In this case, civil liberties lawyers are teaming up with a Bronx pastor. As the good old free speech advocates at the Institute for Justice report:
For years, New York-based nonprofit Upsolve, Inc., trained volunteers to give basic legal advice to New Yorkers facing debt-collection lawsuits under the protection of an injunction holding that this kind of advice was protected free speech. Upsolve’s program was successful,
and in recent years other states have increasingly recognized that trained nonlawyer volunteers can offer valuable and necessary help to people who can’t afford lawyers—which is most people. But yesterday, a federal district court dismissed Upsolve’s lawsuit, holding that the First Amendment provides no right to talk to people about the law without a license. The Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit, public interest law firm that protects the First Amendment nationwide and that represents Upsolve in the lawsuit, promised to appeal.
“The First Amendment protects your right to talk to people about their lives, their problems, and even the law,” said IJ Attorney Betsy Sanz. “Realistically, New Yorkers get this kind of advice all the time from bartenders, barbers, and even chatbots. The only difference here is that Upsolve wants the advice to come from people with some relevant training and experience.” More