March 7, 2007
Computer Guilty of Practicing Law
A service which automates the process of filing a bankruptcy (right down to the affidavit claiming you did all the research yourself) has been found to be “practicing law” according to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit Court (full document here).
The software did, indeed, go far beyond providing clerical services. It determined where (particularly, in which schedule) to place information provided by the debtor, selected exemptions for the debtor and supplied relevant legal citations. Providing such personalized guidance has been held to constitute the practice of law.
So if computers are capable of practicing law, it’s understandable that they’re able to do it without a license. However, they didn’t fine the computer for practicing without a license, they fined the guy running the company. But shouldn’t the computer be able to obtain a license? Or is this a simple matter of prejudice? If I program a computer to fight for its right to practice law, isn’t that really fighting for my right to program a computer that practices law?
