Issues in Legal Reference for the Community Patron

Pat Parker, Legal Services Librarian, Steelcase Library/Grand Valley State University, parkerp@gvsu.edu

While I was writing this, the phone rang and a community patron said, “I have a question about the Michigan penal code.”

“What’s the question?” I asked.

“I need to know what such and such means.”

“Sorry about that,” I reply. “I would love to help you, but I’m not an attorney and you need an interpretation.”

Our law collection at the Steelcase Library is highly specialized and geared for the practitioner. Part of our responsibility is to serve as the law library for the Grand Rapids Bar Association. We at the Library sometimes wonder if our affiliation with the Bar Association has led some patrons to believe that we are lawyers and have attorney-client privileges. For us, it is essential to state a disclaimer up front about what we can or cannot do. To guard against the possible misperception that reference librarians can practicing law or are empowered to do so, patrons are told up front:

“We are not attorneys. We cannot give you opinions and/or interpret facts. We can help you find information based on the resources we have available.”

Inevitably, we will be asked: “okay, but just tell me what such and such means!”

The patron’s look of disappointment follows as we say, “sorry, but you are asking for interpretation, and I can only point out resources to use.”

With the increasing amount of litigation in today’s society, it seems incumbent upon all of us as librarians to be aware of providing information services in the legal area. A chief obstacle to providing any type of legal reference services, especially to community patrons is the fear of being accused of the unauthorized practice of law. It is a common thread that runs true in all law libraries, whether they are academic or public libraries. When does answering a legal reference question become giving a legal opinion? Is there a fine line between providing facts and drawing conclusions based on facts? The literature of law librarianship is replete with questions as to what constitutes the unauthorized practice of law in providing reference service, but the waters are murky, at best. The rule of thumb has been to refrain from rendering any legal opinion or interpretation.

The general public, not being aware of the nature of the legal field, does not distinguish between finding legal information and then analyzing and placing that information into a legal context. This lack of knowledge and experience contributes to setting up a scenario for confusing the services of an attorney with the services of a librarian, albeit law librarian or general reference librarian.

Because legal resources are not always the easiest sources to navigate, time constraints on library staff time are a point of consideration when dealing with the community patron.
And, for every community or pro se patron with a simple ready reference question, there are more seeking simple answers for complicated concepts and procedures. They are convinced that there is one case, one statute, and one law book that has all the answers to the one question. Little do some realize that the one question often contains an issue within an issue within an issue.

Library Policies

At the Steelcase Library at Grand Valley State University, our staff guards against too much customer service that could result in taking on an advocacy role and ultimately raise a liability issue. It is important that everyone who uses the law library or recommends use of the law library to their family, friends, and acquaintances also recognizes the limitations of the library in providing legal reference services.

If our staff is unsure of a question or decides that it requires a substantive response, we do not hesitate to refer the patron to the Legal Assistance Center in downtown Grand Rapids. We encourage use of the LAC because there are computer terminals for patron use, lawyers on staff for consultations, and an array of standard legal forms that most of our patrons seem to need along with an answer to a legal question.

Reference Questions and More Questions

There will always be the patron who wants to tell a staff member their life history or the total context of why they need the legal information. It is difficult sometimes to say, “whoa! Don’t tell me all the facts and details that I don’t need to know. I’m not a lawyer. Just give me an idea of the type of information you need and I’ll check the catalog to see what’s available.”

I do not know how others deal with these patrons, but I have often found that some of the questions asked are like reality television of reference work! We have been asked questions such as:

“ I want the book on divorce that tells what everyone in the city got in their divorce settlements. I want to take my old man to the cleaners!”

“I want a book that will help me outsmart my lawyer.”

“I need the most famous case in the whole world on “multiple personalities,” because I’m getting a divorce and I think my wife gave it to my kids – you know, like you catch a cold from someone.”

“Can you find me something that tells me if I really am married?”

The list goes on!

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