I graduated from the Temesvári Perbál High School of the Franciscan order in Esztergom in 1994. I studied law at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences at the University of Szeged and at the same faculty of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University of Budapest, graduating ’cum laude’ in 2000. I spent nearly 3 years of legal practice as a trainee lawyer at the law firm of István Sándor Mészáros dr. (1961-2022) in Budapest, and in July 2004, together with my former classmate and colleague, Helga Gellér dr., I founded a joint law firm with the name Gellér and Palotai Law Office. Even as a trainee lawyer, I dealt specifically with criminal cases. In 2006, I obtained a postgraduate degree in economic criminal law at the Institute of Continuing Legal Education of Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest.

I started working independently in the field of criminal law in 2004. With nearly 20 years of professional experience and practice, I represent victims and defendants and support witnesses in criminal cases on a daily basis, throughout the investigations to the final judgment of the criminal court. With the experience, routine and expertise I have gained over the years, I represent my clients to ensure that their processual and human rights are respected during the proceedings and that they are not prejudiced, regardless of their status as victims or defendants. I have represented clients in hundreds of various criminal cases over the last 20 years.

Since 2009, I have successfully litigated several cases related to detention conditions before the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg). The motto of my criminal practice is “Si vis pacem para bellum!”, as the Romans said, which means that we should always be prepared for the worst possible scenario, so that we cannot be surprised during the proceedings, because “Pretty words are not true, true words are not pretty!”, as the Chinese proverb of thousands of years says. My law firm undertakes classic criminal cases, i.e. representation of perpetrators of crimes against children will not be undertaken by my law firm on the basis of our ethical values.

I also work in English and German languages. I represent my clients in English and German languages in criminal proceedings, other official and administrative proceedings and alsp before the European Court of Human Rights.