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?
Become an LLC.
LLC’s have more rights than citizens.
You start an LLC, name it something lawyer sounding like the last names of your friends but never call it a law firm. Call it civil representation.
Then when you get a customer not a client you can send letters on their behalf.
Most people freak out when they get an official looking letter with a “law name” on it. I’m not talking about the minority of people on here, but the majority of the population.
As long as you disclose your LLC does not practice law and you are simply “representing them” in a very general and broad sense you will be good.
What rights do LLCs have that citizens don’t? This sounds like a fun idea and I hope OP does it, but registering a DBA is a bit easier and accomplishes the same thing. Liability protection would be a good idea if actually taking on customers, but just using the business name for personal stuff seems pretty low risk