lying to lawyer illegal It's against the law to lie to a lawyer, isn't it? This will vary by state, but I understand that almost any attorney admitted to practice in at least one court (that would be most attorneys by far) is an officer of that court. If a particular lie is perjury (thus a violation of law, which defines perjury differently in some different jurisdictions) when uttered to the government, then uttering that lie to an attorney who is an officer of a court of the same government is perjury. This would not be limited to attorneys acting for a government such as prosecutors or private attorneys general. It would not matter whether the lawyer is representing the person who thus lied, under consideration to provide representation, or neither. It probably would not matter whether the lie is being told in the jurisdiction where the lawyer is an officer of a court, the lawyer was admitted pro hac vice, i.e., for purposes limited to one case, the lawyer does not have an active practice, the lawyer only advises other lawyers and does not represent anyone (such as by performing legal research without a confidentiality privilege), the lawyer is retired (but not diisbarred), the lie involves fraud, or the lawyer tells anyone else the content of the statement that is a lie without the lawyer personally intending to lie (as in "my client said . . ."). It probably matters whether the person who is lying knew or should have known that the person to be lied to is an attorney admitted to practice somewhere, or at least is an attorney. I don't think it's possible to distinguish between lying to the government and lying to an individual who is part of that government, because there is no other way to lie to the government. Even if the lie were told in a letter addressed only to "Government, State of . . ., [capital city, state, and Zip code]" and a machine opened the letter, scanned it into a computer, and used artificial intelligence to parse it with the AI having been written as free open-source software by a nongovernment programmer, if a human being on behalf of the government acts on the letter (including by deciding not to act on it), the lie is to a human who programmed the parsing system and/or to a human who acted on the parsed letter. Unless there's a law specifically exempting the liar from liability (criminal and civil) when lying to a lawyer (and it would be interesting to theorize about the rationale for such a law), how is it not illegal (unlawful) to lie to a lawyer under the above circumstances? I have no case involving this possibility. I'm thinking of writing about this, and I've seen various discussions that it's not illegal except for fraud (fraud has at least one additional element that makes it harder to prove than perjury), but none of the discussions I saw cited a source in the law. On the other hand, while I don't follow developments in the law with a practicing lawyer's diligence, I haven't heard of, say, a case against a client for having lied to their lawyer (viz., "I didn't go to the bank" while confessing to the police about robbing it in person without recanting the confession), and I imagine a few lawyers would gladly sue people for perjury to them. On the other hand, and this is just my speculation, maybe most lawyers don't think there's much of a problem and that letting the courts decide would create more problems than it's worth.
No A lawyer is considered an &quot;officer of the court&quot; in the sense that certain duties to the court are imposed on the lawyer. That does not give the lawyer authority as if the lawyer was part of the court staff, nor a law enforcement officer. A statement can be prosecuted as perjury only if it is made under oath (or affirmation) in court, or if it is made &quot;under penalty of perjury&quot;. This is generally done by a statement in a document signed, something like &quot;I declare under penalty of perjury that all statements in the above document are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.&quot; It can also be done verbally, with the person making the statement agreeing that it is true and that this is subject to perjury prosecution if it is false. The exact wording will vary, but it must be clear and explicit. Aside from that, false statements to a lawyer are not generally subject to prosecution for perjury, nor otherwise illegal. In some cases a lie in a business transaction may be fraud, which is actionable, and possibly criminal. But that will not have anything to do with whether the person lied to is or is not a lawyer. This Wikipedia article says: Perjury is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding. ... The rules for perjury also apply when a person has made a statement under penalty of perjury even if the person has not been sworn or affirmed as a witness before an appropriate official. An example is the US income tax return, which, by law, must be signed as true and correct under penalty of perjury The US Federal law on perjury, 18 U.S. Code § 1621 says: (1) having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed, is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true; or (2) in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true; is guilty of perjury and shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. This section is applicable whether the statement or subscription is made within or without the United States. Title 9 of the Maryland code, section 9-101 says: (a) Prohibited.- A person may not willfully and falsely make an oath or affirmation as to a material fact: (1) if the false swearing is perjury at common law; (2) in an affidavit required by any state, federal, or local law; (3) in an affidavit made to induce a court or officer to pass an account or claim; (4) in an affidavit required by any state, federal, or local government or governmental official with legal authority to require the issuance of an affidavit; or (5) in an affidavit or affirmation made under the Maryland Rules. (b) Penalty.- A person who violates this section is guilty of the misdemeanor of perjury and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years. Nothing about statements made to a lawyer not under oath or affirmation, or under penalty of perjury. Other US state laws are similar.
I think the officer is probably lying, not just mistaken, but they are not required to always be truthful. In addition to the law against possessing ID with intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any crime, it is also against the law to be knowingly in possession of a stolen credit card, or any other property. An example of a strict-liability possession crime, which the officer knows of, is that it is a crime to possess heroin, period. I am skeptical that the officer actually believes that there is a law making it a crime to be in possession of a credit card with permission, and suspect that he thinks it is stolen.
Lying may be wrong, but it in the United States, it is generally not illegal. United States v. Alvarez, 132 S. Ct. 2537 (2012). For a lie to be illegal, it generally needs to fall into one of a few specific categories, usually involving either fraud or the frustration of legitimate government activities (as in perjury, falsification of records, or lying to a federal agent). In any of these cases, the First Amendment is generally going to prohibit any penalties unless the false statement is material, i.e., it had the potential to change the outcome of the event in which it was uttered. As you noted, it is generally illegal to discriminate against Asians, so I would expect a court to treat the tenant's ethnicity as immaterial and require the landlord to honor the rental contract. Of course, this assumes that the landlord is prohibited from disciminating against Asians, which is not always true. The Fair Housing Act has exemptions for (a) private clubs; (b) for buildings with four or fewer units, one of which the landlord occupies; (c) for single-family homes that the landlord is renting without the help of an agent; and (d) for religious organizations. In such a case, the landlord may be actually be permitted to disciminate against Asians, so the tenant's false statement about their ethnicity would become material the transaction, and a court may therefore permit the landlord to rescind the contract. (Note, though, that even though the FHA permits discrimination in those limited situations, it does not permit advertising discriminatory preferences. The landlord's &quot;No Asians&quot; language is therefore illegal, whether it is communicated on a sign in the window or in a classified ad or by word of mouth.)
My lawyer answers my question, thinking he is giving legal advice to a non-client when he is actually answering a client's question. But if you read the FAQ, posts at law.stachexchange are not legal advice. In fact, questions that are so specific as to risk becoming a request for legal advice are routinely closed. But let's go further: The issue at hand is not the one your lawyer is hired to help you with. He is not your lawyer for that issue. Even if we considered the relationship through law.stackexchange legal representation, the conversation would not be privileged. You are posting in a public forum, and expecting reply in the same way. You are free to waive the privilege of communication with your lawyer, and you are doing that by using this way of communicating with him. At this point, the only thing your lawyer would have done would be voluntarily giving for free some info that he could have billed you for. What exactly would be the issue here? It is exactly what pro bono is for. The only way to breach confidentiality would be if your lawyer were to convey things that you said to him confidentially to the public, but here it would not be relevant if the OPs author were already his customer or not.
We don't have enough facts to know. What Bob said about having violated the injunction, which could expose him to criminal contempt of court liability, was not true. But, the precise details of what he said, to whom he said it, and his relationship to the case, are not clear. Saying something that isn't true isn't always against the law, and even when it is against the law, the consequences depend upon the context. An intentionally false statement of fact to a police officer or to the court under oath would probably be a crime (but, unlike U.S. practice, criminal defendants who testify are not generally required to testify under oath). An unintentionally false statement of fact to the same persons (e.g. because Bob misheard the question or was drunk at the time and assumed that the statement of fact he was making was true or had dementia) would probably not have legal consequences for him. A mere confession - I am guilty of violating the civil injunction - would probably not be perjury or fraud because guilt of a civil injunction includes opinions and legal conclusions which are not actionable, as well as implied statements of fact, which might be actionable. But, if he confessed in the form of a plea, there probably wouldn't have been a trial at all. Once he made his plea, his factual guilty or innocence might be irrelevant in the face of a judicial admission. Courts can sometimes sanction parties to lawsuits for wasting everyone's time under quite specific circumstances, but we don't know precisely what relationship Bob has to the case in which the injunction was entered.
This appears to be a complaint about lawyers using the legal process to achieve what their client wants. Forgive me, but this seems to be like complaining that doctors only want to cure the client's disease, architects only want to design the client's buildings and generals only want to kill the client's enemies. Your lawyer is not your business strategist or your life coach! A civil case is always about the money. If you are pursuing a civil case over a principle then you are going to spend a lot of money and probably lose. The use of a lawyer should always be part of your wider negotiation strategy in the same way that your armed forces are part of your diplomacy; in both cases the threat of use is usually better than the actual use. A civil case always follows a failure to successfully negotiate. Not all by any means, but most, civil cases would be better settled by agreement than litigation by all parties. If you believe that your objectives can best be served by a social media campaign, political pressure, etc. then go for it. Your lawyer can advise you what the risks are wrt to defamation etc. but ultimately how you choose to pursue your goal is up to you. Lawyers, understandably, look for legal solutions. A public relations professional is far better placed than a lawyer to inform your media strategy.
The answers to your questions are, generally speaking, contained in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. It's important to note these aren't mandatory across the country, although some states have implemented Rules that closely track them while others have their own Rules. Start with Rule 1(e), which defines informed consent as the agreement by a person to a proposed course of conduct after the lawyer has communicated adequate information and explanation about the material risks of and reasonably available alternatives to the proposed course of conduct Next up is Rule 1.2, Scope of Representation &amp; Allocation of Authority Between Client &amp; Lawyer. Subject to two exceptions, a lawyer shall abide by a client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation and, as required by Rule 1.4, shall consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued. The two exceptions are in Rule 1.2(c) and 1.2(d): an attorney can limit the scope of representation with a specific client after obtaining the client's informed consent and an attorney is forbidden from counseling a client to engage or assist him in engaging in conduct the attorney knows to be illegal/fraudulent. Finally, as it was mentioned in 1.2, we turn to Rule 1.4, Communications. (a) A lawyer shall: (1) promptly inform the client of any decision or circumstance with respect to which the client's informed consent, as defined in Rule 1.0(e), is required by these Rules; (2) reasonably consult with the client about the means by which the client's objectives are to be accomplished; (3) keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter; (4) promptly comply with reasonable requests for information; and (5) consult with the client about any relevant limitation on the lawyer's conduct when the lawyer knows that the client expects assistance not permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law. (b) A lawyer shall explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation. (emphasis added) Your question was Are the above distinctions more or less the correct ones? The answer is yes and no. As to the objective of the representation, the client makes that decision. How to arrive at that outcome is not as cut-and-dry. From the language in the above Rules, there is not one party or the other who has the &quot;final say.&quot; (I say this notwithstanding the fact that, because the client can't go file something on his own, technically the lawyer has final say as he or she is the one who must file a document with the court). Major decisions in the litigation have to be explained to the client and, after that, the client must give consent approving the decision. How does this work in real life? Frankly, it will depend on the client and the lawyer. And don't worry, the phrase &quot;a doctor or lawyer who treats themselves has a fool for a client&quot; is not only apt, it's common sense. When a person is involved in a conflict, their point of view is skewed in their favor and to represent themselves is risk their blindspots leading to unnecessary potential pitfalls throughout the case.
Florida bar membership is something that can be determined from public records to see if he is an attorney or not. I would be stunned if he was not. It could be that he was an enrolled patent agent prior to being admitted to the practice of law and has never updated the record. Alternatively, it could simply be that there was a data entry error. No large database is 100% accurate. For most purposes, the rights of an enrolled patent agent and an attorney admitted to patent law practice are the same in PTO practice, so correcting this error (assuming that it is one), even if it was discovered, wouldn't be an urgent priority.