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Many today are angry at our justice system, and many of them have good cause to be angry!
But, some are too angry! Their anger will hurt you! They are out of control! They teach falsehoods! They’re that angry! That’s how you know them. They are not your friend! Their “legal theories” fail. They are blinded by rage. Believe them at your peril. Angry people can rarely be trusted, and that is never more true than when they try to get you to join them in their angry legal theories that run contrary to the rules that control our courts. #1 For example, a nice fellow called me the other day and ended up screaming at me because I refused to go along with his idea that our birth certificates are some kind of “contract”. In the first place, the most fundamental truth about contracts is that no “contract” can bind a party who doesn’t understand the agreement. Even if we were able to understand the alleged binding nature of our birth certificate at the moment of our birth, we didn’t sign the thing! Some doctor did, probably. We cannot be bound by a contract we don’t understand, and certainly not one we didn’t enter into. Yet, this nice man screamed at me for refusing to help him storm the hated walls of justice for him and take up his cause to fight the dragons! #2 Another strange legal myth that’s come around in the last few months is that one can “copyright” his or her own name and thereby prevent the courts from using their name on any court papers. Duh! Anger does twist the mind in strange ways! But, to think one can prevent others from using his or her name by “copyrighting” the name is utter nonsense. I want you to win. You cannot win relying on nonsense! #3 A few are absolutely convinced that our courts are “sitting in admiralty” and therefore cannot rule in common law or statute. But, the fact is that pretty much any court can rule in admiralty cases, if the issue before them is one that involves navigation or the rights of seagoing workers or dockside stevedores. Contract disputes, negligence cases, foreclosure, and other matters are absolutely notadmiralty cases, and the courts that hear such cases are not “sitting in admiralty” … no matter whether there’s a yellow fringe on the flag in the corner or not. #4 More than a few seem to have made a “religion” out of believing such things. Many claim to be “patriots”, yet do all they can to evade the Rule of Law and refuse to do much of anything toward learning the principles of due process so many gave their lives to protect in past and present wars! This group of people get together to talk about how horrible things are but spend very little effort learning how to make things better by learning the rules! I know people are hurting. I’ve been helping thousands upon thousands of good people get justice in the courts since 1997 when I first put Jurisdictionary on the internet. It wasn’t much back then, but I’ve been doing all I can to make it better each year and will do the best I can to continue in the months and years to come. But! If you choose to believe the lies, God help you! Lies are what we’re fighting to overcome. Overcoming lies is what the rules are all about! Please don’t get me wrong. I want to help those who are angry, as well as those who are being destroyed by crooked bankers, corrupt judges, lying lawyers, and the hosts of darkness that never seem to give up in their quest to destroy all that’s good and wholesome in this world we live in. But! YOU … that’s right … YOU cannot afford to believe the lies if you want to get justice in our courts! Your birth certificate is not a contract. You are who you are, no matter whether your name is spelled in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS or all small letters or written out in script with a ball-point pen! And, as far as our courts go, nobody (and I do mean nobody) knows better than I do about the corruption of some judges or the stealth and trickery that lawyers use to twist the truth to their own advantage. But, being angry won’t help. The only thing that will help is learning how to use the rules that control the courts, rules that stop corruption, rules that require judges to grant justice, rules that were paid for by far too much innocent blood already. Please join Jurisdictionary in our effort to uplift the hopes and determination of the American People and even people in other nations around the world where justice is for sale to the highest bidder and good, honest people are sacrificed on the altar of money! Someone once said, “The truth will set you free!” If YOU believe that … if you really believe it … then you will join the work of Jurisdictionary to reach people who are being destroyed all too often simply because they are believing the legal mythology so rampant on the internet, in our daily emails, and even in weekend seminars a few amateurs here and there are putting on for those foolish enough to pay. There’s never been but one way to win any contest! Either you cheat … or you use the rules to your own advantage. Cheaters don’t win all that often. Food for thought? – – – – – – – – Winning is EASY once you know the rules and how to use them effectively! Help Your Friends! Don’t let anyone intimidate you into thinking lawsuits are too complicated for mere mortals to grasp or deceive you into thinking all lawyers are smarter than the rest of the human race … ’cause it ain’t so! Anyone can learn the rules required to win! Anyone! You simply need to start with a clear view of the field of play, the object of the game, and the rules that control all the players … including judges and lawyers! It IS simple … as many thousands have learned! In the 13 years since I launched Jurisdictionary I’ve found the most debilitating factor that infects good people with hopelessness is the fear that comes from lack of knowing how the game of litigation is played to win! Not knowing creates fear. Knowledge displaces fear with the confidence! Take any apparently complicated thing apart to examine its component parts and you quickly see how they all fit together. When you first begin, it seems impossible. But! If someone shows you how each separate part works with each of the other parts, even the most complicated things are suddenly easy-to-understand. The mystery my profession has woven disappears! Every one of you has great legal power! Sadly, many good people never discover the power that is theirs … so people who know how to use the rules of court and the law of the case take advantage of them! Jurisdictionary wants to turn the tables on crooked lawyers and biased judges and protect the “little guys and gals” that are being taken advantage of simply because no one has ever come out with a course like this. No one has ever cared enough to tell you the truth. No one has ever made it this easy-to-understand! It is easy-to-understand how to win in court once you see things the way I teach them! The full details you need to know are in my affordable step-by-step Jurisdictionary course. To learn more, go to: www.Jurisdictionary.com Click this link to watch a FREE VIDEO. ============================
My affordable 24-hour step-by-step lawsuit self-help course includes:
Still Only $249 (plus $7.50 for Priority Mail S&H) Control judges! Save legal fees! Defeat crooked lawyers! Ask anyone who has it: Jurisdictionary Works! Call Toll Free for details: 866-Law-Easy Get your competitive edge before the price increase. Force judges to enforce the rules, instead of allowing the lawyer on the other side twist the law against you! You cannot win if you don’t know how to control the judge and all the lawyers (including your own lawyer, if you can afford to pay one to go to court for you)! You’ve heard the horror stories from others. Don’t let it happen to you! Order my course now, if you don’t already have it. Know the rules and how to force everyone to obey! Know how to draft proper pleadings, how to get your own evidence in the court’s record, how to keep the other side from getting their evidence in, how to move the court to enter orders favorable to your cause, and how to use your Jurisdictionary legal know-how and case-winning strategies to control the judge and win your case! My self-help course is presented in such an easy format people tell us an 8th grader can learn it in just 24 hours! Know what you must know to win! Stop courtroom corruption! I’ll show you how in just 24-hours … step-by-step! Control judges and lawyers – or lose! My “Tips & Tactics” newsletters are only introductions to the complete course you need to win. If you don’t already have my 24-hour step-by-step self-help course, go to my website and order now!
As Woody Guthrie used to sing, “This Land is our Land,” and that includes every courtroom and every courthouse from San Diego to Bangor, Maine. Why let lawyers control our lives with trickery? Why let judges destroy our lives by letting lawyers get away with their trickery? YOU CAN WIN! Forward this article to ALL YOUR FRIENDS! If you aren’t involved in a lawsuit or threatened with one today, learn what my course teaches and help others who will be destroyed by all-too-common courtroom corruption if YOU don’t help them learn what it takes to win! There are more than 150 lawsuits filed every minute in the United States – nearly 100 million each year. Try to imagine how many thousands of good, honest people will be destroyed in the next 7 days just because they have no idea how to protect themselves and have nobody they can trust (or afford) to help them win! Urge everyone to get my affordable 24-hour course! Do it for your nation … and for your children! Dr. Frederick David Graves, JD
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Archive for the ‘LawHelpInteractive’ Category
How to Fight Fraud
 Today’s Tips & Tactics will help all of you who are fighting banks, credit card companies, and anyone else who fraudulently claims you owe them money!If you’re an honest person being sued by a dishonest creditor, today’s Tips & Tactics may save you a load of cash … if you do things the way you’ll learn in myofficial affordable 24-hour step-by step Jurisdictionary self-help course! There’s a reason for the phrase, “Put it in writing!” Every jurisdiction we know of adopts a common law principle known as the “Statute of Frauds” so people wishing to sue you for any promise they say you made to them must offer written evidence of that promise …signed by you! No writing, no lawsuit. It could be a mortgage, promissory note, lease, credit card application, or any other promise they say you made. In some states, if the promise was to perform some service that was to be performed in less than one year, or to pay less than $500 for some item like a lawn mower or bicycle, no writing is required … but if the promise was for more than a year or more than a small amount of money, the Statute of Frauds bars the lawsuitif there is no writing signed by you! So, what’s the first thing you do when you’re sued for a promise you did not make?You demand to see the original writing that bears your signature! How do you do that? You use what’s called a Request for Production. The other side has a certain time period within which to comply. If they don’t produce (and many times they’ll put up some bogus objection) you file a Motion to Compel Production and set your motion for hearing. If you do this the way we teach in our 24-hour step-by-step Jurisdictionary self-help course, the judge will ORDER them to produce … and if they fail to obey the order their case will be dismissed! You do not use a subpoena to get documents from the opposing party. You use a Request for Production, and you can use it to get other things as well, if they will likely lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Help Your Friends! I explain in the Jurisdictionary course how a client came to me after being sued by Sears for a credit card debt. He told me he never had a Sears card, so I served the plaintiff with a Request for Production demanding to see “every document signed by the defendant”. Sears had 30 days to respond. On the 29th day I got a call from Sears’ lawyer saying they couldn’t find any documents signed by my client and asking for an extension of time. I refused. The case was dismissed. Because of the present economic crisis, some judges make an effort to lean favorably toward creditors who come to court without sufficient evidence. If you don’t know what we teach in the Jurisdictionary course, you might find yourself on the short end of a long judgment against you for a debt you truly do not owe. It’s happening far too frequently. Of course the practice of requiring the other side to prove their case (using Requests for Production and your other powerful evidence discovery tools) is a practice you cannot afford to ignore. Proof is what lawsuits are all about. Learn how to prove your position … and how to force the other side to prove theirs! Losers believe in fables and get their legal education at the barbershop or expensive weekend seminars or websites run by people who never practiced law, never went to law school, and don’t know mud from sand about the rules of court or how to use them to prevent fraud. Protect yourself from lawyers and judges! It’s easy, once you understand “due process”. Due process IS your most valuable right. Due process is your most valuable right, because without the ability to win in court, the rest of your “rights” are just political rhetoric, promises with no power. The Constitution of the United States promises you the protection of due process, but it doesn’t tell you what due process is or how to get it! Jurisdictionary was created by a lawyer with more than 23 years of experience winning lawsuits! Winners learn the rules of evidence, the rules of procedure, and how to use the rules to control corrupt judges and overcome crooked lawyers. Learn how to protect yourself! People who have our course tell us an average 8th grader can understand it all in a single weekend. The complete 4-CD course is still only $249. If you have a lawyer, you can save thousands in legal fees just by knowing what the lawyer should be doing to win. If you don’t have a lawyer, you’ll know how to stop the opponent’s crooked tactics and get the judge on your side! The key to winning is knowing how to use the rules!
That’s all there is to it. The rules are actually simpler than the official rules of major league baseball …believe it or not! To learn more, go to: www.Jurisdictionary.com =========================================Our affordable 24-hour step-by-step course includes:
Save legal fees! Control judges! Defeat crooked lawyers! Ask anyone who has our course. “Jurisdictionary Works!” Call Toll Free for details: 866-Law-Easy |
Summary Judgment – The Trap
Here’s how to avoid the summary judgment trap!
Summary judgment can be a good thing – when it’s working for you! It can mean the end of litigation in your favor, victory without a fight. It can save months and even years of money-draining litigation sorrows. But! If your opponent files a motion for summary judgment against you, the result can be immediate defeat if you don’t apply what I teach you. Banks and other powerful opponents do this routinely. They start with a laundry list of affidavits by which they wish the court to believe they’ve “proven” the facts of their case (inadmissible affidavits, by the way), and their lawyer points to the paperwork, files a motion for summary judgment, and insists the case has already been proven. That is almost never the truth. It’s a trap! Here’s what you need to know! Summary judgment is provided by Rule 56 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and by state court rules in every state in our Republic. All the states follow the federal rule closely. There may be a few minor differences but, in general, the rule and the principles are identical. Either party (plaintiff or defendant) may file the motion. The motion must allege (and the moving party must ultimately prove) “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Danger! There is almost always at least some “genuine issue as to a material fact” that precludes summary judgment. But! If you don’t understand what is meant by “genuine issue” or “material fact”, you will lose … needlessly! I’ve been an attorney nearly a quarter-century. I’ve read a h— of a lot of cases in those years, believe me. And, in all that reading I discovered that summary judgments are routinely set aside on appeal! That’s right. The majority of summary judgment orders are reversed on appeal. Don’t believe me? Go to any online legal research cite and enter the following search terms: precludes w/4 summary (i.e., search the case law in your appellate jurisdiction for the word “precludes” appearing within 4 words of “summary”). Hit “Enter” and sit back and watch the cases fly onto your screen one-after-another. I just pulled up 151 of them here in Florida’s state appellate decisions. Read a few dozen and you’ll see what I mean. Don’t be trapped by summary judgment motions! The key to winning (whether you’re the one defending or the one filing the motion) is the rule itself and preparation for appeal that’s made simple enough for an 8th grader to understand using my affordable Jurisdictionary step-by-step self-help course. Read the rule … state or federal. Also read the cases that explain the rule and how it is applied by the appellate courts to determine if summary judgment is proper or not. The motion is evaluated on the following grounds: “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,together with affidavits, if any”. So many of you don’t yet understand the power of your five (5) discovery tools and the importance of firing them off at the first opportunity in your case. By requests for admissions, requests for production, interrogatories, and a deposition or two along with a few subpoenas you can make it clear there are “genuine issues of material fact” in the record … precluding summary judgment. The other fortress against summary judgment is built by drafting powerful pleadings (whether you’re the plaintiff or defendant). The pleadings (complaint and answer with affirmative defenses) are the first defense against losing on a summary judgment motion, because your pleadings raise the issues that you’re competing for. If you file weak pleadings (plaintiff or defendant) you offer your opponent an opportunity to charge ahead with summary judgment. Weak pleadings followed by delayed discovery opens the door for your opponent to argue, “There are no genuine issues of material fact in the record,” and that’s all he needs to win. My Jurisdictionary course shows you how to draft powerful pleadings in easy steps with explanations and examples of the forms most commonly used. The courts are jammed with litigation. In most states, it can take months just to schedule a simple hearing. Most judges welcome opportunities to grant summary judgment, because it clears the case off the docket! Beware! The judge wants to enter summary judgment. Not because you are pro se. Not because he hates you. Not because he plays golf with the lawyer on the other side. But, because he wants to clear his clogged calendar of pending cases that are backing up because of the glut of litigation that is delaying justice for good people! You must prepare with lawsuit know-how or lose! Solid pleadings create an impenetrable barrier to entry of summary judgment orders. They plainly state the genuine issues of material fact. If they are “verified” (as I teach in my affordable 24-hour, step-by-step Jurisdictionary self-help course they should always be) then you have built a protective wall around your case. The genuine issues of material fact are in your pleadings! Your pleadings cannot be changed by your opponent. You state your “genuine issues of material fact” in your complaint or answer and affirmative defenses, and protect yourself from summary judgment motions filed by the other side! Prompt discovery provides an additional barrier against summary judgment rulings. When the other side cannot produce documents you’ve properly requested according to the rules, and those documents would tend to prove your case, then a “genuine issue of material fact” is established that precludes entry of summary judgment. The same can be said of requests for admissions, interrogatories, answers to deposition questions, and so forth. And, of course, the importance of arranging in advance to have every proceeding recorded by an official court reporter and to arrange in advance for obtaining a certified transcript afterward to prove everything said or done in court cannot be overstressed! Like the Chinese Laundry operator used to say, “No ticky. No washy.” If you don’t arrange in advance for a certified transcript to be available to you after every in-court proceeding, you’ve telegraphed permission for the judge to do whatever the judge wishes to do … and that include knocking your case off his busy calendar by granting summary judgment, because without a court record the judge knows he cannot be reversed on appeal! No transcript. No appeal. It breaks my heart to learn how many of you are beaten by summary judgment and other tactics by unscrupulous lawyers who don’t care about truth or justice or fairness or anything beyond a newer sports car and a bigger swimming pool in their backyard. You don’t have to lose just because you’re pro se! I receive emails every day from people who believe that lie … people who’d rather complain about their losses and blame anyone but their own unwillingness to learn. This is not the spirit that once made America great, my friends. Learn Rule 56 (or the corresponding rule in your state court). Read a few dozen cases you can find online using the search terms given above. Educate yourselves on something other than the insidious silver-bullet nonsense that is so prevalent on the internet these days. People who say justice is impossible for pro se litigants are misinformed. Justice most certainly is possible … for those who take my affordable 24-hour, step-by-step Jurisdictionary self-help course. If you want to learn the rules at the law library and not pay for my course, that’s fine with me. But, please stop believing those who saypro se justice is impossible. I will say this: Justice IS impossible for those who don’t yet know how to command the courts as I teach. Finally, please know this about me and my success in court: I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I have never belonged to a country club. I didn’t win cases by being one of the “good old boys”. For most of my life I was common as dirt. I didn’t get my chance to go to law school until I was 39. That was 28 years ago. I won on a regular basis in spite of the odds against me because I believe in the rules of due process and, after 10 years of fumbling around in the dark, I finally learned how to use those rules effectively to control judges and get justice for my clients! Until I was 42 years old and passed the bar exam, I had to work as hard or harder than any of you just to make ends meet! I was a ferry boat skipper. I ran fishing boats. I swung a hammer and pushed a saw and carried sheets of plywood and 2×4’s. I had a job pulling beers in a southern bar where pickled eggs, pigs feet, and boiled peanuts were the food du jour. I scraped barnacles off boat bottoms. I climbed tall radio towers to replace light bulbs. I once spent weeks inside unfinished sailboats grinding fiberglass in the Miami heat, enduring the itch of fiberglass dust mixed with sweat and occasional blood from the cuts of sharp edges of newly laid fiberglass material. At one point in my long career of unimaginables, I drove a Frosty root beer truck delivering cases of soda to country stores in the farmlands east of Tampa. I worked my way through undergraduate school at Florida State (because my family could not afford to send me to college) installing short wave radios in fire trucks and ambulances. I didn’t make enough to go to an ivy league school. For years I lived in rented one-room apartments and got about on a bicycle, because I couldn’t afford a car or gasoline. For nearly 9 years of my adult life I lived in small beat-up old sailboats, no air-conditioning, no refrigerator, no TV. I know what most of you are going through! I want to help you! But, you need help yourselves and others! I didn’t win most of my cases by sucking up to the good old boys! I won by learning how to use the rules, and you can learn, too! We can win the war against corruption in this nation and be the example Adams and Paine and Washington intended us to be … but we must do it according to The Rules of Law and with due process, not foolish fables. YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOSE! Believing internet fables, even if they were true, isn’t going to help you or your family. Joining the crowd that can only complain and point fingers isn’t making things better for any of us. The true patriots who are making things better for all of us (or, at least, trying their best to do so) are those who fight for victories over corruption using due process and the Rule of Law for which too many good men and women have already given their lives. Let us honor those who gave their all for the sake of liberty and due process by renewing our pledge to the cause of Justice … overcoming the corruption in our courts by forcing judges to obey the rules too many have already died for! Please don’t send me emails telling me the courts are corrupt. I know first-hand about corruption. That’s why I created Jurisdictionary in the first place. I know judges who are so corrupt they should be horse-whipped. I know lawyers who are so corrupt they don’t know how to stop lying, even when they aren’t in court. But! I also know how to win … and you can, too! I’d appreciate receiving some emails this week thanking me for Jurisdictionary instead of attacking me for not joining the milieu of madness that has little to offer beyond telling us what’s wrong. Most of us already know what’s wrong. What we need is for more of you to discover that the only way to deal with corruption is to overcome it! Complaining about corruption alone does not stop it! When corruption is in the courts, the way to win is to rub the judges’ noses in their very own rules! Good judges will do what’s right. BAd judges fear being reversed on appeal. I didn’t win for a quarter-century by belonging to the “good old boys” network. I don’t belong to any fraternity or secret society. I hate the good old boys for a number of personal reasons I may write about in my autobiography someday, if anyone is interested. I hate all they stand for. I hate their abuse of people who don’t know how to fight back. I hate their cruelty. I hate their arrogance! So I created Jurisdictionary so YOU can fight back! The choice is yours, after all. I cannot make you believe what I say. You simply need to try my methods and see for yourself what the people who wrote those testimonials at the right have discovered. → If you already have my course, urge EVERYONE to get the course and stop the courthouse corruption that is destroying our nation and putting your children’s future in peril of being utterly destroyed by the elitist agenda to rule us all by taking away our voice and our right to be heard in court on the public record! If you don’t yet have my course, order it today and find out for yourself just how powerful you can be with just a little bit of practical lawsuit know-how! Help us restore due process to our nation, please! Learn how to use the rules to command justice! Help us overcome the evil of this age! Do it for your children! Dr. Frederick David Graves, JD – – – – – – – To win in court you must fight tooth-and-nail! This isn’t a parlor game! This is war! The rules of due process are the People’s Power to control the machine we call government and get the redress for our grievances that millions died for! My profession has hidden the rules of due process from you and from the rest of the public, so lawyers can charge exorbitant fees to do what any 8th grader can do after learning how with my affordable 24-hour, step-by-step Jurisdictionary self-help course. Due process is your #1 right, because without it none of your other “rights” are enforceable in court! But! To enforce your rights you need to use the rules! The Constitution mentions due process. It doesn’t begin to explainwhat due process is or how to use it to control courts … and thereby to control judges, lawyers, giant banks, high-minded government officials, or even angry neighbors! Can we Americans afford not to learn the rules? Due process is the power of the people to control their government by controlling the courts! Jurisdictionary believes it’s criminal for a government to refuse to teach its People how to use due process to enforce the People’s God-given rights! But, our leaders refuse to teach us the rules by which they control us! Jurisdictionary also believes it’s criminal to promote legal people fables or to urge people to believe justice is impossible! Corruption is real. We know that. But those who know the rules and how to use them get justice for themselves in our courts, if their cause is just! If you agree with us, please help us by telling others what we teach. If they don’t want to buy my course, that’s fine. Let them go to the law libraries and learn the official rules from the official books. But, PLEASE PROMOTE OUR VISION! Until we Americans learn the RULES of due process, we cannot possibly hope to control those who hold the reins of government power … and at this critical hour we have very little time to take control of our government! Some leaders in Congress are hell-bent to enforce laws on us that will totally remove our right to due process! America needs to go to court!Every last one of us simply must learn how to control the nonsense coming out of our courts today. Every last one of us must learn how to overcome crooked lawyers using the “official rules”, instead of internet mythology. It isn’t hard to learn! It really isn’t. But, if we refuse to learn it will be US who’ll be to blame when America falls to the powerful elite we are allowing to rob us of our heritage and even our morality as a people. Please help me promote due process knowledge! Support Jurisdictionary! Or, you can follow the advice of the internet nutcases who tell you to challenge the judge’s oath of office, or to claim your NAME IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS isn’t you, or to insist because there’s a fringe on the courtroom flag that the court is operating under admiralty law, or some other absolute nonsense that will end up getting you destroyedand giving even more power to the ruthless lawyers and judges who steal from the poor to give to the rich and rob your children and their future of the moral framework that makes human happiness possible! If you don’t want lawyers and judges to rule the world, learn the official rules of due process that control them! We are running out of options! To learn more, visit my web site: Jurisdictionary. – – – – – – – You may find this hard to believe, however today’s law schools don’t teach law students what it takes to win! They don’t teach how to use the rules of evidence and rules of procedure to overcome crooked lawyers and control corrupt, arrogant, high-minded judges, because it isn’t “politically correct” to tell the truth about this “profession”. But, knowing how to control judges and overcome crooked lawyers is what it’s all about! The typical lawyer will play every dirty trick in the book, but it’s not a judge’s job to interfere. The judge is not allowed to interfere. But! You can prevent the lawyer on the other side from getting away with his or her dirty tricks once you know how to force the judge to put a stop to it using the RULES! There’s a reason why there are more critical jokes about lawyers than all the rest of the professions combined! You cannot afford to let lawyers side-step the rules and destroy your future, your finances, and your family! Learn how to force the judge to enforce the rules! Know the truth that law schools refuse to teach! Learn how to use official court rules in an effective, tactical manner that demands compliance and obtains justice for you! Jurisdictionary will show you how in just 24 hours! Law schools teach 3 years of theory, but many professors never practiced law, and those who have any experience in court are teaching instead of doing. Ask yourself why. A good lawyer can make several times what a tenured law professor can pull down teaching. Do the math! This is good news for you! In reality, perhaps a majority of lawyers don’t have a clue what they’re doing … so, once you know what the 24-hour Jurisdictionary course teaches step-by-step, you’ll actually have an advantage … becauseyou’ll know what law schools refuse to teach! Due process isn’t difficult at all, but it is an axe fight! Sharpen your axe with Jurisdictionary! Nothing else works! Even if you have thousands to pay lawyers to go to court for you, Jurisdictionary can save you money by showing you what your lawyer should be doing to earn his or her pay. If you can’t afford a lawyer (or don’t trust them) then this affordable 24-hour step-by-step course is just what you need to protect your God-given rights from abuse. Learn the process of due process that lawyers don’t want you to know … and stand up for your rights effectively! And, nobody makes it easier than Jurisdictionary! Do what Jurisdictionary teaches, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you find the judge is on your side! Dr. Frederick D. Graves, JD |
Casey Anthony & Lawyer Know-How
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Is LegalZoom Just a Self-Help Legal Software Company?
In a Fortune Magazine blog post by Roger Parloff just last week, entitled Can Software Practice Law?, writing about the class action suit against LegalZoom in Missouri for violating Missouri’s UPL statute, Parloff argues that LegalZoom is no more than a self-help legal software company, and therefore entitled to the same protections as a self-help legal software publisher. The question of whether legal software constitutes the practice of law is a controversial one. When the Texas Bar won a suit against Nolo Press on the grounds that its WillMaker program constituted the practice of law, the Texas Legislature amended the UPL statute and further defined the practice of law as follows:
Texas Code, 81.101 (c) the "practice of law" does not include the design, creation, publication, distribution, display, or sale, including publication, distribution, display, or sale by means of an Internet Web site, of written materials, books, forms, computer software, or similar products if the products clearly and conspicuously state that the products are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. This subsection does not authorize the use of the products or similar media in violation of Chapter 83 and does not affect the applicability or enforceability of that chapter.
No other state has passed such an exemption, but there is a well-established line of cases that supports the position that the publication of information about the law, as well as self-help legal books, divorce forms with instructions, and do-it-yourself kits is not the practice of law and protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and may be protected by state constitutions as well. See, e.g., New York County Lawyers’ Ass’n v. Dacey, 21 N.Y.2d 694, 234 N.E.2d 459 (N.Y. 1967), aff’ing on grounds in dissenting opinion, 283 N.Y.S.2d 984 (N.Y. App. 1967); Oregon State Bar v. Gilchrist, 538 P.2d 913 (Or. 1975); State Bar of Michigan v. Cramer, 249 N.W.2d 1 (Mich. 1976); The Florida Bar v. Brumbaugh, 355 So.2d 1186 (Fla. 1978); People v. Landlords Professional Services, 215 Cal. App.3d 1599, 264 Cal. Rptr. 548 (Cal. 1989).
LegalZoom takes the position that it is no more than a self-help legal publisher and seeks to fall within this classification, as Roger Parloff argues in his blog post. This is also the position that Legal Zoom takes on its Web site and in its answer to the Missouri Complaint:
From the LegalZoom Web site:
"Is LegalZoom engaged in the practice of law?"
"No. LegalZoom is the latest and natural evolution of the centuries-old legal self-help industry."
"No jurisdiction prohibits the sale of software that generates a legal document based on a customer’s unique input. LegalZoom has never been prohibited from operating in any state."
"Should consumers be concerned about LegalZoom losing this case?"
"No. If LegalZoom is found to be engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Missouri, then every guide and legal formbook in libraries and bookstores in the state would also be engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. These days, nearly all such books are packaged with computer software that works in a similar manner to LegalZoom. Just like with a Nolo Press® book or a preprinted form, LegalZoom customers have the ability to review and consider their legal form before committing to their purchase."
It is not possible to know how LegalZoom’s document technology actually works without further evidence. However, one can state with certainty that it doesn’t work like a true Web-enabled document automation technology which generates a document instantly from data entered into an on-line questionnaire that is presented through the Web browser.
Vendors of true Web-enabled document automation solutions, such as HotDocs, Exari, DealBuilder, WhichDraft and Rapidocs (our company) have document automation technologies that generate a document instantly after the user clicks on the submit button. Because LegalZoom’s technology seems to require a separate step that is executed off-line, it does not in my opinion, fit into the category of a Web-enabled document automation technology. [ For a more extensive discussion of Web-Enabled Document Automation as a Disruptive Technology, click here to download our white paper on the subject. ]
Instead, in the LegalZoom business model, as described by LegalZoom, a data file is created, reviewed by a legal technician, and then imported into their – document assembly application utilizing some form of import mechanism. It is not clear whether the document is fully-assembled until this second step takes place, and it’s a distinction that makes a difference.
If LegalZoom were just a legal software company, it is hard to understand why it needs over 400 employees to provide services to its customers, other than the fact that these employees are conducting professional reviews and providing real service support. For these services, LegalZoom receives a substantially higher price than if they were just selling a self-help legal form. See for example on the LegalZoom Web site, the 30-point review of wills conducted by LegalZoom’s "professional legal document assistants."
These more labor intensive, personal services makes LegalZoom a "service business" and not just a "legal software publisher" entitled to the First Amendment protections that are afforded to publishers.
Andrea Riccio, a Canadian lawyer who has commented about this subject, responds to some of the arguments that LegalZoom makes in its defense:
LegalZoom’s argument: "Typically, there is no interaction between the customer and the person reviewing the file."
Riccio’s response:
“The mere fact that the employee is granted access to the customer’s response is an interaction between the employee and customer.”
LegalZoom’s argument: "If there is an inconsistency, it is NOT corrected by the employee – instead, it is brought to the attention of the customer."
Riccio’s response:
“Whether it is the customer or the LegalZooM employee that physically changes the document is irrelevant. What is important is that it is the LegalZoom employee that has identified the inconsistency. That, in my opinion, goes beyond "self-help" and is an act of legal draftsmanship.”
LegalZoom’s argument: "no employee revises or corrects any portion of the customer’s self-created document."
Riccio’s response:
“Identifying inconsistencies or errors in another person’s document is in my opinion an act of revision and correction. Who physically makes the changes is irrelevant.”
It is for these reasons that LegalZoom was required to be licensed under California law as a registered and bonded legal document assistant (see footer LegalZoom Web site).
What is a Legal Document Assistant?
A "Legal Document Assistant", as defined by the California Business & Professions Code (Section 6400 (c)) is:
"Any person who is otherwise not exempted and who provides, or assists in providing, or offers to provide, or offers to assist in providing, for compensation, any self-help service to a member of the public who is representing himself or herself in a legal matter, or who holds himself or herself out as someone who offers that service or has that authority, or a corporation, partnership, association, or other entity that employs or contracts with any person who is not otherwise exempted who, as part of his or her responsibilities, provides, or assists in providing, or offers to provide, or offers to assist in providing, for compensation, any self-help service to a member of the public who is representing himself or herself in a legal matter or holds himself or herself out as someone who offers that service or has that authority."
This California statutory scheme is based on the idea that a non-lawyer can perform clerical support functions without violating the unauthorized practice of law statute in California. Only a few states have carved out this exception by statute (e.g., California, Florida, Arizona). Missouri is not one of them.
Could LegalZoom operate in California, where it is headquartered, without being registered with the state as a Legal Document Assistant? I think not.
This is the category that LegalZoom fits into, not “self-help” software.
Otherwise, I suppose Nolo, a California-based self-help legal software publisher, and other California-based legal software publishers that sell directly to the public, would have to be licensed in California as Legal Document Assistants!!! (See generally – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_document_assistant, for a more extensive discussion of what a Legal Document Assistant is, and is not.)
Just to be clear, I am personally in favor of both self-help legal software and paralegal-assisted document preparation services as a way of providing access to the legal system, and personally think there should be more choices for consumers. But my personal opinions are not the issue. The issue is:
“What does the law in the different states now require, and what can we do to change it if we don’t like it?”
It is becoming clear that LegalZoom’s defense strategy in the Missouri case is to associate itself with “self-help software”. I am sure that its well-financed publicity machine is already approaching bloggers and the business press to write stories about whether “legal software” should be prohibited or regulated, when the real issue is whether and under what conditions a legal document preparation service should be regulated, or immune from regulation.
Definitions of what is “legal self-help software”, and what is not, are critical for carving out safe harbors for innovation, particularly as legal software applications that are distributed over the Internet have potential for great impact and for providing access to the legal system for those who cannot afford full service legal representation.
For example, LawHelpInteractive, a non-profit pro bono support organization, with grants from the US Legal Service Corporation, has assisted in the creation of true Web-based document assembly Web sites in many states that provides free legal forms directly to consumers that can be assembled directly on-line.
LawHelpInteractive has generated thousands of legal forms during the past few years that are instantly available and free to consumers throughout the United States. No one is arguing that these Web sites constitute the practice of law.
Because of the wider reach of the Internet, Web-enabled legal software applications are actually more of a threat to the legal profession, than desktop software, and the opportunity for over-regulation remains ever present. I would regret the day that courts prohibit the sale of self-help legal software because it is the unauthorized practice of law.
However, stronger arguments can be made for protecting from regulation the distribution of legal software applications, than there are for exempting from regulation a "service business", so I maintain that confusing one category with another is dangerous and takes us down a slippery slope.
Whether or not LegalZoom provides a valuable service; whether or not consumers have been harmed by LegalZoom; and whether or not the company provides some form of legal advice are questions of fact for the Missouri jury, and beyond the scope of this post.
The question for the U.S. District Court in Missouri is whether, as a matter of Missouri law, LegalZoom’s document preparation service business constitutes the practice of law in Missouri, under the terms of the Missouri UPL statute.
I think it does. What do you think?
