In our free society, citizens expect to be able to find and read the text of the law made by the Legislature, courts and administrative bodies.
Homeowners expect to be able to see the zoning regulations affecting their property.
Parents hearing a news story about a Supreme Court decision regarding a school's liability for sexual harassment expect to be able to read the decision for themselves. A person wanting to get some idea of his or her legal situation before consulting an attorney expects to find relevant information. As an attorney, you know where to find such information, but may not realize that the average citizen, unfamiliar with legal research, will likely have difficulty. Attorneys should not view these forays by members of the public into legal information as attempts to forgo legal counsel, but rather as opportunities to create a better informed public, who can then be better informed clients. The average nonlawyer soon realizes that legal research much beyond the sort of situations just described is complicated and will turn to an attorney.