Caveats when giving legal advice

[shockthemonkey]

I know it's a no-no, but a friend's son is doing an internship in a law firm and one of the partners has been asked to provide informal legal advice as a friend in a very specialised area of the law where he is not fully competent.

Of course he shouldn't really touch this with a barge pole, but he's prepared his advice and he's looking for the best wording to put at the end - basically to say this is provided as a friend and I urge you to seek properly qualified counsel specialising in the area before you act on it.

In French he would put "j'insiste sur la nature amicale de ces conseils". Is there some kind of formal wording in English that he could use?

This is a bit of a dodgy area; a lawyer can’t absolve themselves of the responsibility for incorrect legal advice by warning the recipient in advance that it’s not their area of speciality. There isn’t, therefore, any formal or recognised wording to mitigate one’s responsibility.

The best thing to do would be to provide a full and clear explanation that;

1. The professional is acting in a personal capacity
2. The letter is not intended to be legal advice
3. The recipient should seek legal advice from a suitably qualified professional at the earliest opportunity.

It still won’t be a fail safe protection for the solicitor, but it would go some way to showing that there was no expectation on the solicitor’s part that the letter would be relied upon if it all goes tits up and they get sued by their friend.

As you say though, the best advice is just to not do it!

I would have thought 'I'm an intern and this isn't even my area' would cover it - surely no one is that stupid?

One of the partners has asked for informal legal advice from an intern?

Are you sure it's not a test?

Thank you very much Anne! I will pass that on.

Zarene, it may seem crazy, but the intern is preparing the document for the partner to sign, so that wording may not work

Why is your friend's son even involved if it's one of the partners who has been asked to provide the advice?

... could be, Bruce.

I'm three steps removed from the situation, Tricia, so cannot answer that, sorry!

So the partner has asked the intern - who is the son of a friend- to do a first draft of an advice and YOU, an entirely unrelated and uninvolved person is seeking suggested wording for that advice?

Okaaaaaay

I suggest the partner of a law firm is entirely competent to add whatever caveat they wish?

It’s very common for a partner to ask someone junior to prepare a note of advice. The partner will then check it, and sign if they’re happy with it. Responsibility lies entirely with the partner - it would never be considered the fault of the intern that the advice was wrong.

When I was in training I prepared countless notes of advice for partners to sign and send out in their name. It keeps the costs down for the client - they don’t want to pay a partner to do all that research and writing. They just want the expertise of the partner to check it at the end and confirm that it’s correct before sending out.

Your friend’s son therefore doesn’t need to caveat his own inexperience. The note will never be considered his responsibility. But as the partner is acting outwith his area of expertise, he needs to make it clear that he’s not actually providing legal advice and that legal advice should be sought.

I'd stay out of it.

Thanks again Anne. You are totally correct about the situation. It's the habit of all the partners to get interns to prepare documents that they then check and sign. They will of course correct where needed. Saves a lot of expensive partner time.

The question came to me as a translator, but I've never translated legalese (although I worked a lot with lawyers and got used to reading long legal documents). The young intern asked me about this as an aside when I saw him yesterday with my son. Is that so difficult to believe, Arpels???

It's really up to the partner to make sure what she puts on her advice is adequate. If she can't work that out for herself as partner of a law firm then I query her general level of competence.

Are.you sure that this is not an exercise for your son to see if he will pass. The lawyer cannot add any caveat at all. He will always be liable to a negligence claim in whatever capacity he gives any form of legal advice, whether in the course of his profession or as a friend, whether paid or unpaid.

I strongly suspect it is a "test".

Sorry son's friend

constructionblog.practicallaw.com/with-friends-like-theseburgess-v-lejonvarn-christmas-cheer-for-construction-professionals/
Suggest your friend reads this on the perils of helping out a friend, and the court judgement. The professional won in the end, but not until after protracted legal proceedings and huge cost.

Would it not save everyone’s time if the intern just asked the partner if there was any particular wording they should use?

@WorriedWishingWell

It's really up to the partner to make sure what she puts on her advice is adequate. If she can't work that out for herself as partner of a law firm then I query her general level of competence.

^this

It sounds as though this piece of advice is going to be shared more widely than just the intern. So actually the partner needs to stand behind it or not.

There are student law clinics where law students draft letter of advice and solocitor checks it befroe sending out.

Of courae interns will be akes to draft and research things for the draft. That's how people pearn in practice...

Well lucky my cunt of a phone and I aren't asked to draft anything with all them typos. 🙄

Suggest your friend’s son elects not to pursue a career with a firm where the partners are relying on wording from unknown and unequal friends of their unqualified interns. Nothing to do with you - steer well clear.

I can understand it as a topic of conversation but to then go on the internet to ask a bunch of strangers for a form of wording goes into the realms of ridiculous micro management

@SeasonFinale

Are.you sure that this is not an exercise for your son to see if he will pass. The lawyer cannot add any caveat at all. He will always be liable to a negligence claim in whatever capacity he gives any form of legal advice, whether in the course of his profession or as a friend, whether paid or unpaid.

I strongly suspect it is a "test".

I would be very surprised if this were the case. Partners in law firms aren’t in the habit of trying to trip up their junior members / interns with tests and trick questions. It’s much more common that they will simply let the junior member get on with a task with minimal interference, and then correct mistakes as they arise.

It’s also not the case that the partner would always be liable in a negligence claim. These things can only ever be determined on a case by case basis. While it seems quite likely that the partner would be found liable for any negligence that occurred in the circumstances OP has described, we can’t possibly know for sure.

I’m at the bar and we are in breach of our code of conduct if we undertake work clearly outside of or beyond our abilities. We can give preliminary advice ‘subject to further infirmation’ or ‘full written advice to follow’. Can’t imagine a solicitor is fundamentally different. Sounds really odd. Lawyers often give friends ‘informal advice with ‘but you need to consult someone in the area’ and not in written form.
If I were the person being ‘advised’ it just seems a waste of my time, the partner’s time and your son’s time.

I’m with @VanCleefArpels this is absolutely stretching the boundaries of credibility.

Somewhere along the line, someone is being dishonest about the facts/their intentions. I say that as a lawyer.

He's a partner in a law firm? Ideally, he should not be touching an area of law he does not know but if he must he shold probably say something along the lines of "This is an informal opinion and I am not bound by it. I strongly advise you seek specialist advice before proceeding"

Why on earth would a partner be asking an intern anyway?

Some areas of law are really specialised - defamation and shipping for example.. I mean if you were defamed, would you ask a property solicitor to deal with it or a conveyancing solicitor to deal with tax fraud?

Disclaimer - I am NOT a lawyer these are just general observations.