Meet Maria
Maria Mitu
Senior Counsel and Head of UK Practice
A solicitor with a background in both Romanian and English law, Maria is qualified in both jurisdictions. At McAllister Olivarius, Maria focuses on business and corporate clients.
Maria is also the Managing Partner of Mitu & Asociatii, a Romanian law firm based in Bucharest with a focus on commercial advice and litigation, corporate law and corporate immigration. She has considerable experience helping Romanian companies do business in England and vice versa.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Law and a MBA in Private Law from the University of Bucharest, Maria was called to the Bucharest Bar in 2001. She started as a defamation litigator and expanded to commercial and civil litigation. During 12 years as a litigator, Maria acquired experience in all Romanian courts, including the High Court of Cassation and Justice. During the next nine years she focused on helping clients with environmental, commercial and corporate law problems. In 2012, Maria joined the National Union of Insolvency Practitioners in Romania and managed several important business restructurings and liquidations.
Maria moved to the UK in 2017 and shortly after that qualified as a solicitor of England and Wales, focusing on immigration, corporate and commercial law, and commercial property.
Maria joined us in 2022 to expand and strengthen our corporate and commercial practice, including in intellectual property, immigration for corporate and private clients, and commercial law.
Case experience
- Represented clients in negotiating collective labour contracts and headed the litigation team.
- Represented the largest Romanian poultry producer, with 3000 employees, throughout its process of insolvency, including drafting a restructuring plan and negotiating with creditors. The proceedings generated over 500 lawsuits, all of which were handled by Maria and her team.
- Board member of two major companies, advising on the ongoing legal issues and business strategy.
- Advised one of Europe’s largest construction companies, Strabag AG, on the environmental protection rules applicable in Romania and the European Union in relation to a soil and groundwater treatment project. She assisted the same client with the public procurement procedures in Romania, as well with claims against the Ministry of Finance.
- Advised ERG Group, which specializes in civil construction design and execution, about public procurement procedures and public-private partnerships (PPP).
- Appointed by the Romanian Agency for State Assets Recovery (AAAS) as judicial administrator during the insolvency proceedings for the Romanian Non-ferrous Metals Company REMIN SA, a state-owned gold mining company. Maria’s role was to restructure the company, make proposals to amend the legal framework pertaining to the mine’s closure and negotiate with labour unions about the collective termination of labour contracts.
Foreign language(s)
- Romanian