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The adage "An attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client" has some relevance, but in the information society self represeration can have major adva
by dollar 14y ago
The adage "An attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client" has some relevance, but in the information society self represeration can have major advantages. The best way to be a Pro Se is to hire outside counsel to advise you, but to do all the dirty litigation work yourself. If this company has hired an outside attorney to litigate, this person could make that a very, very expensive proposition for them. I think this company's board would grow very concerned at legal expenses exceeding $100k with no hope of recovering from the defendant. My advise is hire counsel to advise you, educate yourself of self representation and court procedures, and rake these fuckers over the coals.
- law 14y ago> My advise is hire counsel to advise you, educate yourself of self representation and court procedures, and rake these fuckers over the coals. This is terrible advice. Unless you're a duly licensed attorney in OP's jurisdiction, don't offer legal advice. You're practicing law without a license, which is a crime. Moreover, were OP to rely on that advice to his detriment, you may find yourself named as a defendant in a civil suit.
- fijal 14y agoCan you find some documents under which circumstances this is a crime? I find that you should not do that for money or in court on wikipedia, but I somehow fail to find that "giving advice" or even "drafting legal documents" can be a crime.
- law 14y agohttps://www.google.com/search?q=unauthorized+practice+of+law https://www.google.com/search?q=unauthorized+practice+of+law "[A]s the term is generally understood, the practice of the law is the doing and performing services in a court of justice in any matter depending therein through its various stages and in conformity with the adopted rules of procedure. But in a larger sense it includes legal advice and counsel and the preparation of legal instruments and contracts by which legal rights are secured although such matter may or may not be depending in a court of law." (People v. Merchants Protective Corp. (1922) 189 Cal. 31, 535, quoting Eley v. Miller (1893) 7 Ind. App. 529 [emphasis added]).
- mindcrime 14y agoAnd none of that mentions "posting offhand comments on a random Internet forum." Here's some unauthorized legal advice for ya: Posting your opinion on random legal matters on HN has about 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% probability of every resulting in any legal backlash for the commenter. And in a country which is supposed to cherish free speech as a principle, we should absolutely all feel good about giving our opinions, and if the courts have a problem with that, telling the courts to go fuck themselves.
- Klinky 14y agoDoesn't someone have to advertise that they are practicing law and take a fee despite not having credentials to back it up for what you quoted to matter? But maybe you can't answer that because it would qualify as the unauthorized practice of law to do so. Maybe your quote alone is enough to put you in jail, it sure looks like you're offering advice/opinion regarding a law. Someone on the Internet explaining how to file for divorce, bankruptcy, or commenting about legal issues related to a startup seems outside of the scope of "unauthorized practice of law". Does this mean legal advice on the Internet is good advice? No. But I think it's far from illegal unless someone claims to be a lawyer & accepts fees for services. But now I am probably going to jail thanks to expressing an opinion on how I viewed the law you quoted.
- pbreit 14y agoHas anyone ever been charged under this for posting on a web forum?
- slantyyz 14y agoYeah, I'm a little confused too. If it's a crime shouldn't the commenter worry more about being fined and/or going to jail?
- jsprinkles 14y agoNot all legal liabilities arise from crimes.
- drivebyacct2 14y agoCould you possibly be any more vague, prescriptive or unhelpful? Repeating yourself and ignoring pleas for elaboration helps no one.
- dollar 14y agoPerhaps you should read my advice to the OP a second time, which clearly says "My advice is hire counsel to advise you, educate yourself...". In what bizarre lawyer-universe is telling someone to hire counsel and educate themselves on the Internet practicing law? You must be smoking crack, my friend, and a lot of it.
- blueben 14y agoYou might do well to wait for both sides of the story before lighting your pitchfork and calling to "rake these fuckers over the coals". Because looking at some of Brian Hamachek's emails to WhosHere, it appears you've been had by an untruthful sob story. https://whoshere.zendesk.com/entries/21514943-the-other-side-of-the-story https://whoshere.zendesk.com/entries/21514943-the-other-side...