I feel like this should go without saying, but every day I see a bunch of comment sections on the front page that delve into unsolicited legal advice—some of which can be very harmful. Even worse, people usually upvote the advice.
Know that an actual lawyer who cares about the craft would never give unsolicited advice over the internet; there’s far too many risks involved. Furthermore, taking legal advice from a non-attorney is ill advised.
First, there’s no chance of giving meaningful counsel without first conducting an interview to learn every relevant fact in a scenario. An attorney must then figure out what jurisdiction applies, whether the attorney is licensed to give advice in that jurisdiction, what statutes or law control in that jurisdiction, how courts construe those laws, what exceptions/defenses may apply to the law, and how all of this applies to the facts. No good attorney will give advice unless they know the answers to these questions. If the person giving advice hasn’t addressed these questions, their advise is bad.
Next, actual attorneys know that providing legal advice online may inadvertently create an attorney-client relationship, which may lead to ethical violations/malpractice if bad advice is given. This is especially likely if any attorney flippantly gives advice to someone online. After graduating magna cum laude from a well-respected law school and actually practicing law, I’ve come to learn that the law is a constantly evolving beast and even the most experienced lawyers sometimes get it wrong—even when they did do all of their homework. That said, a good attorney would not risk giving bad advice to a stranger over the internet who could subsequently bring forth a malpractice claim. In other words, you shouldn’t rely on someone to cover your ass when they don’t cover their own.
So far we’ve assumed an actual lawyer is giving advice, but it’s obvious that most of the legal advice I read here is given by non-attorneys. If these people knew anything about the law, they’d know that giving legal advice without a license is a criminal offense. Should you really listen to someone’s legal advice when they are actively breaking the law?
Use common sense. If you need advice, talk to a lawyer in person or at least over the phone. Most firms will give free consultations and most jurisdictions offer free or reduced-price counsel to those who qualify for it.
