By Jack Leonard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer - June 6, 2008
Rare is the case that lands a defense attorney behind bars with his client. But that's what happened to lawyer Stephen Charles Hollingsworth this week. His alleged crime: tardiness.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John J. Cheroske was so frustrated with Hollingsworth arriving at court late -- or sometimes not at all -- that he threw him in jail as a way of ensuring that the attorney would show up for court on time.
The judge allowed Hollingsworth out briefly to defend his client at a hearing on a murder charge, marking what court officials say could be the first time that one jail inmate had been represented by another.
Once the hearing was over, the defendant and his attorney were led back to the cells.
Hollingsworth spent Monday and Tuesday in jail until Cheroske ordered his release Wednesday morning after a court hearing in which the attorney appeared wearing handcuffs and a yellow jailhouse uniform.
The events have sparked outrage among those involved and created a stir in the busy Compton courthouse.
Court officials say the judge's actions marked the sixth time Hollingsworth had been cited for lateness, failure to appear in court and other strange courtroom behavior. The mother of Hollingsworth's client complains that her son wasn't adequately represented at his hearing. And Hollingsworth contends he was illegally jailed and manhandled by other inmates before he was housed on his own.
"It was a false imprisonment," said his lawyer, Manuel Eli Gonzalez. "He may have been late, but I don't believe that deserves a three-day hold in the County Jail with a bunch of known felons."
Gonzalez said Hollingsworth told the judge he was late because of knee and shoulder problems. Gonzalez said Hollingsworth, 41, has explained that the injuries happened in the last two years while he was practicing taekwondo. He was training for the Olympics, Gonzalez said.
But court officials and prosecutors said they have grown tired of Hollingsworth's excuses.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Frisco said Hollingsworth frequently appeared late for court, or not at all on two cases he handled. On one occasion, he said, the defense attorney walked in with a limp, leaning on a cane, and blamed his being late on a knee injury.
"Then someone called him from the audience and he walked up to them, forgetting his crutches and his limp," Frisco said.
Frisco said the judge told Hollingsworth he would notify the State Bar of California about possible disciplinary action.
Hollingsworth, who has been a licensed attorney in California since 1999, is no stranger to discipline. In recent years, records show, the State Bar has accused him of various types of misconduct, including incompetence and misappropriating at least $2,643 from a client.
Kathleen Beitiks, a State Bar spokeswoman, said Hollingsworth is participating in the agency's alternative discipline program, which addresses "the substance abuse and mental health issues" of attorneys facing sanctions. She declined to comment further, citing privacy rules.
Three judges in Compton and Pomona have sanctioned Hollingsworth over his lateness or failure to appear, said Allan Parachini, a court spokesman. "This is a disturbing pattern that attracted the attention of judges, who did something about it," Parachini said.
In the latest case, Hollingsworth was representing Dashaun Finister, who is charged in the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old man during a home-invasion robbery in February. He has pleaded not guilty.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Laura Walton-Everett said Hollingsworth was late for a scheduled preliminary hearing May 7. The hearing was rescheduled to May 28, but Hollingsworth failed to show up.
Court staff called two phone numbers he had given them, but neither worked, she said. Meanwhile, witnesses in the murder case had to be sent home. The judge, she said, was not happy. "He was in disbelief," she said.
Cheroske ordered a warrant for Hollingsworth's arrest. The judge demanded that he appear in court at 8:30 a.m. for Finister's new hearing, which he set for Monday. Hollingsworth showed up at 9:05 a.m., wearing a rumpled suit over a T-shirt, with no tie,
Walton-Everett said. Cheroske found him in contempt of court and had him taken into custody, records show.
The judge asked Finister if he wanted a new lawyer, but Finister said he would stick with Hollingsworth. The lawyer was brought out and allowed to continue with the hearing. Cheroske ruled that Finister should stand trial for murder.
Finister's mother said that she was furious with Hollingsworth and that she believed his problems had hurt her son in court.
"He's supposed to be representing my son and then he's in jail? It doesn't look right for my son's case," Eugenia Winston said. "I'm very upset . . . . And my son is upset."
Cheroske declined to comment.
Hollingsworth is scheduled to appear in court July 24 to learn whether he will be sanctioned further.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Speaking of Ethics Accentuate the Positive
by William I. Weston - a professor of law
Dean College of Legal Studies at Kaplan University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
After several years of hard work, hearings, and discussion, the Nonlawyer Practice Commission, along with the able leadership of the staff of the Center for Professional Responsibility, has published its long-awaited report. This very well-written report should be read by every lawyer in the ABA and especially by every solo and small firm practitioner. The main drawback of the report is that the commission was so fractured and so consumed by the problem of how to deliver legal services to poor people that it could not develop suggested implementation strategies. That work will be the next phase and will be accomplished by the committees of the Center for Professional Responsibility.
Like any report, this one is only words on paper unless and until the reader comprehends the underlying issue. In this case, the underlying issue, which can be compared to a speeding train about to run over the legal profession, is the Nonlawyer Practice Special, and it is racing into our station right now. Those within the profession who will be hit the hardest and have the most to lose are the solo practitioners. However, solos also have a great opportunity to make the changes necessary to keep the delivery of legal services within the legal profession.
Why has law practice by laypersons developed so quickly? Today, the profession finds itself in a situation that could be defined as an economist's dream. There is a tremendous supply of lawyers ready and able to provide legal services and there is a tremendous need for legal help. Yet despite this idyllic situation, lawyers and the organized bar seem helpless to bring the two together. It seems incomprehensible that the legal services traditionally performed by lawyers is increasingly performed either by unlicensed practitioners or by pro se clients. Meanwhile, young lawyers hunger for work.
Every study of legal needs demonstrates clearly that a large segment of the population would be willing to pay some amount for legal services but do not seek the services of a lawyer because of perceptions of fees, lawyer arrogance, and competence. The legal profession seems paralyzed and is living in the shadow of former periods of success during which lawyers were able to act any way they chose and charge almost any amount to achieve results for a client. In addition, the organized bar has focused exclusively on the legal needs of the poor rather than the middle class who can pay something. This is especially true of the ABA and remains true today.
The problem is twofold. First, the decline in the economy has reduced the ability of many people to find "extra" money to pay the high cost of legal services, and consumers have become much more savvy when making economic decisions. Second, lawyers' fees have reached hyperbolic proportions without any relationship to a reasonable economic model of cost and profit.
The result of this situation is an increasingly restless public in desperate need of legal services in order to solve problems in their lives. There are people who want to divorce or resolve custody and support disputes but who cannot afford the legal services. Because the only way to resolve family disputes is with a lawyer, these individuals are forced to abandon their position or, increasingly, to represent themselves. There are people who sign contracts daily that bind them to major obligations who have no idea what the contract provides and who believe, correctly or not, that they cannot afford to secure that advice from a lawyer. The failure of the profession to reevaluate the paradigms of law practice and to make significant changes has created a Hobson's choice for most middle class individuals--proceeding pro se, seeking the advice of someone who is not licensed to practice, or not proceeding at all.
This failure by lawyers to change has resulted in a vacuum Because of this, a new industry of services by individuals other than lawyers has evolved. Sometimes called nonlawyers, they are in fact individuals with varying degrees of experience and education who offer help to citizens to solve their legal problems. Whether these services are "legal services" or not is a semantic matter. However, it is clear that many of these services were historically performed by lawyers, yet are not currently being provided by lawyers.
In some states, such activities by individuals without a license is called unauthorized law practice and is prosecuted under criminal statutes. In some states, lay practitioners have a right to engage in the delivery of some services historically offered by lawyers. In both situations, there is a good deal more of the lay practice than anyone cares to admit. For the public, there is a tremendous risk involved in accepting the services provided by unlicensed and unsupervised lay practitioners. Surprisingly, many members of the public believe that these practitioners are licensed and regulated and they are appalled to learn that there is no regulatory process.
However, this situation can and should be viewed positively. The rush of individual clients to lay practitioners, the growth in the number of lawyers, and the legal needs studies afford the bar an opportunity to take a fresh look at the practice from the ground up.
The first paradigm where this review must occur is in law schools. Despite the advent of clinical education, internships, and new courses, most students are still trained in the traditional Langdell method of the recitation of appellate cases. Most students do not take advantage of clinical education or internships unless forced to do so. Because law school curricula have been decimated to allow for esoteric courses like "The Law of Developing Nations," students take a potpourri of courses that bypass the traditional general practice fare. First-year courses are being cut to quick, one-semester surveys in order to make room for fancy electives and seminars.
In short, we are still training lawyers to work in major Wall Street firms and to clerk for federal judges while the data indicate that the vast majority of practice opportunities in this country are in the solo and small firm arena; and that most law practice takes place in state courts, not in federal courts. Therefore, legal education must undergo a radical change to fulfill its promise. It must retain the important theoretical foundations, but it must also train people to represent clients.
The second paradigm that must change is legal fees. Lawyers must find new and innovative ways to set a fee that results in a reasonable return for the lawyer but is affordable and reasonable for the client. Most important, that fee must be something that the client really understands. It should be quantifiable and limited so the client knows what the service will cost. Finally, fees have to reflect the limits of the client's ability and willingness to pay. Clients deserve a system where they know the fee at the outset; set fees for simple services will encourage clients to come into the office.
The third paradigm concerns law office organization. By and large, we are still practicing law the same way we did 30 years ago. Although there is some computerization, the fundamental dynamics of the law office remain the same. The players in the office--their titles, roles, and interrelations with the client--are the same as they were 30 years ago. Record keeping remains substantially the same as it was 30 years ago even with the advent of the computer. Paper files, mountains of paper, and yellow pads still mark the traditional law practice. Yet, generations of computers and software have come on the market that could and would give the practitioner the chance to deliver high quality, lost cost services and to keep accurate and complete records without endless file cabinets and expanding folders. Quietly and unobtrusively, data bases have become as sophisticated as word processing, and there is a bevy of software for the law office that organizes and handles all kinds of information.
Lawyers need to consider the allocation of human resources in a different way. A properly trained paraprofessional can conduct basic intake. The lawyer has to invest time, money, and effort in selecting competent paraprofessionals; take steps to fill knowledge and training gaps in the paraprofessional; and take responsibility for the actions of the paraprofessionals. These duties are all reposed in Model Rules 5.1-5.4. The client needs a matter resolved. If the matter can be resolved by the work of a trained and properly supervised paraprofessional, then the client is served at a cost he or she can afford in a manner and venue that provides protection to the client under the lawyer's license.
Instead of saying no to other practice models or ignoring them completely, the bar and individual lawyers must find ways to implement the models and to seek new ones if the nonlawyer speeding train is to be stopped. Most important is protecting the rights of the client--the right to legal services and to competence and protection in the delivery of those services. Lawyers must become "user friendly," client-oriented, and outcome-determined. In other words, legal services have to be delivered in a format that gives the client a sense of well-being and satisfaction at a cost that the client can afford.
Solo and small firm practitioners have to lead the way in designing new forms of law practice that bring technology, high efficiency, and low cost together. Solos have the most to gain from this change. Solos deliver the vast majority of legal services in this country and will benefit immediately from any growth in the available client base. Without action, at risk is the continued role of lawyers--especially solos--as the primary source for the delivery of legal services to clients.
Dean College of Legal Studies at Kaplan University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
After several years of hard work, hearings, and discussion, the Nonlawyer Practice Commission, along with the able leadership of the staff of the Center for Professional Responsibility, has published its long-awaited report. This very well-written report should be read by every lawyer in the ABA and especially by every solo and small firm practitioner. The main drawback of the report is that the commission was so fractured and so consumed by the problem of how to deliver legal services to poor people that it could not develop suggested implementation strategies. That work will be the next phase and will be accomplished by the committees of the Center for Professional Responsibility.
Like any report, this one is only words on paper unless and until the reader comprehends the underlying issue. In this case, the underlying issue, which can be compared to a speeding train about to run over the legal profession, is the Nonlawyer Practice Special, and it is racing into our station right now. Those within the profession who will be hit the hardest and have the most to lose are the solo practitioners. However, solos also have a great opportunity to make the changes necessary to keep the delivery of legal services within the legal profession.
Why has law practice by laypersons developed so quickly? Today, the profession finds itself in a situation that could be defined as an economist's dream. There is a tremendous supply of lawyers ready and able to provide legal services and there is a tremendous need for legal help. Yet despite this idyllic situation, lawyers and the organized bar seem helpless to bring the two together. It seems incomprehensible that the legal services traditionally performed by lawyers is increasingly performed either by unlicensed practitioners or by pro se clients. Meanwhile, young lawyers hunger for work.
Every study of legal needs demonstrates clearly that a large segment of the population would be willing to pay some amount for legal services but do not seek the services of a lawyer because of perceptions of fees, lawyer arrogance, and competence. The legal profession seems paralyzed and is living in the shadow of former periods of success during which lawyers were able to act any way they chose and charge almost any amount to achieve results for a client. In addition, the organized bar has focused exclusively on the legal needs of the poor rather than the middle class who can pay something. This is especially true of the ABA and remains true today.
The problem is twofold. First, the decline in the economy has reduced the ability of many people to find "extra" money to pay the high cost of legal services, and consumers have become much more savvy when making economic decisions. Second, lawyers' fees have reached hyperbolic proportions without any relationship to a reasonable economic model of cost and profit.
The result of this situation is an increasingly restless public in desperate need of legal services in order to solve problems in their lives. There are people who want to divorce or resolve custody and support disputes but who cannot afford the legal services. Because the only way to resolve family disputes is with a lawyer, these individuals are forced to abandon their position or, increasingly, to represent themselves. There are people who sign contracts daily that bind them to major obligations who have no idea what the contract provides and who believe, correctly or not, that they cannot afford to secure that advice from a lawyer. The failure of the profession to reevaluate the paradigms of law practice and to make significant changes has created a Hobson's choice for most middle class individuals--proceeding pro se, seeking the advice of someone who is not licensed to practice, or not proceeding at all.
This failure by lawyers to change has resulted in a vacuum Because of this, a new industry of services by individuals other than lawyers has evolved. Sometimes called nonlawyers, they are in fact individuals with varying degrees of experience and education who offer help to citizens to solve their legal problems. Whether these services are "legal services" or not is a semantic matter. However, it is clear that many of these services were historically performed by lawyers, yet are not currently being provided by lawyers.
In some states, such activities by individuals without a license is called unauthorized law practice and is prosecuted under criminal statutes. In some states, lay practitioners have a right to engage in the delivery of some services historically offered by lawyers. In both situations, there is a good deal more of the lay practice than anyone cares to admit. For the public, there is a tremendous risk involved in accepting the services provided by unlicensed and unsupervised lay practitioners. Surprisingly, many members of the public believe that these practitioners are licensed and regulated and they are appalled to learn that there is no regulatory process.
However, this situation can and should be viewed positively. The rush of individual clients to lay practitioners, the growth in the number of lawyers, and the legal needs studies afford the bar an opportunity to take a fresh look at the practice from the ground up.
The first paradigm where this review must occur is in law schools. Despite the advent of clinical education, internships, and new courses, most students are still trained in the traditional Langdell method of the recitation of appellate cases. Most students do not take advantage of clinical education or internships unless forced to do so. Because law school curricula have been decimated to allow for esoteric courses like "The Law of Developing Nations," students take a potpourri of courses that bypass the traditional general practice fare. First-year courses are being cut to quick, one-semester surveys in order to make room for fancy electives and seminars.
In short, we are still training lawyers to work in major Wall Street firms and to clerk for federal judges while the data indicate that the vast majority of practice opportunities in this country are in the solo and small firm arena; and that most law practice takes place in state courts, not in federal courts. Therefore, legal education must undergo a radical change to fulfill its promise. It must retain the important theoretical foundations, but it must also train people to represent clients.
The second paradigm that must change is legal fees. Lawyers must find new and innovative ways to set a fee that results in a reasonable return for the lawyer but is affordable and reasonable for the client. Most important, that fee must be something that the client really understands. It should be quantifiable and limited so the client knows what the service will cost. Finally, fees have to reflect the limits of the client's ability and willingness to pay. Clients deserve a system where they know the fee at the outset; set fees for simple services will encourage clients to come into the office.
The third paradigm concerns law office organization. By and large, we are still practicing law the same way we did 30 years ago. Although there is some computerization, the fundamental dynamics of the law office remain the same. The players in the office--their titles, roles, and interrelations with the client--are the same as they were 30 years ago. Record keeping remains substantially the same as it was 30 years ago even with the advent of the computer. Paper files, mountains of paper, and yellow pads still mark the traditional law practice. Yet, generations of computers and software have come on the market that could and would give the practitioner the chance to deliver high quality, lost cost services and to keep accurate and complete records without endless file cabinets and expanding folders. Quietly and unobtrusively, data bases have become as sophisticated as word processing, and there is a bevy of software for the law office that organizes and handles all kinds of information.
Lawyers need to consider the allocation of human resources in a different way. A properly trained paraprofessional can conduct basic intake. The lawyer has to invest time, money, and effort in selecting competent paraprofessionals; take steps to fill knowledge and training gaps in the paraprofessional; and take responsibility for the actions of the paraprofessionals. These duties are all reposed in Model Rules 5.1-5.4. The client needs a matter resolved. If the matter can be resolved by the work of a trained and properly supervised paraprofessional, then the client is served at a cost he or she can afford in a manner and venue that provides protection to the client under the lawyer's license.
Instead of saying no to other practice models or ignoring them completely, the bar and individual lawyers must find ways to implement the models and to seek new ones if the nonlawyer speeding train is to be stopped. Most important is protecting the rights of the client--the right to legal services and to competence and protection in the delivery of those services. Lawyers must become "user friendly," client-oriented, and outcome-determined. In other words, legal services have to be delivered in a format that gives the client a sense of well-being and satisfaction at a cost that the client can afford.
Solo and small firm practitioners have to lead the way in designing new forms of law practice that bring technology, high efficiency, and low cost together. Solos have the most to gain from this change. Solos deliver the vast majority of legal services in this country and will benefit immediately from any growth in the available client base. Without action, at risk is the continued role of lawyers--especially solos--as the primary source for the delivery of legal services to clients.
Ethics Training for Paralegals: A Winning Situation for Clients
by William ("Bill") Weston, professor of law
"At the end of the day, ethics training for paralegals means that clients are better served," says Bill Weston.
Weston, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals and chair of the Professionalism and Professional Responsibility Committee for the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division, spoke in anticipation of an Annual Meeting session on ethics training on utilizing paralegals.
Paralegals are professionals qualified by education, training or work experience who are employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is directly responsible.
Weston, who serves as dean of legal studies for a national for-profit university, along with his roles at the ABA, points out that attorneys, including solo practitioners, have a great use for paralegals. "Paralegals can complete forms, do research, interview clients and draft memos," Weston explains. He adds that in specialty practices, such as intellectual property, paralegals can appear in court under certain circumstances.
"Use of paralegals allows lawyers to maximize the productivity of their offices. They present another way for the client to feel taken care of. A common complaint among clients is that they never hear from their lawyers, and that's where paralegals can come into the picture. Paralegals can give updates to clients, ask clients to send in needed documents and assist them in completing forms.
"While doing these routine, but necessary tasks, they can gather information for the lawyer," Weston adds.
More importantly, he says, paralegals are giving the lawyer another touch point with the client, a factor that can help in client retention.
Like lawyers, paralegals are required to continue their education. But unlike lawyers, their continued education can be a mix of training provided by their supervising lawyers and CLE. Because CLE courses for paralegals can be authorized by one or more paralegal associations and because different lawyers fulfill their training obligations in various ways, there is real inadequacy in ongoing training on ethics for paralegals, Weston says.
He notes that ethical situations are rarely instances of black and white, right or wrong. "You might be a paralegal whose lawyer is out of town. You get a call from a client you've worked with who says he just received a letter from the IRS and asks what the letter means. You tell the client you will check with your lawyer and then you try to reach her, but she is not responding to e-mail or voicemail. The client calls back the next day and you can hear the distress in his voice. He pleads with you to tell him what to do. As a paralegal, it is wrong for you to answer the question without consulting with your lawyer."
It is up to lawyers to make sure their paralegals understand this issue as lawyers have fiduciary responsibility for anything the paralegal says as long as the paralegal is in the office. Even if the paralegal tells the client that he or she is acting independently, the lawyer is responsible.
Weston points to the fact that the profession has grown over the past 30 years to where paralegals are valuable members of the legal services team.
Weston hopes that the paralegal job expands throughout the legal profession. "We want to create a climate where legal services are available to more and more people and where clients feel as though they are being well served.
"After all," says Weston, "that's why we're all here—because of the clients."
"At the end of the day, ethics training for paralegals means that clients are better served," says Bill Weston.
Weston, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals and chair of the Professionalism and Professional Responsibility Committee for the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division, spoke in anticipation of an Annual Meeting session on ethics training on utilizing paralegals.
Paralegals are professionals qualified by education, training or work experience who are employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is directly responsible.
Weston, who serves as dean of legal studies for a national for-profit university, along with his roles at the ABA, points out that attorneys, including solo practitioners, have a great use for paralegals. "Paralegals can complete forms, do research, interview clients and draft memos," Weston explains. He adds that in specialty practices, such as intellectual property, paralegals can appear in court under certain circumstances.
"Use of paralegals allows lawyers to maximize the productivity of their offices. They present another way for the client to feel taken care of. A common complaint among clients is that they never hear from their lawyers, and that's where paralegals can come into the picture. Paralegals can give updates to clients, ask clients to send in needed documents and assist them in completing forms.
"While doing these routine, but necessary tasks, they can gather information for the lawyer," Weston adds.
More importantly, he says, paralegals are giving the lawyer another touch point with the client, a factor that can help in client retention.
Like lawyers, paralegals are required to continue their education. But unlike lawyers, their continued education can be a mix of training provided by their supervising lawyers and CLE. Because CLE courses for paralegals can be authorized by one or more paralegal associations and because different lawyers fulfill their training obligations in various ways, there is real inadequacy in ongoing training on ethics for paralegals, Weston says.
He notes that ethical situations are rarely instances of black and white, right or wrong. "You might be a paralegal whose lawyer is out of town. You get a call from a client you've worked with who says he just received a letter from the IRS and asks what the letter means. You tell the client you will check with your lawyer and then you try to reach her, but she is not responding to e-mail or voicemail. The client calls back the next day and you can hear the distress in his voice. He pleads with you to tell him what to do. As a paralegal, it is wrong for you to answer the question without consulting with your lawyer."
It is up to lawyers to make sure their paralegals understand this issue as lawyers have fiduciary responsibility for anything the paralegal says as long as the paralegal is in the office. Even if the paralegal tells the client that he or she is acting independently, the lawyer is responsible.
Weston points to the fact that the profession has grown over the past 30 years to where paralegals are valuable members of the legal services team.
Weston hopes that the paralegal job expands throughout the legal profession. "We want to create a climate where legal services are available to more and more people and where clients feel as though they are being well served.
"After all," says Weston, "that's why we're all here—because of the clients."
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Court Legal Holidays (court's are closed)
January 1, 2008 - New Year's Day
January 21, 2008 - Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
February 12, 2008 - Lincoln Birthday
February 18, 2008 - President's Day
March 31, 2008 - Cesar Chavez Day
May 26, 2008 - Memorial Day
July 4, 2008 - Independence Day
September 1, 2008 - Labor Day
October 13, 2008 - Columbus Day
November 11, 2008 - Veterans Day
November 27, 2008 - Thanksgiving Day
November 28, 2008 - Day after Thanksgiving
December 25, 2008 - Christmas Day
January 21, 2008 - Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
February 12, 2008 - Lincoln Birthday
February 18, 2008 - President's Day
March 31, 2008 - Cesar Chavez Day
May 26, 2008 - Memorial Day
July 4, 2008 - Independence Day
September 1, 2008 - Labor Day
October 13, 2008 - Columbus Day
November 11, 2008 - Veterans Day
November 27, 2008 - Thanksgiving Day
November 28, 2008 - Day after Thanksgiving
December 25, 2008 - Christmas Day
Quick Info: Secretary of State
Secretary of State
1500 11th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Corporations Dept. - (916) 657-5448
http://www.sos.ca.gov/
Notary Public Section
PO Box 942877
Sacramento, CA 94277-0001
Tel: (916) 653-3595
1500 11th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Corporations Dept. - (916) 657-5448
http://www.sos.ca.gov/
Notary Public Section
PO Box 942877
Sacramento, CA 94277-0001
Tel: (916) 653-3595
Quick Info: Los Angeles County Bar Association
Los Angeles County Bar Association
261 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tel: (213) 627-2727
Fax: (213) 896-6500
http://www.lacba.org/
Los Angeles County Bar Association
Lawyer Referral & Information Service
Tel: (213) 243-1525
http://www.smartlaw.org/
261 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tel: (213) 627-2727
Fax: (213) 896-6500
http://www.lacba.org/
Los Angeles County Bar Association
Lawyer Referral & Information Service
Tel: (213) 243-1525
http://www.smartlaw.org/
Quick Info: Superior Court - Central/West
Los Angeles Superior Court
Central Civil West
600 S. Commonwealth Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90005
Central Civil West
600 S. Commonwealth Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90005
- Fax Filing - (213) 351-2487
- General Information - (213) 351-8739
Central District Stanley Mosk Courthouse
111 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
- Filing Clerk - (213) 974-5195 or (213) 974-5173
- Forms Window - (213) 974-5170
- Fax Filing - (213) 625-3244
- Records - General Civil - (213) 974-5181
- Sheriff's Dept. - Civil Proces - (213) 974-6613
http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org
Sunday, March 30, 2008
How to Become an LDA?
What are the Requirements?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first requirement in becoming an LDA, is possessing a background in a legal profession, i.e., paralegal, legal secretary, law clerk, etc. The following is a more descriptive outline of educational and work experience requirements:
1. Visit your local County Registrar-Recorders Office and obtain an application or visit their website to see if one is posted there.
2. After you have completed the application and have attached any and all necessary documents pertaining to your qualifications as well as educational requirements, you must obtain a $25,000 bond. The best bonding company I have used in the past is Pennbrook Insurance Services. Clifford Wiens is the representative that you will need to speak with in obtaining the necessary information and application. He is a fabulous person and very helpful. Some bonding companies do run a personal credit check for the LDA bond, but Pennbrook may be lenient in this department. However, do call Clifford for more information. He can be reached at (415)-362-0445. Please be sure to mention Vanessa Watson from CALDA referred you.
3. Once you have all the above documentation, proceed back to your County Registrar-Recorders Office, record the bond, pay the necessary filing fees and afterwards the County Clerk will provide you with a registration number that will be printed on an ID sized card which states your name, address, registration number, expiration date (an LDA has to register and obtain a new bond every 2 years from the date of registration; this goes for all counties in California), the County of registration, and verbiage that states "the County Clerk has not evaluated this person's knowledge, experience, or services". Once you have received your card, you are all set.
Multiple county registrations - Now for some LDAs, they do register in multiple counties. If you are one that would like to do so, you need to contact that county's recorders office and obtain their application. But please note that you can use the same bond you have obtained from your first registration. The bond does not state the County in which you have registered in. It only states your name and what the bond is used for . That's it. In the past, I have experienced controversy over the usage of the bond and prior LDAs being told that they needed to obtain a new bond for every new county they were registering in. Again, you DO NOT need to obtain a new bond to register in another county - you just need to obtain that county's application and they will provide you with their registration number.
CALDA (California Association of Legal Document Assistants) - I am a Board member and the Education Chairperson for a non-profit organization called CALDA. And just to toot their horn, they are the best organization an LDA can ever join. We have a quarterly (3 month) e-Newsletter that is distributed to every member that entails updates about the LDA profession, tips, a forums section that members can take advantage of in receiving and or asking questions in regards to their needing assistance with a document or attending many of our sub-chapters' educational seminars, our annual conference (which is a huge thrill every year), an enormous amount of information you need to stay current in the LDA profession and various professionals willing to extend a helping hand whenever you need it. There are various annual membership fees, so please visit their website at www.calda.org for more information. I assure you, you will be glad that you joined.
Congratulations to all new LDAs in advance!!
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The first requirement in becoming an LDA, is possessing a background in a legal profession, i.e., paralegal, legal secretary, law clerk, etc. The following is a more descriptive outline of educational and work experience requirements:
1. Visit your local County Registrar-Recorders Office and obtain an application or visit their website to see if one is posted there.
2. After you have completed the application and have attached any and all necessary documents pertaining to your qualifications as well as educational requirements, you must obtain a $25,000 bond. The best bonding company I have used in the past is Pennbrook Insurance Services. Clifford Wiens is the representative that you will need to speak with in obtaining the necessary information and application. He is a fabulous person and very helpful. Some bonding companies do run a personal credit check for the LDA bond, but Pennbrook may be lenient in this department. However, do call Clifford for more information. He can be reached at (415)-362-0445. Please be sure to mention Vanessa Watson from CALDA referred you.
3. Once you have all the above documentation, proceed back to your County Registrar-Recorders Office, record the bond, pay the necessary filing fees and afterwards the County Clerk will provide you with a registration number that will be printed on an ID sized card which states your name, address, registration number, expiration date (an LDA has to register and obtain a new bond every 2 years from the date of registration; this goes for all counties in California), the County of registration, and verbiage that states "the County Clerk has not evaluated this person's knowledge, experience, or services". Once you have received your card, you are all set.
Multiple county registrations - Now for some LDAs, they do register in multiple counties. If you are one that would like to do so, you need to contact that county's recorders office and obtain their application. But please note that you can use the same bond you have obtained from your first registration. The bond does not state the County in which you have registered in. It only states your name and what the bond is used for . That's it. In the past, I have experienced controversy over the usage of the bond and prior LDAs being told that they needed to obtain a new bond for every new county they were registering in. Again, you DO NOT need to obtain a new bond to register in another county - you just need to obtain that county's application and they will provide you with their registration number.
CALDA (California Association of Legal Document Assistants) - I am a Board member and the Education Chairperson for a non-profit organization called CALDA. And just to toot their horn, they are the best organization an LDA can ever join. We have a quarterly (3 month) e-Newsletter that is distributed to every member that entails updates about the LDA profession, tips, a forums section that members can take advantage of in receiving and or asking questions in regards to their needing assistance with a document or attending many of our sub-chapters' educational seminars, our annual conference (which is a huge thrill every year), an enormous amount of information you need to stay current in the LDA profession and various professionals willing to extend a helping hand whenever you need it. There are various annual membership fees, so please visit their website at www.calda.org for more information. I assure you, you will be glad that you joined.
Congratulations to all new LDAs in advance!!
What's the Difference Between a Paralegal & an LDA?
The Difference Between a Paralegal and an LDA
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What is a paralegal? - Paralegals are individuals who assist attorneys in the delivery of legal services. Paralegals cannot provide legal services for personal monetary gain nor give legal advice to consumers. Legal advice may only be relied upon if given by an attorney. All states require attorneys to be licensed and most have statutes imposing penalties for the unauthorized practice of law. Paralegals are also persons who are qualified by education, training or work experience and are employed or retained by an attorney, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entities who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which an attorney is responsible. Under California Business & Professions Code § 6454, the terms "paralegal," "legal assistant," "attorney assistant," "freelance paralegal," "independent paralegal," and "contract paralegal" are synonymous. However, in order for a paralegal to carry the LDA title, they MUST register as an LDA in their county recorder's office.
What is an LDA? - An LDA is a individual that has: (1) received specialized training through formal education or many years of experience; (2) worked under the supervision and direction of an attorney; and (3) performed non-clerical, substantive legal work in assisting an attorney. LDAs are NOT attorneys, and do NOT provide legal advice or practice law whatsoever. LDAs are experienced professionals who are authorized to prepare and assist with legal documents at the direction of "pro per" individuals (or litigants). Pro Per litigants are consumers who handle their own legal matters without the costly attorneys fees. If you wish to obtain an attorney, you may obtain information from the Los Angeles County Bar Association, www.lacba.org, Legal Aid of California,www.legalaidcalifornia.com, California State Bar, www.calbar.org or any legal services office of your choice regarding free or low-cost representation.
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What is a paralegal? - Paralegals are individuals who assist attorneys in the delivery of legal services. Paralegals cannot provide legal services for personal monetary gain nor give legal advice to consumers. Legal advice may only be relied upon if given by an attorney. All states require attorneys to be licensed and most have statutes imposing penalties for the unauthorized practice of law. Paralegals are also persons who are qualified by education, training or work experience and are employed or retained by an attorney, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entities who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which an attorney is responsible. Under California Business & Professions Code § 6454, the terms "paralegal," "legal assistant," "attorney assistant," "freelance paralegal," "independent paralegal," and "contract paralegal" are synonymous. However, in order for a paralegal to carry the LDA title, they MUST register as an LDA in their county recorder's office.
What is an LDA? - An LDA is a individual that has: (1) received specialized training through formal education or many years of experience; (2) worked under the supervision and direction of an attorney; and (3) performed non-clerical, substantive legal work in assisting an attorney. LDAs are NOT attorneys, and do NOT provide legal advice or practice law whatsoever. LDAs are experienced professionals who are authorized to prepare and assist with legal documents at the direction of "pro per" individuals (or litigants). Pro Per litigants are consumers who handle their own legal matters without the costly attorneys fees. If you wish to obtain an attorney, you may obtain information from the Los Angeles County Bar Association, www.lacba.org, Legal Aid of California,www.legalaidcalifornia.com, California State Bar, www.calbar.org or any legal services office of your choice regarding free or low-cost representation.
The Advantages of Using an LDA
What Are The Advantages of Using an LDA?
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Legal Document Assistants ("LDAs") are experienced individuals that possess legal experience and who charges much less than attorneys. LDAs must be registered and bonded in the counties where they have their principal place of business. This bond is for the consumers protection. Always be sure to ask the LDA you are thinking of retaining, if he or she is bonded and registered and also ask to see their licensed badge (which obtains that information). If they are not, then they are operating illegally. LDAs cannot offer legal advice. You are responsible for making decisions about how to proceed and for providing the information to prepare your documents. LDAs can only prepare your documents under your specific direction, file them at the appropriate Courts for you, and distribute legal materials that have been published or approved by an attorney.
The advantages of using an LDA are affordability, one-on-one personal contact, ease in communication, experienced professionals that are experts in various areas of document preparation, and most are very efficient in meeting your needs when you have a last minute filing and or a deadline needs to be met most expeditiously.
Many LDAs specialize in one or two areas; for example, some handle only divorce paperwork, and others just do bankruptcy or unlawful detainer. Be sure to use one who is experienced in the documents you need prepared.
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Legal Document Assistants ("LDAs") are experienced individuals that possess legal experience and who charges much less than attorneys. LDAs must be registered and bonded in the counties where they have their principal place of business. This bond is for the consumers protection. Always be sure to ask the LDA you are thinking of retaining, if he or she is bonded and registered and also ask to see their licensed badge (which obtains that information). If they are not, then they are operating illegally. LDAs cannot offer legal advice. You are responsible for making decisions about how to proceed and for providing the information to prepare your documents. LDAs can only prepare your documents under your specific direction, file them at the appropriate Courts for you, and distribute legal materials that have been published or approved by an attorney.
The advantages of using an LDA are affordability, one-on-one personal contact, ease in communication, experienced professionals that are experts in various areas of document preparation, and most are very efficient in meeting your needs when you have a last minute filing and or a deadline needs to be met most expeditiously.
Many LDAs specialize in one or two areas; for example, some handle only divorce paperwork, and others just do bankruptcy or unlawful detainer. Be sure to use one who is experienced in the documents you need prepared.
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