Who may connect and what actions are available

Advocates who hold advocate status under the Advocacy Law and are entered in the register of the chamber of advocates of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation may connect, as may lawyers — natural persons — providing legal services within the limits permitted by legislation (subject to restrictions on representation in particular kinds of proceedings).

A mandatory condition is personal communication with the principal. Enquiries may not be delegated to a call centre, a secretary of an organisation, or a “duty line” of a legal entity. The cabinet is conducted by the specialist personally or by a person authorised by the specialist within limits that do not destroy the personal character of advocacy.

The advocate must be prepared to accept enquiries, to state availability or unavailability in good time and, upon accepting a mandate, to conduct the principal through the information system: primary communication, the agreement, the course of the mandate.

Legal entities as “providers of advocacy”, franchises, aggregators without an identified advocate, and staff of corporate legal departments acting as representatives of an organisational client are not connected. A separate contour is intended for organisations.

A person whose advocate status has been terminated or suspended, or who is forbidden by law to render the relevant kind of legal assistance, is not connected.

After connection the advocate is given a personal cabinet for handling enquiries. The typical sequence of actions is as follows.

For the principal’s choice the following are published: specialisation (classes of matters), particulars of experience (length of advocacy or other relevant experience of a lawyer), region(s) of work, availability to accept enquiries, the information system’s assessment, and reviews where authors have consented.

The advocate’s registry number is disclosed to the principal upon conclusion of the agreement and on request. Publication of a full list of names on the public site is not the operator’s duty; concealment of status when assistance is rendered is impermissible.

Assessment reflects the specialist’s work in the information system (timeliness of primary contact, conduct of the cabinet, observance of stated availability) and reviews of principals who consented to publication. It does not measure “win rates” and does not replace the chamber’s disciplinary practice.

The advocate is entitled to know the criteria of assessment and to contest an obvious accounting error. Distortion of card particulars, fabrication of reviews and promises of outcome entail disconnection from the contour.

The advocate remains independent in the choice of position and in the decision to accept or decline a mandate. The operator does not give instructions on the merits of a case.

The fee is set by the agreement with the principal. Any consideration payable to the operator under a contract for use of the cabinet may not be made dependent on conclusion of an agreement on a particular enquiry as a “purchase” of the principal.