Legal Ethics Question

Facts: Mr. Stan Smith calls his friend, Polly Paralegal, and leaves a message asking, “Do the grounds for divorce in North Carolina include adultery?” Later that day, Mrs. Stan Smith calls Polly Paralegal and leaves a message asking, “Do I have grounds for divorce in North Carolina? I just found out that Stan committed adultery.”

Questions:

If Polly Paralegal answers Mr. Smith’s question, will she have engaged in the unauthorized practice of law? Explain and support your answer with information from at least one authoritative reference source.
If Polly Paralegal answers Mrs. Smith’s question will she have engaged in the unauthorized practice of law? Explain and support your answer with information from at least one authoritative reference source

This is a homework question:

You should give your own opinion or what you know so far from what you have read or learned about this issue. Ask people you know or read the texts that have been assigned.

Example answer:
"I do not think that it is necessary to have to commit adultery in order to request a divorce. There are plenty of other reasons why a marriage may not be working out besides sleeping around.

Plus, this sounds like people gossiping and exchanging telephone conversations and asking for advice. This is not law.

We do not know enough information to be able to answer the question one way or the other... is Polly Paralegal a lawyer? Has there been a case filed? Has Mr. Smith hired Mr. Paralegal to represent him? All you can tell from the question is that one guy is ask his friend with a fancy-sounding last name for help!"

There is no need for an authoritative reference source on this issue, this is just common sense. Your teacher made a bad question. You don't always have to answer the question the way you think they want it answered. I have several university degrees and I often didn't do my homework the way they asked.

Your teacher is trying to get you to think for yourself, not look up an answer in an encyclopedia or the internet.