Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co.

The law firm of Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co. (APM & Co.) was founded in 1956 and is one of the prominent law firms in Israel. The firm includes about 110 lawyers, and it represents leading economic and commercial entities in Israel and abroad, including industrial companies, construction companies and real estate developers, banks, insurance companies, VC funds, tech companies, government-owned companies, public institutes and public companies which are listed in Israel and abroad.
The firm is ranked among the leading law firms in numerous practice areas in Israeli and foreign legal rankings and directories, including Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, IFLR 1000, Duns 100, BDI Coface.

Practice Areas

Hi-Tech, VC Funds: APM & Co. has vast experience representing Israeli and foreign companies and investors in VC investments and in forming and establishing VC funds. The firm accompanies entrepreneurs and startups from the initial stages, in a variety of topics, including planning an appropriate tax structure, government incentives, IP, labor agreements, commercial agreements and issuances of ownership equity.

Real Estate: The firm has one of Israel’s leading real estate practices and it serves a wide range of Israeli clients, alongside with accompanying foreign residents in managing their properties in Israel. The firm provides comprehensive solutions, that cover aspects of planning and zoning, taxation and finance, for a diverse clientele, which includes developers, contractors, investors and companies. The firm specializes in large and complex real estate transactions, asset-swap (“combination”) transactions, REITs, purchasing groups, Tama 38, self-build associations, Pinui-Binui, Mehir LaMishtaken and more.

Planning and Zoning: The firm has vast experience in promoting complex and prestigious real estate projects for Israel’s leading real estate companies, landowners, developers and investors. The firm has experience in a wide variety of planning and zoning topics, including master plans and permits, urban renewal, betterment charges, lawsuits on grounds of planning damage, appropriations, municipal taxation, reliefs, formalizing breach of restrictive covenants and more.

Urban Renewal: APM & Co. is one of the leading firms in Israel in the urban renewal practice, and has vast experience and reputation in representing initiators, contractors and apartment owners in all types of urban renewal projects, such as – Tama 38, Tama 38/2 and Pinui-Binui.
The firm provides clients with comprehensive solutions, including reviewing the project’s legal feasibility, managing the legal negotiations for signing and agreement, handling the tax aspects, accompanying the clients in their contracting with the financiers, handling the planning and zoning aspects, registering the clients’ rights.

Taxation: APM & Co.’s Taxation department provides ongoing legal support for various aspects of economic-fiscal law, with an emphasis on various tax fields including international taxation, companies tax, personal tax, taxations of trusts, land taxes and indirect taxes. The firm specializes in planning and creating optimal cross-border tax structures. Clients of the firm benefit from a vast network of professional relationships, especially in light of its close relations with Israel’s most respected accounting firms. The book “International Taxation - The Israeli Law” (2008), was written by Doron Levy, Senior Partner.

Personal and Family Wealth Management: Creatively and through a vast network of connections, APM & Co. provides effective solutions for personal and family capital management, including solutions for international tax planning and protection of multinational assets, risk mitigation and improving the returns on assets and estates, in Israel and abroad, establishing and managing foreign companies and trusts, assets acquisitions and adjustments of holdings. The firm handles Israeli clients, foreign residents, and entities and trusts for planning family wealth and charities and donations.

Insolvency: The firm specializes in proceedings for the liquidation and rehabilitation of companies, moratoriums, receiverships and bankruptcies. This activity includes the representation of creditors and debtors in complex proceedings of liquidations, receiverships, reorganization and debt restructurings. The department’s lawyers are often appointed by the courts as receivers, trustees, liquidators and special managers, in some of the most complex and intricate cases in the Israeli economy.

Commercial, Corporate and M&A: The firm provides comprehensive legal counsel to entrepreneurs, industrialists, financial institutions and international and Israeli companies on a wide range of commercial matters, including: distribution agreements, licenses, joint ventures, international transactions, M&A and more.

Regulation and Technology: APM & Co. has a dedicated team with technological understanding and knowledge which handles the regulatory aspects of technology and digital spaces, including legal counsel, implementation and application of global regulatory requirements such as consumer protections laws, regulations concerning online advertising, privacy, data collection etc. The firm also counsels on matters of policies of self-regulatory organizations, search engines and social networks.

Privacy, Cyber and Information Security: APM & Co. provides legal and technological counsel on matters of information security, the implementation of technological means, managing the privacy and information security function, managing the marketing function of organizations, support for receiving information security standards certifications (ISO / SOC) etc. The firm responds to compliance proceedings of relevant regulations in Israel and globally. The firm has a dedicated rescue team which specializes in handling information security events and overcoming cyber challenges.

Finance and Banking: The firm has a particular expertise in finance and banking, including in project finance, building securities structures, securitization, mezzanine finance/company acquisitions, consulting and drafting of finance agreements in transactions that include senior debt loans, closed bank support in the formats of B.O.T. and construction loans, equity bridge and mezzanine loans, creating collaterals, syndicate finance, lenders agreements, financial closures and issuances of complex financial vehicles. The firm represents institutional and private financiers, underwriters, banks and insurance companies.

Capital Markets and Securities: APM & Co. provides ongoing counsel to public and private companies on aspects of companies and securities law and public issuances and private placements. The firm handles reporting to the various securities authorities and stock exchanges in Israel and abroad and handles taxation aspects of the capital market, employee stock-options and companies control struggles.

Litigation: The firm represents a variety of clients before courts and tribunal of all levels and judicial and quasi-judicial bodies, including in mediations and arbitrations. The firm has knowledge and experience in a variety of litigation proceedings and complex legal disputes in all matters pertaining to civil, commercial and administrative law, and in crisis management and legal proceedings and arbitrations in Israel and in the international arena.

Mediations and Arbitrations: The longstanding experience that the firm accumulated in various legal practice areas enables it to manage an arbitration and mediation center which practices both commercial and interpersonal matters. The center conducts complex mediations professionally, discreetly and efficiently, in every aspect and segment of commercial law.

Intellectual Property (IP): The firm has a dedicated team that specializes in patent law, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets and other intellectual property legal issues. The IP team combines its legal expertise with a comprehensive understanding of scientific and technological issues. The IP team provides a complete package of legal services covering all aspects of intellectual property law, including: drafting agreements; representation in complex intellectual property litigation proceedings; management of trademark and patent registration procedures; and strategic advice for creating intellectual property protection and enforcement policies.
In terms of agreements, the IP team has experience, inter alia, in commercialization and licensing agreements, transfer of ownership, coexistence, and joint development agreements and also performs due diligence for investment and M&A transactions. In terms of dispute resolution, the department represents clients in intellectual property ownership disputes, service invention issues, rights enforcement and infringement procedures, as well as corporate law disputes in high-tech companies. In addition, the partners in the IP department have developed special expertise in the field of innovative technology (including artificial intelligence), and in the complexity of the application of intellectual property laws to artificial intelligence and innovative technology. The IP team advises clients in adopting organizational policies for use with artificial intelligence and innovative technology.

Energy and Infrastructure: The firm represents Israeli and international corporations, financial institutions, entrepreneurs and service providers in the fields of energy and infrastructure and provides them with legal advice, among other things, in matters of construction, operation, tenders, licensing, regulation and financing. The firm specializes in international conventional and renewable energy projects as well as BOT and PFI projects.

Regulation: The firm gives clients advice in the areas of regulation and government relations and in that framework provides strategic advice and assists clients to draft bills, prepare position papers, and more. The firm has broad experience representing and appearing before government committees and regulatory bodies in various areas of law, such as antitrust, corporate and securities law, tenders, consumer protection, and more.

Labor and Employment: The firm provides ongoing legal counsel on labor law and relations. This framework includes, inter alia, legal representation before the labor courts, accompanying M&A transactions, constructing employee remuneration frameworks, drafting employment agreements, NDAs and non-compete, representing employers and handling collective disputes.

Competition and Antitrust: The department provides legal counsel and ongoing support to a broad range of clients and provides them with a full envelope of services in all proceedings and relevant legal areas: Regular professional opinions, support at administrative hearings to impose financial sanctions, representing parties in major commercial disputes, support on complex transactions with regard to everything associated with aspects of competition law, and representation before the Antitrust Authority, the Antitrust Tribunal and the High Court of Justice.

India and East Asia: The Firm advises local and international clients that do business or desire to expand into India and East Asia market, as well as the other way around.

Global Market Activity: The firm is an industry leader in the establishment of investment funds and business ventures, and in identifying other investment and acquisition opportunities around the world. In that capacity, the firm has experience with fundraising and business development and successfully navigating cross-border business crises if they arise. The firm operates in the main markets in the USA, Europe and other markets including Australia, India, Singapore, China, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, DACH countries, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.