Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Illinois

Re: representation in court

In order to represent someone other than oneself before a court, one must have a law license. Without a law license, one is engaging in the unauthorized practice of law, which can have some serious repercussions. A lot of the dangers that arise for parties who choose to represents themselves or rely on a non-lawyer to provide them with information is that there are no assurances that those parties are relying on valid information. A licensed attorney is experienced and knows the relevant laws and how to navigate through the system because he/she deals with these matters every single day and in a variety of situations. Can your friend make the same claim? Also, if you have an attorney and the attorney screws up, you can sue the attorney and his or her malpractice insurance will cover your damages. Your friend does not have malpractice insurance. If he screws up your case and you lose, is he going to compensate you?

Knowing the law "front to back" and being a competent, practicing attorney are two entirely different things. I could not with good conscience recommend relying on a friend to help you sort out a lawsuit, especially not in Cook County. Stick with your attorney.