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There’s some reason for this in the US: - It is illegal to bestow legal advice without being a lawyer. - A lawyer who provides legal advice without a pre-exis
by danielrhodes 8y ago
There’s some reason for this in the US:
- It is illegal to bestow legal advice without being a lawyer.
- A lawyer who provides legal advice without a pre-existing relationship could be seen by the court as now acting and thus becoming a person’s lawyer, unwillingly.
The former case is silly and nobody is going to be checking the bar membership of same rando on the internet. The latter case is a legit worry among lawyers.
- gamblor956 8y ago- It is illegal to bestow legal advice without being a lawyer. This is a lie. It's perfectly fine to provide legal advice without being a lawyer. What's not fine is to offer legal advice under the guise of being a lawyer or legal professional. For example, filling out a form in a bank, or an HR form, or a health insurance form--those are all legal documents. But the bank agent, or the HR agent, or the health insurance rep can all tell you what parts need to be filled out and how, without fear of going to jail. Why? It's not because we've excepted them from some mythical law about providing legal advice. It's because they're not claiming to be lawyers.
- danielrhodes 8y agoThat's an important distinction and one that I should have made. So point taken.