Top 50 Legal Businesses 2023 Sample

EXECUTIVES

The Most Influential Legal Executives in Hungary 2023

Legal Businesses

H U F 6,9 9 0 • E U R 18

TOP 50

Content Foreword LEGAL MARKET TALK Highlights, Predictions, Wish Lists and Competition WJP: Hungary Worst Ranked Country in Region on Rule of Law Kinstellar Celebrates its 15th Anniversary LEGAL EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHIES Gergely Bán Sándor Békési Tibor Bihary János Burai-Kovács Jr. Levente Csengery Balázs Dominek Zoltán Faludi Ákos Fehérváry Tamás Felsmann Kristóf Ferenczi Dániel Gera Péter Göndöcz Andrea Jádi Németh Pál Jalsovszky József Kapolyi Gábor Király Oliver Koppany Márton Kovács Orsolya Kovács Zsolt Lajer Levente Lajos Balázs Lohn Zoltán Nádasdy András Nemescsói Dániel Ódor Miklós Orbán Erika Papp

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Tamás Polauf János Rausch Sándor Sárközy Iván Sefer Iván Sólyom Gergely Stanka Eszter Szakács Katalin Szamosi Tibor Szántó István Szatmáry András Szecskay Ágnes Szent-Ivány Róbert Szuchy Bálint Tóásó Erika Tomori Dóra Tuczai Réka Versics LAW FIRM BUSINESS CARDS LEGAL COMPANY LISTINGS Law Firms With International Affiliations

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Published in 2023 • EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Robin Marshall • CONTRIBUTORS: Annamária Bálint, Mihály Kovács, Csilla Lengyel, Robin Marshall • LISTS: BBJ Research (research@bbj.hu) • NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES: Should be submitted in English to news@bbj.hu • LAYOUT: Zsolt Pataki • COVER PHOTO: Stock Studio 4477 / Shutterstock.com • PUBLISHER: Tamás Botka, Business Publishing Services Kft. • Address: Madách Trade Center, 1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13-14. • Telephone +36 (1) 398-0344, Fax +36 (1) 398-0345, • ADVERTISING: AMS Services Kft. • CEO: Balázs Román • SALES: sales@bbj.hu • CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTIONS: circulation@bbj.hu • www.budapestbusinessjournal.com • ISSN 3004-0914

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TOP 50 EXECUTIVES IN LEGAL BUSINESSES

Foreword The legal profession finds itself in a fascinating period, and that’s as true in Hungary as in any other country. As a publishing house, we specialize in business information, and you don’t need me to tell you that the development and application of the law are pivotal to how commerce is done.

Businesses love stability and predictability. But you could be forgiven for thinking that it is in short supply.

The Hungarian government has a proclivity to change laws at the drop of a hat (and the two-thirds majority in parliament that allows it to do so with ease), but park that to one side for the moment, for we are in a period of flux.

There is the European Commission’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), under which companies must publish information in a dedicated section of their company management reports. This will cover environmental matters (including science-based targets, the EU Taxonomy and climate risk-related reporting); social issues and the treatment of employees; respect for human rights; anti-corruption and bribery; and diversity in company boards. To facilitate much of this, European Sustainability Reporting Standards are being developed. In not unrelated news, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) will come into force next year, requiring manufacturers to pay for the packaging that they use.

These are not insignificant changes, but looming over all of this is something that affects almost all market sectors: the digital revolution. There can be few in the modern workforce who do not wonder what the future might hold for them. Will they even have a job a decade down the line? Some of that may apply to the legal profession, but most of the leading lawyers we have spoken with while putting this publication together take a more positive view. AI is already making an impact in cross-referencing vast numbers of documents and speeding up the processes of fact-checking, translating, and building transaction templates. Digitization means online access is replacing physical data rooms. This frees up time for attorneys to concentrate on what they do best: thinking

about how they can get creative with the law while increasingly also applying a business mindset to serve their commercial clients better. Perhaps the one concern here is that time in the data room was not only a right of passage for lawyers, alongside long nights and endless cups of coffee; it was also a vital element in giving trainees and junior associates a knowledge bank on which to build a career.

Lawyers, along with business leaders and policymakers, will also have a crucial role in thinking about how we build the guardrails to move forward with AI. What should and should not be permissible, what are the ethical considerations, and what happens with the intellectual property of something “created” by artificial general intelligence (AGI)? These are far-reaching conversations, but they must be had now before the legislation can be formulated.

All of the above are near universal experiences, but Hungary also has some specific factors in play, not least the ongoing negotiations with the European Commission about rule of law issues that have seen EU funding held back. According to the commission’s 2023 Rule of Law Report for Hungary, published on July 5 of this year: “Legal certainty has been undermined by the unpredictable regulatory environment and the extensive and prolonged use of the government’s emergency powers, also interfering with the operation of businesses in the single market. [...]

The ineffective implementation by state authorities of the judgments of European courts remains a source of concern.

No steps have been taken to remove obstacles affecting civil society organizations, which remain under pressure.”

Clearly, the EC and Hungary still have some way to go to reach an accommodation. For the sake of everyone involved, we must hope they get there soon.

Robin Marshall MBE, Editor-in-chief Budapest Business Journal

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LEGAL MARKET TALK

LEGAL EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHIES

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LAW FIRM BUSINESS CARDS

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LEGAL LISTINGS