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Legal matters in the Czech Republic—whether reviewing a simple employment contract, rental agreement, or a complex child custody dispute—can feel confusing and complicated, especially for foreigners unfamiliar with their rights.
This is a big reason why Barbora Karetová dedicated her legal practice to helping expats. Early in her career, Karetová gained practical experience and fell in love with private international cases while working at the Ministry of Justice. Later, when she started her legal practice in 2016, she developed a profound interest in helping foreigners to better understand what to expect under Czech law.
“These cases are not only about the law. They are about interactions between different cultures, different customs, and different expectations,” says Karetová. “My main focus when I go to court with a client is to make sure the client is comfortable and all of their rights are respected.”
Balancing international family law and differing cultural standards
After more than a decade of working closely with expats who seek her out for her expertise on family law that can transverse different countries’ legal codes, Karetová explains how important it is to meet her clients on an emotional level.
“Based on my long experience, I can instantly gauge what a client’s doubts or questions might be, and I try to customize not the service—the service is always the same—but the communication between us,” she says. “I am always upfront about the law and what they can expect from the courts here, but I am also sensitive to the approach they are used to in their home countries. With family law issues that can be so emotionally charged, it is even more important to consider cultural differences.”
Two years ago, Karetová started her second Karlín-based firm, Expat Law. The firm specializes in family, employment, inheritance, and real estate law, with specific areas handled by other experts. While the practice also represents Czech clients, 75 percent of its business is from English-speaking expats.
Although I have other cooperating colleagues, it’s always me who gets in touch with the client first. And in most cases it’s me who goes to the court with the client, especially if it’s a difficult or emotionally challenging case. I call it holding the hand of the people,” says Karetová.
A personal touch in client communication
Her approach has made Karetová and her firm a rarity in the legal market, which is too often characterized by sterile, business-like communication with clients.
She further set herself apart by taking on private family law cases with international elements. This is a rather broad niche. Over the years, Karetová has overseen everything from inheritance and assessment management cases involving family members not residing in the Czech Republic to acrimonious child custody issues with parents from two countries.
“These cases are really common and are sometimes overlooked by my colleagues in the legal community, who are unaware that we have so many European regulations or international treaties,” says Karetová, who did her Ph.D. on international child abduction cases. “This area of law is quite specific and requires a deeper knowledge, which is uncommon among standard family lawyers, so they skip this aspect of the case.”
Karetová, meanwhile, has positioned herself as an expert in this field. “Private international family cases involve a lot of law, a lot of emotions as well, but definitely a lot of law,” Karetová explains.
Lawyers have to deal with many complex legal questions and foreign case law, which can make finding a family law attorney experienced with international cases challenging.
Tacking employment law for expats
In addition to family law, Karetová’s firm also handles employment cases for expats. Attorneys review contacts to help clients better understand what they are signing, what they should get, and what they are actually getting.
Attorneys will also accompany clients terminating their contracts or having trouble with their employers so they know what to expect and how to fight back.
Spending a few hours consulting with a lawyer can significantly benefit clients, especially if they know their rights. Karetová, for instance, recently helped a client get more than 1 million CZK in severance pay, up from 400,000 CZK initially offered by their company.
To further educate the expat community on their employment rights, Karetová has long cooperated with Jobspin, which connects expats with jobs around the Czech Republic. She participates in job fairs organized by the portal, where she regularly hosts workshops on employment-related topics. Her workshops on the differences between employment and self-employment, for example, are particularly popular.
When Karetová started her first law firm, she recalls how few companies helped foreigners. By the time she started her new firm, the market targeting expats had since grown, and, for a while, Karetová was busy expanding business. But she soon became determined to keep her practice small and intimate.
“I do not want to grow big, because I like the idea of the boutique service. If firms grow too big, the client becomes just another client, and the personal touch is lost,” she says.
