Welcome to White & Case LLP's Budapest office Graduate Recruitment page. The purpose of this page is to assist you with the application process and to provide you with answers to questions you may have about our Firm's culture and hiring process. Find out for yourself why White & Case is the right law firm for you.

Why White & Case?

White & Case is a leading global law firm with lawyers in 38 offices in 26 countries. Among the first US-based law firms to establish a truly global presence, we provide counsel and representation in virtually every area of law that affects cross-border business. Our clients value both the breadth of our global network and depth of our US, English and local law capabilities in each of our regions, and rely on us for their complex cross-border transactions, arbitration and litigation provided by our global practices. Whether in established or emerging markets, the hallmark of White & Case is our complete dedication to the business priorities and legal needs of our clients.

Needless to say, our global success is due to the quality of the people we employ. At White & Case, we will offer you one of the best learning environments in the profession, one in which you will be challenged to grow through a wide range of learning experiences. Our commitment to professionalism and service is what drives us. White & Case understands that the professional and service excellence we offer to our clients is dependent on building the right culture and work environment to attract the very best. At White & Case, it begins with you.

White & Case in Hungary

Our Focus

The White & Case's Budapest office offers dynamic, sophisticated legal services, partnering with clients to advance their interests in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). With offices in key regional hubs and dedicated experts across the Firm who focus on the largest and fastest growing jurisdictions, such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Turkey, our Budapest office understands the unique aspects of doing business in emerging markets and brings global breadth and local depth to our clients' most exciting opportunities and challenging disputes.

Leading benchmark publications regularly recognize the strength of our office and the Firm in CEE. For instance, International Finance Law Review (IFLR) named us Hungarian Law Firm of the Year 2005, and Legal 500 Europe, Middle East & Africa recognized us as "among the three firms that have the longest histories of consistent involvement in the cream of domestic and international businesses in the country." Also, we were named Law Firm of the Year in Central Europe 2009 by ACQ Finance Magazine, Top International Law Firm 2008 by Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms, and Eastern European Law Firm of the Year 2007 by Chambers Global.

Some of the world's largest corporations, as well as preeminent investment banks and sovereign governments rely on our office to provide advice on opportunities and to resolve difficult challenges. The Budapest office offers our clients access to a wide range of legal experience, including: 

• mergers and acquisitions, private equity and joint ventures; 
• energy, infrastructure and project finance; 
• dispute resolution and counselling; 
• telecommunications, media and technology; 
• EU and competition advisory; 
• real estate; 
• tax; 
• environmental; 
• employment; 
• banking and financial services; 
• capital markets; and 
• intellectual property.

Cutting Edge Work

The appeal of White & Case in Budapest extends beyond the diversity of our practices. What really matters is the cutting edge work you will be involved with. By implication, you will inevitably become involved in groundbreaking work.

We are innovators and used to handling "firsts" in the legal arena. For example, in what was the first leveraged buy-out (LBO) in the Baltic region, as well as one of the largest LBOs in Central Europe to date, we advised private equity firm Mid Europa Partners in its €0.45 billion acquisition of Baltic mobile operator Bité from Danish company TDC, and on the financing for the deal.

In addition, we provided US, English, and Hungarian law advice in connection with the two most significant bond offerings in Hungary, comprising the first ever pay-in-kind note (PIK) offering in CEE, and the second Floating Rate Note offering in CEE (and the first ever by a Hungarian entity), involving bonds with a face value in excess of €340 million.

We are often involved in precedent-setting matters. White & Case won a key Constitutional Court victory on behalf of major pharmaceutical market players Bayer Hungária, Schering, Solvay Pharma and Boehringer Ingelheim. We filed a claim before the Constitutional Court arguing that a recent 15% price cut and price freeze on all pharmaceuticals in the Hungarian market was unconstitutional. Our request for a priority procedure resulted in the Constitutional Court annulling the Government Decree, ruling that the government had exceeded its legislative powers. This was all accomplished in record time of less than two months; usually Constitutional Court rulings take two to three years.

Additionally, our office is often called upon to provide an analysis of a range of industry regulations and laws and the drafting of proposed amendments in connection with such regulations and laws.

Finally, we are often involved in infrastructure projects that directly impact the community. We have advised the lenders to the M5 motorway project in Hungary since 1994, the outset of the project, and have advised on the initial construction, development and financing of the motorway, as well as several extensions of the motorway and refinancings.

Professional Development Programs

Essay Contests

As part of our commitment to excellence, we are proud to offer essay contests to third-year law students attending a law school in Hungary or postgraduate students who have completed their law degree in Hungary and who are interested in pursuing their career in the telecom, finance or corporate fields.

Cash prizes are awarded to the top three finalists. One of these finalists might even be awarded a traineeship contract with our office. Two of our former finalists are currently working with us.

Mentors

We are committed to recruiting the right people and equally committed to helping them develop into well respected legal professionals. Our mentor system is a key element of our associate training and development. As a junior associate, you will have two mentors: a mid-level or senior associate; and a partner. Your mentor's role is to periodically monitor your skill development, to evaluate your workload, to ensure that you are getting the type of work and experience you seek, and to offer advice to help guide the development of your career. In addition to formal mentors, our junior associates quickly develop a vast network of informal mentoring relationships, which provide them with valuable insight and guidance throughout their career.

Pro Bono

We use our professional skills to help people in need and improve access to justice. We believe we have a responsibility to do so.

Our lawyers, including our junior lawyers, work on a wide range of pro bono initiatives, from assisting large multi-national organizations, including the World Wildlife Foundation, the United Way and Habitat for Humanity to providing advice to local groups in need of our services, such as Hajlék Misszió Nappali Ellátó (Homeless Mission Day Care Center), Hungary's leading food bank for homeless persons, and the Baráthegyi Foundation, a non-profit school that trains guide dogs for blind persons. Recently, at the request of the Baráthegyi Foundation, which is lobbying the Hungarian government to introduce laws promoting the training of guide dogs, a team of our lawyers conducted an extensive analysis of the laws concerning guide dog training across multiple nearby jurisdictions and drafted a report summarizing their findings.

Junior associates can get involved with our ongoing projects and are strongly encouraged to seek out and develop their own pro bono initiatives and clients. The junior lawyers often have primary responsibility for the work and, as such, gain valuable business development, deal management, and client relationship experience they would otherwise not be exposed to so early in their careers. Of course, all pro bono work is done under the supervision of a partner or more senior associate.

Orientation Program in Bruges

As a new associate, you will attend an Orientation Program in Bruges run by our Professional Skills Institute along with other lawyers from our offices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This intensive training provides an introduction to the Firm, including its values, organization and culture. There are training courses on building client relationships, becoming an effective lawyer, maintaining professional conduct and preserving workplace ethics. The four-day program provides important opportunities for you to work and socialize with peers from other offices and to make contacts that will help you in your working life. We consider this internal networking important in developing your career and preparing you to deliver the best service to clients.

What we look for?

We work on deals that span CEE, Europe and the globe; we tackle some of the highest-level, most difficult challenges; and we are a single, coherent source of advice for the very best clients around the world. Quite simply, everyone's contribution counts.

From our perspective, we are making a long-term commitment to you and, therefore, we are looking at your potential to contribute to the growth of our business. Accordingly, there are some essential attributes and abilities that the Budapest office of White & Case looks for in hiring junior associates: 

• Commercial Awareness
  White & Case will often stress that their lawyers need to be "commercially aware." In essence, it means that as a commercial lawyer you will deal with more than just the law. You must understand the client's business and the environment in which it operates.
  
  Are you commercially aware and why is it so important? White & Case is looking for a combination of basic knowledge, interest and enthusiasm for commercial matters, and, most importantly, the ability and willingness to "think business."
  
• Perception
  How aware are you of the environment around you? While sometimes this is a conscious action, such as when you are searching for something, it more often works intuitively – you simply notice something. Perception is sensitivity to the world, an open-eyed quality common among children and seldom present among the most jaded.
  
  Perception is used to see if you have the insight to understand or be aware of a certain fact or concept. It can help indicate how alert you are to ambushes, the subtext of a politician's speech and the subtleties of color in a painting.
  
• Intelligence
  It goes without saying that we expect intelligence and academic excellence. Your interest in White & Case already suggests to us that you probably possess the ambition, drive and determination to live with the demands made on high-flying lawyers.
  
  The way you think is crucial. You need to be able to analyze how the law works and be creative, yet pragmatic, in your interpretation of it. In time your clients will come to depend on your ability to think laterally when resolving a complex issue or structuring an international transaction on their behalf.
  
• Learning
  Learning is a process not a product. We want junior associates who understand the substance, context and application of the law, and we will give them the opportunity to develop their understanding. What better way than handling actual matters under the close supervision of the most professionally qualified commercial lawyers in Hungary? Aside from growing your legal skills, learning at White & Case is a process of allowing your mind to absorb different attitudes, knowledge and critical awareness.
  
  
• Attention to Detail
  Everything counts. The details surround us, no matter what kind of work we do. Passion for your work, a pervasive commitment to quality and relentless attention to details are essential markers of excellence. Quality work and an appreciation for the importance of details benefit not just our clients; these attitudes and habits also bring peace of mind to the lawyer who delivers the work. To know how to do something exceptionally well is to enjoy it.
  
  Paying attention to details is imperative to an efficient practice. Often, the things we are the most familiar with are the things which we get the most careless about. Our partners carefully oversee legal matters, knowing that one simple slip up can cause a series of events that negatively impacts the bottom line, brand integrity and client perception. Lawyers who deliver superior results are not simply doing more of the same things everyone else does; they are doing better things. Very small differences, consistently practiced, produce superior results.
  
  In our business, attention to the details creates and builds long-term client loyalty.

Does this describe you?

If you are chosen to join us as a first-year associate, chances are:

• you have excelled at law school with summa cum laude status;
• you have achieved a Master's Degree (LL.M.) from a foreign university;
• you have had international exposure;
• you are fluent in spoken and written English;
• you possess a way of thinking or expressing ideas that is novel and impressive;
• you bring a unique perspective, background or life experience to your work; and
• you have established a strong work ethic and seek a challenging career path.

How to apply?

To apply for a position with us, please send your CV and cover letter in English to Anna Lukács (Hudson) at graduates@budapest.whitecase.com. You should be graduating in 2009 or have graduated in 2008 from one of the law faculties in Hungary. You have an excellent command of the English language, both written and spoken, as well as strong knowledge of English legal terminology. You should be self-motivated, efficient, enthusiastic, articulate, and demonstrate a professional demeanor.

Please note that if you are selected for an interview, you will be administered a written exam to measure your ability to communicate in English.

What our people say?

Orsolya Szabó is a fourth-year associate who received her LL.M. in Human Rights from Central European University. She is registered with the Hungarian Bar both as a Romanian qualified EU Lawyer and as a Hungarian qualified lawyer-candidate. In 2008, she was seconded to White & Case's Bucharest office for five months.

"I really enjoy working for White & Case because of the Firm's profile and quality work and because of its exceptional firm culture. The five months I spent in the newly established Romanian office of the Firm was without a doubt an exciting professional and personal experience. My secondment to the Bucharest office reaffirmed my belief that as the majority of our clients are multinational, we have to coordinate efforts and share knowledge across multiple jurisdictions to meet their need."

Dániel Arányi is a third-year associate who is registered with the Hungarian bar as a Hungarian qualified lawyer-candidate and was the winner of the 2004 White & Case Telecom Law Essay Competition. He is currently on secondment to White & Case client Égáz-Dégáz.

"My experience with White & Case has been both challenging and highly educational. One of the biggest benefits of working for the Firm is its perfect blend of highly respected local expertise and a global network. This has provided me with the opportunity to work on complex, unique and interesting matters of a global span. Plus, the atmosphere at the office is open and friendly, even on office retreats and weekly football matches, which provides for a pleasant working environment."

Anita Horváth is a fifth-year associate. She was seconded for six months in 2007 to White & Case client M6 Duna Autopalya Koncesszios Zrt., a Hungarian company with a concession from the Hungarian Minister of Economy and Transport to develop and operate the M6 motorway.

"I came to White & Case because of its international focus and within my first few weeks I was working on documents in Hungarian, English, German and French. I am happy with how the partners seem interested to know me and/or work with me. They consider my ideas on projects very seriously, which is enormously gratifying."

Ognen Stojanovski is a second-year associate who joined the Budapest office from the Palo Alto office of White & Case and is active with the Firm's pro bono program. He is a dual Macedonian and US citizen who is US qualified.

"The top three reasons I came and continue to enjoy working here are: 1) the high quality and profile of the work, easily on par with what my former classmates are doing in New York and London; 2) the opportunities for close interaction with senior associates and partners - never feeling like you're just another foot soldier in a huge firm; and 3) the overwhelmingly young, collegial, outgoing and supportive culture of our office, from the top partners to the support staff."