1. Shawn Chapman Holley, Santa Monica, CA
Holley represents Sara Jane Olson, who was discharged from prison after serving six years of a 14 year sentence only to be rearrested and told that they miscalculated her release date.

2. Alani Golanski, Brooklyn, NY

3. Jay Darwyn Hirsch, Houston, TX

4. Roni Deutch, North Highlands, CA

5. Daniel P. Harris, Seattle, WA

6. Manny Arora, Atlanta, GA
Arora represents suspended Tennessee Titans Adam “Pacman” Jones.

7. Mark Vincent Kaplan, Los Angeles, CA

8. Richard Ackerman, Murrieta, CA

9. Paul Friedman, Phoenix, AZ

10. Shelly Crocker, Seattle, WA

A week full of break-ups…
Heartbreak = Divorce Lawyer.

1. Breaking up is hard to do

(To illustrate the difficulties consumers face in accessing public records on attorney licensing, we are providing an ongoing account of Avvo’s attempt to obtain attorney licensing information from the state of New Jersey. See Part 1 and Part 2)

Having received no response to my December 20 letter , I wrote a follow-up on January 7, 2008.

After waiting a week with no response to this latest missive, I resorted to a tactic familiar to over-eager job-seekers everywhere I placed a call to the Clerk’s office every day, asking to speak directly with Mr. Townsend. Finally, on January 18, I spoke with him for the first time.

In our conversation, I asked Mr. Townsend how a consumer in New Jersey could check and see if their attorney was in good standing or had any disciplinary records. He said they could call the clerk’s office, and the data would be looked up, but that the system didn’t work well.

What does this mean? It means New Jersey either has a bad system for accessing the data or the data is somehow corrupt (or both). The former shouldn’t be a problem for public access; the latter is a BIG problem, and needs to be solved. However, I don’t know which it is, and neither does Mr. Townsend. He says his technical people told him that the data could not be provided and that was good enough for him.

Again, I pressed him for a call between our engineering staff. Anyone who has worked around computer technology knows that bringing more perspectives to a problem can often bring solutions to light that weren’t obvious when only one set of eyes was looking at it. Mr. Townsend refused, and hung up on me, apparently viewing my insistence on the technical call as tantamount to calling him a liar.

After this call, I sent a letter back to Mr. Townsend on the afternoon of January 18, reassuring him that I wasn’t impugning his credibility but that I felt the call was necessary to assess the technical limitations to providing the data:

“New Jersey has very open rules with respect to access and public records, and we need to understand whether the Court’s unwillingness to provide the data we seek is driven by fundamental corruption of the data, limitations in your data retrieval system, or a policy that the underlying data will not be provided to the public at this time irregardless.”

I closed by reiterating my request for the technical call and noting that we’d need to take legal action to get these public records if the Court didn’t cooperate.

On February 4, 2008, I received a letter from Mr. Townsend explaining the process for seeking review of his decision. Among other requirements, I needed to submit 10 copies of the pleading and adhere to certain font limitations. The court would make its determination “in due course.”

Next up: The ironic story of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s current efforts to greatly expand public access to its records unless they relate to attorneys or judges.

Attorney Fred Korkosz of Albany, New York, offered some interesting comments yesterday to my post entitled, “Defending Avvo’s Right to Provide Information and Guidance to Consumers.” The problem is that my post is 9 months old and Fred’s comments were buried under 56 others. So, I wanted to republish Fred’s thoughts here, both to give them a better forum and to publicly thank Frank for his support.

I am an attorney who actually received a fairly high rating from AVVO. I think some points need to be considered.

1. Public disciplinary records of attorneys are just that; public. The fact that AVVO has data mined this information and organized it in an easy-to-access manner should offend no one. It simply makes it easier for potential clients to do the research that they should do but otherwise might not. Not all disciplinary actions necessarily reflect on how attorneys will represent their clients; but the information should be available and considred by potential clients.

2. Since the amount of control that may be exercised by attorneys over their listings is limited, the concerns about advertising are somewhat less compelling than they would be if attorneys could anonymously make postings that boost their ratings.

3. It is true that no ratings systems is a perfect way to evaluate how an attorney will perform. However the existing ratings systems (i.e. Martindale-Hubbel, which has provided AV ratings for a few years) are not necessarily any better than AVVOs system; although the MH system does not really provide for the negative information that AVVO does, it is also voluntary on the attorneys’ part to participate. I do not know how some of the “best attorneys” publications operate, in particular, whether or not they are revenue based. It appears that AVVO is seeking to base some of its ratings on public performance records. That, of course can be difficult; some attorneys, for example, assigned criminal defense attorneys and some immigration attorneys may only appear in reported cases that were hopeless to begin with; if they were sucsessful, the case may never have made it up to the level where a decision was reported. I can certainly appreciate the sentiments of attorneys who may be in that situation, but I believe that the AVVO system is better than boards that allow anonymous postings about attorneys as the only indication of performance; those can be skewed by attorneys themselves building themselves up, a few disgruntled and irrational clients (who typically would be the most inclined to make posts!), and possibly even competitors.

-Fred Korkosz

Well said. Thanks again Fred!

Mark

1. Alani Golanski, Brooklyn, NY

2. Alan Gura, Alexandria, VA
Gura is opposed to the handgun ban and representing Dick Heller, a security guard who wants to keep his gun for self-defense.

3. Don Buchwald, New York, NY
Buchwald represents everyone’s favorite escort: ‘Kristen’, also known as Ms. Ashley Alexandra Dupre.

4. Shawn Chapman Holley, Santa Monica, CA
Holley represents rapper “The Game” who served only eight days of a sixty day sentence.

5. Roni Deutch, North Highlands, CA

6. Theodore Pedersen, Nutrioso, AZ
Note: this is not the same Teddy Pederson involved with ex-Governonr McGreevey.

7. Kelly Yi-Yi Chang, Los Angeles, CA

8. Manny Arora, Atlanta, GA
Arora represents suspended Tennessee Titans Adam “Pacman” Jones.

9. Daniel P. Harris, Seattle, WA

10. Don Heyrich, Seattle, WA

1. Head over heals. Lawyer, Stephen Ateshoglou is representing Stephen Chang in a lawsuit filed this week against “Hot Lap Dance Club” in Manhattan. Chang, a securities trader, sustained “serious injuries” when the stripper who was giving him a lap dance spun around and kicked him in the eye.

2. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Larry Stephen sentenced Trevor Smith (better known as Busta Rhymes) this week to three years probation for assaulting his former driver. The rapper was also ordered to perform 10 days of community service, pay a $1,250 fine, and enroll in a drunken driving program. Scott Leemon, Busta’s Lawyer, said a private agency called Rock Corp. will work out the community service program.

3. Oprah’s army revolts! Winfrey’s lawyer, Chip Babcock, has a lot on his plate this week. Orit Greenberg filed a lawsuit against Harpo Studios claiming she sustained “severe and permanent injuries” when she was pushed down the stairs during a stampede at a filming of the “Oprah Winfrey Show” back in 2006. Also this week; another one of Oprah’s army, Darlene Tracy, filed a lawsuit against Ms. Winfrey, claiming the idea for “Oprah’s Big Give” was stolen from her.

4. Michael Grieco, who represents actor Mickey Rourke, was in court this week. Rourke, star of the movie “Barfly”, was arrested last November for reckless driving on his vespa in Florida. The police report says that when the officer approached him Rourke got off his scooter stating “What the *#% did I do?” The cop observed a flushed face, watery eyes, slurred speech and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath. Mickey then stated “I’m not drunk, I didn’t even drink that much.” This week Rourke pleaded guilty to reckless driving and was sentenced to six months probation, and 50 hours of community service (which he can choose to buy off at $10 per hour). Grieco, said “The only thing he has to do is take an online driving course.”

5. Can’t buy me love. Gloria Allred, who represents Heather Mills, feels her client was mistreated during her divorce battle in London. Mills was awarded $48.6 million on Monday in her settlement from Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney. The Judge residing over the case said that Mills was a “less than impressive witness” and that she was “not just inconsistent and inaccurate but also less than candid.” Allred has represented other celebrities, such as Nicole Simpson’s family and Britney Spears’ bodyguard. Back in 2002 Allred criticized Michael Jackson’s parenting skills to which MJ replied “tell her to go to hell”.

6. Real life Law and Order. Ravi Batra, a New York attorney, is suing the creators of “Law and Order” for an episode depicting a mirror image of himself. The show was about a “bald Indian-American Lawyer” called “Ravi Patel” who bribes a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge. Batra has never been charged with bribery and says that his reputation was affected by the bad press. He is suing for $15 million. Davis Wright Tremaine is representing Wolf.

7. (Non-Lawyer) Fun facts about March Madness! Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement consulting organization in Chicago, estimates that the NCAA will cost businesses $1.7 billion in wasted work time over the 16 business days of the tournament. It is possible that 37.3 million workers will participate in office pools and 1.5 million will be watching games on their computers at work (which can slow down the company’s computer network). It’s a wonder how anyone gets anything done when there is basketball to watch!

I couldn’t help stop and stare at this Personal Injury Advertisement from Davis Smith and Ted Liggett in Lubock Texas. A picture is worth a thousand words - - - I’ll let you be the judge:

(To illustrate the difficulties consumers face in accessing public records on attorney licensing, we are providing an ongoing account of Avvo’s attempt to obtain attorney licensing information from the state of New Jersey. See part 1 for the beginning of the saga.)

I sent my first letter to the New Jersey Supreme Court clerk on December 4, 2007, asking for basic information on attorneys licensed in NJ: Name, year of admission, business contact information and current bar status. I heard back promptly in a letter dated December 7, I was informed rather obliquely that:

“The project involving the collation of electronic data in respect to members of the bar . . . has not yet been completed. Certain aspects of the project have taken substantially more time than anticipated. These areas include but are not limited to business contact information and current bar status. Until these areas are addressed, we are not making the information available to outside vendors.”

This response puzzled me, as presumably the Court at least knows who its members are, where to send their annual dues invoices, and whether they are in good standing to practice law in New Jersey. So I tried calling the clerk’s staff to get more clarity. I learned from a staffer in the Clerk’s office that the Court is building a database application to process its attorney licensing information, and that the project is delayed, with no end in sight.

No problem we don’t want their database application; we just want the underlying data. And we can take it in almost any form, even paper if need be. So off went my next letter , on December 19, noting that we only wanted the underlying data, offering to pay for the costs of production, and suggesting that a call between our technical experts to surface any issues would be helpful.

I also noted that I wasn’t making a vendor request, but rather a request for information under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA; NJ Statute 47:1A et seq).

Blazingly fast, I had my response: In a fax the very next day, the Clerk’s office informed me that OPRA doesn’t apply to the NJ judiciary (look for a separate post on this issue), and that bar admission records are confidential (!!). I was also informed that the problem with the database was that there was no system in place to collect and maintain admissions data accurately. In closing, I was told:

“Unfortunately, ongoing issues make it impossible for me to give you a date by which an answer to your inquiry will be available.”

Flummoxed, I wrote right back the afternoon of December 20, taking issue with the Court’s position on records confidentiality and trying to get to the bottom of the systems limitations on accessing the data.

As the new year dawned, I had received no response.

Next: What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate . . .

1. Alani Golanski, Brooklyn, NY

2. Scott Markowitz, Houston, TX

3. Mark Vincent Kaplan, Los Angeles, CA

4. Ashley Dupree Russell, Texas. Some voyeuristic web searchers thought that perhaps Eliot’s Spitzer’s favorite call girl was not only an aspiring 22-year old singer, but might also be an attorney. Texas Attorney, Ashley Dupree Russell’s (of absolutely no relation to the former New York Governor) profile page got inundated with users last week.

Note, Ashley Dupre’s (of Spitzer fame) Lawyer is New York Attorney, Don Buchwald.

5. Roni Deutch, North Highlands, CA

6. Shawn Chapman Holley, Santa Monica, CA

7. Moses Lebovits, Los Angeles, CA

8. Joseph R. Ziccardi, Chicago, IL

9. Anthony Colleluori, Woodbury, NY

10. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Washington, DC.

Always being up for a good chuckle, I had to share what has to be the quote of the month.

I was just chatting with a friend who is a partner in a large law firm. On a merger deal this summer (he was representing the buyer), a partner from Skadden angrily told him that he was a “pathetic little mouthpiece doing the work of the devil.”

Beautiful.

Only in heated transactions (or everyday litigation) does such poetry arise. If anyone has any similarly eloquent, lawyer-generated prose, please send it along.

Mark