Disregard my previous post. I believe all Marlin leverguns had the cross-bolt safety by 1984.
Does yours have a screw head where the safety would be? Maybe it's had a safety delete kit added.
I don't know if I'd call it a lawyer safety. It could just as easily be referred to as a marketing safety. Some like 'em, some don't want them. Many who don't want them on their on gun hope everyone around them uses it on theirs.
They don't affect the hammer fall or trigger pull in any way when disengaged.