4 minute read
András Posztl
COUNTRY MANAGING PARTNER OF DLA PIPER HUNGARY
BACKGROUND András Posztl has been the country managing partner of DLA Piper in Hungary since 2009. Before taking on that role, he was head of the firm’s M&A practice for five years. Posztl leads the Mergermarket league tables in Hungary based on volume of transactions in the country between 2005 and 2020. Under his leadership, DLA Piper Hungary has recently changed its client service model to a truly multidisciplinary one offering not only legal and tax, but also business advisory services. Posztl focuses on M&A in the energy and media sectors, and is ranked as a market leading corporate lawyer according to some top independent legal directories. Outside his professional career, he is passionate about his family, travelling and the arts. If he was not a lawyer, Posztl says he would like to create and manage a boutique hotel in the countryside.
OF WHICH ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? In the last 12 years, DLA Piper Hungary has grown from a mid-market firm to one of the leading law firms in the Hungarian legal market in terms of quality and complexity of services offered. Recognizing the everincreasing client demand for one-stop-shop service solutions, we also created a multi-disciplinary service offer with our tax and financial consultants.
The hard work of the DLA Piper team is reflected in many awards; the very prestigious legal directory Chambers and Partners has named us Law Firm of the Year in Hungary three times out of the last five award events, in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Our firm is ranked Tier one in 12 different categories in this and other leading independent legal directories.
Learning and development have become the essence of our day-to-day operations. Acquiring and maintaining top-notch know-how, and sharing this knowledge with all our colleagues effectively, enabling them to go above and beyond what is expected from a lawyer, is the key to future success. We ran 96 internal training sessions with 1,276 participants, a lot of whom have been registered with the Bar. As a result, our attorneys have gained 521 CDP [continuing professional development] points thus far. In terms of talent management, a highlight is the professional competition for undergraduates. This year, we had more than 140 participants. In the final we had
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the honor to be joined by the deans or deputy deans of six out of the eight top law schools in Hungary.
However, right now I am most proud of all my colleagues for working extremely hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping the same high level of performance while facing constant and new challenges, including getting used to working from home and taking part in virtual negotiations.
WHAT DREW YOU TO LAW AS A PROFESSION? A passion for the truth! That can be best experienced when practicing law. The other important factor is the intellectual challenge that comes with a career in law, this is a continuous source of inspiration. Being constantly inspired is a must when you want to be successful. It is also my mission to give back to society; during the last financial year our office has done 628 hours of pro-bono work.
HOW DID YOU PICK YOUR LEGAL SPECIALTY? Like most lawyers my age, I started out as a ‘generalist’ lawyer. My first significant international work as partner was the refinancing of the Mammut I shopping center and the financing of Mammut II, representing Eurohypo as a client. Only a few years later, when the international appetite for such M&A transactions had grown, I got more involved in M&A transactions. I have been fascinated by the complexity and delicacy of such deals since. What I enjoy most is finding the right balance between the different interests of the various parties involved in order to achieve the best commercial outcome for the client. I believe that the real success of a particular transaction is reflected by how the parties involved are not only happy when signing the contract, but are still satisfied months and years later.
WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE TO IMPROVE THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT IN HUNGARY? First of all, I would encourage further digitalization of law to make more legal services available online, introducing more digital platforms that serve lawyers and the legal profession. Access to information in the digital space could be improved, although it is important to note that we are generally on the right track.
The second is further easing the administrative burden of doing business in Hungary for entrepreneurs and investors.
Last, but not least, I would make it easier to access justice for those who cannot afford expensive lawyers.
Name of law firm DLA Piper Hungary
Name of associate non-Hungarian law firm or cooperation network DLA Piper UK LLP
Address 1124 Budapest, Csörsz utca 49–51.
Managing partner András Posztl
In charge of position since 2009
Year of Hungarian law firm's establishment 1988
No. of attorneys with license to practise in Hungary on Sept. 15, 2020 50
No. of partners of Hungarian law firm on Sept. 15, 2020 7 Partners + 3 Local Partners
