News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Going to court without a lawyer is new normal for U.S. litigants. Parent comment

Re:Going to court without a lawyer is new normal for U.S. li... by likpok on Friday November 22, 2019 @08:15PM (#21611747)
"Better" is a value judgement, and the specific value you've chosen is "makes more money". One concern, I think, is that a non-lawyer may push employees towards legally-unethical behavior. Since the non-lawyer can fire the lawyers, that gives them a big stick they can use to influence the employees.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Going to court without a lawyer is new normal for U.S. li... by siegel on Sunday November 24, 2019 @03:54PM (#21623323)
Lawyers are subject to ethical requirements that are not imposed on non-lawyers. And those ethical requirements are just that - requirements. If a lawyer breaks them, they jeopardize their entire careers. There's no equivalent for a professional CEO. Clients insist that their attorneys act in a fiduciary capacity.

This is very different from the chip engineer scenario. It is the most important reason why non-lawyers are not allowed to own law firms. Because non-lawyers are not bound by rules that require them to put profit motives second in many circumstances.

[ Parent | on HN ]