Lawyer glossary

Juristi (lakimies), lawyer = person who has a Master of Laws university degree (OTM/OTK)

 

Varatuomari (VT), Master of Laws with court training = a lawyer trained at the bench, i.e. with court training

 

Asianajaja (also “advokaatti”), attorney-at-law (also “advocate”) = a person with a university law degree and a minimum of four years of legal work experience who has passed the bar examination and been accepted into the Finnish Bar Association. All attorneys-at-law work either at a law office or in a state legal aid office. Lawyers working in lawyer’s firms, municipalities, organisations or other companies than law offices are not permitted to use the protected title of attorney-at-law.

 

Luvan saanut oikeudenkäyntiavustaja (“lupajuristi”), licensed trial counsel (“licensed lawyer”) = a lawyer permitted to represent clients at a trial. The licence is granted by the Legal Counsel Committee. The requirements for obtaining the licence are a university law degree and at least one year of orientation into the tasks of legal counsel, or passing the bar examination.

 

Julkinen oikeusavustaja, public legal aid attorney = a lawyer working in a state legal aid office. Approximately half of such lawyers are attorneys-at-law.

 

Confusing professional nomenclature

• There are approximately 2,200 attorneys-at-law in Finland.
• This is about 15% of the 20,000 Finnish jurists in employment.
• Roughly 2,100 attorneys-at-law work in private law offices, while around 100 are employed as public legal aid attorneys in state legal aid offices.
• As a rule, only attorneys-at-law, public legal aid attorneys and licensed legal counsel (“licensed lawyers”) are permitted to represent clients in court.
• There are about 1,600 licensed trial counsels in Finland.
• Licensed lawyers are also employed by law offices (e.g. because they have not yet fulfilled the conditions for membership in the Finnish Bar Association).