News Scrapbook 1988

Snn Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir, 0, 123,064) SEP

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San Diego, Tuesday, September 27, 1988 Just last year, again at behest of the Legis- lature, the state bar established an overseer on ethical matters. His title: disciplinary monitor. Chosen for the job was a man al- ready enjoying a reputation as something of a tiger - the onetime "Nader raider" from Washington, Robert Fellmeth, now a law professor at the University of San Diego. Stirred to action, the-state bar ordered sanctions against 281 of its members, a record number, in 1987. Of these, 106 were disbarred or they resigned with charges pending. Another 123 were suspended. But with 1,500 other "hardcore" cases still / !he investigatory pipeline, Fellmeth IS pushmg more reforms. These are embodied in a new bill by state Sen. Robert Presley D-Riverside who chairs the Senate backed up in court has relied on the volunteer services o some 450 member lawyers and a handful of "public members" to hear cases for disci- Fellmeth felt that however prais~worthy their motives, such panels we!J unlikely to c?mmand pubJ;c confid~nce. Pl suspicion of of foxes guardmg the henhouse - seemed inevitable with mainly lawyers _de- c1ding questions of ethical behavior agamst bias - Thus, the Presley bill, SB 1498. It would replace the state bar court's _legion of_ volun- teers with independent, full-time adm1rustra- tlve lawbjutdhges and rseview judCges,talTlhto _be chos_en _Y estate upreme our• e ID· v~tigattve staff woul~ be bolstered, at sala- nes to match those paid by other state agen- c1~creased costs for these reforms would continue to be covered out of annual bar dues - already scheduled to reach $440 in 1990. pline or disbarment. fellow-practitioners. members feeling they would prefer an or- ganization along the lines of a trade associa- As might be expected, one of the loudest voices of discord is heard in Orange County, which nurtures a fear and loathing of gov- tion and not a police force. Judic1a,;y Committee'. · · 1· Historically the state bar's d1sc1p mary ' · f

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cleaning up its act starts

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.I Daily Transcript (Cir. D. 10,000) 8 1988

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San Diegans kept a high profile dunng the State Bar's annual meetmg last weekend m Monterey. Colin Wied was sworn in as Bar president on Sunday. In addition, John Seitman became a member of the Bar's Board of Governors; Bill McCurine joined the Execu- tive Committee of the Conference of Delegates, and Regina Petty was installed as a member of the Board of Directors of California Young Lawyers Association. Both McCurine and Petty arc with Gray,Cary,Ames&Frye. · · Gamer and Municipal Court Judge Susan Finlay joined the

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this Friday? The County Bar 8 10th annual blood drive will benefit 5

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treatment at Children's Hospital who faces a possible bone marrow transplant in the near future. The Blood Bank's van will be parked in the circular driveway t the county courthouse downtown between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Call Julia Gar- wood at 239 0414 for more infor-

league Tim Pes~tmk.

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The annual dmner of Cahf~rma Women Lawyt·rs and the National Association of Women Judges may have been the longest ever, accor- dmg to observ_ers. U began shortly after seven Friday night and ended with a standing ovation for former New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug around 10:20 p.m. "I don't know ifI was ever going to get up here tonight," Abzug said at 9:24 when she start d. "If all of this longwindedne~~ is an example of your fortitud keep domg it." Su- rior Court Judge Judith Me- ronnell and Munici.pal Court Judge Susan Finlay were both re- cognized during the dinner, as was Deputy District Attorney Denise

mation.

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Monterey Bar Scenes:

Superior Court ,Judge Barbara Michael Crowley handed out

September issues of Dicta.

Justice Howard Wiener of the ============~~~~==~========

LawBriefs by Martin Kruming

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Therein, of course, lies the rub. Revolt is executive board of the California brewing withm ranks of the state bar, some Judges Association.

Fourth District Court of Appeal and University of San Diego law professor Hugh Friedman discus-

McGuire.

Joseph Shoopack

State

en. Larry Stirling

had been suspended for failing to pay their bar dues than for offenses committed agamst clients or the public. The state's quasi-official regulatory sys- tem seemed in no hurry. When the newspa- per expos~ rocked it three years ago, more than 4,000 allegations of serious misconduct were found fanguishing in files of the state bar without prospects of settlement. Response in the Legislature came more swiftly The bar, which operates as a regula- · tory arm of government, was denied its an- nual authorization of fees until assuring lawmakers there would be some reforms. Many of the organization's other functions were placed on '·hold" while enforcement procedures were beefed up . In addition to the increased staffing, complaints are now tracked by computer.

pri;ate practitioners covered by insurance pay an average 5,829 a year for such protec- tion) Extent of the bar' disc1plmary problelllli cam to public attention in 1985 with a sting• ing ri of tories in The San Francisco Examm r. A team of investigative reporter d1 covered that the ranks of California's 95,000 licensed lawyers included many who themselv had been convicted of crimes, most mvolvmg cheating of clients. One had burglarized his client's market. Other included a drug smuggler, a stock windier, the bagman in a bribery scheme - even a child mole ter. The Examiner found that these and many lesser offenders had urvived California's system for lawyer dis- c1phne and till were doing business. Indeed, nearly five times more members

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debate.

SanDiegansonpanelsmcludt'd' •Chief Judge Gordon Thomp• son on "Unraveling the Mysteries

Judith Copeland plowed through a novel about Hong Kong during the Conference of Delegates; a non-San Diego dele- gate did the crossword puzzle as Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas spoke. County Bar publicist Jan Hey- ing found good restaurants - again. USD law professor Bob Fellmeth showed up as a last mmute substitute for Board of Governors member Richard An- notico on a panel tt 1 ct "Why Are They Saying All Those Terrible Things About Lawyers?" Said Bar discipline monitor ~'ellmeth: Law- yers can't "get rid of the attorney discipline problem by a public rela-

ernment at all levels. Vernon Hunt heads the of Fedecal Court." Al Hartunian Orange County Bar Association, fastest of Luce, Forward, a member of the growing in the state. He takes a dim view of State Bar's Committee on Federal

the reform movement.

Courts, helped put the session to- gether •Lee McElvary on "Written

"There's absolutely no need for it - the public isn't demanding it," Hunt told the ABA Journal. "Yet, the state bar is going to

force it on us. The sole reason is public rela- Fee Ai,'t"Pements: Prevention and tions. This is just another of those trendy Resolution < 1 1 Attorney,Chent Fee things we're screwing up our profession Disputes:· with.'' •Stacey Sullivan on "Practic- But what about the P.R. of all those law- ing Ethically and Successfully." yer jokes? D •Judge Thomas Murphy on· 7 "Survivors Benefits of Retirement Plans in Marital Dissolutitm." Jon Epstein on "Superman and Other Short Subjects."

Uon 1 V. n [){! rlin r pr go Count_v d,.,tnct m CongT

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) San Diego Un ion (Cir. D. 217 ,089) (Cir. S. 341,840) s 1988

Judith Copeland, Jim Hen- nenhoefer, Helen Rowe and Jim Talley on "Knowing the Law ls Not Enough." Rebecca Prater modE

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San DI go, CA (San Diego Co.) San Diego Newslln (Cir. W. 15 000)

~ros soccer - The host USO men's team beat Cal S~te San Bernardino, 4-0. The Toreros' scorers were Enc Deutsch, JasoE,_Pearson, Denis Langhans and Trong Nguyen. ~o/<-j 5'

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San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217 089) (Cir. S. 341,840 )

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Ralph Nader says no to no-fault, yes on 103

R .;z~~k :1lph Na(l<-r, ln1r< pid idol of the <,,11,1111H'r 1110,t·11wnt, took part in a dc- h;ltt' on the five h:11!01 lnsurann· inltia IIH'' :11 I SD on 'iqit(·mher 18. Nader :uh OGllf St:hool of I l\\ and the San Di, go I t\\ ~rnv. Complc-trrr.imcripts of th<· 1·1 fnt arc .11;1il.1hl, for Sr; thro11gh the IJSD I.aw S1 hnol I or addil ional information on Prop Ill~. rdu to the :11ti1 It- 111 N,•11·s- lJ m•, ( p:tgc· t" o J in last \In-k's issue(. t·p 11 1t1IH·r 20), or n,nlall \'otcr lkrolt to I 111 l11,11r.11H(' l(:11<· (2 1) 1) O'; IO), I 119 I 111\u-sl11 i\H' S1111<• 21H, S,tn l>iq;o, ( 1 • '10-\. I he 10-\ < ampaign urgent I} lltTds 1110111) for gr,1,sroots out1e:u h I he ,, ill nor lw ,1hil• ro :tfford tcln is ion 111111 I ht in ur.rnc I ir1d1"t[) 11 ill ,ptrtd o\t-r i mill ton to< onf11s1 .tnd spr!'ad 11111r.1gt 011 lit", In their ,111',·1 llslng. r 1 :1> I ;m School (a< 1Ing) lka11 (, rant ~!orris ,.1id rh.11 .1 total nfah1111t ~.,~ rnil- 111111 ,, HI ht· 'f>< nt for ;rnd :1g:1lnst all fh 1· 111 11r.1111 f proposlrlon,, r11111t· lh:111 on .111 t·h-, '""' to

companies." "Insurers have on the ballot (Prop. 104) a provision (of 24,000 words) that will rewrite the insurance laws in the im- age of Aetna and Signa and State Farm. it will cul the rights of people to challenge insurance company bad faith and practice .. If that isn't enough, it is pushing Prop. 106 which is designed to make certain not that lawyers don't make too much money but that ther be forced to make so little on contingency that they can't afford to take a complex personal injury suit or class-action en- , 1ronmental suit-some of which take ten years of arduous legal labor. That "ill tic the hands of the victim who is trying to get a qualified, f"rsistent law- ) er to fight the insurance companies :md manufacturers, and Prop. l06 will allow the manufacturers and insurers to pay their lawyers as mud, :1s thn w:rnt to." l.ook for more commrnts h) 0 Nader :md information on Prop. IOj in this space later. Jackson Browne sings for Christie Institute Rock/folk superstar singer, peace and social justice activist Jackson Browne, his band and special guests are on tour to benefit the Christie lnstitutc's Iran/contra im·estigative project and the I.a Pcnca L'lwsuit. Please attend and sup- port the benefit concert when Jackson Browne appears in San Diego on Satur- day, 1\ovember 5. The exciting program is at 8 PM, Civic Theatre in the Commu- nity Con<:oursc (downtown, Third i\v. at B St). Tickets for the concert will he available through Tickctmaster and Mad Jack"s stereo stores. A very special recep- tion will follow the concert backstage where guests will personally meet Jack- son Browne, other celebrities and Chris- tic Institute leaders. Tickets for the reception ($100.) include a prime scat for the concert, refreshments and a chance to discuss with celebrities and Chri.stic organizers how George Bush has been involved with Noriega, drug peddling, the contras, the Ayatollah, and with the terrorists and assassin s that make up the "shadow government'" which is intent on sub,crting the U.S. Constitution, the will of Congress and the Am<-rkan people. Community leaders and philan-