LEGAL CONSULTING AS A PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY ON THE LEGAL SERVICES MARKET IN THE CONDITIONS OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND FISCAL TRANSFORMATIONS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the theoretical, legal, and economic analysis of legal consulting as a specific type of professional activity in the modern market of legal services in the context of fiscal and European integration transformations. The essence and legal nature of consulting activity, its essential differences from forensic representation and classical advocacy, are investigated. Emphasis is placed on the role of legal consulting as a decentralized tool for preventive protection of the rights of economic entities, ensuring tax compliance, and protecting the property rights of taxpayers under the grand codification reform of private law — the repeal of the Commercial Code of Ukraine and transition to a single civil model of market relations. The author argues that the liquidation of obsolete Soviet elements of dual regulation opened the way for the direct integration of European doctrines in the field of legal consulting. The dynamics of the consulting services market in Ukraine, the development trends of LegalTech tools (digital platforms, automated tax risk assessment), and the expansion of international compliance (GDPR, BEPS requirements, AML / KYC financial monitoring standards) are analyzed. The issues of integration of legal and economic consulting topics into the educational process of higher education institutions through the implementation of the educational program "Legal Services Market", uniquely developed by the author at the HEI "National Academy of Management", are highlighted. The interdisciplinary nature of the consultant's professional activity is substantiated, requiring a tight synthesis of legal tools with financial and fiscal analysis. The content of modern scientific discussions regarding the expediency of state regulation, licensing, or self-regulation of consulting activities in Ukraine is revealed. The author's position regarding the priority of market competition mechanisms and the institution of business reputation over excessive bureaucratization and liberalization of the market as a safeguard against reverting to an administrative-command system of legal business regulation is argued.