General Legal

Pro Bono — what lawyers can do to keep busy during the recession

A relative told me over the wekend a story that is worth repeating. Apparently there are some very large firms who have advised their new hires that they do not have enought work for them. Instead of turning them away, they are paying the new hires their full salaries and shipping them off to non-profits to do pro-bono work until the firms’ business level increases and they can keep these new lawyers busy. This is a true win/win situation. New hires gain experience which will help them and the firm. The firm builds goodwill with both the employees and the community. The non-profits gain valuable manpower in times of need.
I have no verification of this story. Perhaps the firms can reply and tell us who they are, and what charities they support. They should be commended.
We could all take a lesson from the story. Even solo practitioners are affected by the economic downturn, and should consider this option. Do something worthwhile instead of waiting for the phone to ring. And we do not have to limit our contribution to these non-profits to merely contributing law-related time. Heck — build a house, serve soup, read to kids, mentor. You just may find a reward you were not expecting.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – – Norman Mac Ewan

Lawyers, Billing, and Personal Responsibility

The lawyer/client relationship has substantial ethical implications that are often overlooked especially in times of economic recession. lawyers need to remember that the client’s goals are paramount. When firms are laying off lawyers and staff alike, and there is pressure to produce billable hours, lawyers should remember that the client’s needs comes first. A client is in the same recession. The temptation to litigate and run up fees to save one’s job, pay one’s bills, keep the firm alive, etc., must be tempered against the risk that doing so, costs the client more in the long run. A lawyer who has his client’s best interest at heart, will check in with the client to assess and revise strategy to make certain that the strategy fits the client’s needs. It is the responsibility of the lawyer to make certain that the ends are justified by the means. It does no good to a client to pay legal fees to obtain an uncollectable judgment, or to pay legal fees that exceeed the matter’s value to the client. Accepting this responsiblity will earn you the respect of the client, something that has longstanding value.

Elder Mediators Help Families Negotiate Tough Issues of Aging

Families negotiating difficult issues such as how to get Dad to give up his car keys or Mom to give up her house are using mediators to help with the conversation.

Good mediators will help elderly parents be heard, National Public Radio reports. Baltimore lawyer and mediator Bob Rhudy told the network that even an elderly person with Alzheimer’s or dementia can express things such as “what family member that they are comfortable with, who they care for, respect, trust, where they like to live.”

“They may not have the capability to make substantial legal or financial decisions, but they certainly have the ability to express opinions and wishes and desires,” he said.

In one case, mediator Rikk Larsen came up with a solution to help an elderly man having trouble paying bills. The man’s accountant sent an assistant every couple of weeks to help with the task. “It became this kind of business meeting that the father had, and he got to maintain his dignity and his sense of control, and the bills got paid,” Larsen told NPR.

Few regulations apply to the growing elder mediation field, according to the story. Penny Hommel, who trains elder mediators at the Center for Social Gerontology, says too many people doing elder mediation don’t have the background to handle complex legal, health and emotional issues of aging.

“In reality, anybody who wants to can put a shingle out that says, ‘I’m a mediator,’ ” she said.

Houston Lawyer Loses License Because of Failure to Pay Debts

A Houston lawyer who failed to comply with a plan to repay student loans and other personal debt will lose his law license as a result.

A Texas appeals court said lawyer Frank Santulli III did not have the trustworthiness needed to represent clients because of his failure to comply with the repayment plan, the National Law Journal reports. The appeals court cited the possibility that “he will harm a client, obstruct administration of justice or violate the disciplinary rules.”

Santulli told the NLJ his loan debt was about $67,000. He plans to appeal.

Lawyer’s Angry Conversation with Law Clerk Leads to Suspension

An angry conversation with a law clerk has led to a one-year federal disbarment for a lawyer in the Western District of Louisiana.

In a per curiam opinion (PDF), the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the punishment barring lawyer R. Michael Moity Jr. from practice in the federal court for one year, reports Legal Blog Watch, citing a report on the Legal Profession Blog.

Moity was suspended primarily for the conversation with the law clerk and for making misrepresentations to the court in a contempt hearing on the matter. The misrepresentations regarded a prior state court contempt hearing in which Moity was ordered to undergo ethics training, but failed to comply with the initial punishment.

In the telephone conversation that led to Moity’s suspension, law clerk Stacey Blanke called to find out why Moity had not shown up for a pretrial conference. That prompted Moity to inquire why Blanke had not mentioned the need to appear in two previous phone messages referencing the conference. “Moity started yelling,” the opinion says, referring to the law clerk’s notes of the conversation, and he spoke “in a very angry tone.” When the clerk mentioned that Moity hadn’t returned the previous calls, he reportedly said, “Do you know how many calls I get??? I’m swamped! You think you’re busy?”

Moity later argued that the sanction was too severe for a “curt conversation.” The 5th Circuit disagreed. “The conversation reported by the magistrate judge’s law clerk displayed severe disrespect to the court by the anger and harsh tone,” the opinion said. “This was followed by additional evidence of a lack of candor in sworn testimony when the very serious matter of a contempt hearing was held.”