Internet and the law

The Internet is a double-edged sword when it comes to the law. On the one hand, I am often pleasantly surprised to learn how much knowledge a current or potential customer has received from the many hours they have surfed the Internet. On the other hand, much of that knowledge is not relevant to your problem, raises the expectations of your case beyond what the facts of your case would deliver in a court of law, and is often irrelevant to the laws of Pennsylvania, where I practice. and where my clients live or do business in general. Investigators are often surprised to learn that the cases they have reviewed and sent to me for review have absolutely no relevance to Pennsylvania or, quite often, its problem.

Lawyers generally know how to conduct legal research and refine effective and relevant law, so if a client wants me to read a lot of cases that they consider relevant and that they have pulled off the internet, I will, but I will charge them for doing so. I think you better spend your money on me doing the research.

For example, I recall a situation in which an attorney from another state achieved what my client thought was a remarkable result in the field of educational law. I called the attorney who told me that the results of her case were “one in a million”, it was based entirely on the unique facts of the situation, that her client received significant help from some employees who worked for the school she was suing. . and other unpredictable factors. Although the universe was combined in that instance to create a single outcome, and that is what it was, unique to the facts of the case, it had nothing to do with the law as it is in Pennsylvania.

Remember that the Internet has no controls, so anything can be mentioned. This does not mean that the things mentioned are even true. It always amazes me to know that customers feel that if something is on the Internet, it is gospel. THE INTERNET IS NOT THE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE.

So there’s nothing I can do …

It always amazes me, and sometimes annoys me, when I spend time in my time, often for free, giving a potential client my opinion on their legal options, and they conclude by saying “so there’s nothing I can do” or “you don’t sound optimistic. ” I did not say that! I gave potential clients options and possible outcomes.

The disconnect between what I say and what a client often hears or wants to hear is because many people today, especially those who want or need to spend their hard-earned money on legal representation, want a guarantee of excellent results. The law and lawyers often do not offer guarantees. In fact, I tell clients that if they find an attorney who guarantees a result, I would run the other way. There are so many factors that go into a case, most notably the opposing party, the opposition lawyer, the judicial system, the facts, the law, etc., that a result cannot be guaranteed. The law is not a shirt whose collar is frayed and one can demand their money back.

What bothers me even more is that the same people who are concerned about whether they have a 100% winnable case and want a guarantee on it have often spent a considerable amount of money on things related to the case for which they will not receive any benefits. They have done so without consulting an attorney, or they have consulted everyone besides an attorney, such as a real estate agent, an accountant, their neighbors, their family, their friends, and anyone other than an attorney, who has given them Poor and often harmful and misleading advice. If one were to do a cost benefit analysis, the amount that would have been spent on a lawyer to handle the matter effectively is usually much less than what has been spent on this indirect way of avoiding lawyers and the system. legal.

For example, I was once consulted by an elderly woman who had paid $ 40,000 in back taxes and had brought a current mortgage after falling into default on a house owned by her niece. However, he did not want to pay a fraction of that amount to go through the process of listing the house in his name. By law, you made a gift to your niece and you have no legal basis to get it back if the niece sells the house or gravel. She does not own the house. And this is not an unusual situation. Not only had he not consulted an attorney before spending this amount, but he said that he had no money to pay an attorney to do whatever it took to give him the benefit of his investment, for a couple thousand dollars. Wish someone would come and pay my bills.

I have said this before in other writings. Don’t be silly or be silly. Consult an attorney and keep an open mind and don’t expect a guarantee under the law. But, if you have a fighting chance, attorneys perform little miracles on a daily basis, and they can certainly give you better advice on the law than non-attorneys.