Your Thoughts, Please (Seriously)...

by AGuest 88 Replies latest jw friends

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  james_woods

  Perhaps there's a tad bit (at least one poster worth) more common sense going on over there than here?

  Exactly my point. And I just have a feeling that the lawyers over there are pretty high profile legal types. Although we did have one lawyer who got banned for about 8 weeks because he kept insisting that opera star Pavarotti did not deserve to own a Ferrari, and deserved to die because he was fat. But, I digress:

  Perhaps not (over) just yet, dear JW (peace to you!). But it is something I wish to flesh out, so if you can bear with me, great - hang around. If not, well, sorry about that...

  Well, then let it go on in style, I bear with it. I can honestly tell you I had a small tingly-spider feeling that this might happen when the posts that started it got made on that thread about the rent dispute over the torched kitchen.

  Sad to see this happen, when the advice given was just simple practical living advice and almost everybody told them to get an attorney anyway.
• 

  TheClarinetist

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClnSMCdw6E8&feature=related
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  Justitia Themis

  No - no - no, Justicia. I did not mean YOU were the fraudulent party.

  I meant that the person (non-lawyer) who charged the old lady 2,000 to make a will for her was the fraudulent party: And that was because she was pretending to act as a lawyer. And got money for it.

  My apologies James. I misunderstood your post, and I was trying to neutrally present facts so as to not get torched on this thread!!

  Although we did have one lawyer who got banned for about 8 weeks because he kept insisting that opera star Pavarotti did not deserve to own a Ferrari, and deserved to die because he was fat.

  Most important, practical, and funny comment on this thread yet.

  AGuest...I can see your point, but the lengths to which you are carrying this...well...it seems a bit extreme to me. Is it really worth all that negative energy? All the time you have spent posting these tomes...you will never get back. Is she worth it? Even IF she is everything you say (and I don't know that I agree completely), it is worth the time? There's a beautiful world out there...away from the computer...it longs for your presence...
• 

  Justitia Themis

  The court ruled that the friend committed the unauthorized practice of law by helping the woman. They upheld the will, but struck the provision that gave the woman a few thousand dollars. Most lawyers agree that this case was decided wrongly, and it is an outlier, but it does show that what may appear to be clear by statute may turn our quite differently when the statute is applied by the courts.

  It does, dear JT (peace to you!); however, I can see why the court decided as it did: usually, those who help prepare wills/trusts can't benefit from them. I realize that it seems a small amount but apparently the court took the law to mean ANY benefit. Which interpretation can have merit. Case could've gone either way.

  Ours is a minority state that allows "interested takers," so this case's outcome is considered quite shocking. The Court clearly wanted to send a message concerning the "unauthorized practice of law."
• 

  144001

  See, this is what bothers me, dear BOTR (peace!): that my legal training is your problem.

  Don't you mean the lack thereof? You're not a lawyer, yet you represent to others here that you have legal training and knowledge. If you had been silent about your background, there would be no issue. But instead, you referred to your education and training in an effort to bolster the credibility of the opinions you have expressed here. If you're going to appeal to authority, you should not be surprised when rival authorities call you out.

  What you don't LIKE... is that my first disagreement with you was pursuant to something I had received by means of holy spirit.

  Do you know Sarah Palin? God talks to her too! You should run for political office!

  Practicing law is a verbal phrase indicating action, namely, trying to interpret what the courts might do and rendering an opinion.

  YES, again!! And nowhere have I done that. It is illegal to run a red light. Telling someone that it is illegal to run a red light is NOT rendering an opinion... or practicing law. Thank you... truly... for that!

  I hope no one is taking this rubbish seriously. Please provide some California authority (since you're in California) to support this definition that you have agreed with.
• 

  TheClarinetist

  The Supreme Court of Texas has held that the courts ultimately decide what is and is not the practice of law.

  Here you go. That quote is from courts.state.tx.us, specifically found in this document. IANAL, but it seems to suggest that whether or not it is "legal advice" is completely up to the courts, and there is no point in arguing about it until someone gets sued.
• 

  Band on the Run

  Case law- first day of law school. I can data dump if someone will walk me through Firefox. How many members care about what some anonymous person thinks.
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  Justitia Themis

  My definition was NOT meant to be an exhaustive definition of the practice of law; I was merely trying to demonstrate that it requires SOME action beyond the mere reporting of case law. While each state has a different definition, they all agree to the basics and disagree around the edges. Here is a quote about what DOES constitute legal advice in Texas as posted by the Clarinetist, though at the document states, it is not an exhaustive definition and the courts can apply the doctrine it wishes.

  NOTICE THE VERBS...

  What is Legal Advice?

  Court users are asking for legal advice when they

  ask whether or not they should proceed in a certain fashion. Telling a member of the public what to do rather than how to do it may be

  giving legal advice.

  Legal advice is a written or oral statement that:

  Interprets some aspect of the law, court rules, or court procedures;

  Recommends a specific course of conduct a person should take in an actual or potential

  legal proceeding; or

  Applies the law to the individual person ’ s specific factual circumstances
• 

  Band on the Run

  Bingo. This is the bulk of the scholarship. I have links from the Internet.
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  Justitia Themis

  http://mcle.mywsba.org/IO/searchresult.aspx?year=&num=&rpc=&keywords=unauthorized%2bpractice%2bof%2blaw

  Here are my state's Bar Association advisory opinions on the authorized practice of law for anyone who cares to read them.