How has the legal profession changed during the war?

Advocacy in wartime is a public human rights activity aimed at influencing government decisions, legislation, or public opinion in order to protect human rights in wartime.

Unlike a lawyer, an attorney has the right to defend a client (an individual or legal entity) in a court case on civil, family, criminal, administrative or economic disputes, and now also in military matters.

We spoke with Iryna Pyatigorets, an attorney at the law firm “DE-JURE”, about the specifics of her profession and how the full-scale invasion changed the work of an attorney.

— First of all, military specialization has become more clearly distinguished, in particular all issues related to mobilization, dismissal, payments, etc. At “DE-JURE”, lawyer Larysa Kys specializes in this, — says Iryna Pyatygorets. — Statistics say that since the time of Covid and the beginning of the Russian invasion, there have been more divorces, because many families are separated by the border, but I do not see this in my practice. But indeed, many issues are now being resolved remotely. The lawyer and the client conclude an agreement, according to which the lawyer represents the client’s interests in court. Court sessions, however, can be delayed and postponed due to air strikes. In everything else, we work the same way as before the war.

The credo that unites all lawyers of the law firm “DE-JURE” is professionalism and decency. After all, the client, no matter what case he addresses, must understand that he will be treated with attention and due respect, as stipulated by the lawyer’s ethics.