12:18     21 September 2023    

Bakutribune.com presents an interview with one of the successful lawyers, member of the Azerbaijan Bar Association Abraham Berman.

- How can you become a successful lawyer in Azerbaijan? - In order to become a successful lawyer, you need to really want and know how to achieve it. I think I've wanted this since I was a kid. The profession of a lawyer did not really attract me until Anar Bagirov became the chairman of the bar association. When lawyers basically just read the laws in court. And people mostly turned not to lawyers, but to assistant judges, prosecutors or investigators. In addition, in court, as a representative of the defense, one could meet a person with a professional education as a confectioner. What prevents most people from becoming talented is that they do their work for the money, not for the pleasure. It is not right. But the moment you stop thinking about money and start doing what you like, the money comes on its own. I have never been interested in money as such. - One of the difficult tasks in legal business is to earn the trust of clients. Do your clients trust you? What have you done to gain their trust? - It gave the result that my client wanted. I always ask a simple question: “What does my client want, what result does he want to get?” One day a woman came to me; all the lawyers before me had flatly refused her because they didn’t know how to legally justify her claims to the media. In addition, she talked a lot about her status and was, to put it mildly, arrogant. In such cases, it is important to concentrate on the problem. A couple of creative ideas and after winning the case, this woman’s friends started calling me. - Is it difficult to work with such clients? - No, but, of course, there are specifics. After all, women are principled in life and they recognize nothing but principles. Plus, women are emotional - you have to keep them in check. - Is it possible to tell everything to a lawyer? - Need to. It's necessary. Telling the truth is in the client's best interest. This determines what advice the lawyer will give and what evidence he will look for. It happens that the client provides incomplete information or slightly changed information, which is completely unimportant, as he personally thinks. And he receives a “surprise” based on the circumstances reported to him. Unfortunately, this leads to the fact that he only “buries” himself even more, “consolidates the evidence” against himself and it is no longer possible or very difficult to correct what was said and presented to the investigation. - What can’t be said in court? - First of all, you cannot speak offensively not only towards the opposite side, but also towards the judge. - You cannot use false or inaccurate data. This can seriously affect the outcome of the case. You must ensure that the data collected is correct. - Golden rule: do not ask questions if you do not know or are not confident in the content of the answer you will receive. Some clients, when asking a question, are so confident that the opponent will answer honestly. In such cases, I always warn the client: “Are you sure they will answer honestly?” - Don't underestimate your opponents. Because sooner or later you may not be ready to respond to an argument suddenly used by the opposite side. In the process of preparing for a meeting, at some point, I think like an opponent, putting myself in his place. I come up with all the arguments for him and then break down these same arguments on my own. - Does a lawyer need to please judges, prosecutors, and clients? - It would be a mistake for me if I tried to please. Sometimes I even like that not everyone likes me. But none of this matters. In a courtroom, you only have to talk to one person and that's the judge. The court must hear the logic of my words and take my side. The court must like my truth in order for the court to accept my arguments. - Are there categories of cases that you will not undertake for any money? - I will not take on a case in which the injured person is a minor and my client is the accused. The fact is that I may not be able to provide the client with professional legal assistance due to the fact that I will not be able to be completely calm. It’s the same as if a surgeon’s hand with a scalpel trembles before making an incision. Emotions. - Could you highlight the most interesting cases from your practice that you remember and are important to you from a professional point of view? - One of the interesting cases: when the client was a mother who wanted to return her children, whose father was hiding them. For about 4 months, my father was hiding from one region of the country to another. After we received a court ruling “on communication between mother and children,” execution of the ruling was sent to the bailiff of the district in which the children’s father was registered. Well, my father managed to get certificates claiming that he lived in one area or another. According to the law, the bailiff was obliged to forward the case to the judicial enforcement authority of the district at the place of residence. He, of course, was wanted, but no results. I had to use a trick. I found an old friend of the children’s father, from whom he once took a sum of money and did not return it. I convinced him to file a fraud complaint with the police. It didn’t even occur to the children’s father that we were behind all this. Well, he didn’t come to the police station when called by a police officer, but he wanted to meet with the complainant and discuss the details. All we have to do is wait for their meeting and send an employee of the search department to the place. But that's not the most interesting part. After he was detained, the children were handed over to their mother. And while the divorce trial was going on, the father filed an application for communication with the child. Based on the court's ruling, the mother undertook to provide the father with the opportunity to communicate with the children. Which is what happened, but when meeting the children, the father again managed to take the children and hide. I remember the children’s mother came to my office and asked the following question: “Well, are we going to go to court again and chase after the father?” At that moment, she did not know that I had foreseen this moment and was ready for such a situation. The fact is that after the children were handed over to the mother, the definition of “communication with the child” lost its legal force. And in this case, the party would have to apply again to determine a temporary measure “on the communication of children with their mother.” But there was no need to do this anymore, since even before all this, the uncles and grandparents of the children listened to my advice and filed an application with the courts of first instance of different districts “for a temporary measure of communication between the children and them.” Thus, writs of execution for their cases have long been in the hands of bailiffs in different areas. All I have to do is report this to the bailiffs. It was already difficult for my father from the pressure of three bailiffs. After which he voluntarily gave the children to their mother. Now the children live with their mother. The client is happy with the work done, and I am happy with the result. - How do you decide to get involved? Should things be interesting? - When I decide to take on a case, the very first thing I have to do is see that I can help the person. I can't commit to a process if I can't do anything. I need to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Secondly, I need a person opposite me, a client who understands me, with whom I can find a common language. Who doesn’t think that he hired a lawyer, but he invited him.