When do you not need a lawyer or a court agent?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

In civil cases, the rule is that you need both. They are not required for claims of 2.000 euros or less, which go through the “juicio verbal”, the simplified procedure, or to file the initial application in an order for payment procedure (“proceso monitorio”), whatever the amount owed. Nor are they needed to apply for urgent measures before the proceedings begin. By contrast, they are always required in evictions and in the other matters that the law assigns to a type of procedure by subject matter rather than by amount. What each one does and when they are not needed The lawyer defends you. He or she studies the case, drafts the claim or the defence and the other pleadings and takes part in the hearings before the judge. The court agent (“procurador”) represents you before the court. He or she files the pleadings, receives notifications on your behalf and may be responsible for serving some of them on the other party. The “Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil”, Spain's Civil Procedure Act, requires both as a general rule, with these main exceptions: Claims of 2.000 euros or less, which go through the simplified procedure. You can file the claim yourself, using the form provided by the courts. The initial application in the order for payment procedure, the procedure designed for claiming money debts recorded in documents, whatever their amount. Applications for urgent measures before the proceedings begin. In addition, some simple pleadings, such as the one used to enter an appearance in the proceedings or one urgently asking for a hearing to be suspended, do not need to be signed by the lawyer. When they are needed even if the amount is small The limit of 2.000 euros only applies to proceedings allocated according to the amount claimed. The law assigns other matters to the simplified procedure or to ordinary proceedings (“juicio ordinario”) by subject matter, such as eviction, the division of a jointly owned flat or challenges to resolutions of the owners' association (the “comunidad de propietarios”). In those cases both are needed even if what is at stake is worth little. In the order for payment procedure, if the debtor objects and the debt exceeds 2.000 euros, the written objection and the trial that follows require a lawyer and a court agent. If you are claiming 2.000 euros or less and want to use a lawyer or a court agent, you can, but you must say so in the claim. If you are the defendant and want to use them, you must notify the court within three days of receiving the claim. As a general rule, even if you win, you will not be able to recover from the other party what you pay them. The most important exception is a consumer who sues a business or a professional after having claimed from them out of court. If the judge orders the other party to pay the costs, they include what the court agent and the lawyer charge, with the lawyer's fees free of the cap that the law generally places on what is paid for the opposing party's lawyer. If the other party has a lawyer and you cannot afford one, you can apply for legal aid (“justicia gratuita”). It covers the lawyer and the court agent when they are compulsory and also when they are not, if the judge orders it to put both parties on an equal footing. These are the rules for civil cases. Employment proceedings, proceedings against the public authorities in the administrative courts and criminal proceedings have their own.