5 minute read
Iván Sefer
BACKGROUND Iván Sefer is the head of EY LAW Hungary, which is a full-service law firm with more than 30 employees. He is listed as a Band / Tier 1 banking and finance lawyer by Chambers and Partners and by Legal 500. His primary focus is complex transactional and regulatory matters in the fields of banking and finance, M&A, capital markets and restructurings. Sefer holds a law degree from Pázmány Péter Catholic University, as well as a degree in comparative law from Université Robert Schuman. He is a member of the Budapest Bar and is also admitted to practice as a solicitor in England and Wales.
OF WHICH ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? Law is clearly a people business and success can be defined by the strength of relationships, both in terms of clients and colleagues. I generally try to assess these two aspects, and this is the main metric of my professional pride.
I spent my formative years at one of the largest and most successful international law firms in Hungary and had the opportunity to learn from some of the best and brightest lawyers on the market. This was learning-on-the-job at its best, as the skills and working methods learned helped me throughout my entire career so far.
What was unique in my case is that the I had the opportunity to step away from the tried and tested model and to challenge myself working at a non-traditional legal service provider: a Big 4 firm. The decision to leave what I considered to be the big leagues for uncharted waters was a very difficult one and was not without considerable risks. However, in hindsight, this was one of the better decisions that I made. Working closely, on a daily basis, with some of the most respected tax, financial and audit professionals, I learned to look at the legal services business from a completely different perspective. I could step away from the over specialization of large law firms and take a bird’s
eye view of the law legal market and the corresponding client demands. I also had the chance to establish my own management theory, often by analyzing and working on initial instincts that I had. This, in turn, allowed me to build a team which I believe is optimized for the current market reality. I am very grateful for those clients who believed in me and followed me throughout my journey. I believe that the shared history and the understanding of their business gives us an edge and enables us to service them in the way they really want to be serviced. I am very proud of the team I was able to recruit and retain. I frequently hear that we have a strong reputation in terms of being hardworking, technically sound, energetic, approachable and business-minded. I think this is exactly the image we want to project and receiving this input makes me very proud.
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Name of law firm Vámosi-Nagy Ernst & Young Ügyvédi Iroda
Name of associate non-Hungarian law firm or cooperation network Ernst & Young Law GmbH
Address 1132 Budapest, Váci út 20.
Head of Law Office Iván Sefer
In charge of position since 2016
Year of Hungarian law firm's establishment 2010
No. of attorneys with license to practise in Hungary on Sept. 15, 2020 17
No. of partners of Hungarian law firm on Sept. 15, 2020 4
WHAT DREW YOU TO LAW AS A PROFESSION? As stated, I think of the law as being one of the most typical people businesses. I always felt that I am one of those people to whom relationships mean a great deal. Due to this the choice was relatively simple: I wanted to go into a profession where I would have the chance to connect with a wide range of people, preferably on an international level. Foreign languages and cultures always interested me, and I was absolutely looking forward to traveling on business, as well as spending time on secondments and international assignments. I also always enjoyed the creative thinking aspect of law, as things are generally not black or white, and there is significant room for constructing arguments and defending them. This is a never-ending intellectual challenge, which allows for continuous motivation and prevents from monotony setting in.
HOW DID YOU PICK YOUR LEGAL SPECIALTY AREA? The interesting thing is that I think my specialty area picked me as opposed to the other way around. I always felt that I would want to do something transactional, where there would be complex, multi-party discussions, preferably on an international level. I also gravitated towards a “deal-making” type of dynamism, as opposed to the perceived binarity of litigation (where you either win or lose). Due to this, my clear preference was joining a respected M&A or banking and finance team. The opportunity to interview for a job at Hungary’s most respected banking and finance team arose due to a blind stroke of luck; it came to be over a chat at a bar with a French lawyer who was really happy to meet a young aspiring trainee able to hold a (very) basic conversation in French. At the interview things seemed to click, I like to think both ways. There was no question that I “came home” and this was what I wanted to become good at. I absolutely enjoyed that I was doing something which was a niche business, working on concepts not regulated and tested under Hungarian law, and that I could point to buildings all over the country and take a sense of pride in the fact that I was involved in the financing of it. This really connected the theory to the reality and was very exciting for someone starting his career in law.
WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE TO IMPROVE THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT IN HUNGARY? I think that despite a lot of lip service, the industry is definitely lagging way behind in terms of new technology. We do not use AI or automation to a fraction of its potential. I think most lawyers would confirm that client demands have changed, more to-the-point and commercial advice is required nowadays. Despite this, little has changed in terms of how law firms are structured and operate. This is a significant discrepancy and I think that lawyers need to move quicker in this respect. Also, I think that the Hungarian legal environment remains way too formalistic. There are loads of examples: the entire notarization process, the formal requirements of the land registries, the sheer amount of documentation required for corporate maintenance etc. I think that lawyers and the bar should definitely strive towards simplification and digitalization. Sticking to archaic structures will not change the direction the world is moving in; it will simply result in a profession that is out-of-touch with reality.
