THE BILL ON THE NEW ACT ON ATTORNEYS HAS BEEN PUBLISHED

At the end of March 2017, the Hungarian Ministry of Justice published the bill of the new act on attorneys at law. The bill includes significant amendments compared to the current regulations. As a main amendment, in house lawyers preparing and countersigning the deeds of the company and acting in court proceedings on behalf of the company would be integrated in the bar association.

According to the bill, the list of activities which may be exercised by the attorneys at law is extended by insurance and employment consultancy. The attorneys at law would be obliged to participate in obligatory trainings and in case of failing this obligation, the exclusion from the bar association may be applicable as a sanction. The draft wording indicates in connection with the mandate fee that the success fee will not be enforceable before the court in case its amount exceeds the two third of the total working fee of the attorney at law. Furthermore, the minimum amount of the liability insurance of the attorneys will increase gradually up to an amount of HUF 15 million per incidental event until 31 December 2023.

In addition, the bill initiates the “double membership”, which means that the attorneys will be members of the regional bar association as well as the Hungarian Bar Association.