ABOUT ZNK ENERGY LAW

ZNK Energy Law is the Calgary-based law firm of Zoltan Nagy-Kovacs, established in 2024.

Zoltan Nagy-Kovacs, BA, LLB

Principal

Zoltan Nagy-Kovacs has practiced energy-related law in Alberta for nearly 30 years, both in private practice at Thackray Burgess and in-house at Talisman Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Limited, EPCOR Utilities Inc. and Capital Power Corporation. Because of Zoltan’s extensive in-house experience, he understands the needs that energy companies have for responsive, practical and business-focused legal advice. 

The first decade of Zoltan’s career was spent providing legal services to the Alberta oil and gas industry, both as in-house counsel and in private practice. Zoltan’s practice at that time focused on mineral and surface land acquisitions and divestments, title due diligence and deficiency resolution, specific conveyancing, facilities and joint venture/joint operations related matters.

The next two decades of Zoltan’s career were spent working as senior in-house counsel in the electric utility industry. Over that time Zoltan’s accomplishments included:

  • Supporting the environmental commodity trading team, enabling significant growth in the environmental commodity portfolio and helping to regularly exceed environmental commodity trading profit targets;

  • Supporting wholesale electricity and natural gas trading teams, helping to significantly expand the number of trading counterparties and to regularly exceed electricity and natural gas trading profit targets;

  • Supporting commercial and industrial retail electricity services business, helping to significantly grow that business and to lock-in predictable cash-flows and profits;

  • Supporting the development and marketing of wind and solar power generation facilities by negotiating several long-term power and renewable attributes purchase and sale agreements with large commercial off-takers; and

  • Supporting compliance with derivatives regulations by participating in energy industry groups such as the Canadian Energy Derivatives Working Group and the International Energy Credit Association, developing standardized derivatives regulation compliance documentation and serving on the Alberta Securities Commission’s Derivatives Advisory Committee.

Education

  • University of Calgary, BA in Political Science and German, 1990

  • University of Calgary, LLB, 1995

  • SRA Qualified Lawyer Transfer Scheme, City Law School London, 2016

Bar Admissions

  • Alberta (Barrister & Solicitor), 1997

  • England & Wales (Solicitor), 2017