The CotoBuzz Journal
Community Journalism, Newsletters and Blogs Covering South Orange County, CA
The CotoBuzz Journal is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and NAHJ
August 2007 Issue
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the LA Times, the Orange County Register and the Coto de Caza Board of directors and report the facts!
PART
II: KEEP FILING CALIFORNIA STATE BAR COMPLAINTS
AGAINST ERRANT ATTORNEYS - BUT ESPECIALLY HOMEOWNER
ASSOCIATION ATTORNEYS
--
Make the Bar Care!
By
Donie Vanitzian
(c) 2007Vanitzian
July
19, 2007
Lets
spare each other the niceties of: “there are good
ones and there are bad ones,” because we already
know that -- and -- this article is not about that.
She then says with a cheeky little grin, “ok, ok
yes, there are some good lawyers out there.”
This
article, though, is about “us” -- the residential
deed-restricted “titleholders” who have become the
subjects of an industry that has somehow managed to
steal our titles and our rights out from under us and
have done so by DEFAULT.
This
is about titleholders getting the raw end of the
court-deal, the raw end of the legal
representation-deal, the raw end of the
legislative-deal, and the raw end of just about ANY
deal as it pertains to those g-d forsaken, expensive
outhouses that we pay billions of dollars for, only to
be told by some piss ass barely-high-school-grad
manager who INSISTS on bragging that he/she/it is
so-called c-e-r-t-i-f-i-e-d (at what is anybody’s
guess) and an employee who likely can’t converse
without a dictionary in one hand, a thesaurus in the
other, AND, who very likely cannot even afford a down
payment of his/her/its own -- BUT TELLS US what the
hell WE can and cannot do with OUR property.
They can do this because they belong to an industry
that gives them FREE legal advice how to SCREW YOU and
ME OVER and STAY ON *YOUR* ASSOCIATION’S PAYROLL
come hell or high water. The problem:
we’re letting them do it.
CAVEAT
EMPTOR--DID YOU REALLY WANT TO BE THAT ASSOCIATION'S
ATTORNEY'S NEW BEST FRIEND
At
ground zero, this article is also about blowhard
lawyers who profess to know and do everything
including win your case - even if they lose, because
they get paid either way. They also may do
nothing on your case but take your check to hire them
and have the audacity to ASK FOR MORE. This is
also about bad representation, misrepresentation, bad
lawyering, malpractice, the “taking advantage of,”
the “ability to influence,” “being in a position
to impose authority where no such mandate to impose
such authority (to that extent) exists under the
law,” “bullying” under cover of a license to
practice law, manipulating and creating evidence to
protect the client under the “I’m just defending
my client’s position” mantra, aiding and abetting
clients, and much more.
Think
about it: HOW would someone who knows nothing
about law and the nuances involved with legal
representation, even KNOW their attorney committed
malpractice by the Bar’s standards?
Malpractice has such a wide berth (thanks to the Bar
revamping all the rules of “Professional
Responsibility” [now THAT’S an oxymoron if ever
there was one] so that almost any lawyer with their
inbred skill, knowledge, expertise, and acumen of
MANDATED continuing education <really big fat grin
here> would certainly become adept at, no?
Realistically,
anyone who hires a lawyer would have to hire TWO
lawyers. One to represent them and one to review
the work of the lawyer that was hired without
him/her/it knowing their work was being reviewed.
THAT IS WHAT THE BAR HAS CAUSED TO HAPPEN. How
so? They police their own.
Author
note: Association is universally abbreviated to
the shorthand version: “ass.” This author
prefers that abbreviation because, frankly, it calls
it what it is. And, if the “law is an ass”
then references to association managers, can now be
called ass managers. Association attorneys are
now ass attorneys. Association boards of
directors are now, ass boards of directors.
Picking
up where we left off, attorneys, especially the types
that grovel around homeowners associations -- uh
E-X-C-U-S-E me --I stand corrected -- they like the
word c-o-m-m-u-n-i-t-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e so, let’s
rephrase that and remove references to HOME ASS and
say, C-O-M-M-U-N-I-T-Y-A-S-S; and the like.
Anyway
attorneys are NOT gods. At least they are not
supposed to be. Realistically they are
invoice-billing machines. Realistically, such
advisors are not supposed to have an exalted status,
say, as association boards of directors do by statute.
Realistically, all said and done, attorneys are
“vendors” similar to management companies,
managers, roofers, gardeners, electricians, the guys
who clean out the gutters, accountants, maid services,
dry cleaners, and so on. Realistically, like all
vendors, they supposedly get paid to perform a
s-e-r-v-i-c-e albeit, an invoice billing service, and
they send you a bill for that invoice billing service.
PROTECTING
THEIR PERPETUAL PAY CHECKS
So,
HOW do most lawyers “get away” with “things”
like the things owners complain about most? Try
the “attorney-client privilege.” In an
a-s-s-o-c-i-a-t-i-o-n type of setting, the privilege
NOT to talk is endless. You’ve got the
“association” as a somewhat corporate entity, that
ain’t gonna talk. Then you’ve got vendors
who depend on their paychecks being signed by the
association, who ain’t gonna talk. Then there are
board directors that come and go, and, hells bells,
they ain’t gonna talk. As the saying goes in
criminal law, “if nobody talks, everybody walks.”
Finally, that lawyer ain’t gonna talk, because
he/she/it will more often than not, claim, “its
privileged!”
HOW
MANY WAYS CAN THE CALIFORNIA STATE BAR COOK CHICKEN?
Fast
forward: Does anyone honestly think a client who
is already cowering in their boots is going to file a
complaint at the Bar when they fear retaliation the
attorney they are complaining about? HELL NO.
It isn’t as if the Bar is going to offer protection
to that complainant, are they? As one attorney
fed up with the system, let alone the bar, once said
to me “if anything, it’s a secret society
protecting secret members from secret wrong doing.”
Another disbarred attorney said, “the Bar gave me
every opportunity to say ‘I’m sorry’ and to
‘show contrition’ and they would let me keep my
Bar card, but I said, screw that. I’m not
sorry. I’m not contrite. I just don’t
give a sh*t.” Never mind, that the attorney
made enough [client] money at that point that he
didn’t have to care what anyone thought--even the
Bar. Never mind that he “never had sex with
that woman, not ever, never.”
I
suppose it depends on what the meaning of “is” is.
Since
my last article on Filing Complaints at the Bar, more
owners ARE taking pro-active steps against tyranny.
Those that have joined, HOAATM, Home Owners Against
Association Tyranny and Manipulation (my free group)
have joined forces for a louder voice.
TIMING
IS EVERYTHING
In
the beginning, I used to get a lot of mail from people
that said, “when the ink dries, THEN I’ll do
something about it.” Those owners now know
what most journalists learned the hard way, (1) by the
time the ink dries--its no longer a story anyone’s
interested in, and (2) waiting to get into the
so-called “safe-zone” before blowing the lid of an
injustice, deflates the importance of the problem to
the extent owners spend most of their time answer the
question: “but WHY didn’t you file a complaint at
the bar when it happened,” rather than discussing
the egregiousness of the problem they suffered.
This is a situation where “wait and see”
absolutely works against the complainant.
It
is that “fearless dogged persistence” EARLY ON
that IS the key to filing attorney complaints.
It is similar to catching a crook in the act of
breaking the window to steal your house that means
something. You don’t wait until your house is
gone and crime is over and then begin “mulling it
over.” You call 911 on the spot! If you
can’t get an operator or the line is busy you keep
it on the re-dial button until an operator hopefully
answers.
REGULAR
RULES DON’T APPLY TO OWNERS OF DEED-RESTRICTED
PROPERTY BECAUSE TIME IS ALWAYS OF THE ESSENCE
Owners
don’t have the luxury of self-indulgence.
Let's face it--attorneys don't want to be scrutinized!
Not by the bar. Not by the public. Not by the courts.
Not by the media. Not by their clients. Not by
opposing counsel. As I wrote earlier, "talk
is cheap until you hire a lawyer" or until you
are FORCED to hire a lawyer. Start asking too
many questions and lawyers will lawyer-up -- and then
they follow that up with an invoice, uh, invoices,
plural. (See Glassman & Vanitzian, "Law
Firm's "Rule of Three" Smells Fishy,"
L.A. Times, Aug. 17, 2003)
There
is an element of performing an important public
service when filing complaints against attorneys that
have "acted improperly" (the Bar's words,
not mine). Because, in my opinion, the California
State Bar has failed miserably in policing its own,
the public must take pains to make their sentiments
known, not once, but over and over and over again
without fail. One way to accomplish that is to file
complaints with the State Bar against errant
attorneys--and keep filing them.
WARNING:
DON'T EXPECT ATTORNEY DISCIPLINE TO SHOW UP ON THE
BAR'S WEB SITE
The
Bar used to publish the disbarred attorneys AND the
problems leading up to their disbarment so the public
could see. They apparently don’t do that
anymore. Its bad enough that the public are
sitting ducks, now the bar wants you to GUESS who’s
been disbarred and then PAY to find out what they did
to get disbarred. WHERE’S THE PUBLIC OUTRAGE
against an institution that WE BANKROLL? (remind
anyone of the arrogance put forth by the California
Law Revision Commission?)
THIS
SITUATION ISN’T THE SAME AS “IF YOU BUILD IT THEY
WILL COME”
If
you think the Bar built-it so that the public will
come and file complaints and that they are just
waiting to get a lawyer complaint from you:, don’t
count on it! But the owner’s answer to
that question should be, “Too damn bad! ‘cuz
you’re gettin’ this complaint whether you like it
or not.”
Owners
checking the State Bar's web site for information
regarding a particular attorney, would never have a
clue how many complaints he/she/it has been subjected
to, the types of complaints; whether there are pending
complaints; or whether other disciplinary measures
have been initiated against him or her and the reasons
for the such discipline. The majority of attorneys on
the Bar web site will show a "clean slate."
It would appear most are Pillars of Society!
Squeaky-clean. Why is this? How would owners know if
the attorney they are investigating has a
"clean" record, or if s/he has been
subjected to discipline? You don't know. You have to
perform additional investigation BEYOND that of the
State Bar. In that respect, the Bar has failed the
public and all consumers.
Some
have said letter and complaints to the Bar stay in the
file for say, three, maybe six months and are then
expunged. Others have said the Bar supposedly
keeps ALL discipline letters in the file for an
"unspecified" time. However, such
complaints may stay alive as long as complaints
continue to pour in. What IS clear is this: If
owners don't file complaints it is a moot point how
long such letters remain in a file.
SOME
TIPS ON FILING COMPLAINTS AT THE BAR
1.
Please understand that you -a layperson- have to chew
and digest the complaint for the Bar -- you know your
case and problems better than anyone else does.
No civil servant wants to work harder than they have
to. Well, actually, they don’t want to surpass
their job descriptions, whatever those might be.
2.
Please don’t throw-up and rant on paper.
3.
Please don’t write stream of consciousness crap.
4.
Please don’t wait until your case is over and then
retry it on paper.
5.
Please keep your sentences short.
6.
Please don’t act like you’re a lawyer if you’re
not. You are a victim!
7.
Please understand that you do not have to hire the
attorney in order to file a complaint against
him/her/it.
8.
Please do not be intimidated --- and don’t back
down. Just file the damn thing now!
9.
Please understand that you can attach a piece of paper
to the complaint, but be certain to mark it with, for
example (a) number all pages consecutively. The
page number “1” of “65.” or “1” of
“1.” (b) put your name and telephone number on
each additional page. (c) label the top of each
page “Attachment A, or B, or C” etc. Make
your complaint easy to read and use as many sheets of
paper as you need.
10.
Please try to know the Rules when writing out your Bar
Complaint. Most rules that govern the actions of
attorneys are found in the California State Bar Act
(Business and Professions Code 6000 et seq.) and Rules
of Professional Conduct -> Try this website: www.findlaw.com
Download
the State Bar Act: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/ethics/2006_State-Bar-Act.pdf
Download
the Rules of Professional Conduct: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/ethics/2006_Rules-Prof-Conduct.pdf
and
peruse the Business and Professions Code sections for
more violations.
11.
Please try to stay away from making a CRIMINAL case
for the Bar to follow. Let the Bar make its own
deduction based on your facts filed in your massive
complaint that the totality of the circumstances may
amount to criminal charges. IF something is per
se criminal, file the criminal charges separately with
the proper police department, or government agency --
not the Bar.
12.
Please take a minute to prepare a working outline for
“you” not the Bar. List the problems
chronologically--and the result of each problem and
extracting issues as you see it, from each of those
problems -- remember: don’t make a meal out of this.
If the Bar wants more information they’ll ask you
for it. Please extract the issues as you see it
from each of the problems you list.
13.
Please don’t provide “partial” transcripts, if
you have to provide a transcript - provide the ENTIRE
TRANSCRIPT. Providing a partial transcript will
surely get your complaint kicked back.
14.
Please FILE your complaint in a TIMELY manner.
15.
Please do not be intimidated by the Bar! You can
challenge ANY decision the Bar makes regarding your
complaint. Even if the Bar rejects your
complaint, you can send it back with new or additional
information and ask that it be reconsidered. If
they make another determination on your complaint you
can also appeal that. You can challenge these
decisions simply by stating on a piece of paper that
you “want to appeal the Bar's decision and request
that it be sent to their panel for reconsideration.”
<= That’s it, one sentence. If you
still have questions, the Bar will explain to you how
that is done.
16.
Please know that there are NO limits on the number of
complaints you can file at the bar against an attorney
or several attorneys or an entire lawfirm.
17.
Please know that you do not have to have a
relationship with the attorney you complain about.
In fact, there’s no law that says you have to have
even met him/her/it to be able to complain about
him/her/it. Remember, if the complaint has no
merit, the Bar will write you back and tell you.
Download
a complaint form: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/DispComp.pdf
Contact
the State Bar:
1-800-843-9053
(toll free in California)
1-213-765-1200
(from outside California)
American
Bar Association (ABA) (http://www.abanet.org
ABA
“Directory of Lawyer Disciplinary Agencies" for
every state and outside of the United
States as it pertains to licensed American
attorneys. Visit http://www.abanet.org/cpr/regulation/scpd/disciplinary.html
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