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One issue here is that law is heavily licensed in the US. Same as non-software engineering. So you need a law license or PE license to dispense legal or enginee
by irl_zebra 8y ago
One issue here is that law is heavily licensed in the US. Same as non-software engineering. So you need a law license or PE license to dispense legal or engineering advice, respectively. Doing so without those licenses is illegal (practicing without a license), which is likely the reason for the disclaimer from non lawyers. From lawyers, giving legal advice can create a lawyer-client relationship even absent specific agreement. It's less a job security thing and more a "not doing something illegal or which creates an unintentional client relationship" thing.
- planteen 8y agoIn my experience, PE is only relevant in two areas: civil engineering and power engineering. It is not common anywhere else, including aerospace engineering or biomedical engineering. So it's not just software where it is uncommon.
- chrisdhoover 8y agoAlso needed in structural
- jsight 8y agoRight, but I think the question is why did we create such laws for lawyers but not other professions? Or maybe alternatively, those laws do exist for other professions, but other professions are not as risk averse about being sued over them. For example, I'm pretty sure that practicing medicine without a license is just as illegal, but I've never heard a doctor worry about saying "this is not medical advice".
- rayiner 8y agoPracticing medicine typically involves more than just a conversation, so there is little risk of creating a perceived patient-doctor relationship based in just oral advice. Lawyers by contrast routinely practice law just by having a conversation.
- jsight 8y agoThat is certainly a fair point. The bar for creating a patient-doctor relationship in the legal sense is probably much higher.