DR. ZSÓFIA BITAI LL.M.

Managing Partner

Speciality: Competition Law, Advertising Law, Data Protection and GDPR, Corporate Law and M&A, Commercial Law, Artificial intelligence law, Legal support for innovation

Working languages: Hungarian, English, German

I stepped into my legal career nearly 20 years ago. After obtaining my law degree in Hungary, I earned a master's degree at Kings’ College London (LL.M.). Before founding CLM Bitai & Partners Law Firm, I was legal counsel of the Hungarian Competition Authority, and worked as legal counsel of different multinational companies in Budapest and Berlin for more than seven years. My experience stems from working with clients in sectors including food, food supplements, confectionery, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, household detergents and chemicals, toys, household and electrical appliances, waste management, manufacturing of electronic equipment, medical equipment, the automotive industry, and software development.

Before founding CLM Bitai & Partners Law Firm in 2018, I worked mainly as in-house legal counsel for multinational companies and as legal counsel for a government authority, during which I gained in-depth knowledge of internal corporate management, corporate structuring and processes. I swiftly recognise business needs and legal problems, which allows me to provide my clients with timely and easily understandable legal advice.

As an attorney at law, I have been following these principles every day when providing legal advice during the past years.

As Managing Partner of the firm, I highly value the expertise, experience, and commitment of my colleagues. Our law firm not only provides expertise in niche areas such as Innovation, Intellectual Property Rights, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Competition Law, Data Protection, or Advertising Law, but getting to know our clients is of particular importance for our staff, so that we can support our clients with tailored solutions.

In my profession, I am always looking for solutions and I like to conquer the impossible. Besides solving legal problems, my other passion is business consulting, which is supported by the experience I have gathered over my 20-year career. I am driven by the desire to support my clients with my business network and comprehensive, personalized ideas.

Basically, my fields of expertise include Intellectual Property Rights, AI, Competition and Advertising Law, Commercial Law, and litigation. However, as Managing Partner, I follow every case at the firm, and I motivate colleagues to always aim for client-driven solutions. Regardless of whether it is a competition authority investigation, business acquisition, litigation or audit, I am in charge of the strategic planning of all projects and consulting with colleagues at key milestones.

To me, law means strategic planning, risk assessment and the development of an action plan, which serve as a basis for implementation and control thereof. I believe that providing such strategic advice is the best way for me to help my clients. This kind of strategy creation requires creativity, a system-oriented approach, and multi-layered thinking, and is the most exciting, most inspiring part of my work.

My appearances include The Legal 500, which ranks me as a "Leading Partner" in the field of Competition Law and our office as a "Leading Law Firm". I was also honoured to be featured in Britishpedia Hungary – Hungary's successful personalities, and numerous articles and statements of mine have been published by Jogászvilág, CEE Legal, Versenytükör, Jogi Fórum, Budapest Journal, and Napi.hu, among others.

As Managing Partner, smooth communication and team cohesion are important to me, as they are the driving force of progress. Reliability and giving feedback to my colleagues are primary to me. I pursue these in my everyday work with clients as well.