The legal profession is one of the noblest professions and one of those most closely connected to justice and human rights. A lawyer is not merely an agent who speaks on behalf of a client; a lawyer is a partner in the pursuit of justice, a guardian of the right to a defense, and a custodian of secrets that may affect a person’s reputation, finances, family, and future.

Yet the very importance of the profession is also the source of its potential danger. The greater the authority entrusted to a professional, the greater the need for oversight and accountability.

What I am writing about here is not an accusation against lawyers as a whole. There are men and women in the profession who are honest and competent, who defend their clients with integrity, and who sometimes carry heavy burdens. Rather, I am addressing a loophole that many citizens are familiar with and that, when misused, can become a gateway to negligence, exploitation, or extortion.

From Limited Authorization to an Open-Ended Power of Attorney

A citizen goes to a lawyer with a specific task in mind: filing a lawsuit, handling an inheritance, registering a contract, or representing him before a particular authority.

He may also appoint a lawyer within his institution or company and pay that lawyer a monthly salary to handle his legal affairs.

In either case, however, the client is often asked to issue a power of attorney at the real estate registry. There, he may find himself facing a lengthy document containing multiple powers that go far beyond the original purpose for which he hired the lawyer.

Because of his trust in the lawyer—or simply because he does not understand the legal details—the citizen may not read everything contained in the power of attorney. He may hear the familiar phrase: “This is just a standard power of attorney; we use it with all our clients.” He then signs and provides his fingerprint without fully understanding what, exactly, he has authorized another person to do in his name.

The power of attorney may not be limited to the lawyer he chose. It may extend to several of the lawyer’s colleagues or employees, with the right to delegate those powers to others. In this way, people whom the rights-holder does not even know may become capable of taking legal actions in his name.

The problem is not the existence of a power of attorney itself. Representation is an indispensable necessity. The problem lies in making that authority excessively broad, allowing it to continue after the purpose for which it was granted has ended, and leaving citizens unaware of the powers they have handed over to their agents.

Trust Alone Is Not Enough

Professional relationships should not be built on suspicion. But neither should they depend solely on personal trust.

We would not accept a financial institution operating without documentation or oversight simply because its employees are trustworthy. Nor would we allow a doctor to perform a procedure that a patient had not consented to merely on the grounds that the doctor was competent.

So why do we accept that a citizen can grant another person broad powers to act in his name without clearly defining the purpose, duration, and limits of that authority?

A sound system does not assume that everyone is corrupt, nor does it assume that everyone is an angel. It protects the honest professional from suspicion, protects the client from betrayal, and ensures that rights are governed by rules that can be documented and reviewed—not by good fortune.

When Prolonging a Dispute Becomes a Source of Income

One of the most serious potential problems is a conflict of interest between the lawyer and the client.

The client wants the dispute resolved as quickly as possible and at the lowest possible cost. Yet an unscrupulous lawyer may find that prolonging the dispute, or increasing the number of procedures and hearings, creates an opportunity for additional fees.

Delay may be the natural result of a slow judicial system or the complexity of a case. It may also be caused by workload or an unintended mistake. But there may also be cases in which a procedure that should have been taken is delayed, a legal deadline is missed, the client is not informed of a significant development, or repeated financial demands are made without the client knowing their basis.

The Legal Profession Law itself requires lawyers to inform their clients of the progress of their cases and any judgments issued, advise them regarding appeals, and draw their attention to the relevant deadlines. In other words, follow-up and transparency are not favors offered by a lawyer; they are fundamental professional duties. (egyls.com)

For this reason, a client should have the right to receive a periodic written statement explaining:

• What actions have been taken?
• What actions have not been taken, and why?
• What are the upcoming legal deadlines?
• What amounts have been paid, and for what purpose?
• What fees remain outstanding, and on what basis are they calculated?

Documents: A Responsibility, Not a Tool of Pressure

Citizens hand their lawyers contracts, certificates, court judgments, and other documents that may be difficult or even impossible to replace.

These documents do not belong to the lawyer, and they should never become a tool for pressuring a client into paying disputed fees or forcing the client to continue the professional relationship.

The Legal Profession Law regulates the return of documents and papers. It also requires expenses claimed by a lawyer to be supported by documentation and emphasizes that the withholding of documents must not result in the expiration of a legal deadline that causes the client to lose a right. (lawintegration.com)

Yet having a legal provision is not enough if its implementation is slow, or if a citizen finds himself forced to hire another lawyer simply to recover his documents from the previous one.

If retaining documents or information turns into an explicit or implicit threat to harm the client, then we are no longer dealing with an ordinary professional dispute. We are dealing with conduct that requires prompt investigation and genuine accountability—and, depending on the circumstances, potentially criminal liability.

Conflicts of Interest

By virtue of his profession, a lawyer gains access to his client’s secrets, strengths and weaknesses, and financial and family circumstances.

For that reason, switching sides and assisting the opposing party in the same dispute—or in a related dispute—constitutes a fundamental breach of professional trust.

The Legal Profession Law therefore prohibits a lawyer from providing assistance, even in the form of legal advice, to a client’s opponent in the same dispute or in a related dispute. The prohibition also extends to the lawyer’s partners and employees, and violations may result in disciplinary proceedings. (egyls.com)

But what is needed is not merely written provisions. There must also be a clear and effective system for disclosing conflicts of interest, receiving complaints, investigating them within a specified period, and informing the complainant of the outcome and the reasons behind it.

Revoking a Power of Attorney Is Not Always the End of the Problem

As a general principle under civil law, a principal may terminate or restrict an agency, even where an agreement provides otherwise, subject to exceptions where the agency was granted for the benefit of the agent or a third party. (legalhub.me)

In practice, however, a citizen may encounter procedures he does not understand, discover that the wording of the power of attorney makes revocation more complicated, or assume that simply appointing a new lawyer automatically terminates the authority of the old one.

Once again, he may need a lawyer simply to understand how to dismiss his first lawyer and stop the effects of the original power of attorney.

More importantly, revoking a power of attorney at the real estate registry does not necessarily relieve the citizen of the need to notify the relevant parties, follow up on cases and authorities where the power of attorney was used, ensure that all documents are returned, and make sure the entire file is properly transferred to whoever will handle the matter afterward.

Therefore, the state’s role should not end when a power of attorney is issued. It should also help citizens know which powers of attorney issued in their names remain valid, what authorities they contain, how they can be revoked or restricted, and which parties must be notified.

What Should Change?

I propose that the relationship between lawyers and their clients should be based on a number of practical safeguards:

First, the default should be a power of attorney limited to the specific task, rather than a broad general power of attorney. Powers to sell, purchase, settle, waive rights, or collect money should not be included unless the client expressly requests and authorizes them separately.

Second, the power of attorney should be limited to a reasonable period of time, or automatically expire when the task for which it was issued is completed, unless the client explicitly requests its renewal.

Third, additional lawyers should not be included in the power of attorney if the client does not know them, unless their names are presented to the client and he gives his approval. Delegation to third parties should likewise be permitted only through a clear provision that the person granting the power of attorney can understand.

Fourth, before signing, the citizen should receive a simple summary in plain language explaining the significant powers contained in the document. He should be asked explicitly whether he agrees to those powers rather than having them buried in lengthy legal wording.

Fifth, a digital registry should be established through which citizens can view all valid powers of attorney issued by them, the date each was issued, and the powers granted under each one. Citizens should also receive periodic notifications reminding them that a power of attorney remains active in their name.

Sixth, a written fee agreement should be signed specifying the task, its stages, the method of calculating fees and expenses, and the circumstances under which additional payments may become due, rather than leaving the relationship open to unlimited and unexplained financial demands.

Seventh, lawyers should be required to provide a brief periodic report on the progress of the work and to return all documents at the end of their assignment under a clear handover record.

Eighth, an independent and responsive professional body should be empowered to receive clients’ complaints and investigate serious negligence, conflicts of interest, misuse of powers of attorney, withholding of documents, threats, and extortion.

The Legal Profession Law already provides for a system of complaints and disciplinary proceedings. But the real value of any such system is measured by how easy it is to access, how quickly it operates, and its ability to provide meaningful redress to those who have been harmed. (notariesofegypt.org, egyls.com)

It would also be worth considering professional liability insurance against serious errors by lawyers, as is the case in many sensitive professions in various countries, so that victims have a realistic avenue for compensation when professional negligence is proven to have caused them to lose a legal right.

A Message to Citizens

Do not sign a power of attorney before reading it, regardless of how much you trust the person standing before you.

Ask about the meaning of every provision. Strike out anything you do not need. Ask for the task, duration, and names of authorized individuals to be clearly specified.

Do not grant authority to sell property to oneself or to third parties, collect money, settle disputes, or waive rights simply because such language happens to be printed in a standard form.

Keep an official copy of the power of attorney. Record the case number and its deadlines. Ask for receipts for any money or documents you hand over.

And when the assignment is completed, do not assume that the power of attorney has automatically expired. Review its status, take the necessary steps to revoke or restrict it, and notify the relevant authorities and parties.

These precautions do not mean that you are accusing your lawyer. Just as reading a contract does not mean that you are accusing the person with whom you are entering into an agreement.

It is simply responsible management of your rights.

Protecting Citizens Protects the Legal Profession

Defending clients’ rights is not an attack on lawyers. It is a defense of the legal profession itself.

An honest lawyer is the first person to suffer from practices that undermine public trust in the profession, and the first to benefit from clear rules that distinguish between an ordinary mistake and gross negligence, between a legitimate fee dispute and exploitation, and between faithful representation and abuse of authority.

The legal profession is a calling, but no calling is above accountability.

Trust is an essential human value. But when it involves money, rights, and people’s lives and futures, it must be surrounded by transparency, documentation, and oversight.

A power of attorney is a legal necessity—but it is not a blank check.

And a lawyer is an agent of the citizen, not the owner of his will.