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Dávid Kőhegyi

Partner
Head of Compliance and Investigations, Budapest
Dávid Kőhegyi is a dynamic practitioner who combines superb client management skills with excellent knowledge of international law.
Legal500, 2024
About

Dávid Kőhegyi helps clients in resolving international disputes, solving regulatory problems and dealing with high profile international investigations.

Dávid has a particular expertise in investor-state arbitration and in the past 15 years at DLA Piper, he built a practice that is second to none on the Hungarian market and a pre-eminent one in the CEE Region by the number of investment disputes the team has acted in.

Dávid has represented corporate and individual clients in connection with human rights claims before the European Court of Human Rights stemming from regulatory measures and the taking of property and is advising clients on delicate issues of public international law such as sovereign immunity, treaty negotiation, exit from international organizations and interpretation of treaties.

Dávid represented Hungary in the renegotiation of the rules and regulations of ICSID and since 2020 he has been on ICSID's Panel of Arbitrators.

Early in his career, Dávid worked in the New York and Budapest offices of a magic circle law firm where he focused on international and investment arbitration an also interned at the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat in New York.

Dávid is a dual-qualified attorney as a member of the Budapest Bar Association and the State Bar of New York. He was the Second Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary.

Professional QualificationsLawyer (Ügyvéd) admitted to the Budapest Bar Association (Budapesti Ügyvédi Kamara), 2011
Languages
  • Hungarian
  • English
Education
  • University of Michigan Law School, LL.M., Ann Arbor, USA , 2008
  • University of Leiden, Faculty of Law Leiden, Netherlands, (Erasmus Scholar), 2005
  • University of Miskolc, J.D., Faculty of Law, cum laude, 2005
  • University of Cambridge, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, UK - Summer Scholarship / Research, 2004
  • University of Cambridge, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, UK - Summer Scholarship / Research, 2004

Awards

  • Legal 500, 2023 - 2024, Dispute Resolution, (Individual Rankings): Next Generation Partners
  • Legal 500, 2020 - 2022, Dispute Resolution, (Individual Rankings): Rising Star

Publications

  • Author of the first to fifth editions of the International Comparative Legal Guide to Investor-State Arbitration, 2018 to 2023
  • Author of the first edition of the International Comparative Legal Guide to Sanction, 2023

Seminars

  • Speaker on the AmCham Compliant A.I. event focused on the legislative and ethical aspects of AI development and deployment, 2021
  • Speaker about the Hungarian experience with ISDS at the Conference on the New VIAC Commercial and Investment Arbitration Rules, 2021
  • Speaker on the AmCham Business Forum, discussing cooperation areas between Hungary and US, 2021

Prior Experience

Prior to joining our team in Budapest in 2009, Dávid worked in the Budapest and the New York offices of a magic circle law firm where he focused on international and investment arbitration. Earlier, he interned at the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat in New York.

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