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From...
How legal is legal advice on the Web?
August 4, 1998
Web posted at: 3:25 PM EDT
by David Essex
(IDG) -- A State of Texas investigation into self-help legal publisher Nolo Press raises questions about whether similar challenges can be brought against law-oriented Web sites.
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A panel empowered by the Texas Supreme Court will hold an August 20 hearing on whether the sale of Nolo Press's books and software constitute the unauthorized practice of law. Nolo Press counters that such an interpretation violates the First Amendment, and has criticized the panel for being secretive about the target of its investigation as well as the applicable state rules. The company filed a legal action on July 24 requesting the information.
Both Nolo Press and an advocate for Web free speech say the Texas investigation has troubling implications. "Web sites cannot be expected to comply with 50 different practices and laws," says Barry Steinhardt, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. Nolo Press spokesperson Dayna Macy agrees. "If it went all the way, it would raise tough questions about Internet commerce. Would BarnesandNoble.com have trouble selling books in Texas?"
Steinhardt and Nolo Press Associate Publisher Steve Elias, both lawyers, say any case against Web-based legal publishers would probably hinge on the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause, which prohibits states from passing laws that interfere with commerce in other states. A judge cited the clause last year in ALA v. Pataki, striking down a New York version of the federal Communications Decency Act that made it a criminal offense to send "indecent" words and images to minors.
A 1997 letter from the Houston Unauthorized Practice of Law subcommittee indicates that the investigation was sparked by a complaint about Nolo Press's Living Trust Maker 2.0 software. But James Rader, a member of the Texas UPL committee, says he knows of no investigation into legal information on the Web. Rader says his committee, which has not yet taken any legal action, may get the investigative panel's recommendations by October.