The paper presents issues connected with providing a substitution for an advocate who cannot practice the profession temporarily or permanently, as well as an advocate who has been struck off the list of advocates. The special case that is analysed in depth is winding up of an advocate’s law firm after the advocate’s death. The first part of the paper concerns the procedure for appointing a substitute for the advocate. It discusses the legal basis for appointing a substitute, the doubts as to the legal character of the dean’s decision appointing a substitute, as well as the problems that appear in practice in connection with lack of detailed regulation of such issues, like determining the scope of cases dealt with by the law firm and getting in touch with the clients of the deceased advocate, as well as the grounds for their mutual relationships or the substitute gaining access to the advocate’s files. The second part of the paper discusses the procedural consequences of the death of an advocate who is an attorney in the civil procedure or a defence counsel in the criminal procedure. In the last case, both the context of mandatory defence and optional defence are taken into account. The article formulates a number of postulates concerning the desired legislative amendments that might contribute to facilitating the substitutions for an advocate on the basis of Article 37a of the Law on Advocates and to eliminating the practical problems faced by advocates appointed as substitutes in the procedure presented in the paper.