There supposed to. What are they there for anyways? Those embassies are supposed to protect it's citizens. The only problem I had was I went to the embassy here and the lady that was working there 'non american' said something I won't ever forget. Most unprofessional comment: "I'm here to take your money". Geez could have been nicer and I thought she was there to do a job and help out with problems, guess I was wrong. 

From my own experience and only with the US Consulate in Guangzhou, the answer was NO !.  There is no money in budget for any of that.  I even ask them if they could tell me the names of two or three good local lawyers, their reply was that those they knew worked for them.
If you have a legal problem, you stand on your own at least with US consulate.

Consulates don't generally help with legal issues unless you are arrested and detained. At that point, they will only check to be sure you are being treated humanely. They can only intervene after going through the proper channels and only as deemed necessary. 

A couple for-instances: The hikers who were detained in Iran; Amanda Knox in Italy.

The Australian government website makes it quite clear that no, they will not help with legal issues (except, they may recommend or suggest local bi-lingual lawyers in the area).

And, frankly, why should they? If you've broken the LOCAL laws, why should your government help to bail you out?? Unless you were physically forced to go there (ie, kidnapped), then you've agreed to abide by all the local laws... my countries laws have nothing to do with China's laws.

There might be some instances where your embassy/consulate may intervene (as said, humane treatment, keeping your rights) - but that's about it. (unless you're a spy, or being detained for espionage or similar).

Contrary to popular belief embassy staff are not there to give you a get out of jail free card. YOU are not immune to local laws and regulations and if you cross the line, the embassy is there to check you are treated to international standards i.e. given 3 meals a day, proper toilet facilities and access to at least 1 hour of daily exercise. If the prison are meeting these standard then they cannot intervene.

Furthermore, if you were facing the death penalty then as a citizen, your embassy would petition the Chinese government for a commute to life sentence. But most sentences are much shorter and as soon as you're out, you're deported.

Simple answer is DON'T BREAK THE LAW, you are a guest and representative of your country. Show respect for this great country!

I am feeling nit-picky this evening..  lol   

A permanent diplomatic mission is typically known as an embassy, and the person in charge of the mission is known as an ambassador. The term "embassy" is often used to refer to the building or compound housing an ambassador's offices and staff. 
 A consulate is similar to (but not the same as) a diplomatic office, but withfocus on dealing with individual persons and businesses, as defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. A consulate or consulate general is generally a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. For instance, the United Kingdom has its Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D.C., but also maintains seven consulates-general and four consulates elsewhere in the US. The person in charge of a consulate or consulate-general is known as a consul or consul-general, respectively.

It depends upon Embassy to Embassy..but what HugAPanda mentioned here is absolutely correct.

All I know is that Canada's embassy is useless.