The Rise of Troubling Trend Fake Lawyers on Social Media — and Indiana’s Silence

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Scroll through TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, and you’ll find it: ordinary users posing as legal experts, offering “surefire” courtroom strategies, or promising to decode legal jargon in 60-second clips. Some of these creators claim credentials they don’t have. Others dispense legal “advice” that is misleading, oversimplified, or outright wrong. What started as a quirky trend has grown into a dangerous phenomenon — one with real consequences for those desperate enough to follow bad guidance.

Chaos is occurring during traffic stops and with drivers stating rights they don't have or taking out their cell phones or making calls to their lawyers after rolling up the windows and refusing to open them without a warrant.

Other videos claim you can “just declare yourself a sovereign citizen” to avoid taxes, or that “writing ‘refused for cause’ on a bill makes it disappear.” These pseudo-legal myths resulting in Hoosiers, who buy into them risk jail, debt, and permanent damage to their rights.

One influencer is telling people bury a family on their property and avoid property taxes. While another video circulating in Indiana claims, “If a cop doesn’t read you your Miranda rights immediately, your case gets thrown out — walk free!” Anyone who has taken even a basic criminal procedure class knows that’s false. Miranda only applies to custodial interrogation, not the moment of arrest — and even then, violations don’t automatically mean dismissal. Following that advice could ruin a defense.

The unauthorized practice of law is not just frowned upon; it is illegal. In most states, including Indiana, practicing law without a license can be prosecuted as a crime. Yet despite the flood of online impersonators, the Indiana Supreme Court — the body charged with regulating the state’s legal "profession" — has taken little to no visible action against this growing threat. Again, highlighting the awful job being done under the current Supreme Court of Indiana (SCOIN) leadership in the state.

This silence is troubling. Social media’s reach means that misinformation spreads faster than ever, and people searching for quick fixes to legal problems are particularly vulnerable. A person facing eviction, custody disputes, or criminal charges may turn to a self-styled “expert” online instead of seeking professional counsel. The result? Missed deadlines, botched filings, lost cases — and rights permanently compromised.

Other professions have already taken steps to curb such abuses. Medical boards, for example, have been proactive in warning against “Dr. TikTok” influencers and have disciplined those who misrepresent their expertise. Yet in Indiana, there has been no comparable wave of warnings or enforcement from the state’s legal authorities. For a system that holds some real attorneys to rigorous standards of licensing, continuing education, and ethics, the lack of oversight on social media frauds is striking.

Meanwhile, the Indiana Supreme Court, charged with protecting the public from the unauthorized practice of law, has done almost nothing publicly to address the trend. No warnings. No enforcement announcements. No visible campaigns to distinguish real attorneys from social media frauds.

The silence is deafening. Every day that passes without action, more Hoosiers are misled. Imagine someone fighting eviction who relies on a TikTok “hack” instead of a housing attorney. They lose their home not because the law was against them, but because they trusted the wrong source.

Critics argue that the Court’s inaction not only puts vulnerable citizens at risk but also undermines public trust in the profession itself. If the line between trained, licensed attorneys and internet pretenders becomes blurred, the credibility of Indiana’s justice system suffers.

The solution is not simple, but it is urgent. Indiana’s Supreme Court and its Disciplinary Commission should:

• Issue clear public warnings about the dangers of relying on unlicensed legal advice online.

• Partner with tech platforms to flag or remove accounts that falsely claim to be lawyers.

• Prosecute the most egregious cases of fraud to deter others.

• Expand access to legitimate low-cost or pro bono legal resources so that citizens don’t feel forced to rely on questionable online substitutes.

  
  

The law is complicated for a reason: rights, livelihoods, reputations, and freedoms are at stake. Allowing fake lawyers to continue unchecked on social media is not just a nuisance — it is a danger to justice itself. The Indiana Bar and the SCOIN cannot afford to stay silent, but then they are harassing the HE Editor in Chief, Gabriel Whitely, holding him in jail without a bond. You can't make this crazy state's nonsense and incompetence up!