I am a small time activist in Oklahoma, and I frequently find myself in situations where it would be very helpful to send scary lawyer legalese letters.
I was listening to the podcast “Weird Little Guys” and one of the losers discussed on the show managed to get certified to practice law by attending YMCA night school so that he could fight school integration.
How could I pull off something similar? Not looking to really take clients/make money, but it would be really helpful with things like my states non-enforcement of its open records act.
I know this wouldn’t be a short term project, but what would be the easiest/cheapest routes?
Unfortunately, the vast majority of states require someone to go to law school (and pass the bar exam) before they can practice. So that is three years of graduate school after your 4-year undergraduate degree.
Some states might still let you take the bar exam without actually going to law school, but they will require proof of some amount of work (years) assisting in a legal capacity. You won’t be able to just sign up for the bar exam just because you want to take it.
The cheapest option is to live in a state with a good public University system, be smart enough to get in, and hope their law school tuition doesn’t break the bank.
However, sending legal-sounding letters doesn’t require a law degree at all. You only need that when you go to court. However, if you have been vibing your way through threatening legal sounding shit, and it does go to court, you may be in a world of hurt when no actual smarty-pants lawyer takes your case.
Are there any online courses or textbooks that would give a good intro to doing this?
I’ve found that any time I’ve interacted with the legal system, everything has been stupid and bad and made no sense. Pretty much every state agency in Oklahoma is routinely flouting law and ignoring things like public records requests, and the Attorney General has zero desire to do things like prosecute cops for killing elderly Asian men or teachers who molest kids…
Seems like you need to find some good non-profits in your area and donate some time to them. They might have lawyers on staff who can advise on how to do what you want to do productively
You can start with some Google searches about open records law in your state. Some lawfirms put out updates about the status of a legal issue - maybe as a way of attracting clients. Read the actual statutes cited in those articles. Then find a way to get the actual judgments about cases. Read them, along with the claim and defense from each side.