Bogusław Sołtys

Remuneration at hourly rates – guidelines for attorneys-at-law providing legal assistance to consumers on the basis of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of January 12, 2023 (case file no. C-395/21)

The article addresses the issue of the legal qualification of various defects in contractual provisions concerning remuneration for the provision of legal assistance to consumers. The impetus for bringing this issue closer is the recent judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of January 12, 2023, (case file no. C-395/21) which took interest in the area of rules for the exercise of legal professional activity. This is because, from the perspective of the EU law, it contains an assessment of the legal consequences of the lack of transparency of provisions shaping contractual remuneration based on hourly rates for services provided to consumers by the Lithuanian attorneys. The purpose of this article is not only to present the assumptions of this ruling, but also, taking them into account, to formulate conclusions that, in light of the Polish law, should be addressed at attorneys-at-law and other Polish service providers, both operating in the regulated and unregulated legal services market.

The article conducts a legal qualification of attorney’s-at-law professional activities performed for the benefit of capital companies conducting legal activities and their clients. It also considers the arguments for and against introducing the possibility of attorney’s-at-law legal practice in the form of participation in capital companies authorized to provide legal assistance. In conclusion, the author clearly advocates for the change of the currently binding prohibitions on attorney’s-at-law profession.

The role of attorneys-at-law in whistleblowing

The article discusses the role of attorneys-at-law in the whistleblowing system in connection with the implementation of EU Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law into the Polish legal order. The article provides an assessment of the proposed provisions regarding attorneys-at-law and points out the need for their necessary amendments. It also conducts a determination of whether and to what extent there is a need to specify the rules of professional deontology of attorneys-at-law in connection with their various activities related to the issue of whistleblowing.

Artykuł przeprowadza kwalifikację prawną czynności zawodowych radcy prawnego dokonywanych na rzecz spółek kapitałowych prowadzących działalność prawniczą i ich klientów. Rozważa też argumenty za i przeciw wprowadzeniu możliwości legalnego wykonywania zawodu radcy prawnego w formie uczestnictwa w spółkach kapitałowych uprawnionych do świadczenia pomocy prawnej. W konkluzji autor wyraźnie opowiada się za zmianą obecnie obowiązujących zakazów reglamentacyjnych wykonywania zawodu radcy prawnego.

Membership in capital companies as a form of exercising the profession of attorney-at-law

The article conducts a legal qualification of attorney’s-at-law professional activities performed for the benefit of capital companies conducting legal activities and their clients. It also considers the arguments for and against introducing the possibility of attorney’s-at-law legal practice in the form of participation in capital companies authorized to provide legal assistance. In conclusion, the author clearly advocates for the change of the currently binding prohibitions on attorney’s-at-law profession.