Lawyer in a different state is threatening me and I dont live there

[sean2000]

I live in Arizona and I received a letter in the mail from a law office in Washington state. It is about a matter of a friend that took photos for me and long story short wants me to take them down. That is not my concern. My concern is that this lawyer only is a member of the California and Washington state bar association. Can they become involved in this legal matter and can they threaten a lawsuit when I have never lived there, never done any business there and my friend lives here in arizona as well but I am sure it is a friend of theirs that sent this letter. Any advice would help!

 

[FlyingRon]

A lawyer can write any letters he wants. There's no bounds on practice until it gets to court.
A lawyer can generally appear in FEDERAL court regardless of what state bars he's admitted to.
A lawyer admitted to a bar in one state, can usually get approval to appear in a different state on a case by case basis as a matter of course.
The lawyer is always free to ally with a local attorney who is admitted to practice if the matter does need to go to court.

The answer: you're not getting out of this on trying to disqualify the lawyer.

 

[Ohiogal]

A lawyer can write any letters he wants. There's no bounds on practice until it gets to court.
A lawyer can generally appear in FEDERAL court regardless of what state bars he's admitted to.
A lawyer admitted to a bar in one state, can usually get approval to appear in a different state on a case by case basis as a matter of course.
The lawyer is always free to ally with a local attorney who is admitted to practice if the matter does need to go to court.

The answer: you're not getting out of this on trying to disqualify the lawyer.

Ohio considers letters the practice of law -- any representation or purported attempts at representing another person are the practice of law. I do not know about California/Washington/Arizona. But it is possible> GL would know for sure as she is admitted in CA and Az.

 

[Zigner]

Ohio considers letters the practice of law -- any representation or purported attempts at representing another person are the practice of law. I do not know about California/Washington/Arizona. But it is possible> GL would know for sure as she is admitted in CA and Az.

Are you saying that an attorney in Ohio can't send a letter on behalf of an Ohio client to a person out of the state of Ohio?

 

[Ohiogal]

Are you saying that an attorney in Ohio can't send a letter on behalf of an Ohio client to a person out of the state of Ohio?

Not if they are threatening to sue in another state in which they are not licensed to practice. That could get the attorney in trouble. However I have no idea the exact wording of the letter OP stated.

 

[Zigner]

Not if they are threatening to sue in another state in which they are not licensed to practice. That could get the attorney in trouble. However I have no idea the exact wording of the letter OP stated.

Gotcha .

 

[latigo]

I live in Arizona and I received a letter in the mail from a law office in Washington state. It is about a matter of a friend that took photos for me and long story short wants me to take them down. That is not my concern. My concern is that this lawyer only is a member of the California and Washington state bar association. Can they become involved in this legal matter ? and can they threaten a lawsuit when I have never lived there, never done any business there and my friend lives here in arizona as well but I am sure it is a friend of theirs that sent this letter. Any advice would help!

How did this seemingly inoffensive letter suddenly become a "legal matter"?
,
Whatever, but I suppose you could pay an Arizona lawyer to write to this law office in Washington and tell them to shut up. Provided that is that the Arizona lawyer was also a member of the Washington State Bar Association. Duh!

How old are you anyway?

 

[sean2000]

How did this seemingly inoffensive letter suddenly become a "legal matter"?
,
Whatever, but I suppose you could pay an Arizona lawyer to write to this law office in Washington and tell them to shut up. Provided that is that the Arizona lawyer was also a member of the Washington State Bar Association. Duh!

How old are you anyway?

Thank you Latigo for your neanderthal reply. Tell them to "shut up" and your asking how old I am? It became a legal matter to me when there is a chance I could be sued over this issue. I know how to solve the issue but again the concern is that I am unlawfully being threatened by a lawyer that is a friend of the complainant, and this should not even go anywhere if it is not real.

 

[sean2000]

Ohio considers letters the practice of law -- any representation or purported attempts at representing another person are the practice of law. I do not know about California/Washington/Arizona. But it is possible> GL would know for sure as she is admitted in CA and Az.

Thank you. Who is GL? I would like to look more into this before talking any action.

 

[quincy]

Thank you. Who is GL? I would like to look more into this before talking any action.

G and L are the user name initials of one of the attorneys who posts to this site. She is licensed to practice in both Texas and California.

You mentioned in your first post that the letter involves some photos your friend took. Do you have these photos published online without his authorization? The letter you received could be notification in advance of a DMCA takedown notice and/or copyright infringement lawsuit.

Of course, this is merely a guess on my part, but it is common to receive emails/letters from out-of-state attorneys notifying you of infringement.