Frequently asked questions

The program is designed to be remote and our schedule is flexible as we understand that you have other commitments and duties, e.g. university or work. Our program focuses on achieving certain milestones set in specific deadlines rather than focusing on the pace of the project being done. Good time management skills may come in handy, as it will be only up to you to allocate time for carrying out the necessary tasks!

HUGO is searching for bright-minded individuals with a drive to innovate the legal industry and a clear vision on how HUGO’s lawbots can make an impact. We love concreteness and seeing a clear action plan, therefore we will always give priority to those applicants who can strongly present their vision, reasons behind their idea and who present good communication skills. We appreciate being fluent in English, since most of our inner communication is in English.

During the program, HUGO will provide you with all the non-monetary resources necessary to build a lawbot - we will teach you how to build one, how to market one and other valuable business skills. After the program concludes, when the lawbot is developed, HUGO will offer a revenue-sharing model, so you have the chance to gain revenue from your created lawbot!

The program is a 13 week and 6 module long course which focuses on building a lawbot. The starting time may differ and is very dependent on the specific batch. Please contact HUGO for more information on when the next call for applicants is.

No. You can be a student or you can be a post-graduate who is passionate about making change in the legal industry and making justice possible for everyone. However, we do highly value legal education since we are a LegalTech startup and any other field of finished studies may pose difficulties to operate in the legal industry.

When it comes to billable hours, then all the work that a lawyer has done for the case, is billed. This includes prior investigation in sent materials, answering extra (legal) questions. Note that if you have sent the lawyer prior some files to be investigated and those files are not sent in a logical bunch or do not have an understandable description, then the work that a lawyer does to put them in a logical order is also billable.

In order to have the most time and cost efficient video consultation, there are few simple rules to follow:

1. Think through why are you turning to a lawyer. In practise we have seen a lot of cases where a person is very stressed about the situation and therefore can not give an objective description of what is going on and which actions they wish to take. To take the most out of counselling, take time to note down 1-5 main questions you wish to be answered and only then describe the situation.
2. If there are any documents bound with the case, then send them all in one bunch. Add descriptions and headings. By doing so, you will save a lawyer’s time, which means less billable hours.
3. Read the letter thoroughly before sending. Be sure everything important is asked and noted down. Every extra letter that is sent to a lawyer means extra work for him/her and more billable hours for you.

Yes. All materials should be sent in one letter with a description of what is what. Capacious documents should be sent through cloud services (Google Drive etc) because the mailing system might fail. When using cloud services, do not forget to give access rights to the lawyer!

If the lawyer will go through the materials prior to the consultation, then that action will reflect on the invoice as part of the consultation time.

You can choose a lawyer when booking a paid service. Legal assistance free of charge is meant for first level assistance so a lawyer is matched by our best knowledge. When booking a paid service you can choose a lawyer who you fancy the best.  Feel free to find out more about our specialists and their practices here.

All you need for a video counselling is a stable internet connection and a smart device with camera, microphone and speaker – whether it is a mobile, tab, laptop or desktop. Video call runs the smoothest on Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox web browser. Internet Explorer is not recommended. The video call platform Whereby is in English and easy to use. Although the elementary smart device using skills are necessary for smooth video counselling. A client will receive an email with detailed instructions of how to start the video call a little before the scheduled appointment time.

Consulting over phone service costs 1€/ per minute and the minimum cost of the service is 10€. This means that if the call lasts less than 10 minutes, the invoice will be charged 10 euros due to administration cost. If the call lasts more than 10 minutes, then every next minute is 1 €

The lawyer will call you within 1 working day. When making a booking, make sure to add a timeframe when you would like to be called - this saves you time and waiting.

In case you are not by the phone when the lawyer calls, the counselling will still happen, but in another time - the lawyer will then send you an email about trying to reach you and also offer another time for the call, which might be even the same day.

Phone counselling is a primary counselling type and it can always go over to counselling via web/vide or to meeting in person. Purpose of phone counselling service is to give you initial advice and when extra assistance is needed, the lawyer may represent you also in court proceedings.

If you wish to choose the lawyer, you have the possibility to book a paid service and choose a specialist who suits you the best. Here you can read more about our lawyers and their practices. If you don't wish to choose a lawyer yourself, we will make the match by choosing a best lawyer in preferred field who has the best feedback and experience.

When it comes to billable hours, then all the work that a lawyer has done in the case, is billed. This includes prior investigation in sent materials, answering extra (legal) questions. Note that if you have sent the lawyer prior some files to be investigated and those files are not sent in a logical bunch or do not have an understandable description, then the work that a lawyer does to put them in a logical order, is also billable.

In case of a paid service, the lawyer will reach you in 3 working days. While using the free counselling service you'll get the answer from the lawyer within 7 working days. If there are some extra questions to be asked to give a legal opinion, the lawyer will first reach you about those question and only after can he/she give a valid answer. The lawyer will always write you under @hugo.legal email address. How you go on from there is a matter of arrangement between you.

You can choose a lawyer when booking a paid service. Legal assistance free of charge is meant for first level assistance so a lawyer is matched by our best knowledge. When booking a paid service you can choose a lawyer who you fancy the best. Feel free to find out more about our specialists and their practices here.

In order for consulting over email to be most time and cost efficient, there are few simple rules to follow:

1. Think trough what you want the lawyer to do. In practise we have seen a lot of cases where a person very stressed about the situation and therefore can not give objective description of what is going on and which actions they wish to take. To take the most out of counselling, take time to note down 1-5 main questions you wish to be aswered and only then describe the situation.
2. If there are any documents bound with the case, then send them all in one bunch. Add descriptions and headings. By doing so, you will save a lawyer's time, which means less billable hours.
3. Read the letter thoroughly trough before sending. Be sure all important is asked and noted down. Every extra letter that is sent to a lawyer means extra work for him/her and more billable hours for you.

Yes. All materials should be sent in one letter with descrption what is what and for. Capacious documents should be sent trough clould services (Google Drive etc) because the mailing system might fail. When using cloud services, do not forget to give access rights to the lawyer!

If the lawyer will look into materials before the meeting takes place, then that action will be redound on the invoice, add to conusltation time.

An appointment is booked for one hour. In the period of that time, lawyer will get to know your case and can give already initial advice. Overall duration of the case depends from its details and next steps taken. It is common that third parties are involved(b ank, debt collector, court, different authorities etc), which means that some steps may take longer time than predicted.

If the lawyer will look into materials before the meeting takes place, then that action will be redound on the invoice, add to conusltation time. If you are interested to know the approximate time that is going to be spent on the case, we suggest you to take all relavant material with you to the consultation and let the lawyer tell you their opinion.

You can choose the lawyer only in case of paid service. In case of legal assistance free of charge, we will automatically match you with the best lawyer in that case. When legal assistance free of charge is meant for first level counselling, then paid service covers more complicated cases and you can choose the lawyer by your own eye. If you want to read more about lawyers in HUGO, then click here.

HUGO has offices in 15 cities all over Estonia: Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, Viljandi, Valga, Võru, Rapla, Põlva, Jõgeva, Paide, Narva, Jõhvi, Rakvere, Haapsalu, Kuressaare and Kärdla. Exact addresses can be found here: link. Prior registration is required to make an appointment. You can register online or by calling: +372 6 880 400

After the appointment takes place, feel free communicate with the lawyer via phone or via email and come to the office in case of more capacious cases.

Make sure you have all the necessary materials and information with you when you first come to the appointment. Same time, formulate your questions and purposes clearly, so the lawyer would understand on what scenario to continue. When a lawyer gives you an estimate, then this only approximate time, in the end it could go more or less depending how the case develops.