Legal advice ... and I don't play one on TV. But, what's wrong with giving legal advice? I never understood that. Doesn't it come down to the "consideration" thing?
Re: Legal advice The legal profession is a regulated profession. Therefore, just like you can't perform surgery if you are not a doctor, you cannot give legal advice if you are not a lawyer. Even if you ARE a lawyer, you cannot give advice in a state where you are not licensed.
Re: Legal advice Generaly speaking, providing legal advice and practicing law is when you prepare any type of legal document for another individual, interpet and analyze legal decisions, prepare pleadings, complaints, etc for another person, or providing advice on how to do any of the above.
Re: Legal advice Were you giving me legal advice? The mere notion has a chilling effect on discussions. Is recommending writing to a CRA about credit report errors legal advice? Is this legal advice: "DO NOT DO ANYTHING! SEND THEM NOTHING AND DO NOT CALL OR WRITE!"? Is recommending consulting a lawyer legal advice? This reminds me of SNL's Tracy Morgan as Star Jones on "The View," while snapping a Z and gettin' jiggy: "Girl, I'm a lawyer, and... "
Re: Legal advice I think you are reaching! Saying not to do anything is merely giving an opinion. Clearly, recommending that someone see a lawyer is not legal advice! I hope that wasn't a real question. However, if you tell someone, I will draft a complaint for you, that would constitute the unauthorized practice of law.
Re: Legal advice If you're not a lawyer, how do you know that? "The unauthorized practice of law" sounds like pretty serious legal jargon, to me. It was a real question. What's the basis of your answer?
Re: Legal advice Vanili You remind me alot of a paralegal that frequented this board. As a matter of fact she has disappeared. Are you clc?
Re: Legal advice LOL! No, I am not clc whomever that is and I have way more education than a paralegal does!
Re: Legal advice Actually Greg is right. We can give all the legal advice we want, just can't charge for it as an atty.. Naturally it's wise to include your disclaimer when so doing. Atty's. do not have exclusive domain over the law. In fact many laymen know more about law than many attys.
Re: Legal advice You are wrong. It has nothing to do with charging. You can give free advice and still be in violation. You can give all the advice you want as long as you do not engage in practicing law, i.e. all of the things that I listed above for Greg. Attorneys do not have exclusive domain over the law yes..because there ARE exceptions for people acting as lawyers for themselves. Don't make me bring out the citations
Re: Legal advice I don't mind giving my opinions on something... but what that poster really wants, it sounded like to me, was actual lawsuit help... How to get them there I am willing to discuss b/c it's just a discussion on all the errors CRAs make... and I think it's already on this board... actually... I used to give out my info and people could use it or not... but I am just more careful about my privacy lately... for me my answer was more a privacy issue really... I am sure all of us are willing to give our opinions as to what we think is a violation etc... about how you could make something like a letter sound better etc (put a comma here... change this word to that one)... I guess somehow this request seemed more like a lawyer was needed... I don't know... I think we can express our opinions on the CRAs and cases and it's just exercising our rights of free speech and not practicing law... after all, if I give you my ideas on Equifax at dinner... it's just discussion... and we can all discuss what we want to about what we've done if we feel comfortable... I appreciate the request as it leads me to believe that the poster thinks I may have a clue.... which I might or might now and I didn't think the discussion would go this way... I really didn't mean that I wouldn't give my .02 at all at any time... I just felt this time, for some reason... the poster would want to get real legal help for a lawsuit... that's all... I guess the "no not contact" opinion was just for a CA so who cares.... but "what do I do for a lawsuit" seemed very different....
Re: Legal advice Flagg, Actually, let me do a better answer We've hijacked this thread all over the place anyway... No matter what you do you'll need to do a chronology... that's a detailed description of what's happened... names, dates, events etc. It will help you and if you go to court or hire an atty, it's necessary. An atty will normally ask for this. Also, they'll ask what damages you have... denials in credit, approvals but with poor terms etc A few attys have told me that they prefer someone applies for local credit (a local bank branch) so the branch employee can go to court if need be... In general... most of us send demand letters to the person we're going to sue before we sue them. Some state agencies will look into credit bureau issues for you but most want to see a demand letter to the bureau before they'll intervene... some states require demand letters before filing a lawsuit and some don't... you'll have to look into that... you can call your state's Atty general's office (or office of consumer affairs) and ask which office handles credit bureaus... they can also help you and get the bureau fined... and they can be a nice hammer for your case (they can actually collect money for your damages in some states and you don't even need to go to court) You can also file a complaint with the FTC... but they just do patterns of abuse.. but it's still good to get the complaint on file (especially if it's a clear cut case of abuse to the consumer)... So there's some ideas of what we've done/what we've been told... do what you'd like... attys will work on contingency if your case is good (they get a percent of what's won or settled)... so you can often retain an atty on contingency... the trick is finding a good consumer atty Hope that actually helps you with your initial question...
Re: Legal advice Vanili, Marie, Others, BTW- (Sorry about originally hijacking) In my experience, Mr. Fisher likes to "educate" consumers by playing devil' advocate and asking questions he already knows the answer to, instead of just giving straight answers or asking non-Plato-like questions. i find it annoying and bordering on self-important. But to each his own. just remember that, when he post. humblemarc
Re: Legal advice 1. I'm here to educate myself. Students are supposed to ask questions. If other consumers get something out of it, it's OK with me. I'm rational Economic man (now, that's Plato) with unabashed self-interest above all else. 2. Occasionally, I find blatantly inaccurate, irresponsible statements and refute them (see your statement at http://consumers.creditnet.com/stra...?postid=231750&highlight=Soft/Hard#post231750 ("Soft/Hard Inquiries")) just to be sure I'm not completely in the dark. In those instances, I don't ask questions. 3. Sometimes I get flamed in another thread because the person I corrected thinks they look foolish (or with a name like "humble," are humiliated). 4. The notion of legal advice by a non-lawyer on the Internet was recently challenged (in my state, no less) and it doesn't seem to be as clear-cut as some would have it. It bears discussion, and I have questions. "Unauthorized practice of law on the Net" http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/ccarch/2002/02/01/sinrod.htm "Judge takes bite out of ex-Maumee man's judicial watchdog site" http://www.albertlowe.com/shutdown.html "Judicial Watchdog Website Ordered Down by Judge" http://www.patriotsaints.com/News/Mirrors/judicial_watchdog.htm 5. However, if you think I know all the answers, then you'd better run and hide because I think the legal bogeyman is coming to get you. 6. Actually, it's the Socratic Method.
Re: Legal advice Imported from another thread: http://consumers.creditnet.com/stra...0&highlight="chronology+of+events"#post208180 Begin by making what is called "A chronology of events". Basically a list of everything that has transpired since inception. Include dates, times, the person's name that you spoke to and what phone number you dialed. Include a brief description of the essence of the communication with a focus on potential violations. Don't worry about whether or not the violations are real, we'll look at that later. Don't leave anything out. If Cert. Mail, include cert. mail #, who signed for it and what date. Photo copy every single item of written correspondence 3 times. Collate it and number the packages 1 through 3. And then sort in ascending date order. This is the first thing you need to do to see if you even have a provable case. It's a pain in the butt but well worth the trouble.
Re: Legal advice 1. A man(person) is only a good student if he(she) becomes like a empty cup. 2. I gave a FTC link that shows (better than conjecture) the actual points given.(whether is based on CC reality is up in the air). Your link said nothing about 10 different scorecards, or even the topic of discussion. I spent about 10 min looking around the website, trying to find the actual quote/info., but i found nothing. 3. "Flamed"??? don't think so. I have no hidden agenda against you, except what i posted above. Believe it or not, i actually wrote the above post before reading your correction of me in the other thread.(check the times) 4. My point exactly. . .why did you not just write that in your thread and post the above links???? Instead i had to "flame" you in order for that to happen. 5. No reason to address this. .. 6. One of my 4 degrees specialized in Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, so if you would like to discuss that, perhaps we can. . . on another board. Let's go back to #4. Again, if you knew this information, why did you not just say so and post any related info. to clarify. As much as Creditnet is an obsession/hobby for many of us members on this board. There are way too many threads that could be read, instead of dealing with your odd way of asking questions you already seem to know the answer to. You remind me of a B. Bauer that was once on the board. humblemarc
