For about seven years I was defending a world-renowned University professor, one of the most famous specialists in statistics and data mining, he was accused of taking bribe. I noticed that certain procedural errors had been made in this case and that the evidence against him was not sustainable beyond resonable doubt, I decided to represent him. Since corruption is such an important issue in Eastern European Countries, I knew that I had taken the risk of being classified as the „Devil`s advocate”. However, I also knew that everyone has the right to be defended and the presumption of innocence is the legal principle that one is considered innocent until proven guilty.

When I took this case, I knew that it could endager not only my career but also the image of my law firm, especially since the whole country was waiting for the final judgment. The case became one of National interest and not only, as I have called my client’s collaborators – University professors and researchers – from the UK, Northern Ireland, USA, Canada, France and Germany to testify in court. The trial reached the highest courts in Romania, it was as difficult as it could get; in the first instance, my client was sentenced to serve two years in prison. I continued the trial and, two years later, he was acquitted from the High Court of Cassation and Justice (the equivalent of the Supreme Court in the UK). All evidence were declared illegal and void.  It was established that his case was staged and was wrongly investigated by the Public Ministry (the equivalent of the Crown Prossecution Service in UK). Unfortunately, he had an incurable disease and shortly after being acquitted, he passed away.