No Legal Advice

[Derek W.]

I've noticed an invcreasing amount of people ending their post with some variation of "No legal advice". Is this due to something or some new legislation I'm not aware of?  Of course you're not giving legal advice, this is a public Internet forum.  Even if someone is an attorney, it's still free advice and you get what you pay for. Why the disclosure?  Is it really necessary? I've always taken this site similar to a bunch of buddies sitting around a BBQ brainstorming and asking each other questions.