Are Greek lawyers competent? My Experience.......
Foreword. According to official figures, there are about 47,000 qualified lawyers in Greece making it one of the few professions which has actually grown in number (and wealth and influence) from the year 2000. The number has increased dramatically from about 20,000 in the year 2000, and women now make up a staggering 57% of the total. The fact is that lawyers are a vital part of the Greek economy, their “business” assisted by the introduction of new laws where prosecutions are mandatory – for example, those concerning domestic violence and residency (as in my case)
My Lawyer August to-November 2025. My Heraklion based Lawyer (not named for legal reasons) was found by my good friend Heather Woodward, shortly after I had been imprisoned. His name and firm also appeared on the list of Lawyers provided by the UK Consulate. He agreed at the outset to accept a fee of 3000 euros for representimg me in contesting the three convictions that I had apparently accumulated – two for domestic violence and the other for keeping a shotgun at my property. It could be established that I had never received notice of either the court appearances or the subsequent details of the sentencing, imposed in my absence. 1000 euros cash was paid to him by Heather as an initial advance with no receipt given, the balance of 2000 euros to be paid at the end of the re-trials expected. These were the agreed fees and the basis of my agreement with him. He had a colleague from another Practice in Chania where the Court cases would be heard, and this agreed fee secured the services of both lawyers.
First Impressions – PreTrial There were two or three meetings between this lawyer and myself at the Alikarnassos prison in Heraklion. The first meeting coincided with a visit from a Greek lady named Aristea, the vice consul for the UK Embassy in Heraklion. She knew the lawyer and stayed on to hear our conversation – which for me was a good thing, because it meant that she was more aware of my own situation. The Lawyer informed me that he had been at work already, and hearings or “appeals” were set for in the coming month in Chania, and there was a good chance of succeeding in forcing a re-trial for all convictions. So far, so good!
Second Impressions – PreTrial: False Witnesses I don’t know if the presence of the UK Consulate’s vice consul affected his first meeting with me, but his performance at subsequent meetings at the prison before my trial in Chania due 24th September 2025 were worrying. He was arrogant and not particularly interested in any information that I had to add background to my case. He appeared to have already made up his mind what his tactic would be, and he pressured me to name witnesses to support my case. I told him that since I had effectively integrated for many years (2014 to 2022) into the Greek “society” of Kefalas – my home at the time of the alleged “domestic violence” – the only witnesses were Greek and unlikely to want to testify. He persisted with this, and even went so far as to openly suggest that I could pay a witness to produce false testimony – something I found difficult to believe from a Grrek Lawyer. He did however manage to persuade one of the three Greek witnesses to later appear on my behalf. There were no briefings as such, and I had no clear idea what the tactics for the upcoming trial would be.
Trial 24th September 2025 – Advised to Lie under Oath: I was transported under handcuffs in a police car from Heraklion to Chania’s Agia Prison in the week before the trial date. During that week in the Chania prison, I had no visits or information from this lawyer. I arrived at the courthouse in handcuffs at about 9 a.m., and managed to have a very brief converstaion with the lawyer, during which he told me that I should give a different version of events for the first charge and to deny the truth of the second charge – this accused me of throwing dog “poo” at my wife. This was in fact true. I had done so out of huge frustration, not with any intent to harm, but to shame her, for refusing to help look after her three dogs. On the stand, I ignored his advice for the first charge, and gave the true version of events – I was found innocent. For the “poo” charge, I followed his advice, and denied it – I was found guilty of this, and sentenced to six months, with parole. I am pretty sure that if I had told the truth and not followed his specific advice to lie under oath, I would have been found innocent. I believe there was video footage from my wife’s camera which supported her claim, and this allowed the prosecutor present (female) to cast doubt on my credibiity as a witness.
Immediate Post-Trial : After the verdict, there was a certain amount of personal relief that I could now return home, but dismay at the conviction charge – which would not stand up in any other Court of Law. Although very disappointed, I reasoned that I could now plan to defend myself properly at the second and final re-trial due on 21st October 2025.
26th September – Residency Issue: I had been returned to Heraklion prison the day before, and was fully expecting to be released, until my re-arrest and subsequent detention at the Heraklion Police Department on the morning of the 26th Spetember. I have covered this entire painful experience in another Post: I called my Lawyer from the immigration offices at the time of my “interview” and asked the immigration officer present to explain to my lawyer what had happened and the reasons for and terms of my detention. Since immediate deportation was being ordered, I told both the Lawyer and the Immigration Officer present that I did not wish to be deported, firstly because of the inevitable destruction and financial loss this would cause to my private life in Crete, and secondly my desire to appear at the important re-trial due in Chania on 21st October.
Post 26th September – Police Detention Centre Heraklion: Bullying At the next meeting – from memory this occurred a day later – it was clear to me that my Lawyer was now only concerned with getting his full fee – even though the Residency problem was a complete surprise to us both, and final payment would not be due until the conclusion of the re-trial set for 21st October 2025. I asked him if he thought I should be detained – he said “No”: since he did not appear to know anything about Greek Residency issues, I asked him if I should appoint another Lawyer with Immigration and Greek Residency expertise – he said “Yes” . Under enormous pressure and bullying from my Lawyer, I was asked to contact friends to pay for his fees, and I know he made several calls (unauthorised by me) to at least 3 friends asking them directly to pay fees to him. I explained that I had money in the UK, but without access to my laptop and the internet, it would be difficult to arrange the further interim payment which he was now insisting upon. I said I would do my best to retrieve the laptop so that an interim payment could be made directly to his bank account, at the police station and in his presence, using the local wi-fi available. I was fortunate that good friends Heather and David Woodward drove to Heraklion to bring the laptop. Unfortunately it needed another keyboard to operate correctly since it had been stored somewhere unsuitable – I asked the lawyer to provide another basic PC keyboard with a USB connection (cost about 10 euros and available anywhere) but he refused to do so: I found this surprising.
Re-trial 21st October 2025 – Chania Court: Negligence Despite the personal doubts I now had about my Lawyer, I was expecting to attend this re-trial on 21st October. Even though I had not been contacted by him for some weeks, I expected to be summoned at any moment and driven to Chania for the Court appearance, but there was no summons. On the 21st October, late morning, my lawyer appeared at the prison in a state of high agitation demanding that I produce the immigration documents justifying my detention – something I thought he should have had in his possession. I soon understood that the other lawyer in Chania needed this proof for the Court to grant an immediate extension. It was clear to me that either the Heraklion Police department had refused permisssion, or, despite having three weeks to prepare, my Lawyer had done nothing to enable me to attend the Court, which could have resulted in the expunging of the charges, and potentially led the way to my immediate release. it is still not entirely clear why I did not attend the re-trial.
My Bank Debit Card – Illegal possession of personal property and Extortion: I needed money to survive in the detention Centre, and because I still had my Bank Card (for ATMs etc), I entrusted the Lawyer with my PIN code and authorised him to draw 100 euros for my own use – there was about 220 euros in the account at the time. As the rleationship deteriorated – after the 21st October – and my calls were not being returned, there was no news and were no visits from this lawyer. I had requested several times that he return the Debit Card, and even persuaded the police on duty to call him and request that the card was returned, which he agreed to do. The card was not returned: I was then informed by my friend Jonathan Buburalakis who visited me to bring some urgent supplies and money that he had been told by this lawyer that the card would not be returned unless he was paid money that he believed to be owing. In addition, the lawyer involved was making personal threats to sue me, and using his position to prevent me from appointing another Lawyer to provide much needed clarity on the residency issue, and the options available to me. A few days after this, and without my knowledge, Jonathan made a payment of 800 euros cash to this Lawyer. However, the card was still not returned, and in desperation, I contacted the head of the Police at the station, and told him that I would be suing this Lawyer for illegal possession of the Card and extortion. The next day, I received the first visit in weeks from the Lawyer in question.
Final Meeting – and “You’re Fired”: The day after my visit to the Head of Police, and some time in November, the Lawyer turned up for a meeting. I was glad to have a police officer present as a witness who spoke and understood English . I had 3 questions for the Lawyer: (1) Where was my ATM card (2) Why was he not answering my phonecalls and (3) Why did I not attend the Court on 21st October?
(1) He returned the card, with a printed balance – he had taken 200 euros and not the 100 euros I had authorised.
(2) He did not respond to the question about phonecalls
(3) He gave two different answers – firstly he tried to suggest that it was up to me to make the appeal to attend the re-trial and, when pressed, said that the Police Department may have refused permisssion. I pointed out that one of the parties was lying – the Police department said that they had had no such request.
I then told him that I had dispensed with his services, he was no longer my lawyer, and the meeting was terminated.