Legal or legal consultation is professional advice provided by a lawyer or attorney regarding any area of law to the applicant.
Legal consultation is one of the main forms of legal assistance.
Although the legislation of the Republic of Armenia does not define a clear and exhaustive definition of the concept of legal consultation, it is indirectly revealed in the Law on Advocacy of the Republic of Armenia:
According to Article 5 of the Law on Advocacy, an Attorney can provide consultation, including providing clients with advice regarding their rights and obligations, reviewing documents, and drafting other legal documents (hereinafter referred to as consultation). Article 5 essentially defines a narrower definition of consultation.
When providing legal assistance, the attorney provides consultation on legal issues both orally and in writing /Article 17/.
According to part 2 of Article 41 of the Law on Advocacy, free legal assistance includes consultation on the drafting of claims, applications, complaints, and other legal procedural documents, including the provision of legal information. Here, consultation is also characterized as the provision of legal information as a type of free legal assistance:
In other words, legal consultation can generally be defined as a type of legal assistance expressed through providing clients with legal information, including advice regarding their rights and obligations:
The objectively expressed difficulties faced by a citizen who does not possess legal knowledge in effectively realizing their legal interests require appropriate support from a legal professional.
Legal consultation is sometimes also characterized as providing professional advice or recommendations on choosing the most optimal behavior in any situation, including actions to be taken by the requester:
Who is authorized to provide legal consultation.
Both lawyers and attorneys can provide legal consultation. With the development of the internet, the number of individuals providing legal consultation has significantly increased, and the legislative base and interpretations of the law have become more accessible.
If, according to the Law on Advocacy of the Republic of Armenia, only attorneys can represent in court (considering certain exceptions), the law does not restrict the authority to provide legal consultation to specific subjects:
In any case, the person in need of legal assistance chooses whom to approach - a lawyer or an attorney. The main difference between an attorney and a lawyer is that an attorney is also a licensed professional, meaning they have a license that guarantees the presence of legal education and is ensured by legally established guarantees. It is noteworthy that the fact of being an attorney does not guarantee that the legal consultation provided by them is of higher quality than that provided by a person who does not have a license, meaning is not an attorney, but has legal education. In any case, at least the presence of legal education is the minimum prerequisite to consider when approaching any person, as sometimes citizens approach us who have suffered from the "consultation" provided by individuals who claim to be lawyers but do not have legal education. When making a choice, several factors should be considered, such as the person's education, work experience, and especially the fact of being specialized in any field related to the legal issue. Although practically both lawyers and attorneys can provide legal consultation, certain guarantees are established for attorneys in legislative terms, which may influence decision-making.
Free legal consultation vs paid legal consultation.
As a rule, the provision of legal consultation is paid, but some organizations or individuals provide it for free. In some cases, the provision of free legal consultation is characterized by the Latin term as pro bono services. This practice is more common in the American system:
Why do lawyers provide free legal consultation?
Lawyers or attorneys expect compensation for their work just like any other professional in any other field:
The following 3 types of compensation are more common:
- A specific or one-time amount for providing a service
- Hourly fee for providing services
- Conditional or Success fee, which means that payment for the service will occur upon the successful completion of the case or the emergence of a certain condition.
Generally, individuals or organizations offering free legal consultation expect to leave a certain impression on the person in need of services through direct meetings and advice, with the ultimate goal of receiving compensation from the requester through providing necessary services later through one of the aforementioned 3 payment methods. In other words, free consultation is only seemingly free; it is unrealistic to assume that it is conducted purely for charitable purposes, especially if the legal assistance is provided as a commercial activity aimed at profit. Of course, there are exceptions, as mentioned in the few cases where, for example, free legal consultation is provided PRO BONO by entities that provide consultation on a paid basis or by non-profit entities:
Provision of legal consultation to organizations.
According to Article 10 of the Law on Profit Tax of the Republic of Armenia, judicial expenses, legal, and other consulting service expenses are considered as costs.
When determining the required profit, gross income is reduced by the amount of necessary and documented expenses related to its receipt. In other words, organizations paying profit tax, when benefiting from legal consulting services, make reductions from their gross income by the value of that consultation or service provided, and in this regard, the payments made for them are not made at the expense of their profit, and the legal consultation and legal services received within reasonable limits are de facto free of charge:
the possibility of recognizing and writing off uncollectible receivables and payables:
Provision of legal consultation by notaries.
With new legislative changes, individuals with notary status can also provide legal consultation:
Notaries have the right to provide legal assistance, consultation, clarification, or legal conclusions or to draft contracts or other legal documents, to perform other legal services, as well as other functions ensuring the performance of notarial actions:
Alex's law office provides free legal consultation on commercial arbitration issues: