About us

The Law Firm was established in 2010, with registered office in Zagreb by the founders and partners, the lawyer Željka Velić-Dvoršćak and she, together with her partner Silvije Skerlev, has many years of legal experience in various branches of law gained during a professional career.

The Law Firm, in addition to the knowledge and experience, is supported by a wide educated and experienced legal team on the basis of which we are able to offer knowledge and experience in all areas of law, especially in the area of labour law, enforcement proceedings, commercial law, compensation, insurance, status law, contracting , mergers and acquisitions, environmental law, real estate law, competition law, and in the area of providing legal support in the exercise of various investments including investments in the energy sector and in the banking business, and interpretation of Croatian legislation with the European legal system.
The Law Firm is associated with therenowned law firms throughout the region and, if necessary, we are able to provide legal aid in Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and are associated with several law firms in the European Union.

Taking into account the high degree of professionalism and excellence in providing legal support to our clients according to their needs, our Law Firm provides legal services to domestic and foreign natural and legal persons and institutions of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, by means of the representation in front of the court, arbitration and other competent bodies in the relevant proceedings; preparation of legal opinions; production of various types of contracts and internal documents; participation in negotiations in the exercise of business transactions and investments and creation of different legal acts necessary for the realization of a particular project; participation in negotiations aiming at concluding the collective agreements and participation in comprehensive procedures in the field of labour law in the process of the employment termination; establishment of companies as well as the implementation of the status changes thereof.

In our work we adhere to the highest ethical and professional standards, by trying to be excellent in all aspects of our business and are fully dedicated to the specific needs of our clients.

Željka Velić-Dvoršćak

Professional experience

Željka Velić-Dvoršćak is the founder and partner in the „Željka Velić-Dvoršćak & Silvije Skerlev and partners, j.t.d. Law firm“ having a long term experience, she has participated in various projects on the company level, negotiating and drafting all kinds of business contracts, specifically in the projects of exploration and production of the oil and/or gas in Croatia and abroad negotiated with foreign partners the concession agreements, production sharing agreements, joint ventures, all kinds of service contracts, participated in energy projects such as LNG project, legal preparation for Cogeneration power plant Ogulin, legal support of optimisation of refinery production, improvement of energy efficiency in refineries Rijeka and Sisak, EPC contracts (Fidic), corporate transactions i.e. establishments, mergers, unbundlings, etc.

She has taken active part in several financial projects, due diligences in Croatia and abroad as well as in overall IPO procedure in London.

During a long term period at the position of the General Counsel of the big company based on the energy activities, she was in charge and has overviewed all legal activities on the company level including, among others, litigation, insurance, indemnities etc. She has participated and was responsible for the process of complience to EU standards which she is doing today as a lawyer and partner in Law firm.

She was the member or the president of several Supervisory boards in Croatia and abroad.

She gained the extensive experience in international arbitration by having an active role in arbitrations in London, Houston, Vienna and Zurich and has been nominated arbitrator by the Permanent Arbitration Court at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce in Zagreb. She is also a member of ICC Croatia (International Chamber of Commerce) and member of ICC Engergy Committee as well as member of National Petroleum Committee.

Silvije Skerlev

Professional experience

Silvije Skerlev is a lawyer and partner with the lawyer Mr.sc. Željkom Velić-Dvoršćak at the Law Firm Željka Velić-Dvoršćak & Silvije Skerlev i partneri j.t.d., with seat in Zagreb, Amruševa 8. During his long and rich professional experience in legal work, he represented natural and legal persons before all types of courts in the Republic of Croatia, in the field of criminal and civil law, proprietary relations, trade law, procedures concerning compensation claims, property restitution etc.

Through his employment at the HT d.d. and taking over duties in the Office of Corporate and Legal Affairs of HT d.d. he was in charge of representing this company in all significant legal proceedings from the specific problem-range of telecommunication law, which meant both representation before courts and the supervision and managing legal representation duties in the corporate department and the legal affairs office of this company for the whole territory of the Republic of Croatia.

Since for this type of very complex duties many legal qualities, skills and knowledge, as well as organizational skills are required, Mr. Skerlev took part in numerous seminars and trainings and was one of the Top 100 managers of HT d.d. He also participated in the negotiations between the Management of HT d.d. and the trade union, and was also the co-signatory of collective agreements.

The scope of work Mr. Skerlev performed encompassed the legal analysis and approval of agreements signed by the company with third parties, before these were signed by the responsible managing directors.

He also participated in the due diligence process of the company HT d.d. at the occasion of its joining the stock market.
While working at HT d.d. Silvije Skerlev also initiated the establishment of the Association of Corporate Lawyers in the Republic of Croatia and was its first president, until he returned to the lawyer's business in March 2008. Since 2008 he has been the legal representative (or participated in the legal representation) of a large number of clients in legal proceedings, but also in mediations – most often at the Commercial Court in Zagreb and the High Commercial Court of the Republic of Croatia.

While working in the legal profession, Mr. Skerlev represented a series of renowned clients, such as Croatia Airlines d.d., Hrvatski telekom d.d., Airport Zagreb (Zračna luka Zagreb d.d., Airport Zagreb – Catering (Zračna luka Zagreb-Ugostiteljstvo d.o.o.), Jamnica d.d., PIK Vrbovec d.d. and many other companies, according to his best knowledge, conscience and professional regulations.