Can a book or a software program impersonate a lawyer? You might not think so, but a panel supervised by the Texas supreme court is hauling in the most prominent U.S. publisher of self-help legal aids to determine if its products are doing just that. The possible culprit, Nolo Press, is a cheeky Berkeley, Calif., publisher whose logo depicts lawyers as briefcase-toting sharks with neckties. But Nolo's real crime may be putting the law into the hands of laypeople for $15 to $45 a pop.
That's what has Texas steamed. A closed-door panel will hold hearings next month on whether Nolo,...