Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by CoastalCoder 1326 days ago
> ... this is not legal advice

How is it not?

5 comments

Because only lawyers can give legal advice. Paralegals give paralegal advice. Non certified citizens give advice.
The same way someone who is not a doctor telling you to take apple cider vinegar pills to help with your digestive issues isn't medical advice.
That is not a statement of fact but a disclaimer of liability. I don't know how this plays out in other jurisdictions but it's hit epidemic levels here.

Some people get away with it though, like people with doctorates calling themselves Doctor on TV and giving out personal, relationship and medical advice while somehow managing not to be sued back to the Stone Age.

Edit: Am I wrong? Tell me why.

It’s advice on how to proceed with a potential legal matter.
Because you can sue a lawyer for misrepresentation but you can't sue someone for giving their advice
Yep. Since I'm not a lawyer it probably wasn't necessary to include the "not legal advice" bit, but I'm just trying to be clear.
It’s illegal for a non-lawyer to claim to be giving legal advice, so it’s traditional to be clear that you aren’t doing that. (Of course, I’m not claiming to give you legal advice on this.)