When You Need a Legal Adviser

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Do you need legal advice?

If you have a problem that you need help with, you may need legal advice to resolve it. You can get help from a legal adviser who specialises in your problem such as a lawyer. 

Finding a legal adviser

You may want to talk to someone who can give you general advice about your options first. A local advice agency such as a the College of lawyers (Colegio de Abogados)  or the  Citizens Advice Bureau, will also be able to give you details of  legal advisers who are experienced in the appropriate area of law. They may also have details of local legal advisers who offer free initial interviews, sometimes  This may help you decide whether it’s worth taking your case further. 

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If you have been arrested?

If you are in a police station or in a Spanish court, you should be aware that you are by law, entitled to legal representation. The police station may call in a duty lawyer and a court will also provide a duty officer. Citizens Advice Bureau Spain advise that you contact a lawyer of your choice at your earliest opportunity. You are advised to not appear in court without legal representation no matter the type of case or even attending as a witness. In an emergency you may contact the Citizens Advice Bureau. Telephone 0034 615 814 264 who will attempt to find an available lawyer.

Fee Arrangements. 

There are list of fees available from the Spanish law society (colegio de abogados) which can give some guidelines. You should clarify the fees with your lawyers before you instruct him/her. There are often unseen costs as it can be impossible to know the direction or time any one case will take.

Conditional and Contingency Fee Agreements (no-win, no-fee)

Commonly known as ‘no win no fee’, the correct terminology is a contingency or conditional fee agreement. The equivalent in Spanish is known as ‘Cuota Litis’. When entering into this type of contract, the client should clearly understood the type of agreement that he is entering into before signing the engagement letter.

It was not until 2008 when a court case set a precedent for lawyers in Spain to be able to offer their clients their services on a ‘no win no fee’ basis. This form of agreement is now being recognised by lawyers who will usually offer this fee condition when they have confident of the outcome. There are some facts that a client should take into consideration when entering into this type of legal agreement. Many clients are confused when reading the contract and note that if they lose the case or if the other side is not sentenced to pay court cost and or other fees, that the client could be liable.

This contingency fee agreement means that you enter into an agreement with the lawyer who takes on your case on the condition that; if you lose you would pay the costs. The lawyer takes the risk that he will not be paid and will almost always have covered the court costs and the attorney fees. To date I am not aware if there is an insurance in Spain that a client could take out to cover this eventuality as there is in the UK.

Fees will normally be gaged on a percentage of what you recover. Remember that you are also paying for the lawyers success and the fact that he/she will be using their money to pay any costs in advance. There could also be a team of of lawyers involved and their time is also money. Spanish lawyers do not enter into to this type of pact lightly.

If you are entering into a conditional fee arrangement and you need advise or clarification you can contact Citizens Advice Bureau Spain.

For further information contact: info@cititizensadvice.org.es putting the concept as ‘lawyer’.