Unauthorized Practice of Law.

01What the AI does

The voice agent on your consultation is software trained on California consumer legal matters: landlord-tenant, employment, consumer protection, family, immigration, small claims, traffic and misdemeanor among them. It asks the questions an attorney would ask during intake (about the dates, the dollar amounts, the parties, the documents) and summarizes what it hears in plain English. It produces a draft of your Legal Situation Report.

That draft is general legal information: it tells you what California statutes and regulations apply to facts like yours, and what options people in similar situations typically have. It is the same kind of information you might find in a California self-help guide from a superior court or a non-profit legal aid pamphlet, produced for your specific facts, but not advice tailored by an attorney retained to represent you.

02What the AI does not do

• It does not give you legal advice.
• It does not represent you in court, in mediation, or in a notice exchange.
• It does not sign documents, filings, or correspondence on your behalf.
• It does not appear at hearings, depositions, or settlement conferences.
• It does not negotiate with the other side or their attorney.
• It does not promise you any outcome. The report's “most likely outcome” language is a generalization based on similar cases, not a prediction in yours.

03Attorney supervision

Every consultation is structurally supervised by a California-licensed attorney at OpenCounsel. The supervising attorney:

• Defines the scope of practice the AI may handle (California consumer legal matters, v1).
• Reviews flagged matters before the report is delivered to you.
• Signs the Legal Situation Report.
• Is available to engage on representation if your matter calls for it.

The bar number of the supervising attorney appears on every report.

04When your matter needs an attorney

The report identifies whether your matter is likely to benefit from representation. Common triggers include an active court case, a hearing or filing deadline within 7 days, a matter with substantial dollar amounts on the line, a domestic-violence situation, or a matter where retaliation against you is plausible.

If your matter qualifies, we will offer to engage on a separate written engagement letter, at flat fee or hourly, transparent at the start, never embedded in the free consultation. You are free to take the report and engage another attorney instead, and we will hand over your file at your request.

05Disclaimer at every step

You hear and see the disclaimer that the consultation is general legal information at three points: when you start the intake, when the voice agent answers your call, and on the cover of every Legal Situation Report. We log the timestamp and IP address of your acceptance to the audit log.

06Reporting concerns

If you believe OpenCounsel has crossed from legal information into the unauthorized practice of law, please email compliance@opencounsel.co. You may also file a complaint with the State Bar of California's Office of Chief Trial Counsel.

07Scope changes

The Service is currently limited to California consumer legal matters for English- and Korean-speaking users. Expansion to additional jurisdictions or languages will be reflected here, on the home page, and in the consultation itself before any expanded matter is handled.