I don't think most people realize that there's a difference between legal information and legal advice.

This is precisely why law-related questions have no place on AskMe, as Jayder has very eloquently stated above.

Would it be better if people were nice and not snarky about it it? Maybe. Although I have to say it gets really old to hear the "I can't afford a lawyer" excuse when people are undertaking endeavors that... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 11:58 PM on June 15, 2008

This thread is basically full of laypersons trying to convince everyone else that it should be perfectly kosher to ask for, and receive, legal advice over the internet. This is not surprising. Equally unsurprising is the lack of folks with actual legal training showing up to back them up. There's a reason for this.

So what's wrong with just saying that? "Many cell contracts require parties sue in NY or get an arbitrator. Make sure... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 6:06 PM on June 17, 2008

Yes, there's a reason for that. They're typically written like this

Indeed. But the key point that was obfuscated in what was a truly excellent hypo is the fact that those hypos elicit long answers because of ambiguities in the facts and the law. Those ambiguities exist to an even greater degree in most AskMe legal-advice-request threads because, unlike law professors, OPs here don't know enough about the law to write a good hypo. A good exam question... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 9:07 AM on June 18, 2008

"I don't think that a generic SFW forall W exists, and that people should interpret that statement with caution."

Surely you don't mean this. There's not a SINGLE page on all of the internet that would be SFW? As has been alluded to above, "SFW" doesn't mean "Your boss would read the contents of the page and consent to you visiting the site on the company computer."

It means "if you open this... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 3:05 PM on June 4, 2008

You might notice something that goes along with most of the "IANYL" comments: lots and lots of hedging, caveats, and admonishments to go talk to "YL".

"I am not your lawyer, but here's some legal advice" likely wouldn't impress anyone in a malpractice or disciplinary proceeding, but pointing someone in the right direction and urging them to seek counsel is actually a GOOD thing, and the commenter making it clear that they don't have all of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 7:08 AM on June 4, 2008

"Regardless of your desire to have people answer a different question than the one that was asked, the question that was actually asked was "How do you pronounce read?"

Bingo.
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 7:18 AM on May 30, 2008

...there's also the possibility that, for all of the spinning explaining, the mods are actually just people who sometimes make mistakes (please don't ban me)... one of those mistakes being the deletion of the first AskMe post.

While I'd wager that a subconscious PC/socially conscious mindset was at least partially to blame for the longevity of the first question, the fact that they weren't sympathetic to your mindset in your question doesn't make the question valid... it... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 8:51 PM on May 29, 2008

When you're done feeling self-righteous, you might consider the fact that communities are not groups of identically thinking sheeple. Because of that, people participate in the community in their own style.

Yes, some people are mooches, but you can't do anything about it. Some people, though, are just participating in the community differently than you would, and it would be much better if people were just allowed to be themselves around here instead of having to... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 6:57 AM on May 3, 2008

"the FPP itself wasn't sexist. It may concern someone who was sexist, but that's not really the same thing."

No, no. I think we ought to axe every story that concerns, contains, or in any way relates to people who happen to be racist, sexist, or are prejudiced in any way, especially if it offends some hyper-sensitive, self-loathing twit.

Good call, loquacious.
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 3:03 PM on May 1, 2008

"My past includes a pattern of incidents that would prevent me from being barred, for character & fitness reasons."

Which brings us back to the original assumption (which I think is absurd, btw).

A number of my law school classmates were admitted to practice with some pretty ridiculous stuff in their pasts, some of them far, far worse than the OP's from that thread.

Frankly, as long as... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 8:45 PM on April 29, 2008

"No, we are not going to change our lives to revolve around your shiny new bobble bauble."

If you're going to be an ass, have the sense to use the correct word.
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 12:56 PM on April 25, 2008

Bloomington, IN: Definitely woke up and thought "What the hell was that??" and then promptly went back to bed.
posted to MetaTalk by toomuchpete at 6:15 AM on April 18, 2008