The legal nature of the lawyer-client relationship and a statement of his legal status in the civil litigation A study in Omani and Qatari legislation

Abstract

The legal nature that governs the relationship between a lawyer and his client determines its features the profession that the lawyer performs. He voluntarily assists individuals in exercising their rights and in securing and defending them before the various investigation authorities in the state, in return of certain fees. This relationship, as revealed by this study, is not governed by public law, but rather by private law, where within the scope of this law, it is not considered a labour relationship that is subject in its rules and provisions to the employment contract, nor an agency contract nor a contracting contract nor a mixture between this and that. This study has determined that the legal nature of the lawyer’s relationship with his client in the Omani and Qatari legislation is considered as a litigation agency contract. Under this type of contract, the lawyer is obligated to provide technical assistance and address specific subject or issues presented to the courts or other exceptional judicial authorities for the benefit of the client in exchange for a designated fee. However, the fact that the legal nature of the lawyer’s relationship with his client is a litigation agency contract, it contributed to define the legal lawyers’ status in the civil litigation by being neither a party to the lawsuit nor a party to the litigation subject of this lawsuit, and either he is not a generally a legal representative. Instead, he is considered rather a technical representative of the litigant assisting him and without blocking the activity of the litigant in the litigation or covers it.