There are about 140,000 legal practitioners working in Germany (in the year 2008). A German attorney either works as a entrepreneur or as an employee of a law company. The advocate is a so-called independent organ of the legal system. As a customer you have the right to choose your preferred legal practitioner absolutely on your own. The following site offers a directory of counselors-at-law assorted by German cities: Anwalt Bremen.
Your attorney is independent of any instructions of third parties and should only chase your specific interests. He or she may not reveal details of your case to unauthorized third parties. Additionally your advocate has the right to make binding statements on your behalf. So it is very important to find a legal practitioner whom you really trust. German attorneys can be found here: Anwaelte Hannover. This is a human edited directory of attorneys, which is growing constantly. Besides using Internet directories you can find the right advocate by studying the local press or by asking friends for recommendations.
The German lawyer can work as a generalist or as a specialist. As our world is becoming more and more complex, it might be a good idea to look for a counselor-at-law who is specialized in a specific area of law. There are for example specialized attorneys for family law (divorces etc.), employment law, tax law, insurance law, inheritance law, road traffic law, medical law and several others.
Self-employed counselors-at-law face the same problems as any other entrepreneur. They are looking for ways to advertise their businesses effectively and at low rates. The Internet offers numerous possibilities to achieve that. There are already several directories of German counselors-at-law online. Some of them charge a one time rate, and some of them do recurring charging. Legal practitioners can present their businesses in the following directory: Rechtsanwalt Kiel. It is free of charge at the time of this writing.
