# Lawyers aren’t supposed to ask legal questions in IMHO? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 18, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047 "2020-05-18T16:44:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/21 "2020-05-18T18:32:38Z")
And yet, **DSeid** has been carrying on a very interesting series of threads on COVID-19 epidemiology, sometimes expressing his opinions, sometimes asking other posters their views. I guess that’s off-side too? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/22 "2020-05-18T18:36:38Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Aren’t you a lawyer? How dare you ask about whether or not a law exists, even though it’s in another country. HOW DARE YOU! I am suitably chastised. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/23 "2020-05-18T18:47:03Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I think it’s similar to a doctor asking this message board what the best types of sutures are, or a cop asking this message board how he should approach a car during a stop at night. Not remotely. The question asked is not one that comes up every day, and is one where the laws may differ between jurisdictions. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/24 "2020-05-18T19:30:55Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I think it’s similar to a doctor asking this message board what the best types of sutures are, or a cop asking this message board how he should approach a car during a stop at night. This is completely off-base. If an attorney comes on the board and says something like, “Hey, I’m a licensed attorney in New York, and I was wondering, does anyone know whether the first amendment applies to people from New York?” then yeah, mock them. But when people ask questions about the peculiar edges of their field, not only is that not a bad thing, it’s a great thing. Experts in a field often know what the most interesting questions are. I started a thread years ago about teaching game theory to third-graders. Nobody jumped on my ass about how could a teacher ask a question like that here. An attorney asking questions about laws around corpseportation is going to ask the question better than I could. Now, the situation would be entirely different if UV wrote, “Hey, I’ve got a couple of guys in my office who are asking me whether they can drive their dead gramps down to Florida in their pickup truck. Does anyone know? I want to give them an answer.” In that case it’d be less-than-ideal. But that’s not what happened here. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/25 "2020-05-18T19:46:37Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I reported it, but nothing happened I am currently the only active moderator in IMHO, and even though we are under quarantine, I am still working (able to work from home) which limits my availability for moderation. In general I can respond to things while working, as long as I can take care of them quickly. Moderators are suffering timeouts and server errors just like everyone else, so while taking a couple of minutes to address something is often no biggie, waiting 5 minutes just to be able to read each post may take more time than I have available at that moment. I hope that you can forgive us during this time if we are slow to respond to some post reports or if some reports end up getting lost in the shuffle. In any event, questioning someone’s professional abilities as was done in that thread basically amounts to a personal attack, which is strictly forbidden in any forum here except the Pit. As has already been said here, there may be numerous reasons why a professional lawyer might want to ask a question about law. There is nothing wrong with asking the question. We do require that questions regarding legal issues be placed in IMHO, just to emphasize that any answers received are just the opinions of some online folks and should not be taken as the equivalent of professional legal advice. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/26 "2020-05-18T19:50:36Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > This is completely off-base. If an attorney comes on the board and says something like, “Hey, I’m a licensed attorney in New York, and I was wondering, does anyone know whether the first amendment applies to people from New York?” then yeah, mock them. But when people ask questions about the peculiar edges of their field, not only is that not a bad thing, it’s a great thing. Experts in a field often know what the most interesting questions are. Yeah, experts in a field should ask questions - to other experts in their field. Not to a bunch of anonymous message board posters. (as an aside, I really like “corpseportation”) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/27 "2020-05-18T19:54:14Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Yeah, experts in a field should ask questions - to other experts in their field. Not to a bunch of anonymous message board posters. > > (as an aside, I really like “corpseportation”) Exactly how many experts in the field of pro se interstate corpseportation during a national pandemic do you think there are? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/28 "2020-05-18T19:59:49Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Yeah, experts in a field should ask questions - to other experts in their field. Not to a bunch of anonymous message board posters. You’re entitled to your opinion, but there’s no rule against them asking questions here. Denigrating them for it can earn you a warning in any forum except the Pit. > [@Slash1972](#): > > (as an aside, I really like “corpseportation”) You have to admit that there are very few message boards where something like “pro se interstate corpseportation” would even be posted. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/29 "2020-05-18T20:01:33Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I am currently the only active moderator in IMHO, and even though we are under quarantine, I am still working (able to work from home) which limits my availability for moderation. In general I can respond to things while working, as long as I can take care of them quickly. Moderators are suffering timeouts and server errors just like everyone else, so while taking a couple of minutes to address something is often no biggie, waiting 5 minutes just to be able to read each post may take more time than I have available at that moment. > > I hope that you can forgive us during this time if we are slow to respond to some post reports or if some reports end up getting lost in the shuffle. > > In any event, questioning someone’s professional abilities as was done in that thread basically amounts to a personal attack, which is strictly forbidden in any forum here except the Pit. > > As has already been said here, there may be numerous reasons why a professional lawyer might want to ask a question about law. There is nothing wrong with asking the question. We do require that questions regarding legal issues be placed in IMHO, just to emphasize that any answers received are just the opinions of some online folks and should not be taken as the equivalent of professional legal advice. Thanks, **engineer\_comp\_geek**. Sorry if I seemed demanding; I thought I reported it a few days ago, but now that I look my post in the thread, it was just last night! Blame the time-dilation effects of quarantine. I’ve been finding myself asking “what day is it?” a lot more than usual these days. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/30 "2020-05-18T20:05:24Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Yeah, experts in a field should ask questions - to other experts in their field. Not to a bunch of anonymous message board posters. > > (as an aside, I really like “corpseportation”) One of the things that’s awesome about this place is that there are experts in all kinds of fields here, including arcane legal stuff. How many lawyers should **UV** have checked with for a question he was just curious about? If he asked his five closest lawyer friends and they didn’t know, should he be allowed to ask a more general message board that happens to have tons of lawyers? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/31 "2020-05-18T20:12:09Z")
Looking through the thread in question, I see I posted in it three times. One post was information about the topic, one post was disagreeing with something another poster said, and one post was a joke. Add in responses to game threads, and I feel this encapsulates my contributions to this message board. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/32 "2020-05-18T20:12:56Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > One of the things that’s awesome about this place is that there are experts in all kinds of fields here, including arcane legal stuff. How many lawyers should **UV** have checked with for a question he was just curious about? If he asked his five closest lawyer friends and they didn’t know, should he be allowed to ask a more general message board that happens to have tons of lawyers? Of course he should be allowed to. > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > You have to admit that there are very few message boards where something like “pro se interstate corpseportation” would even be posted A good point. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/33 "2020-05-19T00:58:41Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > You have to admit that there are very few message boards where something like “pro se interstate corpseportation” would even be posted. 🙂 Come to think of it, we might even question whether the states have any authority at all to have their own laws regulating interstate corpseportation. Wouldn’t Congress have the sole authority under the Commerce Clause? IIUC, the Supreme Court has made several rulings holding that even pro se activities fall within the authority of the Commerce Clause. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/34 "2020-05-19T02:02:21Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That sounds to me like a textbook example of threadshitting. If you don’t think a thread is interesting, you don’t critique the OP’s question, you just stay out of the thread. Completely agree. This is a long-standing principle on the board, [it’s in the rules (#16)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21288690&postcount=2), and has been explicitly stated multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/35 "2020-05-19T02:02:21Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > You have to admit that there are very few message boards where something like “pro se interstate corpseportation” would even be posted. 🙂 If it were Canada, I could have fielded that over thirty-five years ago, and have added burial at sea on the Great Lakes. Le sigh . . . wrong place and wrong time to be of use to society. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/36 "2020-05-19T18:10:48Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Exactly how many experts in the field of pro se interstate corpseportation during a national pandemic do you think there are? 1. Why? Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/37 "2020-05-19T20:19:22Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > 1. You didn’t hear about Frank? 1. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/38 "2020-05-19T20:46:47Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I would be leary of any sort of doctor asking any sort of medical questions to an anonymous message board. > > I would imagine that a doctor would have actual real-life colleagues, who are also doctors, who would be in a better position to answer any sort of medical questions. Such a thread might be interesting if the doctor was taking suggestions and then breaking down why the suggestion would or would not work. Sort of like a public service Q/A, “ask the doctor what he thinks about your ideas to fight COVID-19” thread. Then other doctors could jump in and share their opinions, and we lay people get interesting and informative exposure to doctor-think. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047/39 "2020-05-19T22:50:24Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Such a thread might be interesting if the doctor was taking suggestions and then breaking down why the suggestion would or would not work. Sort of like a public service Q/A, “ask the doctor what he thinks about your ideas to fight COVID-19” thread. Then other doctors could jump in and share their opinions, and we lay people get interesting and informative exposure to doctor-think. > > ~Max Yes actually. That would be an interesting thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-aren-t-supposed-to-ask-legal-questions-in-imho/854047.md?page=1)