You forgot to mention the old adage that "Anyone who acts as his
own lawyer has a fool for a client."
Regards,
H. Daryl Richardson
Mark Gilligan wrote:
> Jason
>
> If you feel your real calling is to practice law get a
> law degree, otherwise I believe it is a
> misapplications of resources. This is not to imply
> that legal awareness is not important.
>
> You can learn what you need to learn by reading a few
> law books and reading the literature provided by your
> E&O insurance carrier. Your insurance agent can also
> be a good resource to help you review contracts.
>
> As an example insurance carriers tell us not to state
> that we will comply with all codes since in so doing
> you could increase your liability exposure. Yet I
> recently found the following statement on an engineers
> web site: "We will produce quality drawings and
> construction documents at competitive costs, whilst
> meeting current design codes and practices." You do
> not need a law degree if you make use of the resources
> that you have.
>
> The legal knowledge that you regularly need is a small
> subset of what a lawyer should know. In addition if
> you continue to practice engineering you cannot spend
> enough time learning the law to be a competent lawyer.
> Instead of trying, hire a specialist when you have a
> non-typical problem.
>
> The problem with lawyers is that they think like
> lawyers and all too many of them believe that all
> problems can be solved litigation and other legal
> techniques. Consider the fact that in the early days
> of our country in some of the colonies it was illegal
> to practice law. It is only recently that lawyers
> have become "respectable".
>
> In the event that I have a legal problem I want the
> meanest lawyer representing me.
>
> ******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
> * Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
> *
> * This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
> * Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
> * subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
> *
> *
http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
> *
> * Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
> * send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
> * without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
> * site at: http://www.seaint.org
> ******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********
******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
* Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
*
* This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
* Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
* subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
*
*
http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
*
* Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
* send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
* without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
* site at: http://www.seaint.org
******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********