4 ms·

>> those opinions should have the name of a lawyer on them. Not going to happen. Lawyers in the US have issues with offering unsolicited advice, and other pro

>> those opinions should have the name of a lawyer on them. Not going to happen. Lawyers in the US have issues with offering unsolicited advice, and other problems with issuing advice into states where they are not admitted. So likely none of the US lawyers (and the great many more law students) here will ever put their real name to a comment.

agbell 5y ago
This. Also try contacting a lawyer who knows this area and asking to pay for a legal opinion brief so that you can post it online to be debated by legions of software developers. Lawyers I know would politely decline that.
- whoknowswhat11 5y ago
  No - this is actually done supposedly as part of biz dev. So your own firm may cover some costs if you have something to say. If you found someone to pay for you to do an analysis or offer your thoughts - you'd be in heaven!
zie 5y ago
but there are legal opinions that law firms and various orgs(political or not) that wite on occasion from actual lawyers sharing a legal opinion, publicly(or not). But it's the law, it's fuzzy at best, much like your HR department. It's only after a court decision has been reached on your particular issue that it's anywhere near "settled" case law, and even that's up for possible change tomorrow.
torstenvl 5y ago
This is incorrectly applied. Offering a legal opinion is fundamentally different from offering legal advice. We publish legal opinions in academic and professional publications all the time. That doesn't mean we have an attorney-client relationship with anyone who reads those opinions, or that we would advise that someone act in accordance with such an opinion, particularly if no court has adopted our position yet.
whoknowswhat11 5y ago
Sure - but if you are going to write blog posts / articles - and all you can say is based on the lawyers I talked to apple is committing child porn felonies, that is just unacceptable. At least HN should flag these and get these taken down. Over and over the legal analysis is either trash or it's clear the article author didn't understand something (so how can lawyer give good advice?). These conversations become so uninteresting when people take these extreme type positions. Apple's brand is destroyed - apple is committing child porn felonies. I would have rather just had a link to the apple technical paper and a discussion personally vs the over the top random article feed with all sorts of misunderstandings. And in contract law there are LOTS of legal articles online - with folks name on them! They are useful! I read them and enjoy them. Can we ask for that here where it matters maybe more?
- sandworm101 5y ago
  >> there are LOTS of legal articles online - with folks name on them Articles are not legal advice. They are opinions on the law applicable generally, rather than fact-based advice to specific clients. Saying whether apple is doing something illegal or not in this case, with a lawyer's name stamped on that opinion, is very different.
dylan604 5y ago
Right. That's why there's never been an amicus brief or a friends of the court type of document drafted and signed by lawyers.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  Those are addressed to a court or government agency in a specific place. The advice offered isn't for a bunch of rando people on the internet across all number of jurisdictions. And it is only general advice about an area of law, normally at the appellate level, not specific fact-dependent advice to a real flesh-and-blood person. Amicus is also normally an opinion to sway the court on broad policy, not a determination of facts in a specific case.

agbell 5y ago

This. Also try contacting a lawyer who knows this area and asking to pay for a legal opinion brief so that you can post it online to be debated by legions of software developers. Lawyers I know would politely decline that.

whoknowswhat11 5y ago
No - this is actually done supposedly as part of biz dev. So your own firm may cover some costs if you have something to say. If you found someone to pay for you to do an analysis or offer your thoughts - you'd be in heaven!

zie 5y ago

but there are legal opinions that law firms and various orgs(political or not) that wite on occasion from actual lawyers sharing a legal opinion, publicly(or not). But it's the law, it's fuzzy at best, much like your HR department. It's only after a court decision has been reached on your particular issue that it's anywhere near "settled" case law, and even that's up for possible change tomorrow.

torstenvl 5y ago

This is incorrectly applied. Offering a legal opinion is fundamentally different from offering legal advice. We publish legal opinions in academic and professional publications all the time. That doesn't mean we have an attorney-client relationship with anyone who reads those opinions, or that we would advise that someone act in accordance with such an opinion, particularly if no court has adopted our position yet.

whoknowswhat11 5y ago

Sure - but if you are going to write blog posts / articles - and all you can say is based on the lawyers I talked to apple is committing child porn felonies, that is just unacceptable. At least HN should flag these and get these taken down. Over and over the legal analysis is either trash or it's clear the article author didn't understand something (so how can lawyer give good advice?). These conversations become so uninteresting when people take these extreme type positions. Apple's brand is destroyed - apple is committing child porn felonies. I would have rather just had a link to the apple technical paper and a discussion personally vs the over the top random article feed with all sorts of misunderstandings. And in contract law there are LOTS of legal articles online - with folks name on them! They are useful! I read them and enjoy them. Can we ask for that here where it matters maybe more?

sandworm101 5y ago
>> there are LOTS of legal articles online - with folks name on them Articles are not legal advice. They are opinions on the law applicable generally, rather than fact-based advice to specific clients. Saying whether apple is doing something illegal or not in this case, with a lawyer's name stamped on that opinion, is very different.

dylan604 5y ago

Right. That's why there's never been an amicus brief or a friends of the court type of document drafted and signed by lawyers.

sandworm101 5y ago
Those are addressed to a court or government agency in a specific place. The advice offered isn't for a bunch of rando people on the internet across all number of jurisdictions. And it is only general advice about an area of law, normally at the appellate level, not specific fact-dependent advice to a real flesh-and-blood person. Amicus is also normally an opinion to sway the court on broad policy, not a determination of facts in a specific case.