Forbes Writes About UPL Restrictions

Written by Tom Gordon
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Daniel Fisher of Forbes.com spoke with us recently about the problems with unauthorized practice of law restrictions. He went on to write this column about how the vagueness of UPL laws makes it impossible for service providers to know whether they are providing services legally if those services are even tangentially related to law. The column gives some excellent examples of the legal challenges businesses have faced as they provide services in estate planning, finance, and traffic violation resolution, among others areas. One point we'd like to add to Fisher's analysis is that the challenges faced by businesses become challenges faced by consumers. When businesses cannot provide these services, consumers are stuck with two options: hire an expensive lawyer to help them with writing a will or fighting a traffic ticket, or take on the matter without assistance of any kind. Consumers deserve the choice to hire expert assistance for important life decisions, regardless of whether the expertise comes from a lawyer, financial planner, online software designers, or any other service provider.

Tom Gordon is Executive Director of Responsive Law.