Meet Katarzyna Baranska, Partner at Osborne Clarke, deeply engaged in sustainability infrastructure and decarbonization. In this interview, she talks about her journey from competition law to environmental specialization, her impactful work in academia, and her advocacy for female empowerment in the legal sector. She also shares insights from her multifaceted career, her approach to mentorship, and offers valuable advice for aspiring leaders in the legal field.

Interviewed by Juliette Gill

You’ve had a very varied legal career, starting as an Attorney at an international law firm, then as Counsel in various international consultancies, progressively evolving towards a specialisation in sustainability, infrastructure, and decarbonisation as Head of Decarbonisation at Osborne Clarke Poland. What made you choose this direction?

Throughout my studies I worked in different law firms and spent a year and a half at Warwick University in the United Kingdom (UK) on an exchange programme. This was a very inspiring experience for me because I looked at law from a completely different perspective, experiencing alternative ways of teaching and learning. The nature of the UK university system means that you can choose modules that are interdisciplinary, studying a combination of fields such as real estate, infrastructure, and labour law simultaneously. This is very useful in the practice of law because you often have to support the client in many different fields within one project.

I started with competition law and then went on to real estate. There, I then realised that I was most interested in infrastructure projects and started to think about them in an interdisciplinary way, as I had been encouraged to do in the UK. It occurred to me that we often gloss over the environmental aspects in these projects because not enough is known about the field. After some research, I realised that expertise in environmental issues was rare in the legal market.

I did postgraduate studies in environmental law, in order to provide clients with complete, well-rounded advice, not only in real estate and regulatory fields but also in environmental law. I changed the way I did projects, integrating a sustainability aspect thanks to my broadened knowledge. When I joined one of the ‘Big Four,’ PwC, I knew that we had to offer “real estate +”, adding the perspectives of infrastructure and energy to real estate projects. Coming from a conservative international law firm to PwC was daunting because they look at legal support in a completely different way to law firms. However, it was helpful in understanding the business side of things and adjusting to clients’ business needs. I learnt that lawyers can evolve - there are transformations you can undergo during your professional career, without actually switching from one topic to another but adding other layers, to the benefit of your clients.

One can also see a transformation in legal regulations, with many new sustainability, environmental, and energy regulations being adopted throughout Europe. Climate law is an emerging field and I’m always telling my trainees at the Bar that this is a new field of regulation that is ongoing, so for them it's essential to understand what's happening in jurisdictions, how they can benefit and acquire clients by knowing more about emissions, energy, and sustainability.

I learnt that lawyers can evolve - there are transformations you can undergo during your professional career, without actually switching from one topic to another but adding other layers, to the benefit of your clients.

At a time when European companies are required to adapt to changing environmental legislation, and globally, companies are having to develop their own strategies and commitments to tackle climate change, what role do you see for legal counsel in this field? How do you think it might evolve?

I believe it's about upskilling, so learning about the subject and taking part in training offered by the Bar or other associations for lawyers. Climate law is a new, complex field. It is not well known, like M&A where you learn a few codes and then you’re in – this is different. You need to have the ability to connect the dots, try to acquire new clients and take on these new topics which are being discussed all around Europe.

You have even referred to a “change in the legislators’ philosophy” at the European level, which is most certainly a welcome change for attaining the goals of a sustainable and inclusive ecological transition. Are you confident that legislation is advancing at the right pace to deal with the environmental challenges we face?

That’s a really difficult question, and I believe that the answer will only become clearer within a few years. It is important that we all transition towards the circular economy. The European legislator’s new philosophy is to provoke and to put pressure on the market in order to reach circular economy goals. The best example of this is EU battery regulation, which was recently adopted at the union-wide level. It addresses the whole cycle of a product, from the design level to the recycling stage, and getting rid of its waste, meaning that we are closing the circle of the life cycle of a product. The regulation states that producers should be responsible not only for the battery but also its waste, making them responsible for the whole life cycle. Similar discussions on waste responsibility are being had in other sectors, for example in the textiles and fashion industry, as well as packaging and packaging waste, with the PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation) on its way to being adopted.

We see that similar legal tools are used in different sectors to obtain the same goal: the circular economy. Getting to grips with this can be complex, but it’s worth understanding what is happening in the market as this gives you the advantage against other lawyers, which can help win clients.

As a lecturer at Lazarski University, the Warsaw Bar Association, and most recently at Warsaw University of Technology lecturing on New Mobility studies, why is the transmission of knowledge to younger generations in the legal field important to you and what pushes you to work in academia alongside your role at Osborne Clarke?

It is important to me because I started in academia before my legal career - I wasn't granted entrance to the Bar training at first so I decided to go to university to start my PhD. Whilst I was doing this, I was appointed to the Bar as a trainee. So, I was pursuing my PhD while working at a big international law firm. It wasn't easy to take on both tasks, but it was rewarding at the end, as it enables you to understand legal problems better because you're discussing them during your lectures. You know how to speak about complex issues because you face your clients who have problems, but you also talk to young lawyers.

I think the transfer of knowledge is quite crucial. I am a lecturer at three institutions because knowledge on issues pertaining to sustainability, infrastructure and so on is important in many different places - it's not like there is one innovative University that would like to teach this field to students, it's more that they all feel that this new wave of the circular economy and sustainability is something important. So, they look for experts to explain this legal field to their students, and there are only a few experts that can do that. That’s why I do weekend shifts trying to help students understand their place in the future of law and the impact they can have. I feel responsible towards the younger generation, towards my bar and towards my students, that I owe them the knowledge to be smarter, and better.

That’s why I do weekend shifts trying to help students understand their place in the future of law and the impact they can have. I feel responsible towards the younger generation, towards my bar and towards my students, that I owe them the knowledge to be smarter, and better.

You have been involved in an impressive variety of associations committed to mentorship and networking, especially amongst women, being a contributor to the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA), a mentor in the Network of Entrepreneurial Women in Warsaw (SPK), and most recently you joined the WIL network. Could you tell us about your view on the importance of female empowerment in the legal field?

There are many female lawyers at entry level, but at the top of the pyramid, there are only a few. We are losing fantastic women somewhere in the middle of the path towards becoming managers or partners, in business or law firms. I am sure we can retain many more women by supporting them to think of paths and solutions, to believe in themselves, or to tackle the balance with their family life. Support given by a female lawyer to another female lawyer is not something standard, but I think it should be.

It is also important to me to support younger women generally, not only lawyers but also entrepreneurs, in believing in their ideas, reaching milestones, and achieving their goals. I know this is not easy, there can be many problems on the way. But it’s not only about winning, sometimes it’s about losing, ten, twenty times, and building the resilience and strength to keep pushing forward.  It is certainly not an easy path, especially for women who have children, I have two, but with the right support, it is possible.

It is also important to me to support younger women generally, not only lawyers but also entrepreneurs, in believing in their ideas, reaching milestones, and achieving their goals.

Could you share with us something that you enjoy doing in your free time, whether that is an activity you have been pursuing for a long time, or perhaps a newly found passion?

If you work as much as I do then your passion is your work, or the other way around! I do really enjoy sports, especially cycling and running. I
also enjoy spending time with my family and traveling with them, it gives us some space and gives me new energy, as well as new ideas for my work. Tomorrow I'm going to the mountains for skiing, which is another one of my hobbies and helps me to reset.

Video edited by Nicolle Fernandez