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
SEPTEMBER 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!
BRING BACK GOVERNOR PETE WILSON
August
10,
2007
by
Donie Vanitzian, JD
(c)
2007 D. Vanitzian
You
can’t have a good old boys and girls club without a
little help from friends in high places, of course, a
little help from California’s State Bar wouldn’t
hurt either. [FN1]
Forget
for a moment that the term “affordable attorney”
is an oxymoron and keep reading . . .
ALL
WITHIN 24 HOURS:
I’m
looking for an “affordable” attorney when I think,
hey wait a minute! I remember a lawyer from way
back when, and, well, he seemed all right back then,
I’ll call him. I ask him, “How much do you
charge an hour?” He says, “$475 but I think
my firm’s raising the rate to $480, I’ll have to
check.” The conversation continues and he
says, “look we’ve been on the phone for 17 and
half minutes and 32 seconds and I haven’t charged
you anything. That should rekindle your faith in
lawyers.” He explains that he’ll charge me
$475/hr until the price changes to $480 an hour, but
he’ll “lock in” the $475/hr as a favor to me
until January 1, 2008 at which time the firm’s new
hourly rate of $480 will kick in. I wait for him
to call me back with the “final” rate that his
firm will charge me. The next day I learn that
the rate is $485/hr. I say, “didn’t you tell
me it was going to be $480 at the end of year?”
He says, “Look, I’m not gonna quibble about $5.”
Nothing was mentioned of the $475/hr ever again.
This guy makes more money in one hour than many people
make in a week and he’s not gonna quibble over
$5.00, needless to say he never mentioned the initial
$475/hr price he first quoted me again.
Consumers
are being denied representation. Contrary to all
the statistics showing that California
has too many attorneys, don’t believe it. California
has a shortage of attorneys and the proof of that
could basically be threefold:
(1)
How hard is it to quickly find the right attorney?
(2)
How hard is it to find an attorney with experience and
expertise to handle your situation?
(3)
How hard is it to find the right attorney at a price
you can afford?
WHY
BRING BACK PETE WILSON?
Bring
back Governor Pete Wilson because he had the guts to
pull the funding of the State Bar and put them in
their place. That needs to happen again.
Consumers file complaint after complaint at the Bar
and what do they get back? This is a civil
matter take it up in the courts. Translation:
Hire an attorney ($480/hr) to sue ANOTHER attorney
(their buddy) who will cross-complain against you, and
fight you for free (because he will represent himself)
all the way up to the Supreme Court and then he will
put in for sanctions against you and motion the court
for you to pay his attorneys fees -- that is, HIS fees
AGAIN. Oh, by the way, the person who gave the
California State Bar free reign was none other than
that spineless Governor Wimp Ass Gray
Davis of the infamous Davis-Stupid Act.
HE is responsible for funding the Bar, giving them the
government web site address, etc.
Grey Davis is a California
licensed attorney. Say no more!!!
Just
like the industry cannot police its so-called B.S.
certification programs (which are laughable) against
its own so-called certified managers, so too, the
California State Bar must stop policing its own.
Which is even more reason for consumers to keep filing
those complaints at the bar against errant attorneys
-- file them and don’t stop filing them no matter
the outcome of your complaint. The Consumers are
eating it big time and paying for the privilege of
losing the shirts off their backs.
CALIFORNIA
FORCES ITS CITIZENS TO DO BUSINESS WITH ATTORNEYS
Gee,
is it any surprise that nearly every California
statute mentions attorneys and/or attorney fees?
Would it have anything to do with the Legislators
being attorneys themselves? Would it have
anything to do with the Legislature being beholden to
special interests, like, say, the Trial Attorney
lobby? It is an understatement to say that consumers
are under-represented and that the laws are not
written for “us.” Rather, I am of the
opinion that the laws written within the last three
decades are calculated to insert attorneys into the
statutory-equation and into the everyday lives and
businesses of everyday Californians. As long as
the code section exists, this calculated “special
interest” keeps one profession statutorily employed
with their fingers in every pot, uh, er, uh, rewrite:
with their fingers in every bank account.
Consumers
are literally left to fend for themselves. Oh,
don’t get me wrong; the lawyers DO want to help you,
for a price. That price often entails a retainer
agreement, for some, it amounts to a down payment on a
house purchase. What might not seem like much to
that attorney, might be the entire salary for the
person desperately in need assistance. It is
worse with mediation and arbitration. One not
only pays the mediator and/or arbitrator (some charge
as much as $500-700/hr) -- add to that, your own
attorney’s fees just to meet with, and sit in front
of, a mediator and/or arbitrator. OF COURSE, the
mediator and/or arbitrator is also an attorney.
The
courts are not helpful to pro se or pro per defendants
either and the court clerks are so arrogant it is a
wonder they stay employed. I’ll save those
stories for my next expose' as they are absolutely
scandalous.
When
I inquired from one attorney if he would consider pro
bono in helping an elderly man in his 90’s who was
partially paralyzed and all but bedridden, I was told
that the “pro bono” time that the attorney would
have otherwise donated, was used up by me in relaying
the old man’s story to him.
In
another case where I was being billed $400/hr the law
firm's invoicing reflected 15 minute telephone calls,
but my timer on such calls showed I only spoke for 2
minutes on one call, and 5 minutes on another, but got
billed $100 for each call. I asked for an
explanation, and boy did I get it!!! It goes
like this: Attorney: "I can't bill
less than 15 minute intervals because I have to get to
the phone and then I have to gather my thoughts before
I answer a call; and then I have to pick up where I
left off when I hang up the phone. That's
fifteen minutes down the drain right there that I
can't get back."
CALIFORNIA'S
BROKEN LEGAL SYSTEM AMOUNTS TO A SPECIAL BRAND OF
LEGAL TERRORISM
When
the statutes are so complicated that ordinary
consumers cannot enforce everyday laws without hiring
an attorney, the system is broken.
When
the consumer cannot be taken seriously unless and
until he or she hires an attorney to write a letter to
the errant party, let alone the fact the attorney's
letter is no better than the one you wrote, but no one
would take you seriously because you are not an
attorney, the system is broken.
When
you cannot afford an attorney but the jerk that is
suing you can, that is legal terrorism and the system
is broken.
When
you ask your attorney for the entire file, including
emails and letters, and he threatens you that if you
do not pay for it he will not give it to you -- even
though the useless Bar says that's an offense, but
s/he does it anyway, the system is broken.
When
you have to coddle and kiss the ass of any attorney
and act as if you like him or her because you fear
they will screw up your case if you don't do that, the
system is broken.
When
you give your attorney evidence to use in your case
and s/he fails to take it seriously and you lose
because of it (and there is nothing you can do about
it), the system is broken.
When
you have filed ten complaints against errant attorneys
at the California state bar, and the attorneys you
filed against make up some total B.S. to weasel out of
their criminal actions against you, and the Bar
returns it to you with "it’s a civil
action", the system is broken.
When
you hire an attorney who parlays a $2,000 case into a
$100,000 loser with nothing to show for it except your
loss and then s/he says, "I did everything I
could," the system is broken.
When
your attorney soon becomes chummy-chummy and on a
nickname basis with the bad attorney on the other side
and you can't stop it because your attorney threatens
to drop you (after depleting all your money and asking
for more), the system is broken.
When
you run out of money half way through a case that
should have been dropped, and your attorney says I
have to drop you because you can no longer afford me,
the system is broken.
Of
the majority of cases that land on my desk it appears
that the minimum parlaying of fees is somewhere around
$35,000 to $50,000. That means even if your case
is “easy” and should have been resolved quickly
for just a little bit of money, attorneys on either
side will milk it until the cash register hits the
magic numbers of $35,000 to $50,000.
These
indicators can only mean one thing, and that is the
so-called watchdog agency that is supposed to protect
us, has failed miserably. They are too
comfortable in their day jobs, or they have reached
their level of incompetence. This will only
change once the public's outcry is heard in full
force.
Consumers
are encouraged to file complaints against errant
attorneys: http://calbar.ca.gov
Consumers
are encouraged to contact the author with any
management and manager complaints by contacting:
http://www.certifymyass.com
~0~
Ethical
Divide: Liberal Coast Bar Vs. East Coast Bar- An Legal
Ethical Divide, a ?domestic dispute? or a Paradox?
August 8, 2007 The Miami Herald reports that an
attorney who helped a buddy hide a stolen Florida
State University national football title trophy as a
prank, ?has had his law license suspended for 60 days,
starting this weekend, because he...
Annual
Summer Youth Behind the Scenes Legal System- If the
laws could speak for themselves, they would complain
of the lawyers - Edward F. HalifaxAugust
Local Orange County high school students will have the
opportunity next week to get a behind-the-scenes look
at what it's like to be a prosecutor, defense
attorney, police detective and judge during the 7th
Annual Summer Youth Education Conference....
SPENDING
OTHER PEOPLE?S MONEY by Donie Vanitzian, JDX(c) 2007
Vanitzian
I mean really! How difficult is it to spend other
people?s money? Cheech!! It?s a no brainer, especially
with no statutory accountability. "Hey man, it
ain't difficult" one board member tells me, he
says "no one gives s**t." He proceeds to
point to his...
Sustainable
Customer Relationship in US Legal System Paradox- The
California Bar rather than decipher the writing on the
wall is sticking its head in the sand!
The July 31, 2007 issue of the Scotsman reports that a
?radical overhaul of Scotland's legal system to give
consumers greater choice and a cheaper service will be
recommended today by the UK's competition watchdog?
and that ?the Office of Fair Trading...
Chuck
Chuckles: Senator Schumer, That is
Those who do not know, go to law school. Those who do
not do, blame. Those who do not know and do not do,
join the US Congress. Senator Schumer has asked the
Government Accountability Office to investigate if
rising gas prices are the result of oil...
Lawyer
seeking condominiums' business goes over the line
Question: I manage a large condominium project in Los
Angeles. Unsolicited, an attorney sent me an
invitation to meet with him over lunch. He then phoned
me several times, including the day before the lunch,
explaining the purpose was to speak only with...
CONDOMINIUMS
ARE A GREAT INVESTMENT- FOR LAWYERS
About every two months I get a call, or a client comes
in to ask me about condominiums. It usually starts off
with, ?I bought this adorable little condo? and then
the upstairs neighbor had a flood?. And then the
Homeowners Association refused??
Pssst,
Can I Interest You In a Lawyer?
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...
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...
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