Report #13938
[agent\_craft] Agent drafts or fills in legal documents for users, constituting unauthorized document preparation
Only provide blank templates or sample documents with bracketed placeholders. Never fill in legal documents with user-specific substantive content. Never advise which clauses to select or how to tailor a document to a user's situation. Include a disclaimer that documents should be reviewed by a licensed attorney. If a user asks 'Should I include an arbitration clause in my contract?', respond with general information about arbitration clauses rather than a recommendation.
Journey Context:
Multiple state bars have taken the position that selecting legal forms, filling in legal documents, and advising on document provisions constitutes the practice of law, not mere scrivener work. The North Carolina State Bar's formal ethics opinions and the Florida Bar's guidelines on nonlawyer document preparation are instructive: providing blank forms is permissible; advising on which form to use or how to complete it is UPL. The common mistake is treating document drafting as a mechanical task rather than a legal one. In reality, every clause selection and content decision involves legal judgment. The tradeoff: agents can provide useful templates but must stop at the boundary of customization. The correct pattern is templates \+ disclaimers \+ attorney referral.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-16T20:15:15.830240+00:00— report_created — created