There are about 140,000 counselors-at-law working in Germany (in the year 2008). A German advocate either works as a self-employed professional or as an employee of a law company. The lawyer is a so-called independent organ of the legal system. As a client you have the right to choose your preferred advocate absolutely on your own. The following site offers a directory of legal practitioners assorted by German cities: Anwalt Dortmund.

Your legal practitioner is independent of any instructions of third parties and should only chase your specific interests. He or she may not reveal details of your case to unauthorized third parties. Additionally your advocate has the right to make binding statements on your behalf. So it is very important to find a advocate whom you really trust. German attorneys can be found here: Anwaelte Bonn. This is a human edited directory of lawyers, which is growing constantly. Besides using Internet directories you can find the right counselor-at-law by studying the local press or by asking friends for recommendations.

The German advocate can work as a generalist or as a specialist. As our world is becoming more and more complex, it might be a good idea to look for a legal practitioner who is specialized in a specific area of law. There are for example specialized lawyers for family law (divorces etc.), employment law, tax law, insurance law, inheritance law, road traffic law, medical law and several others.

Self-employed advocates face the same problems as any other business owner. They are looking for ways to advertise their businesses effectively and cheaply. The Internet offers many possibilities to achieve that. There are already several directories of German legal practitioners online. Some of them charge a one time rate, and some of them do recurring charging. Counselors-at-law can present their businesses in the following directory: Rechtsanwalt Augsburg. It is free of charge at the time of this writing.