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?

  • andros_rex@lemmy.worldOP
    2·
    9 hours ago

    However, sending legal-sounding letters doesn’t require a law degree at all.

    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…

    • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      8 hours ago

      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

    • Hello_there@fedia.io
      1·
      8 hours ago

      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.