[jmatthew3]

No. We are afraid that someone will read what we say and think that we represent them or are giving them legal advice. We have to be very careful about what we say we are doing and what we say we're not doing. If you go to your doctor and he says you need to have a mole removed, if you don't schedule an appointment to have the mole removed, it's your fault. With legal services, if I tell someone they need to file a patent or what not, if it's not really clear that I'm not doing it unless they engage me to, then they might have an argument that they thought I was taking that action.

So, on most legal blogs, you'll see something that says "I'm not the reader's lawyer."

[reader5000]

I disagree it happens on "most" legal blogs, maybe legal blogs written by lawyers who don't understand the law. Show me one case where a lawyer has been successfully sued for "offering legal advice" through a public blog post or comment. There is no basis for these disclaimers and the practice just pollutes discussion.