Allen & Overy has named finance lawyer Miklós Kádár as the new head of its Hungarian practice, replacing Zoltán Lengyel, who is retiring today.

Kádár has been at A&O since joining as a junior associate in Budapest in 2006, before later moving to Poland as a senior member of the firm’s CEE regional English law finance team and then spending two years in London in its leveraged finance practice group. His return to Budapest will allow the firm to offer full English law finance services out of Hungary, further integrating the office into the wider London and Western European teams.

Arkadiusz Pedzich, head of A&O’s CEE practice in Warsaw, said: “We are committed to the continuing growth of our CEE practice.The appointment of Miklós Kádár as the head of Allen & Overy in Budapest is testament to the importance of our Hungarian market to our global practice.”

He added: “I am confident that, with the support of the CEE partnership, our Hungarian practice will continue to thrive under his leadership.”

Kádár’s practice focuses on a broad range of banking and finance transactions, including project finance, LBOs, real estate finance, restructurings and corporate lending deals across the CEE and SEE regions, as well as Western Europe, Turkey and the Baltics. His work in London also saw him regularly advise private equity firms on buyouts and other transactions across the EMEA region.

Kádár said: “We continue to be committed to our global, regional and Hungarian clients in CEE and SEE and focus on advising them on the most complex cross-border and domestic transactions and supporting them in their investments. We combine cutting-edge London legal expertise with our outstanding domestic knowledge and in-depth market insight – this puts us in a unique position and strengthens our presence further as the only global elite firm in Hungary.”

Lengyel, meantime, leaves the firm after more than two decades.

A&O has four dedicated offices across Eastern Europe, including Budapest, Bratislava, Prague and Warsaw, as well as a series of relationship agreements across the SEE region.

Last year the UK magic circle firm ended its 12-year alliance with Romanian firm Radu Taracila Padurari Retevoescu, with the Bucharest-based firm relaunching as a standalone practice and replacing the RTPR Allen & Overy alliance with a relationship agreement.