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I think it'd be a great idea to have a forum (or sub-forum of politics and controversy) dedicated to law.
A place similar to Real Estate where professionals and amateurs gather and answer questions about law, discuss new laws, gripe about the legal system, etc.
Right now.. the only place to put it would be in the specific state it refers to, or in the Politics and other Controversy forum.
Sounds like a reasonable suggestion. Wouldn't mind talking about law, but in general terms as I am no legal expert.
Thanks for bringing it up.
And therein lies the danger of having a law section. CD could expose itself to liability for offering legal advice without a license to practice law. It is also not a good idea to let laypeople give legal advice. If there was a way for C-D to verify who among its members were lawyers and set the forum software so that only those people could respond to threads in the law forum, that might be a different issue. But I'm seeing too many logistical and legal roadblocks to make this happen. As for the need to "discuss new laws, gripe about the legal system, etc.," the P&OC forum is an appropriate place for that as-is.
And therein lies the danger of having a law section. CD could expose itself to liability for offering legal advice without a license to practice law. It is also not a good idea to let laypeople give legal advice. If there was a way for C-D to verify who among its members were lawyers and set the forum software so that only those people could respond to threads in the law forum, that might be a different issue. But I'm seeing too many logistical and legal roadblocks to make this happen. As for the need to "discuss new laws, gripe about the legal system, etc.," the P&OC forum is an appropriate place for that as-is.
I agree. If there are lawyers on this forum, they are welcome to start "Ask a lawyer" threads, if they are willing to verify their identity. Advice by others would probably do more harm than good.
Last edited by Marka; 10-12-2007 at 02:39 AM..
Reason: edited quote
And therein lies the danger of having a law section. CD could expose itself to liability for offering legal advice without a license to practice law. It is also not a good idea to let laypeople give legal advice. If there was a way for C-D to verify who among its members were lawyers and set the forum software so that only those people could respond to threads in the law forum, that might be a different issue. But I'm seeing too many logistical and legal roadblocks to make this happen. As for the need to "discuss new laws, gripe about the legal system, etc.," the P&OC forum is an appropriate place for that as-is.
As for legalities of a Law Forum- plenty of people ask questions about traffic law and criminal law. Many of them are simply "omigod, I got a ticket, what do i do?"
And I don't think it'd be a legal issue for CD since we already have a forum dedicated to Real Estate issues. There are people who have "Real Estate Agent" as their subtitle (It's an open group).. They give information and suggestions out - unless you actually verify them too.
You need a license to become a real estate agent.. same as a lawyer or officer of the court.
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That statement in the rules is the sole statement that will prevent law suits from breaking out.
It was just a suggestion though. Thank you for your inputs.
As for legalities of a Law Forum- plenty of people ask questions about traffic law and criminal law. Many of them are simply "omigod, I got a ticket, what do i do?"
Here's the difference: C-D doesn't explicitly solicit and endorse legal opinions that are haphazardly thrown out in various forums. But they would provide an explicit solicitation and endorsement by creating a "law" forum for asking and answering questions of law. Again, perhaps not an issue if only licensed attorneys fielded the questions, but I don't think C-D would want to take on the burden of sorting out who is actually licensed and who isn't.
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Originally Posted by Kuharai
And I don't think it'd be a legal issue for CD since we already have a forum dedicated to Real Estate issues. There are people who have "Real Estate Agent" as their subtitle (It's an open group).. They give information and suggestions out - unless you actually verify them too.
You need a license to become a real estate agent.. same as a lawyer or officer of the court.
Apples and oranges. The service real estate agents provide is not merely to give advice, but to actually negotiate and guide participants through the purchase and sale of real estate. Unless such transactions are actually occurring here on city-data, nobody is actually practicing real estate here on C-D. Whereas in the legal profession, giving advice is the product. Doing so without a license can get you in trouble in a way that giving real estate advice without a license cannot. Now, nobody's going to come after you for advising your neighbor to fight a traffic ticket during a casual over-the-backyard-fence conversation. But explicitly presenting it in a published, accessible forum such as providing a "law" forum here might attract legal scrutiny.
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Originally Posted by Kuharai
That statement in the rules is the sole statement that will prevent law suits from breaking out.
Sorry, but you can't simply disclaim your way out of legal liability.
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I'm not sure I understand why a Legal Issues, Q & A of different Legal Scenarios, - something "generic" for the legal arena would make a Law section of CD any more practicing law without a license than the people who post questions or answers in the Health and Wellness forum.
Some say they are doctors, some nurses, vets in the Pets area also. Anyone can be anything they want here basically. Are we practicing medicine without a license in the Health and Wellness Forum?
I personally would HATE to see a bunch of wordy lawyers on here (and I belong to a lawyer, so I can get by with saying that!)...besides, all they can really interpret is Constitutional law, since every state's laws vary so widely. I think your remark that anyone can be anything here is spot on. All that will happen is the OP will get two different opinions and end up having to hire a lawyer anyway.
I would think if attorneys want to hand out free info, they'd really be more interested in signing up with their local judiciary and doing pro bono - posting on an i-net forum won't count, and most states have a pro bono requirement per year.
My personal opinion after listening to absolutely hours of boring legal talk is that there are many interpretations to the law....and what one attorney sees as a wide open area might not be perceived that way by a judge should someone decide to defend themselves based on what they were told on a forum. Regardless of disclaimers, we're in a litigious society and I think the attorney posting could be opening himself wide up for a problem down the road.
That just my 2 cents, probably not worth that much....
Every "schiester" lawyer in the country would be dm'ing us wanting us to sue each other over our posts about anything and everything that he can turn into a moneymaker..
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