Last updated: 28 October 2026
Who we are. Expat Counsel Europe (expatcounsel.eu, “we”) is an independent lawyer matching platform — not a law firm. We introduce people seeking legal help to independent, bar-registered lawyers in the relevant country. Legal advice is provided solely by those independent lawyers, with whom you contract directly. We never provide legal advice ourselves and no attorney–client relationship is created with us.
Data controller. Expat Counsel Europe. Contact for all privacy matters: privacy@expatcounsel.eu.
When you complete the enquiry form we collect: your name, email address, optional phone number, the country and type of legal matter, urgency, preferred language, and the free-text description of your case. We also record the technical data strictly necessary to process the submission (timestamp, IP address for rate-limiting and abuse prevention).
a) Handling your enquiry and matching you with a lawyer. Legal basis: your explicit consent, given by ticking the consent checkbox when submitting the form (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) and, for the pre-contractual steps of the matching service you request, Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
b) Security and abuse prevention (honeypot and rate limiting). Legal basis: our legitimate interest in protecting the service (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling, and we do not sell or rent your data to anyone.
By submitting the form you consent to us sharing your enquiry with one regulated local lawyer in our network so that they can provide a free initial quote. Each lawyer acts as an independent data controller for the data they receive; their own privacy terms apply once they contact you. We share only the data you submitted. We never share your data with anyone other than the matched lawyer(s), except where compelled by law.
Enquiry data is kept for up to 12 months so we can follow up on your request, after which it is deleted unless you become a client of a matched lawyer (in which case the lawyer holds their own records). Rate-limiting logs are kept for a maximum of 30 days.
You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict or object to the processing of your data, the right to data portability, and the right to withdraw your consent at any time (without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal). To exercise any right, email privacy@expatcounsel.eu. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.
This website uses no tracking or advertising cookies and loads no third-party analytics or advertising scripts. Form submissions are sent to our own server only.
Submissions are transmitted over HTTPS and stored on an access-controlled server. No system is perfectly secure, so please avoid including unnecessary sensitive information (e.g. full contract numbers or health details) in your first enquiry.