1869
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| A family court self-help center facilitator (a lawyer or a paralegal trained in family law who volunteers to assist unrepresented customers) does not establish an attorney-client relationship with such customers, if the Customer Agreement "has the pro se litigant understand and acknowledge that the limited assistance provided by the Facilitator does not create a lawyer-client relationship, that no legal advice is given, that information will not be kept confidential and that the Facilitator may provide assistance to adverse litigants." (footnote omitted). A lawyer merely providing legal information and not legal services does not fall under Rule 6.5's provision governing "short-term limited legal services." "Merely providing sample pleadings or forms to a pro se litigant is not the practice of law; however, the completion of a form pleading or legal document for the pro se litigant would be." (footnote omitted). Rule 6.5 does not address conflicts arising after a lawyer provides such a limited representation, so the lawyer may be precluded from other representations adverse to the client the lawyer had assisted. Paralegals may not engage in the "unsupervised preparation of pleadings or other legal documents," so lawyers may not train paralegals to provide such unsupervised services. Various resources can help lawyers distinguish between providing "legal information" and "legal advice." [Approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia 11/2/16]. |