[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

All,

It is with great enthusiasm that I announce our newest forum - The Affiliate Legal Lounge moderated by an internet attorney for you all to ask your specific legal questions. Don't abuse the system and also realize that you will probably need to take issues to a next level with an attorney, maybe even with our very own internet attorney.

Also since I postulate many of the questions will be similar in nature I've decided to open up a sub forum for the questions so that we may all benefit from the advice and tutelage, if you want to maintain anonymity log out and ask your question as a guest and then follow up privately with specifics on a PM.

I hope we can make this trial run work for the members and for the internet attorney.

[rematt]

What a great idea and definitely timely. Thanks Haiko and thanks to internetattorney for providing the knowledge and time necessary to have a forum like this.

-rematt

[Rolet]

Thank you Haiko - - - This is FANTASTIC!!!!

[Rexanne]

Beautiful!

Thanks Haiko and thanks in anticipation to Internet Attorney!

[Rhea]

This is awesome. I'd feel a whole lot more comfy with this though if I could attach a name and CV with the lawyer offering the services, but hey -- I ain't greedy. Welcome aboard lawyer-person! I will read your forum with great interest.

Fortunately I'm not in any legal hot water at the moment and I lack the creative juices and animal-like cunning necessary to get into any real trouble, but someday, if you buy me a beer, and I'm feeling chatty, I'll tell you the story of why Massachusetts issued a bench warrant for my arrest. It's quite amusing.

[Howard Gottlieb]

Yes, could be very enlightening.

[Jorge - SHOPiMAR]

Very cool thanks Haiko. And congrats to internetattorney I'm sure it will be busy forum.

[internetattorney]

Unfortunately my advice cannot be relied upon as legal counsel per se. View this forum as a first step. Because no one on this board has retained me for legal counsel, I need to stress that I am obviously not your attorney, nor can my advice be relied upon as such. My postings are to be seen as informational in nature.

[Rexanne]

Originally Posted by internetattorney

Unfortunately my advice cannot be relied upon as legal counsel per se. View this forum as a first step. Because no one on this board has retained me for legal counsel, I need to stress that I am obviously not your attorney, nor can my advice be relied upon as such. My postings are to be seen as informational in nature.

No problem. I'm sure if someone needs to take a situation a step further, they can contact you independently.

[Daniel M. Clark]

Please understand that what I'm about to say has nothing to do with specific people and I'm not casting aspersions on anyone's character or expertise.

Things like this make me nervous. I know, we're all big boys and girls and we should all take responsibility for our own actions - I get that. What makes me nervous is that people that I consider friends and peers might take actions based on advice that might - might - be incorrect or incomplete. It puts the affiliate, internetattorney and ABW all at risk. Will there be disclaimers posted? Warnings about taking advice from an anonymous source (provided internetattorney decides to stay anonymous)?

I understand that credentials have been verified, and that's awesome. Like I said, I'm not casting aspersions about anyone's character and such, but I don't understand why internetattorney has chosen to remain anonymous. That doesn't instill confidence. I won't speculate about the why of it, but I definitely would like to know the reasoning.

I said in another thread that there are always two sides to every lawsuit and that each lawyer firmly believes the law is on his side. I don't think that this new forum is a bad idea. I do think that great caution needs to be exercised.

And more than simply "the law says this, the law says that", I think it would be proper to have links out to sites that can verify the answers given when appropriate and reasonable.

The reason I'm coming at this from such a cautious angle is that the company lawyer for a certain company that I worked with a couple of years ago would routinely... well, not lie exactly, but present things in such a way that were not exactly fully truthful in an attempt to further the company agenda (and make her job easier). Again, not saying internetattorney is like that - just explaining why I'm nervous about things like this.

[Daniel M. Clark]

lol
IA posted that disclaimer as I was typing. Well done

[guinness618]

Now all we need is internetaccountant and we are all set!
Haiko? Can you get on that?

[Bill]

Bravo! Just one more reason why ABW rocks!

[Greg Rice]

Great idea H!!

[Boom or Bust]

Originally Posted by internetattorney

Unfortunately my advice cannot be relied upon as legal counsel per se. View this forum as a first step. Because no one on this board has retained me for legal counsel, I need to stress that I am obviously not your attorney, nor can my advice be relied upon as such. My postings are to be seen as informational in nature.

No less than the above disclaimer would be expected of an attorney!

I hope that this venture will be profitable for you internetattorney as well as the community here.

Perhaps the knowledge that ABW has a friendly attorney on board will influence outcomes of future negotiations such as the Danmar Heist.

Legal Lounge; Great new feature Haiko!

[Hardaka]

Definitely a great idea, and thanks to Haiko and especially internetattorney for the time and information he'll be sharing with us.

[MyDayRegistry]

How many posts does it take to get your own forum?

Answer- None just one kick ass name lol

InternetAttorney I think you may have just struck a client Gold Mine. If you really make an effort to make some really informative posts and answer even the dumbest of questions at times I believe you will gret quite a following. I wouldn't advice telling your buddies about your newly found treasure trove.

[Robert Drumm]

Great addition...can't wait to see how this one works out.

Bob

[Julian]

I don't think that a forum is the place to be asking any kind of legal questions. If anyone had a medical question, would they be reading a forum to find the answers? Maybe just for some general information.

Lots of people think it is a good idea though.

[Rexanne]

Originally Posted by cjshoppingnetwork

If anyone had a medical question, would they be reading a forum to find the answers?

All the time. It's the nature of the WWW.

[MichaelColey]

If he's a good attorney, I'm sure there will be a disclaimer in pretty much every post.

Nevertheless, I think he could provide some excellent general advice.

No doubt he will get a ton of business from his participation here, just like other regulars (the networks, the OPMs, Alex Bet, etc.) who truly contribute here.

[davenaff]

Why the identity secrecy?

[Alan Hamilton]

I think this can be a service with potential benefit. That said, I would echo the anonymity concern.

I applaud the attorney for his entrepreneurial spirit. Offering a general legal information forum is a great way to recruit new business.

However, if one is to eventually progress from information seeker to client, anonymity on the front end doesn't do a lot toward instilling or supporting credibility and confidence. Perhaps a first or early topic would be to address why you chose to be anonymous. Hope this is helpful for you. Any additional suggestions or comments are on a retainer basis only! LOL

Either way, welcome to ABW and good luck.

[internetattorney]

Your concern is valid, however, my service to the board for most people will be entirely informational in a take-it-or-leave-it way and all public messages will be framed in this context. From my end, I'd like to provide a worthwhile service with potentially nothing to gain. To insulate myself from any accusations of malpractice or the occassional odd-ball who wants to slander on a bulletin board, I think it's an initial necessary precaution for me. I haven't signed engagement letters with anyone and my exposure is potentially greater if someone spreads incorrect information about what I may write here or if it finds its way onto a search engine.

[Alan Hamilton]

No ill intention here counselor. Just open feedback offered with good intentions. I invite you to accept my comments in the same positive spirit in which they are offered.

I appreciate your reply. However, stating that "due to occasional oddballs or board slanderers" an attorney chooses to shield his identity - can inspire further question. It potentially inspires the question: why would a reputable attorney fear accountability? Or why would a reputable attorney have anything to fear in that regard? I am not implying that you are anything other than an ethical practitioner. I simply point to questions reasonable minds may ask.

As an experienced attorney who renders legal services, I am sure you recognize that you are open to the "occasional oddball" whether it is in offline practice or online. An offline client who finds you through the yellow pages, a referral service or recommendation by an acquaintenance can potentially claim malpractice or slander just as easily as an online referral. They can also easily build a site for that purpose. The occasional oddball comes with the territory.

Though I do actually like the idea of a legal information forum and hope that you do well with it, my guess is that you are not here solely for philanthropic purposes, which is fine. We all promote products or services in one way or another. Hence our participation in communities like ABW.

I appreciate (too) your observation that you could potentially provide a valued service without monetary gain. As a fellow entrepreneur I hope that is not the case. Of course, with any marketing venture, there is risk.

Although my individual preference is to identify myself, I freely interact with many of the great affiliate marketing folks here who are anonymous to the board. But in the case of a merchant offering products or services (which is what I would envision as your intention) anonymity can adversely affect credibility and potentially undermine the effort. An interesting read I bumped into several months ago when anonymity was discussed in another thread. You might appreciate it.

http://www.cs.bilkent.edu.tr/~david/...yBeTooHigh.htm

Either way, I welcome you and wish you the best. Where an attorney advisory forum is involved, transparency seems a must to me. But then again, I thought the Rockies would sweep the Red Sox last last fall. Good luck.