Practice Areas

My Law Firm’s activities are concentrated in the field of classic Civil Law and Economic Law, within which we undertake the drafting and countersigning of documents, the preparation of opinions, and the representation of Clients in litigious and non-litigious proceedings in the following areas.

Corporate Law

Foundation and amendment of companies, mergers and acquisitions, syndicate agreements, bankruptcy-, liquidation and voluntary winding-up proceedings.

Legal advice for foreign and domestic companies in connection with their investments in Hungary and their day-to-day operation on the domestic market. Every stage of the life cycle of a legal entity deserves attention from a legal point of view, in order to ensure the enforcement and protection of the economic interests of the owners and the lawful operation of the legal entity, both in terms of establishment and day-to-day operations, as well as in the event of a possible restructuring or in an unexpected situation of threatening insolvency. As a result of digital development, corporate documents and contracts can be signed and countersigned not only in the meeting room of my Office, but also by remote identification and remote acceptance procedure, via videocall. We prepare all Corporate and Company Law documents – based on individual needs – in English and/or German in addition to Hungarian.

Examples of Corporate and Company Law activities:

- Foundation of companies: Consulting even before the establishment of the business company, consideration of legal consequences, preparation of risk analyses, consultation with the participation of an accountant where appropriate, preparation of a legal opinion on the company form that best suits your ideas. Depending on your choice, we will handle the legal tasks related to company establishment, in person or completely online.
- Registration of changes: Flexible management of changes occurring in the life of the company (change of registered seat and other public information, change of chief executive officers, capital increase, capital decrease, quota sale and purchase and transfer, etc.).
- Corporate documentation: Contributing to the organization of various corporate legal events (shareholders’ meetings, general meetings, board meetings, supervisory board meetings), preparing minutes and other related corporate legal documents in English and/or German in addition to Hungarian.
- M&A, Due Diligence: I can provide a helping hand in 3 languages during joint venture negotiations, transactions related to company takeovers and the related legal due diligence, either on the seller’s or on the buyer’s side, whether it is a share deal or an asset deal.
- Transformation (change of forms, mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, spin-off-mergers): My Office also manages more complex registration of changes procedures for companies, be it the transformation of Hungarian or EU companies.
- Reorganization, liquidation, voluntary winding-up procedure: There are ups and downs in the life of companies, and legal support is especially important during the latter period. During reorganization in bankruptcy proceedings, there is still hope for a fresh start, so choosing the best solution requires special expertise and thought. The final closing of the company can be done in several ways, but whether it is liquidation or a simple voluntary winding-up procedure, due to shareholders’ liability, it is advisable to consult a lawyer during the procedure, but especially before important decisions.
- Business and syndicate agreements: A company’s network is determined not only by the market position or capital strength of the partners, but also by the content of the concluded business agreements. My Office undertakes both reviewing and commenting on agreements, as well as writing them, including the most favorable terms from the point of view of the legal environment and the given business model.
- Business Plan: Business planning is essential for every business, whether it’s a cost calculation written on a post-it note or a multi-page, well-thought-out, structured business plan from an economic point of view. I can help you compile the latter.

Real Estate Law

Sale and purchase, donation, exchange, lease, land use, condominium cases, property protection, land development.

Comprehensive advice for my Clients in all areas of Real Estate Law, be they purchase and/or sale, lease, project financing transactions or condominium matters. As a result of digital development, the contracts can be signed and countersigned not only in the meeting room of my Office, but also by remote identification and remote acceptance procedure, via videocall. The real estate documents are prepared in English and/or German, in addition to Hungarian, upon request.

Examples of Real Estate Law activities:

Sale and purchase, exchange, donation: I am at your disposal with my outstanding Real Estate Law experience gained on the Budapest real estate market, if you are buying or selling real estate (or otherwise wish to transfer/acquire ownership rights) and prefer fast and efficient (even completely online) administration. If you want a complex Real Estate Law service, please use the real estate agency services of my Law Firm. Namely, the Dr. Réka Katona Law Firm is the member of , the network of lawyers who carry out real estate agency activities. The interview taken with dr. Réka Katona managing attorney-at-law when entering the franchise network is available here. Further news and interesting facts in the field of real estate brokerage and real estate law: https://ugyvedhazak.hu/en/blog.
Lease: Whether you want more serious legal protection as a Landlord or as a Tenant, my Office, knowing the risks of both sides, prepares the contract specifically tailored to the given rental relationship, with knowledge of the background legislation.
Property protection, land development: The owner is entitled to property protection if he or she is deprived of his/her property without a legal basis or if his/her possession is disturbed without a legal basis. Within one year, he/she may ask the notary to restore the original state of ownership or to eliminate the disturbance, who decides on the issue with a decision (possessorius protection of property based on the fact of possession). The party who considers the notary’s decision on property protection to be prejudicial may request the court to change the decision in a lawsuit against the other party within fifteen days of the delivery of the decision (petitorius protection of property based on a comparison of the legal title to possession). An alternative way of arranging the borders of the plot of land – often for the purpose of real estate development – is the plot development procedure (plot division, merging of plots, settlement of plot boundaries, redistribution of plot groups). Neighbouring, ownership and property relations can therefore be of various kinds, the point is to find the most effective legal solution possible to settle them with the assistance of an attorney-at-law.
Real estate development, Construction Law, Condominiums: If you are a real estate developer and embark on a project, you will need legal assistance in many aspects of it (licensing, establishment of condominiums, sale and purchase, lease, support of common representation). I obtained my practical knowledge of Real Estate Development Law as an attorney-at-law participating in Budapest’s larger volume, District V, District II and District XII real estate development projects.

Inheritance Law

Drafting of Last Wills and Testaments, representation in inheritance procedures, inheritance-, maintenance- and life annuity contracts.

I confess that everyone must arrange what he or she wishes to do in his/her lifetime, and must not rely only on law or chance. Whether it’s a donation or a will, we always try to find the safest solution for you. As a result of digital development, the contracts can be signed and countersigned not only in the meeting room of my Office, but also by remote identification and remote acceptance procedure, via videocall. The documents are prepared in English and/or German, in addition to Hungarian.

Examples of Inheritance Law activities:

Full legal representation in inheritance proceedings (with particular regard to inheritance proceedings concerning real estate) from the preparation of an inventory to the transfer of the estate in full force.
Litigious and non-litigious representation in inheritance disputes.
Preparation and deposit of Last Wills and Testaments.
Drafting and countersigning of various Inheritance Law contracts (e.g. provisions on expected inheritance, donation in case of death, inheritance-, maintenance- and life annuity contracts).

Employment Law

Consultancy, employment contracts, termination of employment relationships, employment bylaws, litigious and non-litigious representation.

My Law Firm’s Labour Law activities cover the entire spectrum of Labour Law with its services, from the establishment of the employment relationship to its termination, from outsourcing, Labour Law successions, restructuring to collective redundancies, but this also includes participation in negotiations with trade unions or legal representation in Labour Law disputes. In addition to Hungarian, we prepare Employment Law documents in English and/or German.

Examples of Labour Law activities:

- Employment Contracts: Preparation of contracts for employees and managers, as well as related labour law and data protection information and job descriptions.
- Employment Law documentation: Preparation of collective agreements, Rules of Organization and Operation, other (e.g. Cafeteria) regulations and carrying on preliminary negotiations.
- Legal representation: Representation of employers during their legal disputes against their employees and representation of employees during their legal disputes against their employers.
- Legal advice for the preparation of important employer decisions (e.g. mutual consent, termination, termination with immediate effect, collective agreement and amendment of Rules of Organization and Operation).
- Termination of employment relationship: Preparing employees’ or employers’ termination notices; preparation for the termination of the employment relationship by mutual consent, representation during negotiations.

Debt collection

Out-of-court enforcement, dispute resolution.

If you owe or are owed money, despite the unpleasantness of the situation, you have many options to settle the claim with the other party out of court (e.g. installment agreement, postponement, mitigation). If you are a creditor and communication with the other party has not led to results, in this case you should use the services of my Office. Debt collection begins with a notice from a lawyer, which we send to the debtor, and we make an attempt to settle the debt collection out of court by clarifying the legitimacy of the claim and the legal consequences. In case this attempt fails, we will enforce your claim by means of a payment order, liquidation procedure or litigation. The initiation of various legal procedures does not preclude you from reaching an agreement at any stage of them, which is the most important thing in this situation, in my opinion.

Litigation

Litigation representation in court in all of the previous areas of law.

As a first step, I definitely recommend an out-of-court settlement and its preparation, and I will help with this. Of course, it may also happen that the legal dispute cannot be resolved peacefully, only before the court (be it the regular court or arbitration). In such case I am also available to represent my clients in civil-, commercial- and labour law matters.

My Law Firm also provides full legal representation in proceedings before public administrative authorities, as well as in front of administrative courts in the case of challenging the decisions of public administrative authorities during administrative lawsuits.

Intellectual Property Rights

Trademarks, designs, usage contracts, copyright matters, e-commerce.

The human mind is the most important creative resource that exists in today’s world and that we can possess. Perhaps the most valuable treasure is the resulting intellectual product, whether it takes the form of a revolutionary new invention, a creative advertising idea or an artistic work that enchants the given moment. However, in addition to the creative work, the appropriate legal protection of the completed intellectual work is at least as important.

License and usage agreements: Copyright protection is established by law when the author creates the work. Since copyright belongs to the author even when he or she has not received special legal protection or has not been registered in a public register, a complicated legal situation may arise in the event of a copyright dispute. Copyright is attached to the so-called property rights which, unlike copyright, are transferable, such as e.g. the right to adapt, publicly perform or reproduction. The transfer of these property rights is intended to be regulated by the usage contracts. In addition, the so-called copyright-related adjacent legal performances are also protected, i.e. performances by musicians, actors, sound recordings, and programs of radio and television stations. Whether it’s a “minor right” or “major right” question, please feel free to contact me.
Trademark, patent, design: If the development of your company’s product is finished and your product can be sold, or if you have developed a new mechanical-technical solution that reaches the level of a patent, your priority will be protection against your competitors before entering the market. The most important feature of an inventive trademark is that consumers immediately recognize who owns the trademark and in connection with which goods or services it is used. The time has come for you to take care of the appropriate legal protection related to your logo and brand, in which my Office will fully assist you.
E-commerce and Domain Law: E-commerce is the sale of products and services electronically. E-commerce Law is one of the most dynamically developing branches of law today, and it is also related to many other areas of law: Consumer Protection Law, Competition Law, Trademark Law, Data Protection Law and general Civil Law.

Data Protection Law

GDPR compliance, data protection audit, data protection documentation.

When protecting our personal data, we must always act with maximum care. Even before the direct application of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR – Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016) on the 25th of May 2018, I considered it extremely important to provide my Clients with appropriate legal advice also in the area of Data Protection Law. In today’s fast-paced world, data protection is perhaps one of the most important tools for protecting our private sphere and our interests: for the individual to decide on the registration and use of data that can be linked to his/her person, and for the companies that employ employees to operate legally in compliance with the basic principles of the right to self-determination.

GDPR compliance, impact assessment, data protection audit: A complex inspection for companies performing data management, as a result of which we get a complete picture of the legality of the company’s data management. During the data protection audit, we map the company’s data management activities, paying special attention to the range of data managed, the range of data subjects and the transmission of data. During data protection legal assignments, we pay special attention to the case-by-case decisions and resolutions of the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, as well as the case decisions and opinions of the (EU) Data Protection Working Group (according to Article 29 of the former Data Protection Directive).
Data protection documentation: The GDPR and sectoral legislation require data controllers to have a number of documents and records. If necessary, we will prepare the related data protection regulations (e.g. incident management and document management regulations, data protection regulations related to employment relationship and business activities), according to your request, in English and/or German in addition to Hungarian. Data protection documentation is only the first step in legal compliance, but good practice must be incorporated into all data management processes of the company.