Only the court in a number of cases is able to put an end to the dispute. Therefore, judicial instances annually receive tens of thousands of appeals. According to the State judicial administration, Ukrainian courts last year took into account more than 3.1 million cases.

 

At the same time, since 2019 – with the entry into force of law No. 1401 – VIII “On amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (concerning justice)” from 02.06.2016 – what is known as lawyer’s monopoly is in force. Representation of interests of another person in court can be carried out only by persons with the status of an attorney. The only exceptions are minor cases, representation of incapacitated and underage persons, and cases on social protection and labor issues. That means that in the majority of cases, without a lawyer in court can not do without.

 

You are waiting for the trial? Then, you will be useful to your reliable and experienced lawyer in court cases of the AA Lawrange. Specialists from our team are ready to effectively defend the interests of legal and private persons in the court of general jurisdiction and administrative and economic court. If necessary, we will pass the enforcement proceedings with you also or will be accompanied when considering the case in the court of appeal and the Supreme Court.

 

Features of the Status of the Court Lawyer

The process of resolving legal disputes through the court is called litigation, and accordingly, a lawyer who specializes in representing the interests of the client in court is called a litigator. Such a specialist differs from other colleagues in the presence of special knowledge and skills.

 

Since in court is important not only the essence, but in addition the form / procedure, the trial lawyer should be fluent in knowledge of both substantive and procedural law. A Lawyer’s mandatory skills are effective communication, ability to argue the position and masterfully refute or at least undermine the point of view of the opponent, self-control, and self-assurance in all circumstances.

 

In Ukraine, the specialization of a litigator is still in its infancy. Most lawyers cannot devote all their time to litigation practice. However, it is given a lot of attention whenever possible.

 

Important! A lawyer with specialization in litigation practice is guided in activities by principles such as legality, good faith, tolerance, respect for the client and non-disclosure of confidential information. The position of such a profession and its authority are determined by the relevant legislative norms and are supported by documents.

 

Regulatory Framework

The main guidelines for the lawyer’s activity in court are Law No. 5076-VI “On advocacy and advocacy” of 05.07.2012 and procedural codes: civil, criminal, commercial, as well as the code of administrative proceedings. At the same time, the requirement for a basic understanding of substantive law in a particular sector has not been canceled. Moreover, nowadays, it is increasingly necessary to navigate not only national but also international legislation. Euro integration processes, in particular, provide for the implementation of the provisions of Directives and other EU regulations into Ukrainian legislation.

 

Note please! A lawyer must be brilliantly orientated in the current legal framework and its application in practice, as it is the legislation that plays a key role in the adoption of court decisions. This is the fundamental principle of the Romano-Germanic (continental, normative-actual) system of law. In it, the precedent – the decision taken earlier by the court on a similar case – does not play a very important role, as in the Anglo-American system of law. So, the successful activity of the lawyer in court – is always a combination of knowledge of the law, pile up experience (his and colleagues), and an in-depth analysis of law enforcement in Ukraine.

 

Powers of an Advocate in Court

The legal personality of an advocate as a legal representative of a natural or legal person in court is certified by such two documents:

 

  1. Warrant – a document issued by the advocates’ association/bureau based on the advocacy contract concluded with the client.
  2. Power of attorney – a document that is notarized, certified by the judge, and attached to the case file.

 

Important! Courts also have the right to require from the lawyer an extract from the Unified Register of Advocates of Ukraine and/or a copy of the lawyer’s certificate.

 

In general, the power of attorney specifies the following role of the lawyer:

 

  • to reacquaint himself with the case files and take an active role in the study of evidence, the results of expert examinations;
  • to represent the viewpoint of the client in a court of various instances – including to participate in court hearings;
  • file a lawsuit, withdraw from a cause of action, cancel claims petitions on behalf of the principal;
  • draw up a settlement agreement/agreement of reconciliation on behalf of the accused and the victim;
  • conduct official correspondence on behalf of the principal and receive court summonses, responses to requests, copies of court judgments and other documents related to the case;
  • Appeal against a court judgment, ruling, or order;
  • to make the necessary payments and receive property or funds in accordance with the court’s decision.

 

Important! The lawyer is criminally liable in case of providing the court with false information about powers.

 

Advantages of Hiring a Lawyer for Representation in Court

Contrary to popular opinion about the imperfection of our country’s justice system, Ukrainians are often accustomed to applying to the courts. In this scenario, the assistance of a trial lawyer in the course of the proceedings makes real the principle of the adversarial nature of the parties and equality of the opportunities to win, peculiarly if the case is taken by an experienced specialist (and in the team of Lawrange only such). Of course, in some cases, it is possible, according to the letter of the law, to use the help of a free lawyer. However, fighting for the result making every effort will be the only interested specialist – namely, the one you hired.

 

What are the advantages of participation in the case of the lawyer of the AA Lawrange?

 

  1. Quick entry into the course of the case at any stage: from pre-trial investigation to protest against the court decision by filing an appeal and cassation appeal.
  2. Analysis on 360 degrees all the legal framework, judicial practice, and decision-making of the Supreme Court, which may be applied to the case of the client.
  3. Experience of not just one person, but a whole team, which allows us to anticipate further actions of opponents and adequately counteract them.
  4. Effective work with the evidentiary base, obtaining additional information thanks to the lawyer’s requests and expertise.
  5. Impeccable execution of procedural documents and compliance with procedural norms, which does not give opponents a reason to challenge the steps of the lawyer to protect the interests of the client.

 

Note please! While selecting a lawyer, it is advised to apply to the best specialist, as the costs of legal assistance is often charged from the losing party.

 

Our Services

Specialists of our bar association provide services throughout the country (taking into account changes in territorial jurisdiction due to martial law) in local and appellate courts, and the Supreme Court. Representation/protection of interests is carried out both for the plaintiff and the defendant in the case, in courts of general, administrative, and economic jurisdiction, ensuring the realization of clients’ rights in legal proceedings.

 

The list of services includes:

 

  • Investigation of documents produced by the client, considering – evidence and court verdicts taken on the case in the past;
  • oral and written consultations;
  • drawing up a legal opinion on the case with references to legislative acts and court practice, determining the prospects of consideration in court;
  • drafting and submission of a statement of claim and other procedural documents (requests, petitions, including those to secure a claim);
  • preparation for court proceedings, including gathering or expanding the evidence base, working with witnesses and organizing expert examinations;
  • participation in court hearings, explaining to the client the essence of what is happening during the process, as well as the content of procedural documents and court decisions;
  • preparation and filing of an appeal/cassation complaint, organization of case revision due to newly discovered circumstances.

 

Note please! Each of the services can be provided separately, for example, participation in a court hearing can be a one-off. However, the client can order us a comprehensive support of the case.

 

Representation in Civil Cases

Most court proceedings arise from civil legal relations and disputes. The category of civil cases includes divorce proceedings and inheritance disputes, compensation for material or moral damage and debt collection, disputes concerning the cancellation or invalidation of contracts, disputes over the protection of property rights, and so on.

 

Specialists of the Lawrange Lawyers Association have the appropriate competence and experience in civil proceedings. Often, the civil process includes two or three sessions, in which the parties to the case according to the principle of adversarial. However, in some situations, simplified proceedings without summoning the parties may be used. Sometimes, also, in case of the non-appearance of one of the parties, the court may issue a judgement in absentia. In any circumstances, if the plaintiff or defendant wishes to maximize the defense of their interests, the court should be very carefully prepared.

 

At the first and second sessions of the court, the parties usually present evidence and arguments in favor of their position (if we are talking about simplified proceedings, these materials are provided in writing). During the third session, the judge, having assessed the materials on the case, makes a judgement.

 

Note please! Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic and now, during the martial law period, quite a few court hearings have been held via videoconference (for this purpose, the party submits a corresponding application). In such circumstances, it does not matter where you are located – regardless of this, we will be able to provide you with legal support.

 

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Criminal Defense

Experienced lawyers in our team are ready to provide legal support to any participant of criminal proceedings: suspect, victim, civil plaintiff or defendant, accused, defendant, convicted, witness, acquitted person. The services may also be handed over to the owner of seized/restrained property, to a person who is subject to compulsory medical measures.

 

Important! Among the main areas of our work are White-Collar Crime (so-called white-collar crimes), cases related to road traffic accidents, and war crimes.

 

As part of White-Collar Crime, we are engaged in defending in court the interests of officials and employees of companies in situations of unlawful use of office, corporate fraud, corruption, tax evasion and so on.

 

Since recently, our law firm has also been particularly adept in defending the interests of suspects/accused of war crimes – desertion, disobedience of orders, evasion of military service, embezzlement/theft, violation of statutory rules, unauthorized abandonment of a military unit, and so on.

 

Note please! In criminal proceedings, the lawyer, along with the prosecutor – one of the key figures, has a wide list of procedural opportunities. In particular, we are talking about communication with the defendant without restrictions and without video surveillance cameras in the detention center, presence during searches, interrogations, and so on. The lawyer, if necessary, conducts their own independent investigation with the collection of evidence and testimony. At least, Lawrange specialists, if necessary, act in the greater good of the client in this instance.

 

Participation in Administrative Proceedings

The specificity of administrative legal relations is that one of the parties is always a subject of authority (controlling or law enforcement body, state or local government, and so on). To defend their interests in a dispute with such a question to a person without further training is quite difficult. However, if an experienced lawyer intervenes in the case, the scales are balanced, and there are great chances to win in court proceedings.

 

Services of a trial lawyer Lawrange includes assistance to persons brought to administrative responsibility, as well as victims of administrative offenses. Among our successful cases we won disputes with the pension fund, tax, and customs authorities, and we appealed against decisions of local authorities. We provide legal support to civil servants in the event of wrongful dismissal, irregularities in payments, or disciplinary proceedings.

 

The professionalism of our team members permit us to work successfully both with the problems of private individuals and with the resolution of complex situations for small, medium and large businesses, including representation of legal entities in disputes with the Antimonopoly Committee. As practice shows, in a variety of cases it is possible to appeal unlawful decisions and actions/inaction of subjects of authority in court. Appeals to the court in such circumstances are quite justified.

 

Business Disputes

Disputes between business stakeholders arise quite frequently, and quite a few of them reach the court. At stake in most of these disputes are substantial financial resources or other assets.

 

Our team has been successfully supporting parties in business and corporate disputes. In particular, our experience enables us to effectively deal with debt recovery under commercial contracts. However, we do not always use the claim procedure. Alternative ways of dispute settlement are considered in advance – mediation, application to the arbitration court.

 

A separate direction of our work is support of bankruptcy proceedings of the enterprise, as well as defense of creditor’s interests in bankruptcy cases. Thanks to our connections in business circles in Ukraine and abroad, we participate in the search for debtors’ assets as well as in the most complicated cases.

 

The Stages of Dealing With a Client

Let’s consider the general algorithm of providing legal services to the client, including court proceedings:

 

  1. Client’s application to our law firm – typically during the first such application, the client communicates by phone with our manager. The essence of the client’s request is clarified and the specialist with whom the client will work further is selected.
  2. Consulting – our lawyer first conducts an initial consultation, during which the case materials are not yet analyzed, the client describes the situation in their own words – and the lawyer gives recommendations for further actions. Then, the main oral or written consultation, before which our specialist analyzes the case file. Based on this analysis, forecasts are given regarding the results of the trial and the costs of the trial, and possible strategies are explained.
  3. Preparation for the court – a lot of work is carried out, the specifics of which depend on the particular case. Our lawyer collects the evidence base for the court, initiates expertise, prepares arguments, supporting it with references to legislation and court practice. At this stage, a statement of claim is developed, if it is a question of representing the interests of the plaintiff.
  4. Trial – the lawyer takes part in court hearings, debates with the prosecutor or other opponent, achieving a winning or the most successful for the client court verdict.
  5. Additional steps after the court decision – the lawyer can accompany the client in the enforcement proceedings (enforcement of the court decision) or apply together to the following hierarchy of judicial instances to appeal against the court decision.

 

Initial Consultation

The beginning point for dealing with a client is to contact AA Lawrange:

 

  • by phone, bespoken on the website in the “Contacts” section;
  • by e-mail;
  • in social networks;
  • via feedback form;
  • by personal visit to our office.

 

The essence of the client’s query is initially laid out by our manager, who then determines the profile specialist for further work.

 

Note please! Initial consultation is a general consideration of the client’s question. As it concerns the prospects of going to court, our specialist specifies forecasts on the results of the case, probable costs and possible difficulties. At the same time, the initial consultation does not comport with in-depth inspection of the case information, scrutiny of documents and provision of legal conclusions substantiated by the legislation and court practice.

 

The overall purpose of such counselling is to give the client an opportunity to assess the pros and cons of litigation, so that he/she can then decide whether to file a lawsuit / what are his/her chances of defending his/her interests as a defendant.

 

Document Analysis and Strategy Development

Clients often come to us with mountains of documents, often including previous court judgments. It’s pointless to reach out to us if the matter is already wrapped up. That is why we are always set up to analyze the materials in depth and in a multipronged way.

 

Our experience, current regulations, and court practice are used to develop a strategy for representing a plaintiff or defending a defendant in court. As specialists who strictly follow the norms of professional ethics, we never promise our clients a 100% victory in court. But we give a client an honest and reasonable forecast, on the ground of which the client can make a conscious selection to participate in the court process, predicated on chances of success.

 

Note please. At this stage, there are two formats for working with the client:

 

  1. oral communication with detailed answers to questions;
  2. drafting a written legal opinion with arguments, justifications, references to laws, court decisions and so on.

 

Preparation for Court Proceedings

To defend the wishes of the client in court, we are ready for much. Services of the lawyer in court cases of AA Lawrange, as necessary, may include:

 

  1. conducting an independent lawyer’s investigation in criminal proceedings;
  2. obtaining information from state bodies, organizations, institutions, and so on by submitting a lawyer’s request;
  3. search for witnesses, collection, and execution of testimonies (improperly executed testimonies of witnesses and other participants of the case may be disregarded by the court);
  4. initiation of expert examinations (forensic psychiatric, chemical and toxicological, molecular genetic, ballistic, traceological, and so on);
  5. careful preparation of procedural documents – first, the statement of claim, the correct form and relevant content of, which is the foundation of effective consideration of the case in court.

 

Representation of the Lawyer at all Procedural Actions of the Investigation

If necessary, at the stage of preparation for trial / pre-trial investigation, the lawyer can take part in all investigative actions – searches, interrogations, confrontations, and so on. The main task is to ensure that all such activities are carried out in conformance with the law. At the same time, in the period of martial law, when representatives of law enforcement agencies are vested with broad powers, there are many risks.

 

Note please! The well-known phrase: “Not a word without a lawyer” has a valid justification. We recommend that clients always agree with their defense counsel on actions and answers to questions from law enforcement officials. A minimum of surprises in court – more chances for success.

 

Representation in Court

Directly in the course of court proceedings on the lawyer falls the entire burden of conducting debates (debates) with the opponent, the expression of a well-argued position of the client and refutation of the position of the opposing party.

 

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Important! The trial lawyer acts strictly within the powers stipulated in the contract for the supply of legal assistance, the warrant from the bar association and the power of attorney. Furthermore, the lawyer is regulated by the lawyer’s ethics, which, above all, does not allow acting outside the interests of the client, outside the law and outside the confidentiality.

 

The lawyer participates in court hearings at which the client is or is not present. The lawyer’s tasks in court include:

 

  • defending the lawsuit (if the client is the plaintiff) or rebutting the validity of the claims of the lawsuit (if the client is the defendant);
  • filing of various motions, including – on the postponement of the case;
  • if appropriate, negotiate a settlement agreement with the opponent.

 

As a finalization, the lawyer explains/comments to the client the essence of the judgement of the court, in order to then, if necessary, to outline a plan of further actions. In particular, the client may not be satisfied with the decision of the court, and may wish to appeal it.

 

Post-Trial Support

Winning the court is not always the final settlement of the problem. The losing party, in many cases, ignores the court decision. To achieve the necessary result can go two ways:

 

  1. Negotiations with the losing party through a lawyer – explaining what consequences may occur if you do not fulfill the court decision, as well as reaching a reasonable compromise.
  2. Opening of enforcement proceedings – on the ground of the court decision, a writ of execution is issued, with which you should make a request to the state enforcement service or to a private executor.

 

Note please! Enforcement proceedings are essentially a procedure for enforcing a court judgement. However, the executors are often not motivated to do it with enthusiasm. For example, when it comes to debts, the executor does not always make an effort to find assets that can be foreclosed on.

 

A Lawrange litigation lawyer, in such circumstances, helps control the actions of the executor to use all levers and opportunities in favor of their client.

 

The Cost of Litigation Attorney Services

Our lawyers’ association invariably adheres to the principle of transparency and understandability of the formation of the cost of services, indicating it in the contract on the provision of legal assistance. In this case, the cost of legal services depends on the range and degree of difficulty of the case. It can be the price:

 

  1. for a separately taken service, for example, for the preparation of a statement of claim or for consultation;
  2. for participation in one court session – in civil proceedings;
  3. for complex support of the case up to the judgement of acquittal/conviction – in criminal proceedings.

 

If you would like to know about the approximate costs in court, based on your situation, contact our manager – it does not restrict you to anything.

 

Why You Should Turn to Lawrange

More than ten years on the market of legal services and more than ten years of direct practice in court are our main advantages. Members of our team have accumulated successful cases in a wide range of categories. In recent years, we have been actively developing representation in court disputes with a foreign element.

 

In complex cases, not one but several specialists are involved in the case. And we are always ready to go with the client to the victorious end of the case through all court instances, up to the Supreme Court. Moreover, if the client so desires, and if it is reasonable based on the analysis of the situation, we are able to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

 

Conclusions

The assistance of a trial lawyer is an absolutely necessary tool for a private person or a representative of a business if there is to be a trial. In the overwhelming majority of cases, there is no chance of success without a lawyer. Moreover, in court, you need an experienced specialist who feels confident in confronting the opponent in the face of the prosecutor, another lawyer, or representatives of the state body.

 

Advocates Association Lawrange is ready to represent the interests of clients throughout Ukraine, in courts of all instances and practically on all categories of cases. We never give unrealistic hopes and ungenerous promises, but always put out 100% to achieve the necessary result.

 

FAQ

What should I do if I do not agree with the court’s decision?

If you are not pleased with the judgment of the court of first instance (local court), the law allows you to appeal it to the court of appeal, then to the Supreme Court. Appeal/cassation appeal is filed within certain procedural terms – 30 days in most cases.

 

What documents are needed to start working with a lawyer?

It all comes down to what was the cause for the appeal to a lawyer, and what steps have already been taken before this appeal. In this case, for the conclusion of the contract for the provision of legal assistance (and if it is required, also the registration of power of attorney) will need the documents certifying the identity of the client.

 

How long does the legal procedure of representation in court last?

The court proceedings may consist of only one session or may drag on for many months (especially if it is a criminal case). Moreover, in complex cases, even an experienced lawyer can not always predict the duration of the process, as unforeseen circumstances may arise.

 

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