When we visited the town of Berd in Tavush Marz, Gayaneh Zakaryan, the only attorney serving the surrounding seventeen communities, was giving legal advice to an elderly woman. It seems that the woman was complaining about her daughter-in-law and asking the attorney what she could do since living under the same roof had become impossible. The attorney offered some options and then told the old lady that in the worst case scenario she could simply throw her out of the house. The old woman didn’t have to think long before agreeing to such an eviction move. The attorney told the woman to bring the property deed to the house along with her at their next meeting so that she could draft a legal action. In-laws at each other’s throats “There are many domestic squabbles like this when the mother and boy’s wife just can’t get along. If the mother-in-law is the homeowner she can evict the girl. It happens. Recently, I was involved in a case where the father threw out his son, along with his wife and the kids. And this happened after living together for 25 years. Believe me, I don’t find these cases pleasant and neither does the judge,” states Gayaneh Zakaryan, a member of the Chamber of Advocates. She has been working as a lawyer in and around Berd since 2003. “I offer three types of service – legal advice, criminal defense and civil judicial matters. My colleagues in Yerevan tend to specialize in certain parts of the law, but that isn’t possible around here. I have to service all the legal needs of seventeen communities. One has to be well-rounded when it comes to practicing the law,” says Ms. Zakaryan. To raise the level of awareness regarding the law, the attorney decided to offer free legal advice during her trips to the various communities located in her district. “Around these parts, people come up to a lawyer as if he or she is some kind of psychologist. They show up and talk for hours about their family issues and such. True, people don’t have a clear conception of what the law is and how it works, but the situation is slowly changing,” notes Ms. Zakaryan. “There was this recent court case where a 63 year-old woman separated from her 66 year-old husband. Even the judge was somewhat surprised at the couple who had been married for the past forty years and had a handful of grandkids. This has its positive and negative side. On the minus side, family cohesion is threatened, while on the plus side, people are taking advantage of their legal rights; i.e. it’s up to the person whether to split from the spouse or not. New twists in criminal activity Local resident often seek out the attorney in matters related to private property rights, inheritance matters, etc. Land squabbles are also unique to the district. Recently, there’s been a perceptible change when it comes to criminal acts. “A few years ago, petty theft was rampant in these communities, now larceny and burglary dominate. We have an investigator here who says that the last case of larceny was recorded some twenty years ago. The practice has returned. It’s also a result of T.V. programming; what people are watching today. There’s also been a spate of gang assaults in the villages that have gone unsolved. Rape and murder also takes place. A recent murder, in which a resident was shot at close range with a hunting rifle for no apparent reason, really shook the town,” Ms. Zakaryan recounts. The attorney considers her greatest remuneration to be when she defends an innocent person; ultimately saving them from an unjust punishment. “If I feel, deep down in my bones, that a person is innocent, I pull no punches to get them exonerated of the charges. For instance, there was this recent extortion case. I got the charges dropped because my client was actually innocent. It’s the biggest pay-back that this job offers. You have to go out there and convince people that you have what it takes to get them a fair trial,” says the Berd attorney. Sometimes, due to her reputation, both sides in a case want her to represent them. When this happens she has to call in one of the lawyers from Ijevan. “It’s easier to work in Yerevan. People in the city more easily grasp what the role of an attorney is in the legal process and thus, their expectations are more realistic. Here, I have to be a bit more patient with people; to really listen and explain things. All my clients eventually become my friends. There was a recent divorce case. The couple was dividing up the house and property. I stepped in and got them back together. I call them up occasionally just to see how they are. They say they’re getting along fine,” Ms. Zakaryan says. The attorney wants to get a bigger office and bring new lawyers into her business so that she can adequately serve all seventeen communities. She says that she still hasn’t found capable professionals. Local residents go to Yerevan, get an education, and never come back to the area.