TOP LEGAL EXECUTIVES
ÁGNES SZENT-IVÁNY MANAGING PARTNER, SÁNDOR SZEGEDI SZENT-IVÁNY KOMÁROMI EVERSHEDS SUTHERL AND
BACKGROUND Ágnes Szent-Ivány grew up in Budapest with a younger sister. She studied law at Eötvös Loránd University and graduated summa cum laude. She started working at KONSUMEX Foreign Trading Co, and obtained a postgraduate degree in international commercial law from the Postgraduate Law Institute, ELTE Budapest. She is a wife and mother of two grown up sons, one of whom also became a lawyer. She is an avid reader, and owns several thousands books, mostly novels, but she is also interested in art, and so collects such books as well. Her favorite styles are secession (art nouveau) and art deco. Szent-Ivány is interested in architecture, especially that of Budapest, and she collects and reads books on that subject. She often attends concerts in MÜPA and the Music Academy. Szent-Ivány says she adores travelling, mostly in Europe and in the United States. She loves to go to the sea in Croatia and says her favorite country is Italy, and her number one foreign city is Rome which she tries to visit almost every year (COVID permitting). Szent-Ivány likes scuba diving and skiing, is a spinning fan and a creative cook, and has a five-year-old chocolate brown Labrador retriever dog. She has been collecting wild duck figures for many years, and now has more than 100 ducks, made of wood, copper and porcelain. OF WHICH ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? In 1987, two years before the democratic transformation, with some partners we successfully established and built
up one of the first Hungarian law firms serving international clients. I am proud of taking part in some of the most important transactions, for example the privatization of Sopron Brewery and later the legal work of listing it on the Budapest Stock Exchange, the acquisition of Csepel Power Plant, and then the construction of Csepel II Power Plant, and representing EBRD [European Bank for Reconstruction and Development] in its first financing project in Hungary, which was actually its first transaction after establishment. We demerged from the former firm in 1999 and established our current law office. It was a great moment when our Hungarian law office joined Eversheds, one of the leading international U.K. law firms in 2004. By now, Eversheds Sutherland has become a global top 10 law practice and provides legal advice and solutions to an international client base that includes some of the world’s largest multinationals. We became part of a big international team, work together
“Certain film experiences in my youth also had an effect on my interest, especially the usual ones, “12 Angry Men” by Sidney Lumet, starring Henry Fonda, and “Witness for the Prosecution” by Billy Wilder, starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton.”
day-by-day with colleagues from different jurisdictions, advice clients from around the world, and often work on projects that involve plenty of jurisdictions in the case of multinational M&A transactions or restructuring. My work was acknowledged by being promoted to managing partner of the Hungarian operation in 2013. I am also proud of having a chance to work with many young talented attorneys during the past decades, helping them in starting their successful careers. It was an honor when I became an arbitrator at the Permanent Arbitration Court attached to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2004. This fulfilled my old desire for my professional career. Since at the university I studied arbitration, I have always been interested
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