District Judge Puts Paralegal Franchises Under Fire

According to this article, state District Judge Bobby Flores, said it isn't the first time he's run into problems with clients of document preparation services. "(The customers) pay them money," he said from the bench immediately after de Luna (in one case) left the courtroom. "And then they come here frequently unready for their cases." Two McAllen franchise businesses - Documents and More and the now defunct We the People - are the two most egregious offenders, he said. They are also the targets of Dyar's lawsuit. "Cindy Dyar, an attorney with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, alleges such companies go much further than enabling clients who probably shouldn't be representing themselves." State statutes prohibit anyone without a license from giving legal advice. But the law turns hazy when it comes to document preparation services. Such companies are allowed if they make clear that their aid is no substitute for the advice of an attorney. This underscores the reason if you need to protect your business or individual assets or just to have peace of mind to seek the services of a licenced attorney which in many cases, may not be prohibitively expensive to justify cutting corners in the first place.