Texas vs. Nolo: State Probes Legal Self-Help Titles
Roxane Farmanfarmaian -- 4/6/98
Nolo Press, the Berkeley, Calif.-based publisher of legal self-help books, is being investigated by the Texas Supreme Court through its Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee (UPLC).In a letter received March 23, Nolo was informed that a hearing had been scheduled for August in order to determine whether Nolo's books and software violate the unauthorized practice of law as defined by a Depression-era law designed to protect the legal profession from competitors. Although officials at Nolo characterized the Texas action as "flat-out censorship," Ralph Warner, Nolo Press cofounder and publisher, told PW that "under the way Texans view the situation, we do violate the law because our books are not written by Texas lawyers. We will likely have to defend ourselves in a federal court in Texas. We assume that we will win." Further muddying the water is the fact that Nolo has not been told which or how many titles are under investigation, what the exact charges are, or "what our fundamental due process rights are," said Steve Elias, associate publisher of Nolo. Although the investigation appears to be much broader, Nolo was first contacted last June by the Houston UPLC (the case has since been transferred to Dallas) about a Nolo software program, Living Trust Maker. More information is available through the Nolo Web site, at www. nolo.com. Back To News---> |
