Legal opinion is a tool that allows parties obtain a qualified third-party opinion on the subject, object and other issues related to the conclusion of the transaction. It is a document drawn up by a competent lawyer on any specific question or problem.
Before entering into any commercial transaction, the parties should carefully consider the nature and volume of the transaction, as well as legal issues related to it.
Information about the client, information about who the report is addressed to, information about the compiler, information about the task set. Typically, a legal expert opinion is intended for any party of the deal and is dedicated to a specific issue, for example: “Company A applied to lawyers of Law and Trust International regarding the legality of the acquisition of a 30% stake in Corporation B and potential legal and tax risks, which such a deal may carry.” In some cases, it is also assumed that the legal opinion will be used by persons who are not indicated as the addressees. As an example, a legal opinion addressed to an underwriter regarding the legality of a proposed issue of shares or bonds, which the issuer also has to rely on.
A general summary of the documents under investigation or other factual or legal issues that were considered by the drafter when drawing up the legal opinion, as well as information on the various reservations made. Such reservations vary depending on the nature of the request for a lawyer's opinion.
The legal opinion of the lawyer itself, including the study of facts, the interpretation of facts regarding their legality or potential risks. The drafter of the legal opinion should consider as clearly and thoroughly as possible a sufficient number of facts confirming each of the conclusions set forth in the legal opinion.
The lawyer's conclusion based on the study. In most cases, the conclusions of the legal opinion can be supported by copies of documents, on which the opinion of the lawyer is based.
Date and signature of the drafter of the legal opinion. Typically, the legal opinion is manually signed on behalf of the company with a specification of the persons who made the report. Moreover, the legislation, including corporate, banking and tax, may change, and with it, the stated conclusion may also change.