In Ukraine there are two varieties of legal practitioners--Advocates and Notaries. My understanding is that the Advocates are professional attorneys in the American sense, who have the highest level of qualification and may appear in court on behalf of their clients. All of the law students we are training are on a track to become Advocates. There is a second variety of "lawyer," however, known as Notaries. Unlike American notaries, who are really mere witnesses to the execution legal documents, the Ukrainian notaries are office practitioners who perform a wide variety of functions, including real estate transactions and probate functions. Being a notary can apparently be very lucrative. There is a notary in the apartment building whose office is always full of clients, who also spill out into the stairwell.
I have also noticed that many notaries and advocates have begun to use American-style advertising on billboards and Metro cars. The other day I saw a sticker-type advertisement in the Metro regarding personal injury, giving the name of the Advocate and promising quick money.
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