Legal Profession Shows no Signs of Losing Appeal in Hungary

Legal Profession Shows no Signs of Losing its Appeal in Hungary

Although sometimes it might feel that there is a practicing lawyer on every corner, market trends hint that the demand for qualified legal professionals is justified. Legal studies open up the way for a number of career options, but also provide a solid basis if you want to start down a totally different road.

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“The real question, we believe, is not the quantity but the quality of the lawyers. It is more important than ever for legal experts to be mindful of continuously building professional and entrepreneurial skills, thus amplifying the quality of the legal advice they provide.”

By Bálint Szőnyi

Interest in legal studies doesn’t seem to be dropping among youngsters; according to education portal Eduline, every 12th applicant wished to start the 2020/2021 academic year at a law school in Hungary. One key driver behind this zeal is the high social status attached to the legal profession and the much hoped-for fortune and fame associated with it. An unemployment rate of 3% among fresh graduates underlies the argument, indeed, that earning a law degree could well be your ticket to avoid economic hardship.

But where do all those law students ultimately end up, including the 4,000 that started down the road of legal education last September? According to data from the Central Statistical Office, some 56,000 people out there graduated from a law school, and six out of 10 of them hold a position in the public sector such as in the judiciary or in public administration. Public prosecution employs some 2,200 specialists, but public notaries are far fewer on the ground: Just 313 such positions exist in the country, by government decree.

Not surprisingly, the largest group of legal professionals is made up of attorneys at law, who total 12,791, as stated by the Hungarian Bar Association. Add a further 6,792 registered legal counsels, in-house, EU and trainee lawyers, and you get close to hitting the 20,000 mark. This is a large number, especially when compared to Austria with around 8,800 bar-registered attorneys and trainee lawyers for its population of 8.8 million, says Gábor Papp, head of professional development at DLA Hungary.

“So long as talented and high-performing fresh graduate lawyers can find a decent job, which is still the case, the market seems to approve the numbers. The real question, we believe, is not the quantity but the quality of the lawyers. It is more important than ever for legal experts to be mindful of continuously building professional and entrepreneurial skills, thus amplifying the quality of the legal advice they provide,” says Papp.

Erika Papp

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Zoltán Faludi

As Zoltán Faludi, partner at Wolf Theiss Faludi Erős points out, the situation is complex.

“A degree in law has always been, and hopefully will always remain, a degree with great intrinsic value,” he says. “Given the increasing demand for hybrid positions in the legal tech and other law-related industries, the creative minded surplus of Generation Z graduates also have a good chance of being employed in these sectors. All in all, there will always be a lack of talented junior colleagues who possess all, or most, of the qualities and skills that a good attorney needs to be successful in an international environment.”

Erika Papp, the managing partner at CMS, Hungary’s largest international law firm by number of licensed attorneys, sees a bright side to the oversupply issue.

“Sooner or later everyone will find their right place with a law degree, not necessarily as an attorney but maybe outside of law; for example in business, or politics,” she says.

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES One factor that might push would-be lawyers towards different paths is the fear of not having enough crossborder opportunities, a key aspect in today’s global economy. For law is primarily tied to a given country’s

Where Will the Legal Path Lead?

Not everybody starting and finishing law school fancies the idea of actually dealing with law for the rest of their life. For starters, every third law student drops out. In addition, some 12% of graduates never practice law, while 11% of them work in positions that don’t even require a university degree. It seems that, when applying, all that some want to benefit from is the unique network power a law school can provide, which comes handy subsequently.

Those who don’t find their way in the maze of legal provisions can end up in very different walks of life. Journalism is a popular option, since legal studies require lots of written assignments and oral presentations. For the same reason, many others excel as commercial copy writers. But the real estate or education fields also attract legally educated talent as well.

As to whether a career change in the legal field is typical, opinions differ. Erika Papp’s impression is that it doesn’t happen often.

“The main career move that we routinely see lawyers make is between private practice and in-house work. Sometimes our lawyers develop such strong working relationships with our clients and their businesses that it becomes a natural progression for them to move inhouse full-time,” she points out.

“Alternatively, sometimes lawyers come to CMS from in-house roles looking for new opportunities and variety and it is incredibly valuable for us to add this

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legal system, which is set to limit worker mobility. However, as Erika Papp stresses, law is becoming more and more cross-border, at least within the European Union, due to the increasing level of legal harmonization within the bloc.

“Of course, there are smaller and bigger nuances in how a member state implements EU law, but EU law creates an overarching common knowledge and understanding for lawyers,” she says. Specific areas, such as financial contract law, are also of a universal nature, and some parts of mergers and acquisitions, media, technology and general commercial agreements look very much alike around the world too.

“Therefore, whilst it is true that the legal profession is unfortunately not universal and cannot be practiced based on a single law degree in multiple countries, if a lawyer specializes in one of these fields of law, that knowledge may be portable,” she concludes.

The European Union and other international organizations provide a natural destination for those seeking professional challenges in a multicultural environment. Pursuing a master’s degree in law, known by the initials LL.M, could further serve as a springboard. WHO GOES WHERE?

Law students 4,000

Public notaries 313

Law graduates 56,000

Public prosecution 2,200

Attorneys-at-law 12,791

BBJ Infographic Legal counsel, inhouse, and trainee lawyers 6,792

Judges 2,830

Sources: Association of Public Prosecutors, Hungarian Bar Association, KSH, National Courts Authority

industry experience and commercial perspective into our team mix,” she says.

Other have different experiences, however. Wolf Theiss has found that changing careers within the legal profession is not unusual amongst attorneys working in larger international law firms.

“Many times we see excellent senior lawyers elected or requested to participate (or lead) as leaders of private or government bodies. Some of the senior members of leading international law firms are also active arbitrators,” Faludi says.

Younger colleagues frequently switch for more “future-proof” or less demanding jobs. A newly emerged field, “legal tech” that combines legal and technical knowledge, further offers an exciting alternative.

According to DLA Piper, the myth of no trespassing between business and civil service is fading. Law graduates now have the option to choose from a wide range of legal professions and picking one to start with does not mean a commitment for life. Employers, too, are getting used to this.

“At DLA Piper, we explicitly encourage our Talent Pool members (undergrad law student paralegals) to leave us behind after 3-6 months and try to test as many legal professions and career options during their university years as possible. This is the only way to be enabled to make the right choice for the start of their career,” explains Gábor Papp.

“For those coming back to us later, we can be sure that a true commitment exists, and they know what they are signing up for. Our career path is no longer set in stone and it is up to us whether we keep an eye on new, different opportunities. We’d better not be shy about it.”

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“Alternatively, the legal industry creates a growing number of ‘out-of-the-box’ roles which are more mobile, such as change makers and knowledge management professionals, who often are qualified lawyers but choose to suspend their practice to take on future-proofing their organization.”

As Faludi says, among other things, it gives one the chance to “experience law from the side of business cases rather than textbook examples, as well as to apply for positions requiring general legal expertise in the country where the LL.M. course takes place.”

GLOBAL VIEW International law firms generally offer overseas placement programs for their attorneys, Faludi adds. “Wolf Theiss also operates such a program and regularly seconds colleagues to the practice groups of other offices in the CEE Region.”

Gábor Papp supports the argument that working for an international law firm offers a global perspective.

“It is no longer the realm of sci-fi that you can work as closely with a colleague from Luxembourg or Hong Kong as you interact with the guy sitting next to you in the office in Budapest. Alternatively, the legal industry creates a growing number of ‘out-of-the-box’ roles which are more mobile, such as change makers and knowledge management professionals, who are often qualified lawyers but choose to suspend their practice to take on future-proofing their organization,” he explains.

Lawyers who do stick to their chosen profession can keep pace if they keep their eyes open. Areas with the most potential and need for expertise include intellectual property, data protection, pharma, energy as well as restructuring and financial law, according to experts we have spoken to.

As Richard Susskind, lawyer futurist and advisor to DLA Piper International puts it, we are advancing into a post-professional society. The true success factor in the legal industry is based on the ability of the expert to become a trusted advisor. Those legal professionals who are willing to continuously learn and upskill, whilst listening closely to what their clients need, will generate the success stories of the coming years.

Gábor Papp

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Taming Generation Z

Noémi Radnai

Law firms are known to have rather conservative structures, and with Generation Z leaving university in droves, their impact is soon to be felt. As Noémi Radnai, knowledge development lawyer at DLA Piper Hungary explains, the real changes are expected to happen when clients with Gen Z representatives seek advice from Generation X and Y partner-led law firms.

“That could be a similar moment for Gen Z attorneys to step up, as it was for Western university-trained Generation X partners in the 1990s,” she says. Positioning learning and development high on the strategic agenda not only benefits both employees and employers but can contribute significantly to producing higher client satisfaction rates, a clear win-win.

At DLA, the belief is that all generations bring something valuable to the table. “Our latest generation of lawyers are dynamic and engaged, and we really value their ideas and commitment to our corporate social responsibility initiatives,” Radnai says.

“There is an increased focus on the importance of flexible or agile working and firm efforts surrounding sustainability, as well as an increased desire for diversity and inclusion. We aim to create a workplace where all our people can maximize their potential and thrive,” she adds.

Wolf Theiss has its own impressions of Generation Z. As Faludi sees it, the latest generation see the world as a vast and borderless digital playground where becoming famous or making money through creating video content or coding an app allows one to almost instantly acquire wealth in a self-employed setup, with no strict hierarchy and unprecedented freedom.

“This generation has a completely different view of the requirements of our industry and naturally demand more freedom and a more pronounced ‘work/life balance’ and respect for their free time,” he says.

They are also accustomed to change and are more casual when it comes to switching jobs or moving abroad for a prospective opportunity, Faludi adds. These attributes and differences in attitudes are very apparent when it comes to what senior and junior staff understand to be the precise meaning behind the words “commitment” and “dedication.”

These candidates tend to give up more easily but are also more articulate about their needs within the workplace. Therefore, finding a common language and creating a contemporary working environment is a constant challenge for the leaders of these international law firms.

However, when it comes to competence and skill, there appears to be no change in the overall quality of junior colleagues. The choices to specialize have grown vastly and those students that wish to collect experience and become the best in their class have great chances of doing so, even during their university years.

“We also take pride in tutoring ambitious students and have constant ongoing paid internship programs organized at our Budapest office to allow them to experience the atmosphere of our everyday challenges and victories,” Faludi concludes.