Do you need a lawyer in Spain? Eight questions to answer before you pay for one

You have a problem in Spain and, on top of the problem, a question: does this actually need a lawyer? Asking costs money, or costs a week of email tag with a firm whose website promises everything in three languages, and the answer you get comes with an obvious bias: people who make a living from cases rarely advise you not to bring yours.

We make a living from cases too, so we built something a law firm does not usually build: a tool that is comfortable saying no. It is called La Consultilla (roughly, «the little consultation»), it takes three minutes and it does not ask for your name. Up to eight questions, a preliminary file that drafts itself as you answer, and a verdict at the end. It may say «admitted», and it may say «you do not need a lawyer, you need a gestoría». We are happy with either.

Before you try it, it helps to know what it looks at and why. The four things that decide whether a Spanish lawyer is worth your money are not the ones most people assume, and knowing them is useful even if you never call us.

Start here: the self-check

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If you would rather take it at your own pace, or it fails to load, it has its own page: Do I need a lawyer in Spain? Nothing is stored and nothing is sent. The file that writes itself on the right lives in your browser and dies when you close the tab.

Question one: whose problem is it?

This is the one most people fail without noticing. A lawyer can only act for whoever holds the right at stake: the company that signed the contract, the person who received the claim, the entity that has been fined. If you are asking on behalf of a parent company, a partner or a relative, we can act for them, and you are welcome to join the consultation, but the engagement has to come from the right holder.

You may pay the bill; that is settled in the engagement letter. What you cannot do is decide for them. It sounds like a formality until there is a power of attorney to sign, a settlement to accept or a claim to withdraw, and then it stops being one.

Question two: how much is at stake?

The uncomfortable one. Litigating in Spain carries costs that your lawyer does not control: the procurador, a court agent that Spanish procedure makes mandatory in most proceedings and who invoices separately from our fees; an expert, if one is needed; court fees and deposits depending on the instance; and, if you lose, the other side's costs.

Below €3,000, the collar tends to cost more than the dog. That is what the Spanish small-claims track is for: the juicio verbal for claims up to €2,000 can be brought without a lawyer or a procurador, and for cross-border claims within the EU the European Small Claims Procedure covers matters up to €5,000 with standard forms. If a Spanish company simply has not paid an invoice, our guide to debt recovery in Spain walks through the routes before you spend anything.

Between €3,000 and €10,000 the case is real, but it is not a case for us: we take court matters from €10,000 at stake, as our fees policy says. A general practice in the relevant Spanish city will handle it better and more cheaply. Telling you so is part of the service.

If what is at stake has no figure (a licence, a regulatory penalty, your reputation in a market you are entering), the self-check treats it as what it is: a matter with substance.

Question three: is a deadline running?

Spanish procedural and administrative deadlines are strict, and most of them are short. Twenty working days to oppose a payment order (proceso monitorio). One month for an administrative appeal against an express decision. Two months to challenge an administrative act in court. Since 2025, civil claims must be preceded by an attempt at an appropriate dispute-resolution method, which adds weeks to the calendar. Once a deadline expires there is no case left to argue, however good the argument was.

That is why the tool asks whether a deadline is running and accepts «I don't know» as an answer. Not knowing whether a deadline is running is, on its own, reason enough for a consultation. It is the warning that appears most often in the verdicts.

Question four: what can you commit, all in?

All in means lawyer's fees, procurador, expert, court fees and disbursements. Our minimum for an out-of-court matter is €600; for a court matter, €2,000 plus VAT, and a full case rarely comes in under €3,000. Starting proceedings you cannot finish is worse than not starting them, and the tool says so plainly.

If you cannot bear any cost at all, Spanish legal aid may apply. It covers EU nationals and, under conditions, other foreign nationals, and the income threshold is higher than people assume; companies generally do not qualify. Charging you €90 to hear that in a consultation would be dishonest, so the tool tells you for free.

What the self-check does not decide

Whether you are right. La Consultilla filters for fit: standing, substance, budget and logistics. Whether your case is viable, whether the evidence supports the story and whether the proceedings are worth it is assessed afterwards, in a sixty-minute Virtual Consultation that costs €90 and is deducted from the first invoice if we end up taking the engagement.

Logistics matter more from abroad. We work 100% remotely; the engagement letter is signed with a qualified electronic signature under eIDAS, and for court representation in Spain a power of attorney may be needed, which can be granted before a local notary with an apostille or at a Spanish consulate. The tool asks about this and, if you lack a signature, says so as what it is: fixable in an afternoon.

Before the verdict there is a screen of warnings: a case can be lost, adverse costs exist, proceedings can take years and fees are paid up front. You tick what you accept. Anything left unticked does not rule you out; it goes into the verdict so we can discuss it in the session.

Why a law firm publishes a tool that says no

Because saying yes to everything is the most expensive way to lose clients. Fixed-price work only makes sense if the matters coming in are the right ones, and the €90 consultation should be spent on your case, not on discovering at minute ten that the case belongs to your sister company in Delaware.

Take the test

Three minutes, eight questions, no form. If the verdict is «admitted», book the Virtual Consultation knowing the session will be useful. If it is anything else, you have saved €90, a week of emails and probably a disappointment. Either way you leave knowing what you are dealing with, which was the point.

If yours is a dispute with a Spanish counterparty, our civil litigation and commercial litigation pages explain how we handle the matters that do pass the filter.