Richard Zitrin on Possible Overreaching by Discipline Authorities

Richard Zitrin has passed along two short pieces that he wrote, one that appeared on Law.com and the other in the San Francisco Chronicle.  Richard contends in the pieces that State Bar disciplinary staff overreached and engaged in inappropriate conduct in responding to a lawyer's efforts to obtain clients after a refinery fire in California. 

Comments

[David Cameron Carr]

Our State Bar of California has been accused of being insufficiently zealous about protecting the public. Therefore it is engaged in serious public relations effort to appear zealous, including deploying its disaster response team, to prevent cappers from soliciting clients whenever some mass tort disaster occurs. I'm told they have really cool windbreakers that say "State Bar" on the back, just like a real law enforcement agency. It's all part of discipline theater (http://kafkaesq.com/2012/06/06/now-playing-discipline-theater/) along with rhetoric about the new Chief Trial Counsel as the new "sheriff in town" who proudly proclaims a "zero tolerance" policy toward attorney misconduct. At the same time, judges in State Bar Court are (again) double and triple setting trials because the Office of Chief Trial Counsel won't settle cases. The California Supreme Court has returned another 18 stipulated dispositions with the same enigmatic guidance that they be reevaluated "in light of the disciplinary standards." The State Bar might think about putting those windbreakers up for sale in the State Bar Gift Shoppe. It's going to have to think about ways to generate extra income to pay the additional judges that will be needed to try all these cases.

[Rick Underwood]

HA!

Love the windbreakers.

How can we get one?

The problem in Kentucky is apparently that lawyers think the Bar Counsel's Office is over zealous. I could make some real money reselling "State Bar" windbreakers. I will send this post to LawReader for comment.

Thanks.

[John Steele]

Somewhere in my files is a binder of materials published by the ABA years ago, so that state bars will have resources to deal with mass torts. The idea was that the bar would fan out and prevent plaintiffs' lawyers from engaging in improper solicitation.

[David Cameron Carr]

My recollection is that the disaster plan was drawn up after the 1999 Richmond refinery fire and the very active solicitation of potential clients in its aftermath.

[Monroe Freedman]

Solicitation -- call it ambulance chasing if you will -- is a professional responsibility.

[Rick Underwood]

We have a fee forfeiture Rule in Kentucky dealing with mass disasters, but I don't know when it was passed (after Bophal (sp.)?) I don't know if it has ever been enforced. I am just laughing at a bunch of idiots wearing "State Bar" windbreakers. I would think that might get you shot!

I do want one though, for my collection. Can anyone help me get one? I am talking about some (relatively) serious money - ok, not that serious.

I am thinking about making "Teaching Police" T-shirts for faculty who go in to evaluate untenured professor's teaching.