Talking about the profession of lawyer, advocate or lawyer, basically both parties are equally providing legal services. It’s just that, formerly these two terms had differences seen from the location of practice.
Based on the decree of the Minister of Justice, an advocate is allowed to provide legal services in court and can litigate throughout Indonesia.
While the license to practice a lawyer is only granted by the Local Court. In other words, the scope of practice of a lawyer is more limited than that of an advocate.
If a lawyer wishes to practice outside his / her licensed area of practice, then the lawyer needs to request a license in the court where he / she intends to provide legal services.
Since Law No.18 year 2009 about Advocates lowered, now there is no difference between advocates and lawyers.
According to Article 1 Paragraph (1) of the Advocates law, all persons who provide legal services inside and outside the court throughout the Republic of Indonesia are called advocates, including lawyers.
How Does A Lawyer Work?
Although information about the profession of lawyers, advocates or lawyers is commonly heard, there are still many who do not understand very well about how lawyers work.
A different paradigm in the wider community is that the task of advocates is to free clients from lawsuits. Of course, that paradigm is not true.
According to the Secretary General of the national leadership of the Indonesian Advocates Association (PERADI), The Advocate’s task is to provide legal assistance so that a client can get his rights during the legal process.
In practice, an advocate is free to issue a statement or opinion during the defense of a client’s case in court as long as it remains in accordance with the code of professional ethics and laws and regulations.
In addition, every advocate also has an obligation to keep all information from his client confidential, except for other provisions stipulated by law.
Lawyers or advocates are prohibited from discriminating against their clients on the basis of religion, politics, gender, race, or social and cultural background.
Requirements To Become A Lawyer
Referring to Article 2 Paragraph (1) of The Advocate law, a person who can become an advocate is those who have a higher legal education background.
In addition, it is mandatory to attend special education for The Advocate profession held by the Indonesian Advocates Association (PERADI).
After completing the special education of The Advocate profession, you need to take an exam and do an internship in an advocate’s office for approximately 2 years in a row.
If you have passed, before carrying out your duties as an advocate, you will be sworn in at the High Court according to your domicile.
4 Qualities a Great Lawyer Needs To Have
A great lawyer is not only judged by how smart he is to master the theory and applicable law, but needs to have the following 5 qualities.
Good command in English both Written
In resolving cases in court, a lawyer must have good persuasive abilities. The goal is that you can convince the court of the client’s position.
The second quality that a lawyer needs to have is the ability to negotiate. This bargaining skill is useful for reaching a good agreement between the parties concerned.
Can Control Emotions
Not every trial goes smoothly. There are times when a lawyer is faced with arguments or threats that often affect their emotions. Therefore, the best lawyers are those who have the ability to control emotions well.
Have a Patient Attitude
Finally, a lawyer also needs to practice patience skills because some cases usually take up to months before they are finally completed.
Thus a brief review about the profession of lawyer, advocate or lawyer. In addition to requiring the 4 skills above, a professional lawyer is usually supported by complete business facilities to optimize its performance.
Renting a building as a place of practice is one of the things that needs to be prepared for a new lawyer. Unfortunately, renting an office building sometimes requires a lot of money.
Therefore, now comes the virtual office service that allows you to have a business office at an affordable rental price.
Interestingly, the rental price of a virtual office generally includes operational facilities, electricity costs, to cleaning services. That way, you can save on monthly expenses.
