Legal Question in Technology Law in California

Re: leagal

Conflicts arise from the risk of privileged information about one client being used to harm that client. Attorneys aren't going to be giving out client information on the Internet or elsewhere. Plus advice is not what you get at this site, for example. Legal advice and legal opinions are not free. Here you simply find out whether your question relates to a legal matter--i.e., requiring an attorney--or simply something you can do on your own or just a simple question.

Re: leagal

Good question. I'm glad you asked because it got me thinking, and checking the terms of use for LawGuru.

Mr. Nance is correct. However, an additional type of conflict may arise if an attorney has previously represented or is currently representing multiple parties involved in a dispute, transaction, deal, etc.

In the online arena, attorneys give only than the most generalized information about the law, rather than specifics related to a particular matter.

Here on LawGuru, for example, most of the answers to questions seem to say

"I'd need more facts to properly evaluate the situation....

The General rule of law is ....

but there are exceptions and variations that may depend on facts not mentioned...

..you should consult an attorney about this matter."

Also, the terms and conditions you agreed to when you posted your question very clearly establish that there's no establishment of an attorney-client relationship, and that information you share here isn't confidential.

Re: leagal

I would respectfully disagree with prior answers, but only to a certain extent. I think that it is legal for an attorney to provide advice to clients over the Internet, such as, for example, by Internet email or IRC. However, the other attorneys are correct that this site (the LawGuru site) is not supposed to be used for the purposes of seeking or dispensing legal advice. Instead, the questions should seek legal information, which attorneys are certainly allowed to provide for free, even to persons they might otherwise be conflicted our of representing.

Re: Legal Answers/Conflicts

Both attorneys and LawGuru question submitters need to be aware of the limitations of this medium. In nearly all cases, we haven't interviewed you, read any of your documents, or done any significant amount of legal research. You're not our clients. In other words, you get what you pay for.

I would disagree with some of my colleagues as to confidentiality: while anybody can read the questions and answers, there is case law supporting the idea that the questions and answers here are privileged communications. I don't think an adverse party, such as a prosecuting attorney or an insurance company, would be able to successfully subpoena records in order to prove the identities of LawGuru questioners who sought answers to their sensitive legal questions here.

As to attorneys, since we don't know the identities of the questioners, there is always the very unlikely possibility that helping a questioner could conflict with a duty owed to an existing or former client. It is certainly possible, for this or other reasons, and because legal ethics rules are complicated, that what we do here could eventually be prohibited or restricted by the state bar -- which in my mind would be a bad thing. The public benefit of having this forum, in my opinion, outweighs the risk posed by the possibility that an attorney could violate his or her duty to avoid conflicts of interest by answering a question here.