Policies Governing Legal Related Content

We want attorneys on His Little Kingdom to feel comfortable providing answers to questions about legal issues and problems. His Little Kingdom’s policy is that in answering legal questions, attorneys shouldn’t give the impression that they are responding to specific legal inquiries from individuals or they might accidentally create an attorney-client relationship with the question-asker or reader. This kind of “accidental relationship” can create a number of potential problems for the attorney, including the unauthorized practice of law, a duty of confidentiality, conflicts of interest with current or prospective clients, and malpractice liability.  

Questions

  • Questions related to legal problems are not allowed to solicit advice about specific facts.
  • A question may describe a general situation, illustration, or problem.
  • Questions should hold back enough facts so that it is clear that the question is not describing an actual person’s legal problem.

Answers

  • Attorneys who provide answers on legal topics can provide general guidance, context, and illustration, but they shouldn’t provide specific advice or recommendations.
  • Attorneys should not solicit users or advertise on the site. For example, attorneys should not volunteer to represent users, which could violate state bar rules regarding advertising.
  • Attorneys also should be careful not to violate attorney-client privilege, disclose client confidences, or accidentally reveal confidential information in indirect ways — for example, by discussing hypothetical illustrations that could be traced back to specific clients.

 Private messaging on His Little Kingdom

  • If a user contacts an attorney via His Little Kingdom private messaging and provides confidential information, attorneys should follow their state bar’s ethical rules in responding — just as they would if a person called on the phone and left a voicemail or sent an email.

 Adding disclaimers to answers

  • Attorneys or law students who answer law or law-related questions on His Little Kingdom should identify themselves as licensed attorneys or law students and add a disclaimer to the end of their legal answers.