The main practice areas of the Law Office have been changing throughout the years. In the beginning, legal representation in civil lawsuits and criminal cases were in the focus, which was gradually replaced by the representation of foreign – in particular, German and Austrian – companies and banks in various legal proceedings.
Currently, the main legal practice areas of the Law Office include the following:
- General legal advice
Assisting the clients with legal advice mainly in real estate, business investments, company law, debt recovery and inheritance matters. Provided that dr. Tamás Erdősy, the managing attorney of the Law Office speaks fluent English, German and Russian, communication with clients may be also carried out in any of these languages without the need to resort to costly interpreters.
Generally, legal advisory services are provided on personal meetings, – rarely over the phone – however, clients may choose to request legal advice via email as well.
- Preparation of legal documents
The Law Office has a strong focus on drafting legal documentation regarding the sale and purchase of real property and the representation of clients in related legal proceedings.
In Hungary, the transfer of ownership title of a real property (e.g., house, apartment, plot, land registered as agricultural land or forestry) must be based on a notarial deed or a legal document countersigned by an attorney-at-law. Such formalities are likewise necessary in case of registration / deregistration of any other right or obligation concerning real property (e.g., usufruct right) in / from the Land Registry.
The most common contract type in real property transactions is the sale and purchase agreement, however, there are numerous other contract types, such as the gift contract, exchange contract, agreement on the termination of joint ownership, etc.
The Law Office also prepares other types of legal documents besides contracts concerning real property transactions, such as: deed of foundation of condominium, agreement on the partitioning of marital property, maintenance agreement, life-annuity contract, works contract, mandate agreement, lease agreement (e.g., related to the lease of a house or apartment) and other agreements on request.
Special attention should be made to the legal documentation and legal representation in relation to the transfer of the ownership title of real properties qualified as agricultural land based on the Act on agricultural and forestry land trade, which may be subject to further authorization of the competent Hungarian authorities.
- Company law – general corporate matters, company establishment, representation before the Court of Registry (registration / amendment procedures), preparation of related legal documents, voluntary liquidation
- Inheritance law – preparation of will, legal representation in domestic and cross-border inheritance proceedings
The European Certificate of Succession shall be highlighted among the inheritance matters as a special European succession proceeding based on the new European succession regulation of the EU enacted on 17 August 2015. The Law Firm assist Hungarian and foreign clients who fall under the EU succession regulation with legal support in the course of the overall proceeding, e.g., the request of the certificate. As part of the legal support, the Law Firm represents foreign successors in inheritance procedures before Hungarian notaries. In other cases the Law Firm represents Hungarian and foreign clients before the competent foreign notary / court and then represents the successors before Hungarian authorities, such as the Land Registry, banks or other authorities.
- Debt recovery, legal representation in enforcement procedures
As part of this service, the Law Firm also represents clients in the enforcement of decisions delivered by foreign courts.
- Immigration cases
The law firm undertakes full representation in relation to the stay in Hungary in the post Brexit cases (residence permit, starting a business in Hungary, etc.)
The Law Firm prepares all legal documents in Hungarian, German, English and Russian languages in a consolidated form. Therefore, there is no need for the translation of documents and no additional costs incur in this respect for the client.
Important news is that based on the new Attorney Act, clients can also sign legal documents before the attorney-at-law remotely via telecommunication measures without the need of a personal meeting in the law office. Such telecommunication measure may be Skype, which is audited by the Hungarian Attorney Association. Even new clients can choose to sign the legal documents remotely. In this case the attorney identifies the new client on a Skype meeting and the client signs the document in front of the camera. The identification / signing procedure is recorded and the record is retained by the attorney-at-law in line with the applicable data protection and document retention regulations.