| ► Toledo Blade – 01/03/02 – Complaint dismissed against Ohioan with legal-advice web site |
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Toledo Blade – Jan. 3, 2002 – Complaint dismissed against Ohioan with legal-advice web site Complaint dismissed against Ohioan with legal-advice web site
COLUMBUS-The Ohio Supreme Court's disciplinary counsel wanted to put a self-described "judicial watchdog" on a short leash, but former Toledo-area resident David Palmer says the state tried to bite off more than it could chew.
"The dog just lifted his leg and sent a message," said Mr. Palmer yesterday, after learning that a seven-member panel appointed by the high court dismissed the complaint against him.
The disciplinary counsel had accused Mr. Palmer, a Powell, Ohio, resident who is head of a one-man group called The Committee to Expose Dishonest and Incompetent Attorneys and Judges, of practicing law without a license by operating a web site that proclaims "now offering free legal advice," sometimes using the letters "J.D." after his name, and filing a legal brief in an appeals court 13 years ago.
If Mr. Palmer had lost, he could have faced up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.
But the disciplinary counsel failed to prove its case, wrote J. Jeffrey McNealey, chairman of the Board of Commissioners on the Unauthorized Practice of Law.
"The publication of general legal advice on Palmer's web-site, good or bad, is not of itself the unauthorized practice of law. More troubling is the offer to respond to 'any questions about your rights' and 'provide you with guidance and/or advice.' If Palmer gave legal advice in specific response to a question from one of his readers, he would have engaged in the unauthorized practice of law," Mr. McNealey wrote.
"The board has spoken," said disciplinary counsel Jonathon Coughlan, declining further comment.
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