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The Finnish Legal Profession of Attorneys -at- law

The Finnish Legal Profession of Attorneys -at- law. Who is an attorney -at- law ?.

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The Finnish Legal Profession of Attorneys -at- law

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  1. The Finnish Legal Profession of Attorneys-at-law

  2. Who is an attorney-at-law? An attorney-at-law is an experiencedlawyerspecialised in handlinglegalmatters of hisclients. Only a member of the Bar Association is allowed to use the professionaltitle ”attorney-at-law”. An attorney-at-law is a safechoice for solvinglegalissues. The quality of the legalservices is continuouslydeveloped and monitored.

  3. Confusingtitles (1/2) • Lawyer= a person holding a Master’sdegree in law (LL.M.). • Master of Lawswithcourttraining= a lawyerwhohascompleted a 12 monthcourttraining programme • Attorney-at-law= a person holding a Master’sdegree in law (LL.M.) whohas a minimum of fouryears of legalworkexperience and haspassedtheFinnish Bar Association’sbarexam. Allattorneys-at-lawaremembers of theFinnish Bar Association and workonly at independentlawoffices.

  4. Confusingtitles (2/2) • Licensedlegalcounsel= a lawyerwhohasobtained a licensefromtheMinistry of Justice to litigate in a court of law. Requirements for obtainingthelicenseare a Master’sdegree in law and at least a year of workexperience as a lawyer. • Public legalaidattorney= a lawyeremployedby a State legalaidoffice. Ca. half of publiclegalaidattorneysarealsomembers of theFinnish Bar Association (i.e. attorneys-at-law). • In-house counsel= a lawyer employed by a corporation. In Finland an in-house lawyer can not be a member of the Finnish Bar Association.

  5. Attorneys-at-law in numbers • Thereare ca. 2,100 attorneys-at-law (i.e. Members of the Bar). • Half of the about 200 publiclegalaidattorneysareMembers of the Bar. • Of theattorneys-at-law 32 % arewomen, 68 % men. • Yearlyabout 130 become Bar Members. • In addition to theattorneys-at-lawthereare ca. 850 lawyersworking in lawoffices. • The number of lawoffices is about 800.

  6. Statisticsaboutattorneys-at-law 2018 Attorneys 2143 +0,9% 39 % men 61 % women 68 % men 32 % women Attorneys New members

  7. What is the mission of the profession? • Attorneys-at-laware a guarantee for a stategovernedbytherule of law. A constitutionalstaterequires an independentlegalprofession of attorneys-at-lawwhooffershigh-qualitylegalservices to bothprivate and corporateclients.

  8. What is the vision of the profession? • Everyone hasconfidence in attorneys-at-law. Bothprivate and corporateclientsperceiveattorneys-at-law as proficientproviders of legalservices. The societyacknowledges the significantrole of theattorneys-at-law as contributers to advancinglegislation. Beingpart of the profession is valued and experienced as advantageous.

  9. Activity of theattorneys-at-lawrests on fivecorevalues • Loyalty • Independence • Avoidance of conflicts of interest • Confidentiality • Personalintegrity Thesecorevaluesarestated in The rules of proper professional conduct. Obeyingtheserules is efficientlymonitored.

  10. Finnish Bar Association The aims of the Finnish Bar Association are • to regulate and superviseactivity of theattorneys-at-law • to advance the quality of legalservices • to train and supportattorneys-at-law and • to advancelegislation. TheFinnish Bar Association is a statutory body whose activities are regulated by the Advocates Act. The Bar is not a registered association, a trade union or an entrepreneurs union.

  11. Whatdoes the Bar Association do? (1/2) • Regulates and supervisesactivity of theattorneys-at-law: The lawrequiresattorneys-at-law to act according to the rules of proper professional conduct. The Bar defines the contents of the properprofessionalconductindependently and supervises the activity of attorneys-at-law. Dissatisfiedclientsmaymake a complaint against an attorney-at-law to the Bar Association’s Disciplinary Board free of charge. The Bar accepts only experienced lawyers as attorneys-at-law. The professional title “attorney-at-law” may be used only by members of the Bar. • Advances the quality of legal services: The Bar ensureshigh-qualitylegalserviceallover Finland providedbyattorneys-at-law to bothprivate and corporateclients.

  12. Whatdoes the Bar Association do? (2/2) • Trains and supportsattorneys-at-law: The Bar providestheattorneys-at-lawwithsubstantialamount of training. An annualquote of traininghours is required of attorneys-at-law and the fullfillment of thisrequirement is controlled. The Bar supportstheprofessionalactivity of attorneys-at-law for examplebysharinginformationaboutbestpractices. • Advanceslegislation: Attorneys-at-lawareactivelyparticipating in the developing of legislation as members of workinggroups and bydraftingexpert’sopinions. The aim of the Bar’sactivity in thisrespect is to advance the general judicature and the rule of law in Finland.

  13. IndependentDisciplinaryBoard • TheDisciplinary Board carries an independentresponsibility for the disciplinaryprocess. • 12 members of which 5 arenotmembers of the Bar • Non-members of the Bar arepersonsattending to a judicialofficeorworkingwithinjurisprudentialresearch as well as representatives of thelicensedjurists • Convenes in pleanarysessions and fourdivisions • An attorney-at-lawhas the right to appeal against the decision of the Disciplinary Board to the Helsinki Court of Appeal.

  14. Key figures of supervision in 2017* • 608 new supervisorymatters and feedisputes • Disciplinary Board issued 510 decisions • Averageduration of the processwas 6 months 24 days • 42 % of the complaints led to a disciplinary sanction: • 117 reprimands (65 % of allsanctions) • 42 cautions (23,5 %) • 7 monetary penalty (4 %) • 8 disbarments (4,5 %) • 5 revocations of a licensedcounsel’slicense (3 %) • 14 % of the feedisputes led to a recommendationabout a feereduction

  15. Thankyou!www.barassociation.fiTwitter: @asianajajatyoutube.com/asianajajat

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