Closing of legal discussion

Personally, I would hate to see this section go. I work in the judicial branch of criminal law and have a degree in same.

If you put in a standard disclosure stating that advice given is to be taken with a grain of salt and that anyone with a serious (or even not so serious) legal issue should consult an attorney, then I don't see why the section should go poof. As a paralegal, I'm not allowed to represent anyone in a legal matter, but I am legally able to give advice or help. I work for a judge so I see both sides of the coin on legal issues, specifically criminal matters, and feel I could be of service. However, each state is different, each judge is different and each case is different. I can honestly say that unless there is an attorney who is registered with the bar in every state in America, then no one can really give reliable advice.

That being said, I think that those of us who work in the legal field are experienced enough to be able to tell people what to expect, what to ask their attorneys, and how much to expect to pay for the charges they are facing.

Wow! This forum is so much easier to navigate now! I never even knew this section existed!
 
just noticed that this forum has been closed, sad as it is, i agree that it's a necessary step .

I posted this in EADD a couple of years ago:

A thread posted yesterday got me thinking about how we handle requests for legal information in this forum.

I think the easiest way to demonstrate the concerns i'm having is by way of a little GBL analagy (bear with me here )

If GBL was extremely dose sensitive and hugely dependent on a wide number of factors specific to an individual (let's say 1000 variable things from what their granny died from to their blood sugar level the day before ingestion)...........and someone started a thread saying "How much GBL should I take?"........would it ever be in the interests of harm reduction for a group of people who could not possibly ascertain the 1000 variables specific to that person to advise that person on what dose to take?

Would your answer differ if the consequences of being even slightly wrong could lead to really severe consequences?

I think even the most knowledgable of people on here would avoid having a bash at working it out to an exact amount, knowing the consequences if they were even slightly wrong.


The point i'm trying to make is this:

If people want to talk generally about legal issues, regardless of nature, then that's fine. That's what we do on here, voice our opinions on things. That's our right.

HOWEVER, if someone asks for specific legal advice (ie, i've been charged with possession, WHAT SHOULD I DO), I think we are kidding ourselves that we can safely help that person take the correct course of action.

I know that many of us have had considerable experience on the wrong side of the law, and hell I even manage to do some productive stuff on the other side, but the simple fact is that we really can't give any better advice than "Speak to a lawyer".

My worry is that many people are looking for their concerns to be eased (or sometimes even realised) and that they will take what they read on this board as being correct. Someone acting on wrong advice could have serious consequences on that persons life.


Over the 5 years i've been knocking around on here, I've spotted some very helpful legal comments, but mostly a lot of "not quite right" or completely wrong comments. This doesn't really help anyone.

It's a bit like someone coming on here for a medical diagnosis......until you have been trained in the profession and carried out a thorough examination, you can't say for sure what the best course of action should be.

As many of you will know, I try to avoid giving specific advice as much as possible, but try to stick to more generic comments.


So, my proposal is that in future we limit legal discussion to general discussion.

If someone asks specifically "what should I do" or "what does this mean" etc, and the consequences of us getting it wrong could have an impact on that person, I think it is only right that we simply say "Speak to a lawyer".

The Legal Discussion board has a legal disclaimer at the top and posts have to be approved (afaik)........we have neither.


I would hate for someone to end up in the shit after taking someone's "advice" seriously. It would not do that person or the board any favours.


I would like to have people's opinions on this, because at the end of the day, it's your board and you should have access to the kind of information that you want.


Kappa
Click to expand...


The link to my guidance on England and Wales' PACE codes is now very out of date (I wrote that 5 years ago!!). I would suggest taking it down for now (i'll email the EADD guys separately about this).

As for the future of legal information on Bluelight......I think it would be useful to have something, it's an intrinsic part of our culture (unfortunately).

Whilst I will never be comfortable will members seeking or giving advice (I include myself in that!), I do think it would be possible to offer something of use in terms of jurisdiction specific FAQs which focus on the law most related to drug offences.

That's what I was trying to achieve with the PACE code guidance.

The problem is, it's an enormous task. If I could muster the time and energy to do it a little bit at a time, it would probably be in need of immediate update as soon as I had finished.

One thing that I have been considering recently is commercial produced information. I've worked in the legal profession for quite some time now, and despite being a corporate lawyer, lots and lots of my buddies work in criminal law.

In return for a bit of advertising on the legal board/legal FAQ, I could well imagine one of my friends' firms specialising in drug offences would be willing to put together (and keep up to date) some legal FAQs. It's the kind of job you could give to a trainee/paralegal, and you'd only need one referral from the site to recoup the cost/time required to produce the guide.

Mods, PM me if you want to discuss further. More of less EVERY person on this board is engaging in illegal activities, that's a pretty captive audience for a criminal law firm. Jurisdiction specific FAQs, prepared by specialist drug offence lawyers, with links to their websites for proper legal advice....seems to fit with what we are trying to achieve for members?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top