Advantages of advocate law offices

If you are seeking legal assistance, you may find that there are firms that offer various legal services without calling themselves 'advokater' (advocates). This is invariably due to the fact that those involved are not advocates. In Sweden, anyone can actually call himself or herself a lawyer (jurist), run law offices and offer legal advice without any control by the government. However, the title 'advokat' may only be used by a lawyer who has been accredited with the title and admitted as a member of the Swedish Bar Association (Sveriges advokatsamfund).

For you as a client, there are several advantages to engaging an advocate instead of another legal advisor.

Right education, training and experience

If you consult an advocate, you will be advised by a person with the right education, training and experience. To become a member of the Swedish Bar Association it is necessary to have a university degree in law, a jur kand (LLM) degree, which requires approximately five years of full-time study. You then need to practice law for five years, including at least three years as an associate at an advocate law office or in private practice. It is also compulsory to pass the advocate examinations set by the Swedish Bar Association; a training course concluded with a verbal examination. In order to be admitted to the Swedish Bar Association, and generally considered appropriate to practise as an advocate, it is also necessary to be of sound financial standing and a person of repute. According to the rules of the Swedish Bar Association, an advocate must also undertake 18 hours of further education every year.

Advocate practice standards

An advocate must comply with the Bar Association's ethical rules on good advocate practice standards. These include, among other things, rules on how advocate law offices should be run and managed, and the duties of the advocates in relation to their clients.

Duty of loyalty

A cornerstone principle for advocate practice standards is that advocates must be independent in their professional practice and that they have a duty of loyalty to their clients and no-one else.

Duty of confidentiality

An advocate also has a statutory duty of confidentiality, which means that an advocate may not disclose anything that he has become aware of in confidence, except under very special circumstances governed by law. This duty of confidentiality also applies to the employees of an advocate, both associates and other staff.

Supervision

An advocate is subject to the supervision of the Swedish Bar Association and the Office of the Chancellor of Justice.