Legal opinion

Preparation of a legal opinion

Legal opinion is provided in the form of a written consultation on a specific subject or field of activity carried out by a legal entity or an individual.

It is drawn up at the request and in the interests of the person making the request. The same conclusion cannot be given to both sides of the legal relationship and ensure that the interests of all parties are respected, as it is based on information provided by the customer of such a conclusion.

The quality of legal opinion preparation provides an opportunity to check the transparency of the contract (project), as well as the expediency and legality of important legal actions planned by the client.

When is it necessary to prepare a legal opinion?

1. When such a conclusion is given regarding immovable property. In this case, it is easier to establish whether the client is taking a risk when buying or becoming the owner of real estate.
2. If it is about the provision of services by international organizations. At the same time, the Legal Opinion indicates the presence or absence of prohibitions (restrictions) on the provision of this type of services by the specified company to its citizens.

Yes, it is possible to talk about the admissibility or inadmissibility of foreign citizens providing services for citizens of other jurisdictions and regarding the approval of agreements when buying and selling on the currency exchange. The conclusions are transferred to VISA or Mastercard, the acquirer, or the bank for confirmation of the transfer.

Types of activities in respect of which Prikhodko and Partners provide legal opinions:

• legal opinion for forex brokers;
• legal opinion for gambling business (gambling);
• legal opinion for crypto exchange;
• legal opinion on the activity of crypto exchanges;
• legal opinion on other activities with cryptocurrencies.

3. When concluding cross-border agreements. For such transactions, it becomes clear from the conclusion whether the submitted documents are valid and whether they have legal significance. It also determines whether these documents will comply with local law in the jurisdiction you need.
4. Financial operations. The legal opinion provides an assessment of the legal risks of a specific project, including recommended ways to minimize them. Project documentation is being adjusted.
5. For share and securities issue prospectuses. A legal opinion is provided during the placement of shares and is a confirmation of compliance with all requirements during the issue.

How to prepare a legal opinion

When ordering a legal opinion, the client wants to get full legal clarity and wants to see it as an accurate legal study of the legal threats of a specific project or agreement.

The statements made in the conclusions determine the level of reliability of the performer. In this regard, persons who order a Legal Opinion are obliged to check the opinion for the absence of ambiguous judgments and conclusions, misunderstandings, uncertainties, conditions, and assumptions.

Their presence indicates that lawyers doubt the judgment expressed and are not responsible for incorrectly or inaccurately drawn conclusions and recommendations.

A high-quality legal opinion must be formulated and legally justified. Here it is necessary to indicate the exact initial circumstances, references to articles of legislative acts, and clear statements.

At the same time, the legal opinion does not exclude the need for legal support. The parties should not rely on the fact that, having received such an opinion, they will receive detailed instructions on the implementation of the project (road map) or the execution of the agreement with their own hands.

Step-by-step preparation

Background – source data

This part of the contract contains reference data about the information provided by the customer, about the documentation or the agreement itself, based on which conclusions will be drawn. Here are details of the applicable law depending on the jurisdiction where the relationship takes place.

Document reviewed and inquiries made – part of the research

The research section outlines the process and results of data analysis for these documents, describes the steps taken to gather additional information needed for honest content, and draws conclusions based on them.

This includes documents, constituent documents, and minutes of meetings of the board of founders or directors of the company. The conclusion should indicate which documents the executor worked with: originals or their copies, possibly drafts.

A list of additional collected sources is also compiled and requests submitted to various registration, tax or patent authorities, etc. are indicated. The query result is recorded even if it is negative.

If the preparation of a legal opinion takes a long time, a second application with the introduction of the latest changes that have occurred since the first application is not excluded.

Assumptions – assumptions

Assumptions – these are conclusions made in a legal opinion that directly depend on the original position of the author of the opinion. The correctness and accuracy of the analysis of the situation can be analyzed from the starting points set forth by the author of the study, which will become the basis for expressing further assumptions.

This part includes standard hypotheses, as well as variable hypotheses – dependent on certain events.

For advice on preparing a legal opinion, contact the experts Prikhodko and Partners.