Péter Berethalmi

MANAGING PARTNER, NAGY & TRÓCSÁNYI ÜGYVÉDI IRODA

BACKGROUND Péter Berethalmi began his legal career in Szeged at Török Béla Law Offices, where he worked as an associate. In 1996, he moved to Shell Hungary in Budapest and became the legal counsel of the firm. Berethalmi joined Nagy és Trócsányi in 1996. He became a partner of the firm in 2001 and he was promoted to managing partner in 2005. His practice includes corporate M&A, real estate, commercial and regulatory. Berethalmi received his JD from József Attila University in Szeged in 1994. He has also held a Postgraduate Diploma in Laws since 2010 from The University of London International Programs.

He is married to an economist. They have two children, both of whom are secondary school students. He likes reading, traveling, he is a theater-goer, loves both classical and contemporary concerts and festivals.

OF WHICH ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? I am probably most proud of the fact that I have held a managing partner position for 15 years out of the 25 years of my legal practice with my firm. During this time, I have successfully maintained good relationships and created a network with multiple foreign international law firms. I have managed our membership in law firm networks, especially in Lex Mundi, organized various events and participated in many others. I acquired managerial skills that I had not

thought I had when I started the position and I became a problem solver, or rather a problem manager. I am proud that I became a lawyer in many ways that I dreamt about after graduation. I am now a lawyer with proper experience in handling even the most difficult transactions and matters, domestic or international. Lastly, I am also proud that I have been able to guide and mentor various junior lawyers on their way to improving their legal and technical skills; it is always a great pleasure to see them grow.

WHAT DREW YOU TO LAW AS A PROFESSION? Both my parents were lawyers: my mother spent her professional life in a lawyer cooperative (ügyvédi munkaközösség) and I saw her practicing as a private lawyer during socialism in that cooperative. Lawyers worked practically as private lawyers but were forced to work in a cooperative. Most of their work involved private individuals’ regular civil law and family law matters. Company law did not exist and commercial agreements were handled mainly by inhouse counsels of state-owned corporations or special

“I have found it interesting to gain understanding of different industries and how they do business. Business lawyers, I think, need to understand their clients’ business and commercial interest.”

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Name of law firm Nagy & Trócsányi Ügyvédi Iroda

Name of associate non-Hungarian law firm or cooperation network Lex Mundi / Yingke International

Address 1126 Budapest, Ugocsa utca 4/B

Managing partner Péter Berethalmi

In charge of position since 1996

Year of Hungarian law firm's establishment 1991

No. of attorneys with license to practise in Hungary on Sept. 15, 2020 20

No. of partners of Hungarian law firm on Sept. 15, 2020 8

counsels (jogtanácsos) who were also forced to work in cooperatives. Being a child, I thought this life was the whole of what a lawyer could achieve. Of course, when I graduated from university, life became more complex in Hungary with the economic and political changes and I decided that I wanted to work in an international environment. That is how I ended up working in a law firm heavily involved in the international business environment.

HOW DID YOU PICK YOUR LEGAL SPECIALTY AREA? I think it surprised me at the beginning that I most enjoy and feel comfortable in commercial and business matters and transactions. I have found it interesting to gain understanding of different industries and how they do business. Business lawyers, I think, need to understand their clients’ business and commercial interest. I also realized that I very much enjoy dealing with real estate matters, no matter whether those involve greenfield investment or commercial properties dealings. Most of my matters have involved business deals and real estate transactions, whether construction, development, acquisition or lease or other types.

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE TO IMPROVE THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT IN HUNGARY? I do not want to underestimate the work of the legislator and I know that there is tremendous work behind our country’s legislation. Still, in our everyday life we face, on too many occasions, uncertainty and ambiguity when it comes to the interpretation of law. There is rapid increase in the complexity of legislation, not to mention the way legal rules are formed – sometimes new rules are made in so-called “omnibus acts” when one law amends thousands of legal rules – making it increasingly difficult to keep tabs on changes in legislation. I would definitely stop this exercise and would make life easier for lawyers and citizens. In 2020, during the COVID-19 state of emergencies, fast-changing rules became an even larger problem and I only hope next year will be easier in this sense.