Representative with interest: the cost of lawyers' services may increase 2.5 times
The cost of lawyers' services will rise by 155%, and the burden on them will increase 1.6 times if the bill on the "lawyer's monopoly" is adopted, according to calculations by legal services market researchers. The document developed by the Ministry of Justice assumes that from January 1, 2028, only persons with legal status will have the right to judicial representation. According to the agency, this will improve the quality of services and ensure compliance with ethical principles of work. Lawyers are collecting signatures against the law. About how the amendments will work if they are adopted and why they are needed, see the Izvestia article.
How will the prices of lawyers rise?
Prices for lawyers' services may increase by 155% within a few years, that is, by more than 2.5 times. This will happen if the Ministry of Justice's bill on the "lawyer's monopoly" is adopted, experts at the Analytica research center believe. Business. The right."
For public discussion, the draft federal law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" was published on July 11, 2025. The Ministry of Justice proposes to allow only those lawyers who have the status of a lawyer to represent the interests of the parties in court. Currently, there are about 1.5 million lawyers working in Russia, of which only 75.8 thousand (5%) have the status of a lawyer. At least 440,000 lawyers without the status of a lawyer provide judicial representation services.
The press service of the Ministry of Justice reminded Izvestia that citizens will retain the right to represent their interests personally. Also, the amendments will not affect close relatives of citizens, employees of state law bureaus, staff lawyers of organizations, arbitration managers, patent attorneys. The changes will not apply to disputes considered by justices of the peace and cases of administrative offenses.
The amendments establish a transition period until January 1, 2028, during which time lawyers will be able to acquire the status of a lawyer.
"Before the specified date, professional lawyers will be able to prepare and pass the bar exam, and conduct judicial practice in the same mode," the department said.
But, according to the results of a study by the center "Analytics. Business. Law", the introduction of a "lawyer's monopoly" will lead to a rapid increase in prices for legal services as early as 2026. It recalls that in 2025, the average cost of lawyers' services is 5-6 thousand rubles per hour or consultation, while lawyers without a status offer services for an average of 2.5-3.5 thousand rubles. The difference is explained by the additional costs of lawyers for maintaining their status and membership fees.
In addition, the lawyers' workload will increase significantly. According to analysts, courts of general jurisdiction and arbitration courts consider more than 30.8 million cases annually. There are an average of 30.3 cases per specialist per year. The introduction of a lawyer's monopoly will lead to an increase in the workload to 49.6 cases, that is, it will grow by more than one and a half times.
"This trend is unlikely to change even taking into account the projected transition of 10% of lawyers without legal status to the bar," the analysts note, adding that the price increase for lawyers in the first year after the law comes into force is expected to reach 30%, then it will gradually slow down.
Why legal aid may become difficult to access
In Russia, there is a geographical unevenness in the distribution of lawyers. For example, 12.7 thousand of them work in Moscow, while nine work in the Nenets Autonomous District.
"This unevenness will create serious problems after the introduction of the lawyer's monopoly," the experts noted. — Northern and remote regions and rural areas with low population density will be particularly vulnerable. In these regions, "legal deserts" will arise — territories where qualified legal assistance will become virtually inaccessible.
According to the Accounting Chamber for 2019, clients complain about 13.7-18.7% of lawyers annually, and 3.3-4% are subject to disciplinary penalties. Analysts believe that after the introduction of the "lawyer's monopoly", the number of claims will grow to 60-85% in the short term. Among the main factors that will lead to a decrease in the quality of services, analysts named critical congestion, reduced competition and rising prices.
The Ministry of Justice believes that the introduction of a "lawyer's monopoly" will increase the level of protection of the rights of citizens seeking legal services.
"Conditions will be created to unite professional lawyers on a single platform of the legal profession. Today, a significant proportion of legal services are provided by citizens and organizations whose ethical and professional standards of activity are not established by law," the department stressed.
In addition, they noted that special risks are associated with the activities of unqualified and unscrupulous judicial representatives. The explanatory note states that most complaints from citizens come to lawyers who receive payment but do not fulfill their obligations.
"The lack of legal mechanisms for regulating the "non-military" segment of the legal services market, uniform ethical and professional standards leads to a significant increase in the number of cases of providing citizens with the lowest quality services. Today, the state is unable to respond to such violations, it is unable to restrict the access of unprofessional and unscrupulous lawyers to provide services, and exclude them from professional activities," the document says.
The draft law, as emphasized in the Ministry of Justice, is based on proposals developed by representatives of the scientific and professional community, as well as the positions of interested government authorities and organizations.
How did the professional community react?
The professional community, in turn, criticized the bill of the Ministry of Justice. Lawyers and advocates are teaming up to vote against the bill while public discussions are underway. According to experts interviewed by Izvestia, the "lawyer's monopoly" is the main topic that is currently being discussed in the legal community.
In particular, in early July, the public movement "Association of Lawyers" was created, where more than 2.5 thousand participants registered. The movement's chairman, lawyer Ekaterina Gulenkova, told Izvestia that the movement opposes the bill: according to the professional community, there are currently no objective reasons for increased government interference in legal activities.
"The explanation of the reform by the goals of quality improvement does not stand up to any criticism: in the justification of the bill there is no data on the differences in the quality of lawyers' services from lawyers' services," she noted.
According to her, the current regulation of legal activity is sufficient to protect the rights of clients.
— There is a Civil Code, the law on consumer protection, Rospotrebnadzor and the Criminal Code, — she emphasized. — In addition, in the courts of almost all instances, there is already a requirement for a representative to have a diploma of higher legal education. It is unclear why the standard bar exam is ranked higher than the state one.
As a result, as Ekaterina Gulenkova noted, many lawyers will be deprived of their profession — work in private practice is not counted in the length of service required to obtain the status of a lawyer. And the law does not provide for changes in this part.
— That is, not all current lawyers will receive the status of a lawyer, — she said. — The supply on the market will decrease, and the prices of legal services will skyrocket. The price increase will also affect the need to pay an entrance fee to obtain the status of a lawyer — up to 800 thousand rubles, depending on the region. Given the recent increase in state taxes, this will close access to justice.
In the Stavropol Territory, the regional professional trade union of lawyers has scheduled a rally at the end of July 2025 to "draw the attention of Russian citizens and the president to violations of articles of the Constitution."
"The introduction of a "lawyer's monopoly" will put every citizen in such a difficult financial and economic situation, in which an ordinary citizen with a minimum wage for each family member will not be able to pay for a lawyer's remuneration," the notification says.
What should be changed
The Trans-Baikal regional branch of Opora Russia has given a legal opinion on the draft law of the Ministry of Justice, where a significant increase in the cost of services is also highlighted among the main risks. It notes that having the status of a lawyer does not guarantee that the legal service will be of improved quality. However, the availability of legal aid will be limited.
"We are witnessing negative trends in the legal services market," the document says. — A decrease in the number of graduates of law schools has led to a shortage in the labor market. The younger generation is not enough. This is due to the persistent trend towards a decrease in budget places for the legal profession, which reached a complete ban in 2025. In addition, the multiple increase in court fees has already led to a decrease in the level of litigation, as the trial "has become unaffordable for many."
Lawyer Martin Zarbabyan disagreed that if the bill is passed, the cost of services will increase significantly. The association of lawyers, according to him, will increase the total number of judicial representatives with the status of a lawyer, and an increase in the volume of services offered leads to a decrease in cost.
— Of course, among lawyers who do not have the status of a lawyer, there are enough highly qualified judicial representatives, which does not prevent them from obtaining the status of a lawyer and continuing their activities, — he said.
In his opinion, the bill is "a gradual and natural development of Russian judicial representation towards professionalization."
Instead of introducing a "lawyer's monopoly," experts are "Analysts. Business. Pravo" proposed to consider a number of alternative mechanisms. For example, to create chambers of legal consultants based on the experience of Kazakhstan, to introduce mandatory professional liability insurance and to introduce mandatory mediation and a claim procedure in all categories of disputes.
And Opora Russia proposed to create a self-regulating organization of lawyers working by analogy with SRO in construction. This will create uniform standards, control, and disciplinary practices without excluding tens of thousands of professionals who have gained practice and reputation from the market.
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