SELF PROCLAIMED LEGAL ADVISORS
THE LAW SOCIETY TAKES ACTION AGAINST TRANSLATORS ACTING AS SOLICITORS.
In its edition of the 17th of November “Expansion” newspaper informs of legal action by the Law Society of Orihuela against translators who use terms with “legal profession connotations” to describe themselves and their work .(i.e. legal advisors , legal services , legal advice etc) which lead clients to consider that they are dealing with solicitors when in fact they are dealing with people with no legal qualification whatsoever. The newspaper informs that the Law Society of Orihuela has presented varios cases to the courts including criminal cases with prison sentence requests . The “Consejo General de la Abogacia Española” (the ruling body of all the Law Societies in Spain ) have detected cases in Malaga, Marbella, Almeria, Murcia, Alicante and the Belearic Islands.
If you wish to find out if the person you have dealt with is a solicitor , please go to:http://www.abogacia.es/servicios-abogacia/censo-de-letrados/
If you have been misled by somebody pretending to be a solicitor please denounce your situation to the local Law Society: http://www.icaalmeria.es/ .For you to denounce it is not necessary for them to have said that they are a solicitor. It is sufficient for them to have led you to believe that this is the case.
To become a solicitor in Spain it requires 5 years at university followed by one or two years of training in a solicitor office or at the law society by taking a course before you can join the bar. After you have joined ,training never ends and one is on a permanent learning curve until you retire. Solicitors also carry indemnity insurance.
Going to a person that is not a solicitor to provide you with legal advice regarding your wills or the conveyance of a property is no different then going to your hairdresser to have your appendix out. With a you tube tutorial and the correct instruments she can give it a go but ………
In most cases you would know as much as them by simply reading the websites of a few solicitors specialists in the matter you are dealing with .
As my grandmother used to say a little knowledge can do a lot of damage .
The victims of this fraud are mostly English and the perpetrators are mostly English also.
Maybe we should wear a badge with our Law society number “I AMA REAL SOLICITOR ” like the gas company inspectors so that clients can distinguish the real thing .
