Legal Disclaimer Thoughts?

[mattdfw]

Hello all,

I'm a new CHL instructor and am currently finishing up my website. During my CHL course, I would like to be able to discuss
current cases in the news as how they relate to Texas law (whether or not "I" bring it up). However, I'm not a lawyer. My opinion is just that, an opinion...

I feel that the proper thing would be to put a disclaimer on my website stating that I'm not offering legal advice, just giving an opinion.

What are your thoughts on something like this and do you have any idea's on how to keep it short, sweet and professional?

Pardon me, I'm a little 'scatter-brained' this morning.

Thanks,

Matt

[mattdfw]

Something such as this sounds a little course....

"At no time do I offer legal advice. Every situation is different. My opinions on any legal matter are merely that, ‘opinions’."

Not sure if I should even bother with something like this...

[jmra]

What I liked about my original instructor was the fact that he didn't give his opinion. He referred back to the law anytime someone had a question or brought up something from the news. If someone asked, "what if..." he would say "let's see what the law says" and he would bring up the part of the code that covered the question. He even advertised on his website, "the law and nothing but the law".
If you quote the law, you don't need a disclaimer. In fact, one of the biggest problems I see in the CHL world is students applying instructor's opinions as fact of law and often those opinions are flat out wrong.

[mattdfw]

jmra,

Thanks for the reply. I can't disagree with your advice at all...

However, the legal terms "Reasonably" and "Necessity" go into a grey area... The definition of terms such as those become subjective. As litigious as society has
become, I thought it would be best to create a disclaimer.

I'm really not worried about this; as I said I was finishing up my website and thought about this subject. I thought it would be wise to ask others before I hit the upload/publish button...

Matt

[WildBill]

What can it hurt to post a disclaimer? The one that you proposed looks okay to me, but IANAL.

I would suggest visiting the website of a legal firm and use the same language that they use in their disclaimer.

[tbrown]

If you quote the law, you don't need a disclaimer. In fact, one of the biggest problems I see in the CHL world is students applying instructor's opinions as fact of law and often those opinions are flat out wrong.

I would love for DPS to audit classes and revoke the licenses of those jokers. I think they're worse than the guys selling licenses with no class because bad information is often more dangerous than no information.

[twomillenium]

If you quote the law, you don't need a disclaimer. In fact, one of the biggest problems I see in the CHL world is students applying instructor's opinions as fact of law and often those opinions are flat out wrong.

I would love for DPS to audit classes and revoke the licenses of those jokers. I think they're worse than the guys selling licenses with no class because bad information is often more dangerous than no information.

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