Many of you who know me, whether in person or via social media, know that I complain about people expecting free legal advice. Between you, me, and the fencepost, I’ve actually done quite a bit over the years for the EMS world, whether it’s for personal friends, EMS organizations, EMS publications, or EMS conferences.
This morning, I received a Facebook message from a college EMS faculty member with a very specific legal question that was clearly about an ongoing issue for their institution. When I told them that I did not have an immediate answer and would require research, they began to pout and ask where they could find the answer.
Here’s some reality. First, legal questions don’t always have a simple yes/no answer. As such, they require legal research. Second, legal questions, even seemingly innocent ones, can raise ethical issues. Notably, these issues can be made even more treacherous when you (typically your organization) is already represented by counsel. As I’ve noted in previous blog entries, asking for legal advice has the potential to create an attorney-client relationship. When such a relationship is created, it also creates obligations and responsibilities on me as an attorney that go well above and beyond answering a simple question.
I find it ironic that there are a lot in the EMS world, especially online, who state that volunteer EMS prevents EMS from receiving the compensation it deserves. There may be some validity to this argument, but said argument loses much of its support when EMS folks expect free legal advice. As I stated to today’s offender privately, this is the equivalent of me asking a paramedic to provide me with free transport or treatment — or asking an EMS instructor to provide me with an ACLS class for free. In other words, knowing how to research and how to synthesize the law is how I make my living to pay for my EMS hobby. (Slight sarcasm and exaggeration goes without saying there.)
I’ve heard from several of these types how they’re only asking me as a fellow EMS provider. I call BS on this. Most of these folks know more than a few EMS providers, often who have significantly more EMS experience that I do — whether as an EMS field provider, educator, or manager. What said other “peers” don’t have is a professional degree and license to give legal advice. They’re looking for “a lawyer told me XYZ is the answer.” As I’ve said earlier, that answer carries certain ethical as well as legal ramifications for me — and those aren’t things I’m likely to undertake for free for a Facebook friend I hadn’t talked to in years.
Over the years, I’ve considered some of what I do in the EMS legal realm a form of paying back to the EMS community that has given so much to me. I’ve made a ton of friends over the years, gained a ton of confidence, and occasionally used the knowledge to help others. But the sense of entitlement from others has gone too far.
I’ve given freely of my time and expertise at my own sacrifice for too long. I’ve always been willing to support our EMS community and advance the profession. But freely answering legal questions is not something I can do.
And since this isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned this — and how it causes ethical issues for me as a legal professional — I’m less likely to be as nice as I have been in the past. To the last person who asked for advice, congrats. You’ve given me the courage and impetus to start saying “no” to much of the EMS world.
If you want legal advice, understand you’re asking an attorney for it. Said professional expertise comes at a price. And that price includes a retainer agreement and payment for said expertise.
