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!
Pssst, Can I Interest You In a Lawyer?
July 22, 2007
When
there are too many policemen, there can be no liberty.
When there are too many soldiers, there can be no
peace.
When there are too many lawyers, there can be no
justice.
Lin
Yutang (1895-1976),
Chinese-American writer, translator, and editor.
This
time we are not going to dispense with the niceties
of: “there are good ones and there are bad ones,”
despite the fact that we already know that.
In fact, a good friend we have known for over
thirty years is an attorney.
The
question is, how many of the good ones are there,
compared to the bad ones?
Particularly when no
country has as many lawyers as the United States -
more than 152,000 in California alone - three times as
many as in all of France. According to Joanne Martin,
Assistant Director of the American Bar Foundation in
Chicago, in 1988, there were just under 750,000
lawyers in the United States, or approximately one
lawyer per 340 people in the United States, up from
one lawyer per 695 people in 1951. It is estimated
there are over 1 million attorneys in the United
States. “The
percentage of Americans with a "great deal"
or "quite a lot" of confidence in Congress
is at 14%, the lowest in Gallup's history of this
measure -- and the lowest of any of the 16
institutions tested in this year's Confidence in
Institutions survey. It is also one of the lowest
confidence ratings for any institution tested over the
last three decades”
reads a June 21, 2007 article by
Frank Newport.
The failure of a lawyer to act in accordance with
legal and ethical standards can be catastrophic. In
criminal cases incompetence can literally be a matter
of life and death. In civil cases a great deal of
money may change hands, or not, depending on how
competent the lawyers are. Fortunately instances of
such magnitude are rare. In fact, most disputes
between attorneys and clients are not over the cases
themselves. "The most common dispute between
lawyers and clients is over fees," according
to Suzanne Blonder, associate counsel of HALT, an
Organization of Americans for Legal Reform.
Hence the “enemy within” may not be Islamic
Terrorists, as we have been led to believe.
Particularly worrisome in light of MIT
professor Michael Cusamo’s assertion that “If Microsoft does not change its approach
to product development, marketing, and competition
more generally, it is likely that someday the company
will have more lawyers than programmers”
For
example, this past May a federal grand jury in Los
Angeles filed a 20-count indictment against Milberg
Weiss Bershad & Schulman, the well-known
securities class action firm. It is estimated that
since 1965 the firm has settled or won damage awards
from corporate and individual defendants that exceed
$40 billion. The courtroom accusations stem from
charges that the firm paid illegal kickbacks to
"clients" who agreed to serve as lead
plaintiffs in up to150 class action and shareholder
derivative lawsuits the firm brought over the years.
Then there is Daniel Chiulli, who “..was facing a drug charge when his lawyer, Robert Karanian, suggested that a "charitable contribution" would keep him out of jail. Chiulli agreed and gave Karanian $12,000. But Chiulli got suspicious when he heard no mention of the contribution during his sentencing. He asked Karanian where the money went, court records say, and the lawyer told him it had gone to the "Bob Karanian charity," adding, "That's the biggest charity there is”, according to a Courant article by Arielle Becker, published July 11, 2007.
Not to mention the July 19, 2007 AP Story
Lawyer
accused of stealing from widow's estate detailing
a Wallingford
Connecticut lawyer, accused of stealing from the
estate of a 99-year-old widow, arrested while playing
video poker at the Mohegan Sun casino.
“But
there's one thing for certain about the number of
lawyers in America and it is this -- there is no
shortage of them. In fact, one could reasonably argue
that there are too many lawyers lurking in America. Power
of Attorney website.
and authors of Smell the Lawyers
|
Just last month Avvo
launched a service ranking thousands of lawyers, and
faster than a tax-and-spend liberal, the site was sued
in federal court in Seattle by a lawyer who claims the
information is inaccurate and misleading.
When traveling to a third world country, one
has to go through a battery of vaccines months before
the trip. Perhaps
something analogous can be done when one is in dire
need of an attorney: Having built up antibodies, then one should use lawyer ranking
services such as Avvo,
LawyerRatings.com,
or Nolo.com, then
proceed to check out
prices (for example Costhelper.com)
as this is where most of the complaints fall.
We would never trust a bar association.
Homeowner
Association (HOA) Lawyer FactoidsThe
Davis-Stirling
Act is a part of the California Civil Code.
-
The term "attorney fees" is codified/mandated: 22 times.
-
The term "homeowner" is merely mentioned: 3 times
PART
II: KEEP FILING CALIFORNIA STATE BAR COMPLAINTS
AGAINST ERRANT ATTORNEYS - BUT ESPECIALLY HOMEOWNER
ASSOCIATION ATTORNEYS-- Make the Bar Care!
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.?
Mirror,
mirror on the wall, who is the fairest gladiator of
them all?
As I stood atop the Roman Colosseum during a recent
trip, emotionally gripped by its horrific history, I
couldn?t help but make the connection between the
ancient gladiator and my role as in-house attorney,?..
For starters, lawyers are often referred to...
Management
company's tape-recording tactic puts homeowners at
risk
Question: Because our management company has been sued
before, it has a policy of recording all incoming and
outgoing phone calls. Before a management employee
answers the phone, there is an automatic announcement
warning callers they are being recorded....
Of
Trial Lawyers, the AAJ and the Democratic Party
The National College of Advocacy and AAJ Education
maintain two distinct programs that recognize AAJ
lawyer member efforts in pursuit of advanced legal
learning and professional development?the Achievement
Recognition Program and Advanced Studies in Trial...
Laguna
Woods Village CC&Rs, What CC&Rs? I Got Your
CC&Rs Right Here!
Coto de Caza is not the only place where the board of
directors consistently either disregard the civil
code, governing documents (Covenants, Conditions and
Restrictions - CC&Rs) or even the moral code.
What
is better in HOA Management? Transparency and
Accountability or Feel Good?May 22, 2007
Mostly as a result of the Enron and Worldcom scandals,
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 known as the Public
Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act
of 2002 and commonly called SOX; was enacted to
provide business executives with less wiggle...
HOW
DO OWNERS SPELL L-A-W S-U-I-T? SENATE BILL NO. 127!X
This author asks WHERE ARE THE PENALTIES AGAINST
MANAGEMENT COMPANIES AND BOARDS? WHAT?S THE PENALTY
FOR BREAKING THE LAWS THAT THESE LEGISLATORS ARE
PASSING?
Two
of the Worst & Most Detrimental Laws to Hit
California are Sponsored by None Other than:
California Association of Realtors (R) The Gold is
Gone --No more gold in the Golden State!
Dear Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
SHATZI! PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR PROMISE TO US. Please
listen to the people who support you and look to you
to help us! When you first began buying property in
California NO ONE told you what you could or could not
do...
THE
LAW OF INTENDED CONSEQUENCES - WHAT A DIFFERENCE A
"WORD" MAKES: NO! ON ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 563
It apparently does not matter that titleholders with a
vested interest in their property cannot get their
legislators to carry legislation to help US, but, they
can waste taxpayer funds by preventing the bills WE
WANT and NEED by CHANGING *ONE* WORD in an...
EMERGENCY!
EMERGENCY! OOPS! WE JUST HAD THE MEETING! YOU MISSED
IT!!
So THIS is what the Senate calls an "Open
Meeting." How many Open Meetings have THEY been
to? Obviously not many. ROTFLMAO!
CAN
YOU OUTSWIM YOUR HOA SHARKS? or will you drown trying?
Owning, let alone living in an HOA is a tough JOB and
requires you be physically fit, possess a certain
sophistication of the processes, and have the
character let alone stamina, that allows you to be
persistent in a manner that indescribable to REAL...
HEY
GRAY PANTHERS! YOU GOT IT WRONG!
(c) D. Vanitzian
May 16, 2007The Gray Panthers are on record as
SUPPORTING A BAD BAD BAD BAD BILL: Senate Bill Number
948. SHAME ON YOU. Where the heck are you getting your
information from?
The
Law of Unintended Consequences: Legislation and HOA
BOD Cause and Effect: Clueless in my CAR
Coming off a most improbable but successful campaign
to defeat SB 670 author and HOA advocate Vanitizian
thanks supporters making a connection between the
quality of legislation being passed in Sacramento, and
the quality of life in most homeowners...
Paraphrasing
the LA Times on Defeat of SB670 & Wicked Twin
Witches of the West - SB 127 & AB-980
Taking a page out of the OC Register?s ?paraphrased
reporting?, an article written by LA Times staff
writer Diane Weder titled ?Bill to limit transfer fee
founders?, published appropriately on May 13, 2007,
quotes the president of the statewide Realtors...
Private
Transfer Tax - Good for the Common Interest
Development (HOA/CID) Industry or Good for the
Politicians?
When we received our copy of the report that the
California Association of Realtors (CAR) used to
Sponsor and help draft transfer fees, we were
confused. Given that Vanitzian has become an icon in
Sacrament (some say a thorn in the legislature's
side),...
Advertisement
|
Select Blogzz & click icon |
Subscribe
- 
R
