what are the usual tricks of fake lawyers? How to identify fake lawyers? What should I do if I meet a fake lawyer? Let's give you a heads-up
what is a fake lawyer?
As the name implies, fake lawyers are those who do not have a lawyer's license, a practice platform and a fixed office, but still represent cases in the name of lawyers and receive remuneration. This also includes some people who illegally solicit and represent litigation business in so-called legal consulting companies and information consulting companies.
Phenomenon-Litigation: Mistakenly invited a fake lawyer
Mr. Huang wants to invite a lawyer to file a lawsuit because of a real estate dispute. Mr. Huang met Mr. Zheng through an acquaintance. This person claims to be a lawyer of a well-known law firm, who has been practicing for more than 2 years and has rich experience. He also said that he is familiar with the leaders of the court and the real estate bureau, and asked him to represent the lawsuit to ensure victory.
after listening to Zheng's promise, Mr. Huang gave him several thousand yuan of agency fees without confirming Zheng's identity and seeing if he had a lawyer's license. A few days later, Zheng asked Mr. Huang for extra expenses on the grounds of inviting the court leaders to eat.
Unexpectedly, a few days later, when Mr. Huang submitted the complaint written by Zheng to the court, the court staff told him that the complaint did not meet the requirements at all. Mr. Huang rushed to Zheng's self-proclaimed law firm to find out. As a result, the staff of the law firm told Mr. Huang that Zheng resigned and left a few years ago. Moreover, Zheng is not a lawyer working in this law firm, but an ordinary staff member. Mr. Huang, who felt bad, hurriedly called Zheng's mobile phone, but no one answered, and Zheng disappeared.
In order to save money, Mr. Zhang Lao, who is going to fight a divorce lawsuit, has also been deceived by a fake lawyer. Some time ago, Zhang Laobo went to court to sue for divorce. Before he went to the door of the court, he was taken away by Wang, who claimed to be a lawyer. Wang told Zhang Laobo that he had five years' experience in litigation, and he could represent Zhang Laobo in the lawsuit. "The cost is low, and the win is guaranteed.". Although Wang said this, Zhang Laobo still believed it.
The old man paid the "lawyer's fee", and Wang quickly wrote a divorce complaint. However, when Zhang Laohan entered the court with a complaint and asked to file a case, he was told that the complaint was wrong in content and format, and the judge suggested that Zhang Laohan rewrite a complaint and come back. Zhang Laobo was in a hurry. "I paid for a professional lawyer. How can I write it wrong?" When he got home, Zhang Laobo looked through the power of attorney carefully, only to find that the so-called lawyer's entrustment contract contained the name of the law firm. What's more, the work unit that said "Lawyer Wang" could not find this place at all.
"I paid for a lawyer, but I didn't expect it to be fake. I was cheated of a' lawyer's fee' for nothing. The remorseful Zhang Laohan was angry and asked a friend to write a complaint for himself again, asking Wang to go to the court to discuss it.
in fact, with the increasing prosperity of the legal service market, in recent years, there are not a few people who pretend to be lawyers to represent clients in litigation or provide non-litigation services and make profits from them. Because these fake lawyers are not bound by professional norms and professional ethics, they often make promises, blindly quote prices, pull relationships, commit perjury and even encourage the parties to take extreme measures to solve legal disputes, which not only disrupts the normal legal service market, but also makes some cases of pestering and making lawsuits against the parties more prominent, which fundamentally damages the legitimate rights and interests of the parties themselves and affects the justice and fairness of the judiciary.
- Investigation-
Fake lawyers: four tricks to cheat money
The reporter's investigation found that some fake lawyers have more or less legal background, and some of them obtained lawyer's practice licenses in the past, but they have been revoked, cancelled or no longer registered according to regulations; There are also some who have had certain interpersonal relationships in the judicial organs or in the judicial departments. However, there are also some people who make up lies and pretend to be lawyers to deceive liars purely for the purpose of seeking illegitimate economic benefits.
Fake lawyers generally take the initiative to find law firms that don't pay attention to their own image and practice discipline, or find some legal service centers to undertake cases in the name of platforms such as "consultants" and illegally practice.
Fake lawyers often use the following tricks to deceive people:
First, they pretend to be lawyers. Fake lawyers generally don't take the initiative to admit that they are not lawyers. Although some don't take the initiative to admit that they are "lawyers", they are engaged in legal services that only licensed lawyers can engage in according to the law. If the parties ask to see the lawyer's practice license, fake lawyers will generally find excuses to shirk it. For example, the lawyer's practice license can only be seen by judges, etc. Many people don't know this and are easily deceived;
the second is to evade the law and illegally represent. In the case of some unqualified agents, fake lawyers often have a set of rhetoric: "I represent this case for you as a friend, not as a law firm." In this way, it will not only save you money, but also simplify the procedures of our court and speed up our handling of cases ";
thirdly, mystifying and encouraging the parties to go to court. Fake lawyers often make it simple that there is little chance of winning or even unnecessary lawsuits, encouraging the parties to go to court, thus charging fees and defrauding money;
the fourth is self-expansion, lest the world be chaotic. Fake lawyers generally have limited business knowledge, so they like to brag about how close their relationship with the judiciary is, so as to defraud the clients' trust.
- Argument -
A fake lawyer can be investigated for criminal responsibility
China's Lawyers Law stipulates that a lawyer without a lawyer's practice certificate may not engage in legal services in the name of a lawyer; Except as provided for in this law, no one may engage in litigation agency or defense business. The law also stipulates that if a lawyer engages in legal services in the name of a lawyer without obtaining a lawyer's practice certificate, the judicial administrative department of the local people's government at or above the county level shall order him to stop his illegal practice, confiscate his illegal income and impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times his illegal income.
In addition, according to China's Law on Public Security Administration Punishment, once the act of impersonating a lawyer to engage in legal services is verified, the public security organ shall order him to stop his illegal practice, confiscate his illegal income, impose a fine of less than 5, yuan and detain him for less than 15 days, and investigate his criminal responsibility according to law.
It can be seen that it is not only illegal to impersonate a lawyer to engage in litigation agency business, but also bear criminal responsibility if the circumstances are serious.
Of course, our country's laws also stipulate that people other than lawyers can be entrusted as agents ad litem or defenders of others as "civil agents". However, except for the persons recommended by the close relatives of the parties, relevant social organizations or the units to which the parties belong, whether other citizens can represent others in litigation must be examined and approved by the people's court.
- Reminder -
How to identify fake lawyers
1. Regular lawyers have lawyer's practice licenses, and the parties can also check the authenticity of the lawyer's practice license number on the official website of the Justice Bureau. For those lawyers who do have identity, it is also necessary to check whether the lawyer's practice certificate is consistent with the name of the law firm and whether the registration date has expired; And pay attention to check the punishment record on the last page of the lawyer's practice certificate;
second, the regular lawyers' association will receive clients in the law firm, accept clients' entrustment in the name of the law firm according to regulations, sign agency contracts with clients, and go through relevant formalities. Procedures. Fake lawyers often like to receive clients in some informal places, and often do not sign written contracts with clients;
Third, regular lawyers will issue regular invoices to clients when they collect fees, while fake lawyers generally issue fee receipts or even IOUs.
It is worth mentioning that there is also a grass-roots legal service worker who can also provide some legal services to clients, but only in legal consultation and legal writing in civil and administrative cases, and cannot represent criminal cases. They are not real lawyers.