Legal events


Coalition of Bar Associations 2013

L to R: Bill Simonitsch, NAPABA incoming President-Elect; Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, NNABA Immediate Past-President; Peter Reyes, Jr., HNMA National President; Linda Benally, NNABA President-Elect; Wendy Shiba, NAPABA President; Patricia Rosier, NBA President-Elect; and Miguel Alexander Pozo, HNBA National President-Elect.

Recently, I heard from numerous bar leaders about a noteworthy event that occurred in Washington, DC—and that has implications for Arizona.

This past month, an annual gathering of the Coalition of Bar Associations of Color occurred. A press release describes it below. It’s worth noting that Arizona lawyers take a leadership rolw in the organization.

The Coalition “was established in 1992 and is comprised of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the National Bar Association (NBA), and the National Native American Bar Association (NNABA).”

I have also heard conversation about the possibility of the NNABA moving its national headquarters to Arizona. I have followed up on that and hope to share news from NNABA leaders as details firm up.

Here is the announcement about the annual meeting:

Coalition Of Bar Associations Holds Annual Meeting

Meets With White House Officials and Congressional Representatives to

Address Issues Affecting Communities of Color

WASHINGTON – This week, the Coalition of Bar Associations of Color (CBAC) gathered in Washington, DC, for its Annual Meeting. CBAC’s leaders discussed key issues affecting communities of color, including immigration reform, voter suppression, and judicial vacancies. This year’s Annual Meeting included visits with key executive branch officials and members of Congress, including meetings with U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, and high-level staffers from the offices of Senators Patrick Leahy, Orin Hatch, and Marco Rubio.

CBAC was established in 1992 and is comprised of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the National Bar Association (NBA), and the National Native American Bar Association (NNABA). CBAC meets annually every spring so that leaders from its member organizations can discuss issues of mutual concern and advocate in support of their shared interests.

“We will continue to work with Congress and the White House to find solutions to issues of concern for the benefit of our country, including the dire need for immigration reform,” said Peter M. Reyes Jr., president of HNBA. “Our mission is to ensure that generations of future lawyers are given the opportunity to make a difference within their respective communities.”

“The CBAC annual meeting provides us with the opportunity to collaborate with other bar associations of color and put forth a collective effort to remain engaged on critical issues, particularly on diversifying the bench and bar,” said Patricia Rosier, president-elect of NBA and host of this year’s CBAC meeting. “For over 20 years, CBAC has demonstrated the importance of and need for our collective efforts and every year our message grows in clarity and strength.”

 “Our participation in CBAC provides a unique opportunity for NAPABA and the other national bars of color to collaborate on issues that are of critical importance to Asian Pacific Americans and all of our communities,” said Wendy C. Shiba, president of NAPABA. “We stand stronger together, and this week we collectively advocated for the confirmation of highly accomplished judicial candidates who would further diversify the federal bench, legislation and initiatives to combat human trafficking, and passage of commonsense immigration reform that emphasizes family unity and an earned pathway to citizenship.”

“The lack of knowledge about federal Indian law and tribal law affects how Native Americans fare in the federal court system,” said Linda Benally, president-elect of NNABA. “While NNABA applauds the recent confirmation of a Native Hawaiian to the federal bench, there currently is not a single Native American serving as an Article III judge. NNABA – working along with its CBAC partners – is committed to ensuring that opportunities are provided for Native Americans within the judiciary and the legal profession.”

State Bar of Arizona BLI graduates 2013

2013 BLI Graduates—Back row, L to R: Brad Martin, Blair Moses, Elizabeth Kruschek, Buck Rocker, Doreen McPaul, Ray Ybarra Maldonado. Front row, L to R: Chris Tozzo, Tabatha LaVoie, Nicole Ong, Laura Huff, Annamarie Frank, Cid Kallen, Jessica Sanchez. Not pictured: Heather Baker.

The newest class of the State Bar of Arizona Bar Leadership Institute graduated last Friday. As always, it was a noteworthy event marking the accomplishments of a talented group of lawyers.

You may already know about the BLI, but here is a description of the program:

BLI graduation 2013 1 sign“The Bar Leadership Institute is a nine-month program designed to foster the professional growth and enhance the leadership skills of a diverse group of Arizona attorneys. The purpose is to increase participation and visibility in the State Bar and the community-at-large among historically under-represented groups, with an emphasis on racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability and geographic diversity. In 2009 the Bar Leadership Institute was selected by the American Bar Association to receive its prestigious Partnership Award.”

More detail is here.

Speakers at the graduation stressed the qualities of leadership exemplified by the attorney graduates.

State Bar President Amelia Craig Cramer praised the attorneys, and she thanked them for their continued participation in the work of the Bar.

State Bar of Arizona President Amelia Craig Cramer, May 10, 2013

State Bar of Arizona President Amelia Craig Cramer, May 10, 2013

CEO John Phelps urged the graduates to value the friendships and connections they forged through the BLI program.

“That network of leaders is something special,” he said. “Take advantage of that friendship; nurture it. You’ve had the opportunity to connect with others in this special program.”

State Bar of Arizona CEO John Phelps, May 10, 2013

State Bar of Arizona CEO John Phelps, May 10, 2013

With a laugh, he concluded, “You’re part of the club now. Be sure to use your club membership.”

Elena Nethers, the Bar’s Diversity and Outreach Advisor, reminded graduates, their families and supporters that the BLI is designed to “enable people to attain their full potential.”

This year, she reported, the 14 graduates arose from a pool of 60 applicants.

Bar Governor Lisa Loo praised the program and the attorneys, taking the time to introduce audience member Henry Ong, a Bar member since 1972. He has been an active participant in the activities of multiple bars, Lisa pointed out. And for good measure, he is the father of Nicole Ong, one of this year’s BLI grads.

Also attending the event was BLI chair and attorney Booker Evans, Jr.

If you are interested in being part of this successful initiative (for yourself or someone else), be sure to share and complete the Bar Leadership Institite application for the coming year’s class. The application is due by June 28.

State Bar Governor Lisa Loo and BLI chair Booker Evans, Jr., at the 2013 BLI graduation

State Bar Governor Lisa Loo and BLI chair Booker Evans, Jr., at the 2013 BLI graduation

Phoenix City Council panel Urban Choices Phx We WantThis week, Phoenix residents and those interested in good and responsive government (including, I hope, lawyers) may attend a few panel discussions that will signal their city’s possible direction. The events sponsored by the group Urban Choices will include candidates for two City Council districts.

I’m pleased to report that I will be moderating both discussions, to occur on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

Phoenix City Council panel Urban Choices Levine Machine, 605 E. Grant

Levine Machine, 605 E. Grant, Phoenix

The “community conversations” with candidates from Districts 4 and 8 aim to address topics of most interest to downtown residents and businesses. They include developing economic models that focus on diverse, new industries rather than a single cyclical real estate industry; and getting big successes out of transit-oriented development.

As organizers say, “Our collective goal is to ensure we get ‘The PHX We Want’ through the best possible elected representation.”

City Council panel Urban Choices Playhouse on the Park, 1850 N. Central

Playhouse on the Park, 1850 N. Central, Phoenix

Please mark your calendar and plan to attend. Invite your friends and colleagues as well.

More information, including an agenda, map, and RSVP, is available on the Facebook event invitations (click the links below for more information):

Read the complete flier and information below.

If you can’t attend, feel free to send me a question or two that you’d like me to ask the candidates.

Phoenix City Council panel Urban Choices Invitation revised

Arizona Attorney's "End Notes," from the early 2000s.

Arizona Attorney’s “End Notes,” from the early 2000s.

One of the biggest challenges every magazine faces is: What do you do with your back page?

Specifically, that means the inside back page, typically the last “edit” page in the magazine, followed by a page or more of advertising. After the cover and the contents page, it is typically the most-read page in a magazine (aside from lawyer discipline, in our case!).

When I started at Arizona Attorney Magazine years ago, we tried a variety of things, including a page dedicated to legal trivia (and even incorporating a quiz), called “End Notes.” But as time went on, we gravitated back to a traditional inside last page with commentary from folks we thought readers would appreciate (or respond to, or both). We call the page The Last Word.

Our “stable” of regularly recurring columnists has varied, but it has stayed the same over the past few years (though we are open to ideas for people to add as a regular columnists; send a note to me at arizona.attorney@azbar.org).

Over time, though, we found that there were more diverse voices among Arizona lawyers that should be shared. These are those people who may have no interest in writing regularly, but who have one great and compelling column in them. They have a message they feel should be conveyed. Aside from a letter to the editor, where is the magazine space for them?

Arizona lawyer Don Bayles. Jr.

Arizona lawyer Don Bayles. Jr.

That’s when we developed My Last Word—identical in appearance and word count to The last Word, but open to any lawyer who has something to say. (Like all content, submissions are reviewed for appropriateness, timeliness and relevance.)

If you or someone you know is interested in pursuing a column, write to me (arizona.attorney@azbar.org).

The May issue contains a compelling example of My Last Word. Written by Don Bayles, Jr., it addresses the heartbreaking problem of violence against women and girls in Indian reservations. The challenges include jurisdiction and vast distances, and they are substantial.

Here is how Don opened his column:

domestic violence“Horrific violence toward women and children on southwestern tribal lands continues to disappoint. Up to 90 percent of girls in Hopi villages can expect to be sexually molested, according to a September 2012 interview with Arlene Honanie, the wife of the tribe’s vice chairman. Ms. Honanie said that this happens, at least in part, because offenders are so rarely punished. A nearby advocate for reservation victims offered a similar observation in cases involving the Navajo Nation. Speaking to a New York Times reporter, Caroline Antone said, ‘I know only a couple of people who have not been raped, out of hundreds.’ If these reports are even roughly accurate, the Rule of Law within our adjacent Indian nations has lost credibility. As one human rights leader has said, ‘If you’re not safe, nothing else matters.’”

You should read Don’s entire column, here.

8 play by Dustin Lance Black in AZAs I sidled my way last night past the crowds into the Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix, I must admit I was skeptical. An entire play constructed mainly of a trial transcript? Really?

Anyone who has been to a trial or two knows you would need a genius writer to make that come together into dramatic arts. And so the play “8” had one: Dustin Lance Black had whittled a trial into an evening that was provocative, funny and compelling.

I mentioned the play last Friday, and I was pleased that my family and I were able to attend. “8” tells the story of the trial over the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage.

Black drew on his mondo skills to shape a play comprised almost entirely of the trial transcript. There are a few moments that are tough sledding, especially, I imagine, for the many nonlawyers in the house. Arguing over the standard of review is often a game-changer in a case, but it’s an oddly shaped building block in crafting compelling theater.

Performers in the play 8, Herberger Center Theatre, Phoenix, May 7, 2013

Performers in the play 8, Herberger Center Theatre, Phoenix, May 7, 2013

There are only a few of those moments, though. The craft and the words selected were amazing. And what consistently impressed was the quality of the performances. Non-actors almost all, the cast delivered a rousing and entirely convincing play.

I know that one actor–director was cast, to fabulous results. Ron May is the founder and artistic director of Stray Cat Theatre, and his rendition of a witness was wow-inspiring. Cast as David Blankenhorn, May encapsulated eloquently the ideologue who had never been challenged to defend his beliefs before he sat in a witness chair. As he is cross-examined by David Boies of Bush v. Gore fame (played superbly by lawyer and Phoenix Councilman Tom Simplot), bluster turns to anger turns to frustration turns to near-total capitulation. As the steam escapes from Blankenhorn’s pompous world view, the state’s case deflates before the audience’s eyes. If there’s one thing we know, it’s more Ron May, please.

View from Balcony, Row EE (hint: buy tickets earlier).

View from Balcony, Row EE (hint: buy tickets earlier).

The strong performing continued with the attorneys. Amazing work was delivered by Grant Woods (as Ted Olson), Nicole France Stanton (as plaintiff Sandy Stier), Terry Goddard (as trial Judge Vaughn Walker), and Bill Sheppard.

A marvelous moment occurred after the play and during a brief audience-question session. One man (whom I couldn’t see from the nosebleed section) rose to praise Grant Woods. The speaker said that when he was a young Assistant Attorney General 23 years ago, he had serious concerns about being a gay man in the large public agency. But he said that Woods had told him that all he would ever be judged on in that office was merit, the quality of his work. That compelling memory led to a standing ovation for the former Attorney General, which grew to include his own fellow performers.

(Years ago, I had the chance to appear on the Herberger stage in a father–daughter performance with our wonderfully ever-patient Willa. I thought I had turned in a pretty good show. But then I saw Grant Woods get a well-deserved standing ovation, so I think I’m done.)

Grant Woods gets a standing ovation, Herberger Theatre Center, May 7, 2013.

Grant Woods gets a standing ovation, Herberger Theatre Center, May 7, 2013.

My family and I greatly enjoyed the show. And I must add what especially struck me (caution: lawyer moment approaching):

It was remarkable to see, via the true-to-life transcripts, the power that an actual trial may have. In an age when trials are rarer and rarer and they are derided as the ultimate failure of negotiated resolution, it’s worth remembering that truth often peeks out of that ancient construct. Outside the courtroom, lying, puffery, bullying and rants may win the day. But seated in that witness chair, required to endure a series of simple questions, those resting on a crumbling foundation often founder. Except for the sociopathic, misstatements and worse cause discomfort and anxiety when one is required to raise a hand and utter an oath.

Not such a bad message to learn, for lawyers and nonlawyers alike.

Congratulations to all who participated.

8 the Play bare stage

Jeffrey Toobin at John Jay College

Jeffrey Toobin at John Jay College

Here is some pretty cool news from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU: Jeffrey Toobin will be in Tempe on Thursday for a book signing and reception.

His new book is titled The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court.

A few years ago, I had the pleasure to meet Toobin and hear him address a gathering at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He is an impressive thinker, and I always jump to his article when I spy one in a new New Yorker.

Here is more information from the law school:

CNN senior analyst Jeffrey Toobin, one of the nation’s top experts on politics, media and the law, will sign copies of his newest book at an event, hosted by the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, on Thursday, May 9, in Tempe. Toobin’s appearance is the 2013 Willard H. Pedrick Society Event, named for the founding dean of the College of Law.

Jeffrey Toobin book The OathThe book-signing is at 4:30 p.m., followed by a reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Abbey Room at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, 60 E. Fifth St.  Earlier in the afternoon, Toobin will deliver the keynote address at the College of Law’s convocation at Gammage Auditorium on ASU’s Tempe campus.

Toobin’s book, The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court, is a sequel to his best-seller, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. The Oath is a gripping insider’s account of the momentous ideological war between the John Roberts Supreme Court and the Obama administration.

Toobin, a staff writer for The New Yorker, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, and is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Ticket prices for the event, which include a copy of The Oath, are $50 for general audiences, $30 for Pedrick Society members and $20 for students. To obtain tickets, visit here.

For more information, email law.development@asu.edu or call (480) 965-3096. (And click image below for larger version of flier.)

Jeffrey Toobin_flier for ASU Law School

Gary Stuart speaks on Miranda rights

Gary Stuart speaks on Miranda rights.

How central is Miranda to our constellation of rights? When and how would we ever agree it would be acceptable to abrogate the rights gathered under the Miranda rubric?

That issue never arises on the easy cases, of course. In the workaday world, every police officer in the United States knows that the reading of the Miranda rights is an essential part of their role.

Arrests following a terror attack are not the easy cases.

That’s what we saw after the arrest of a suspect in the bombings at the Boston Marathon. The federal government announced that it was interrogating the suspect in advance of reading his rights.

We’ve understood for years that there may be emergencies that militate toward questioning-before-rights. For instance, if officials believed there could be timed explosive devices secreted around the city, they arguably should begin questioning immediately. Time will help explain if that is the situation that faced officials.

This Sunday, Gary Stuart examined the uneasy choices we make when we set aside basic rights. Gary is an experienced lawyer and author of Miranda: The Story of America’s Right To Remain Silent.”

In his Arizona Republic op-ed, he traces the history of Miranda and subsequent rulings that have carved out exceptions to the rights.

Cagily, he leaves his powerful conclusion for the last three paragraphs. In case you are as impatient as I am, here they are:

“We should be wary about doctrinaire Miranda compliance in terrorist cases, especially where the public safety is at risk—as the Boston Marathon bombing clearly was.”

“Even so, balancing too far in favor of gathering intelligence by minimizing suspects’ rights might reverse five decades of Miranda application. While we want to win the war on terrorism, it cannot come at the price of returning to the bad old days before Miranda, when law enforcement was silent on the rights of suspects.”

“If law enforcement is silent and suspects are not, we might advance the war. But if domestic suspects have no rights, especially in terrorist cases, then those seeking to destroy democracy itself and replace it with a radically fundamental theocracy will have obtained one of their objectives.”

Read Gary’s entire editorial here.

What are your thoughts? Do we risk too much when we allow the pendulum to swing? Or does the government adopt a permissible position when it acts as it did in Boston?

8 play by Dustin Lance Black in AZAn Arizona production of a nationally recognized play will be staged next Tuesday, May 7, and include a cast of leading residents, including at least three attorneys. As of April 11, three local attorneys had agreed to perform: Bill Sheppard, Nicole Stanton and Grant Woods. Others who were slated include Cindy McCain.

The play, titled “8,” was written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and it “chronicles the historic federal trial challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage.” A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court is expected in late June.

A play written about a court case? Well, it’s in good company (try To Kill a Mockingbird, Inherit the Wind and 12 Angry Men, for starters).

Tickets are $50 and $35 and can be purchased through the Arizona Theatre Company or Ticketmaster. As organizers say, “Following the performance, there will be a short discussion between Black, others and the audience on the issues presented in the trial.”

You can read more about the play here.

In a New York Times story, the writer described the play and his process:

“The play consists mostly of verbatim dialogue and statements from the trial transcript, [writer Dustin Lance] Black said, as well as his own observations from sitting in the courtroom most days and interviewing people on both sides of the case.”

“Roughly a dozen people from the trial are portrayed as characters, including Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, the lawyers for the two gay couples who sued California over the ban; Charles J. Cooper, the lead defense counsel; Kristin M. Perry and Sandra B. Stier, a lesbian couple who were among the plaintiffs; and the judge, Vaughn R. Walker of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California.”

“Mr. Black, who won an Oscar in 2009 for his original screenplay about the life and assassination of Harvey Milk, a gay man on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said he became determined to write the play after the United States Supreme Court blocked the trial judge’s plan to broadcast the hearings over the Internet.”

And here is how the producers describe the legally based play:

Dustin Lance Black Prop 8 play

Dustin Lance Black

“‘8’—a new play by Academy-award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar)—demystifies the debate around marriage equality by chronicling the landmark trial of Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Hollingsworth v. Perry). Learn about the historical context of marriage from expert testimony. See the human cost of discrimination. Uncover the arguments used to justify bans on marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Using the actual court transcripts from the landmark federal trial of California’s Prop. 8 and firsthand interviews, ‘8’ shows both sides of the debate in a moving 90-minute play.”

“The Arizona production of ‘8’ announced the addition of five leading Valley residents to the cast.  Local actor Damon Bolling, producer/singer David Burrola, former TV news anchor Marlene Galan, former State Representative Steve May and Phoenix attorney and arts advocate Bill Sheppard will join the previously announced cast members for the May 7 presentation of ’8′ at the Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix.”

“Previous cast members announced include Black, Tony-nominated Broadway actor Rory O’Malley, CNN and ESPN commentator LZ Granderson and LGBT activist and AIDS Memorial Quilt creator Cleve Jones. Arizonans in the cast include business and community leader Cindy McCain, attorney and Phoenix First Lady Nicole Stanton, radio and TV personality Pat McMahon, former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, State Senator Jack Jackson Jr. and Phoenix City Councilman Tom Simplot.”

“‘8’ will be produced by the Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) and directed by Matthew Wiener, Producing Artistic Director of Actors Theatre-Phoenix. Former Tempe mayor and current San Francisco AIDS Foundation Chief Executive Officer Neil Giuliano is the executive producer.”

Again, here is the ticket information, through the Arizona Theatre Company or Ticketmaster.

Follow the Arizona production of “8” on Facebook.

Have a great weekend.

Above the Law law school rankings 2013Who wants to fight? Or, to put it more bluntly, who’s ready to discuss another ranking of law school quality?

In my experience, the gloves come off when attorneys chat about law school rankings, especially the one generated by US News & World Report (or, as those scorched law school administrators who won’t utter the title call it, Voldemort).

A lot rides on those rankings—for the schools. But even for those who earned their law school sheepskin long ago, the topic can cause rancor. Call it pride, loyalty or pissing rights, but many lawyers get right up in your grill when it is pointed out that their alma mater is ranked poorly or—heaven forbid—unranked.

To make matters even more challenging, the latest ranking comes to us from Above the Law. If you’ve ever read their coverage, you know that the authors are snarkily uninterested in your delicate feelings—and that’s when they write a run-of-the-mill news story. But turn them loose on law school rankings, and watch out.

To give you an idea of their boisterous approach to an endeavor that is typically veddy veddy stuffy, here is their opening paragraph:

“Most people attend law school to obtain jobs as lawyers. (Not butchers or bakers, or candlestick makers.)”

“If law school was just a cool place to chill out for a few years without building specific job skills, they’d call it ‘college.’ Jobs are important, and we think that law schools should be competing to place students in the best jobs, not the best libraries. And given the cost of obtaining legal education, we want to know which law schools put you in jobs that pay you money, instead of jobs the law school pays for. With that in mind we present our inaugural ATL Top 50 Law School Rankings.”

That opener is followed by a great graphic that explains their rubric in a visual way. After that, plunge in and read the rankings themselves.

If you’re not simmering (or cheering) after that, and you still want to enjoy the rankings game, be sure to read the burgeoning list of comments that follow the ATL rankings. Angry, much?

And as an added lure to entice you to scan the rankings, there’s this: Exactly one-third of Arizona’s law schools appear on this new list—barely. (Now you’ve got to look.)

How do you think their editors did? Do you agree with their rubric? How about their results? Let me know your thoughts at arizona.attorney@azbar.org.

State Bar employees Mirna Lerma, Ayde Gutierrez, Sulema Bucio and Mabel Ramirez at the TV studio for A Su Lado.

State Bar employees Mirna Lerma, Ayde Gutierrez, Sulema Bucio and Mabel Ramirez at the TV studio for A Su Lado.

I regularly share updates from my State Bar of Arizona colleague Alberto Rodriguez, especially as they relate to the Lawyers on Call program. That is a call-in program through which thousands of Arizonans have had their legal questions answered.

Mabel Ramirez interviewed during A Su Lado.

Mabel Ramirez interviewed during A Su Lado.

Last week, the Bar offered a twist on the lawyer call-in approach. Instead, on April 24 a team of terrific Bar employees answered questions that they are adept at answering. Congratulations and thanks to the four wonderful women who responded to the calls. Here is Alberto’s description:

The State Bar of Arizona and Univision 33 hosted a special edition of A Su Lado (On Your Side) on Wednesday, April 24. Univision 33 kicked-off their sweeps period with a special consumer protection phone bank and news story that featured the State Bar of Arizona and members of the Resource Center team. Resource Center Supervisor Mabel Ramirez was interviewed during the 5 p.m. newscast and offered helpful tips to help guide viewers in finding a lawyer, verifying lawyer membership, and filing a Bar/UPIL complaint.

The following is a recap from the public service program:

Date: April 24, 2013

Topic: State Bar of Arizona’s Consumer Protection Services and the Law Day Legal Aid Clinic

Univision 33 logoPhone Bank Team: Sulema Bucio, Ayde Gutierrez, Mirna Lerma and Mabel Ramirez

Summary: The RC team answered an impressive 85 calls during the two-hour phone bank focused on the Bar’s consumer protection services. The following is a small sample of the questions that were received:

  • Does the Bar offer free legal advice or referrals?
  • How can I file a complaint against an attorney?
  • Can you verify if the attorney I’m working with is an actual attorney?
  • Can you tell me more about the Law Day Legal Aid Clinics?
  • Several callers were asking for legal advice and were referred to the Law Day Legal Aid Clinics.

The Resource Center team members were first-time participants. They were satisfied with the quality of the questions overall and were excited to have participated in the A Su Lado public service program. Calls were consistent from 5 to 7 p.m., which led to another successful phone bank.

State Bar Resource Center staff take callers' questions during A Su Lado.

State Bar Resource Center staff take callers’ questions during A Su Lado.

Next Page »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,583 other followers