I am a small time activist in Oklahoma, and I frequently find myself in situations where it would be very helpful to send scary lawyer legalese letters.
I was listening to the podcast “Weird Little Guys” and one of the losers discussed on the show managed to get certified to practice law by attending YMCA night school so that he could fight school integration.
How could I pull off something similar? Not looking to really take clients/make money, but it would be really helpful with things like my states non-enforcement of its open records act.
I know this wouldn’t be a short term project, but what would be the easiest/cheapest routes?
The easist/cheapest/safest thing to do would be to retain a lawyer to write those scary legalese letters FOR YOU. They’d be from a law firm, the cost per hour to send a letter actually isn’t as bad as you think, and retaining a lawyer is a nice thing to have as an activist in case something happens. A lot of lawyers don’t even charge for the initial consultation and you can call your state’s bar to get referrals if you aren’t sure what kind of lawyer you need.
Look into paralegal training. You wouldn’t be able to represent anyone in court, but they do learn the basics of legal paperwork.
Obviously the right answer is, “probably don’t do this,” but in the spirit of actually engaging with it, I think you’d want a diploma mill that gives out law degrees with some sort of track record of being accepted, which will probably come down to the accrediting bodies the “schools” fall under.
I think you’d want a diploma mill that gives out law
The diploma mill option does sound promising. I really just want to be able to send letters that won’t get tossed.
I used to work in politics and knew of a guy who almost certainly did this. I believe his school was in the Virgin Islands, but could be mistaken.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of states require someone to go to law school (and pass the bar exam) before they can practice. So that is three years of graduate school after your 4-year undergraduate degree.
Some states might still let you take the bar exam without actually going to law school, but they will require proof of some amount of work (years) assisting in a legal capacity. You won’t be able to just sign up for the bar exam just because you want to take it.
The cheapest option is to live in a state with a good public University system, be smart enough to get in, and hope their law school tuition doesn’t break the bank.
However, sending legal-sounding letters doesn’t require a law degree at all. You only need that when you go to court. However, if you have been vibing your way through threatening legal sounding shit, and it does go to court, you may be in a world of hurt when no actual smarty-pants lawyer takes your case.
However, sending legal-sounding letters doesn’t require a law degree at all.
Are there any online courses or textbooks that would give a good intro to doing this?
I’ve found that any time I’ve interacted with the legal system, everything has been stupid and bad and made no sense. Pretty much every state agency in Oklahoma is routinely flouting law and ignoring things like public records requests, and the Attorney General has zero desire to do things like prosecute cops for killing elderly Asian men or teachers who molest kids…
Seems like you need to find some good non-profits in your area and donate some time to them. They might have lawyers on staff who can advise on how to do what you want to do productively
Donate $100Mil to the right person
Washington and another state (Vermont?) let you “sit for the bar”. You can just go take the exam and if you pass you are licensed and can practice law.
