Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Germany aims to ease rules protecting lawyers' exclusive rights to sell legal advice, a step aimed at promoting consumer choice and competition in setting fees for services, the Handelsblatt reported, citing a government bill.

The Justice Ministry's legislative proposal will allow groups including banks, insurers, business consultancies and consumer organizations to compete with law practices next year by offering legal advice for a fee, the newspaper said.

Germany's rules for attorneys have been in place since 1935, when the Nazi regime sought to exclude Jewish lawyers, who were barred from legal practice, from offering their services through other organizations, the paper said.

As under the old rules, only qualified lawyers will be permitted to give legal advice when the new law takes effect, the paper said. The number of registered lawyers in Germany reached 130,000 last year, twice the 1990 figure, the paper said.

(Handelsblatt 8-20 1)

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Parkin in Berlin at at bparkin@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 20, 2004 05:37 EDT