Huge fines brought in for rogue lawyers
New law targets businesses which seek to exploit foreign customers
NEW legislation is now in force in the Valencia region to crack down on unregistered and illegal professionals offering legal services.
It changes article 21 of the current law of professional associations (Law 6/1997) to include fines ranging from €5,000 to €150,000 for practitioners who are not licensed.
President of the Orihuela bar association (ICA Orihuela), Manuel Almarcha pointed out that all official bar associations in the region had been urging the regional authorities to take action to halt these illegal practices.
The law targets business along the coast operating under names such as legal advisors, legal assistants, legal experts and conveyancing experts. These are often aimed at expats and foreign customers.
Sr Almarcha pointed out that these names are often used to hide the fact that the professionals are not qualified to work as lawyers and attorneys in Spain.
He stressed that the only professionals qualified, entitled and allowed to provide any kind of legal services and advice are lawyers and attorneys who have successfully completed all compulsory university and post-graduate studies and have registered with an official bar association (ICA).
The ICA checks that the applicant meets all legal requirements and provides a registration number (número de colegiado), which must be shown on all documents and advertising used by the lawyers’ office.
The bar associations provide advice, training courses and other services to the registered lawyers.
At the same time, they also guarantee that those registered as lawyers are qualified and protect the interests of the customers in the event of malpractice by the registered lawyer. The list of official and registered attorneys and lawyers is available from the websites of the regional or local bar associations.
The British consulate also provides a list of Englishspeaking in the area via the UK Gov website.
This can be found at www.gov.uk/government/publications/spain-list-of-lawyers