Business.Tax”, organized by NNDKP and Ziarul Financiar (2018)
  • speaker at the debate “The economic context and the opportunity for a fiscal mediation commission in Romania”, organized by Oameni si Companii (2018)
  • speaker at the workshop “The fiscal policy and the new management risks” organized by NNDKP (2018)
  • regular speaker at the Dezbateri Juridice series of conferences, organized by the Society of Legal Sciences
  • articles on insolvency law and criminal law topics