Post for February 2, 2010

What I found to be the most interesting topic addressed in last week’s class is the law librarian’s duty to provide patrons with assistance in finding the law, while at the same time avoiding giving legal advice. No one can argue that it is a fine line between assisting patrons and giving legal advice. What I find more intriguing though isn’t how thin the line is, but where the line is. Everyone can agree that interpreting case law or telling a patron which statute applies is practicing law, but telling a person the location of a courthouse is not. However, everything in the middle appears to be a different shade of gray. Can a librarian tell a patron that he has 30 days to file an answer, if all she is doing is reading the summons word for word? There are countless scenarios where reasonable people can disagree as to whether an act is practicing law. There is no doubt that most librarians will err on the side of caution, but will that have a detrimental effect on service and the layperson’s right to access the law?