Professionalisation of Legal Aid: ‘Homework’ Inspired by the 11th Forum

A discussion was held on the topic ‘Legal Services Market and Legal Representation’ on the sidelines of the 11th St. Petersburg International Legal Forum. Possible scenarios for regulating the legal profession were discussed in order to properly ensure that citizens are entitled to receive qualified legal assistance, as well as minimize and prevent poor-quality services and cases of fraud. As a promising model of regulation, the majority of the session participants agreed that only someone with the status of a lawyer should be entitled to provide legal services, including for the further professional development of legal representation. Based on the results of the discussion at the previous Forum, the main conceptual approaches were formulated for legal representation, as well as how to improve the regulation of the legal practice. These issues need to be discussed once again with participants and the professional community, including professional legal representation, along with ways to expand the forms of legal entities, opportunities for lawyers to work under employment contracts, and the regulation of the institution of advocacy.