František Honsa is a founding partner, international managing partner and head of the litigation department of BBH. His professional record includes work on significant disputes that have proven to be significant for the interpretation of Czech laws and regulations. His main focus is commercial and banking law, both in civil disputes and in international arbitration. His team succeeded in a civil case defining banks' responsibility for protecting their clients' accounts, and in arbitration in Vienna regarding a leading Slovenian industrial company's defence against claims arising from purposely created contracts.
František successfully represented a large foreign bank in connection with the interpretation of obligations arising from the Isda standards within the Czech legal context, and represented one of the leading energy companies in the Czech Republic in international arbitration regarding the breach of a joint-venture agreement. He also acted for an international client in an arbitration case arising from the breach of a loan agreement and for a leading Czech media company regarding the breach of a shareholders' agreement.
He further successfully represented one of the largest international entertainment companies in an international arbitration case concerning the acquisition of a local distribution network, and is leading an arbitration case arising from the breach of a construction contract concerning one of the largest Czech property developments. He acts as an arbitrator of the Prague Arbitration Court attached to the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic, the Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic, the London Court of International Arbitration and International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.
František also has extensive experience with criminal defence of business fraud and white-collar crimes.
From 1994 to 1996 he was a legal counsel to Halliburton, and from 1997 to 1999 he was a senior associate at Burns Schwartz Attorneys-at-Law. He is a member of the Board of the Czech Arbitration Court, International Bar Association, LCIA and VIAC.
František is a graduate of the Faculty of Law, Charles University, Prague (1991), and holds a Doctor of Law and Ph.D. from Charles University, Prague (1997). He completed the international business transactions course at George Washington University, Washington, in 1996.
He is the author of Shareholders' Liability (1997) and speaks Czech, Slovak, English and Russian.
