A legal opinion is a document, specifying the conclusion that a professional lawyer reaches when he or she has looked into a certain legal situation. The lawyer will issue a document that will let the parties of a deal understand where the contract stands from the judicial point of view.
Legal opinions are often required when financial deals are made. Legal opinions are sometimes prerequisites of such deals. In the text below, we will discuss the situations when a legal opinion is required and what it should look like.
In what cases do you need a legal opinion?
- Launching an ICO
The goal of an ICO is raising funds through the sale of coins (tokens) to investors. Some countries will have their own regulations pertaining to ICO’s, while in many countries ICOs remain unregulated. A legal opinion is required in order to determine, for example, the functions of the coin and decide if it qualifies as a security or financial instrument in the jurisdiction where the ICO is based – or where the investor is based. This will have a bearing on the requirements that the coin emitter will have to meet.
A cryptocurrency trading platform may request a legal opinion as it wants to be in keeping with the national legislation applicable to cryptocurrency exchanges. The lawyer issuing the legal opinion has to be knowledgeable about the cryptocurrency regulations that are applied in the relevant countries.
- Making an international business deal
Cross border deals also often require a legal opinion. This is especially true if the deal involves buying a foreign company, a piece of property abroad, securities, or obtaining a loan.
For example, if one of the companies is registered in Luxembourg, the other party may request a legal opinion from a law firm in Luxembourg. The law firm will have to confirm that the company is registered in the country indeed and that all the registration documents are in the proper form. That is to say, the lawyers will have to confirm that the company has the capacity to enter the deal.
- Making an investment agreement
When a deal is struck between a startup and a fund that agrees to provide financing, the startup requests a legal opinion about the investor. Farsighted individuals planning to launch a business with somebody else’s financial support will want to assess the risks and settle all questionable issues prior to entering the agreement.
- FOREX trading
A legal opinion will help clarify if a certain FOREX broker or dealer has the right to provide services in a certain jurisdiction. In this case, the legal opinion goes to the bank or to MasterCard, Visa, or other payment system operators to confirm the legality of the broker/ dealer transactions.
- Buying/ selling real estate
A legal opinion will allow the prospective buyer to see if he or she is running any risks while purchasing the piece of real property – for example whether the title is clear and free of liens. The buyer will also understand what liabilities owning the property might entail.
Some other cases when a legal opinion may be required:
- When you want to know if a prospective partner of your has a criminal past or not;
- When you want to know what licensing regulations apply to your business;
- When you want to know about the minimum salary requirements if you plan to participate in an investment project, for example;
- When you want to know what legislation applies to the process of hiring and firing personnel in a foreign country;
- When you want to know about the trade union requirements;
- When you want to plan transfer of assets to your heirs;
- In other legal situations.
Please note that a legal opinion is not equal to legal support. You should not expect that the legal opinion will include drafting an agreement or executing the business project.
The structure of a legal opinion
There are no set requirements as to the structure of a legal opinion – but there is a common practice that most lawyers adhere to. Normally, a legal opinion will contain the following sections:
1. Introduction
The introduction will contain the information about the requester of the opinion, the task, and the legal opinion addressee.
2. Examination
This section will contain an analysis of the documents provided by the client and a description of the legislative acts applicable to the deal or situation under consideration. Depending on the particular case, the lawyer may request information from the company register, the tax authorities, and other regulating bodies and then report the results that these requests have yielded.
3. Conclusion
In this section, the lawyer makes a conclusion about the legal issues involved in the deal under inspection, answers the questions, gives recommendations, and warns about possible risks. All the conclusions are well supported by evidence. He/ she also puts the date on the document and signs it. Please mind that the conclusion will remain correct only if the relevant legislation does not change. If a law is amended, the conclusion may not hold true any longer.
A properly compiled legal opinion will provide reliable information about all the legal issues involved in the deal or situation under consideration.
You may need a legal opinion for the following reasons:
- To find out about the legal consequences of an agreement;
- To obtain support for your own arguments;
- To learn about possible legal risks;
- To demonstrate to a regulating authority that you intend to play by the rules;
- To convince a client or a partner that your offer is legal;
- To have a legal instrument that can protect you in the future.
How can you get a legal opinion?
Offshore Pro Group can help you obtain a legal opinion. We know the legislations of dozens of countries and we know which lawyers, licensed in the appropriate jursisdictions, are the best qualified for your particular task. Here are some of our competitive advantages:
- Vast experience in a number of business areas. We have provided services to financial companies, banks, IT firms, medical, trade, logistics, agricultural, cryptocurrency, and other types of businesses.
- Confidentiality protection. The confidentiality of our clients’ personal and commercial information is protected by attorney-client privilege.
- Legal opinions from all around the world. We cooperate with the best law firms in many different countries. You can request a legal opinion from every country that is listed at our portal.
- Ongoing monitoring of legislation changes. We closely monitor all the amendments to the laws of various countries. The legal opinions that we issue are always in keeping with the current national legislation.
- Individual approach. We will offer a legal opinion about various issues related to the corporate laws, taxes, consumer laws, real estate, employment and labour laws, and many others. We will take into account all the specifics of your particular situation.
A legal opinion will let you clearly understand your legal rights. Moreover, it can help you avoid costly law trials or let you win the case. A legal opinion is indispensable when making a business deal with a foreign partner.
Please write to info@offshore-pro.info to request a legal opinion. We always reply promptly!
In what situations do I need a legal opinion?
A legal opinion may be required when making a transboundary business deal, buying or selling real estate, planning inheritance, analyzing labour laws, making FOREX deals, making an ICO, wishing to protect intellectual property, and in all other situations when you need lawyer’s advice.
What does a legal opinion consist of?
There are no set requirements to the structure of a legal opinion. However, over the years that legal opinions have been offered by professional lawyers, a common structure has emerged from practice. A legal opinion will normally contain an introductory part that contains the information about the issue under consideration, the examination part where the issue is assessed, and a concluding part where the legal opinion proper is formulated.
