Is Do-It-Yourself Foolish?
By Bob Bauman
During the Offshore Advantage Academy in Los Cabos last week where I spoke, both in my capacity as an attorney and as counsel to the Sovereign Society, I got a lot of questions about various offshore legal issues from our 330 attendees.
In one case, two of our attorney-speakers gave diametrically opposed opinions to an attendee on the same legal issue. I was asked to referee and the questioner went with my more conservative opinion.
Imagine how many differing opinions on the same question you could get from a court roomful of lawyers. Now up that roomful to one million…
According to the U.S. Department of State, in 2008 there were nearly one million lawyers in the United States…a number that represents over 70% of all the lawyers in the world. That total represents an increase of nearly 100% from the 1980 total of 542,000 and an incredible 150 % from the 1970 total of 355,000.
Sue and Be Sued
All these lawyers have been very busy.
According to the National Conference of State Courts, over 16.6 million civil cases entered the state court system in 2005, the most recent year for which numbers are available. Adjusting for population growth, the resulting aggregate rate of just over 5,500 cases for every 100,000 residents of the United States is nearly identical to the rate in 1996.
These dramatic numbers help to show how Americans traditionally believe a lawyer’s assistance is essential when faced with almost any kind of legal problem.
“After all,” a layman’s prudence suggests, “what does the average person know about the mysteries of the law?” That’s why attorneys are required to go to law school, isn’t it - so they can master a vast, complex field of knowledge?
The corollary fable is that all legal matters are “serious” by their very nature.
Thus, the conventional wisdom when a legal problem arises is, “Don’t try to do it yourself — get an attorney.” This theme has been repeated so often (usually by lawyers), it has been reduced to a modern aphorism, “One who acts as his or her own attorney has a fool for a client.”
All this “get-a-lawyer” propaganda is the product of a tacit conspiracy - a quietly organized facade constructed to fool the gullible and impress the uninformed.
Lawyers themselves are responsible for this conspiracy. Collectively they have hidden behind a legal magic curtain, protecting their interests by making “The Law” seem mysterious and beyond the comprehension of mere non-attorney mortals.
As an attorney for the past 44 years, I know many situations can have serious legal impact on your life - so serious that the best course of action is to retain a qualified attorney. If you think you need a lawyer, get referrals from trusted acquaintances, check Internet or the yellow pages of your phone book under “Lawyer Referral Services,” or contact the office of your state or local bar association which are also found on the Internet.
The Truth About “DIY” When it Comes to Lawyers…
In America, we have one of the best legal systems in the world. Yet, if you’re like most people, you’re overwhelmed and intimidated by that system.
You may have been indoctrinated to believe that there’s no way you can deal with the complexities of this system by yourself, so you don’t even try. You feel helpless – and you resent the “fact” that you have to hire a high-priced lawyer every time you need to sign a simple piece of paper.
Well, I don’t think that “get a lawyer” story is really true in every case.
You don’t have to have a law degree to handle most legal procedures. In fact, most of the legal stuff filling countless file cabinets and computer disks in any lawyer’s office reflects work done and decisions made not by the lawyer, but by the lawyer’s secretary, an office paralegal, or even a bright young student intern.
The vast majority of an attorney’s law practice consists of routine paperwork that any reasonably bright person can master in a short time. Computers loaded with specialized legal software programs now spit out hundreds of standard forms - wills, contracts, and premarital agreements, for example - into which the variables of each client’s name and relevant facts are inserted at appropriate places by a clerk.
You can do the same thing for yourself with a few inexpensive forms you can download from the Internet and you can research most legal issues using Google.
Mind you, I’m not saying you never need a lawyer, but I am saying, when faced with a legal matter that affects you, it is not at all foolish to find out whether you may be able to “do it yourself.”