Dominic Barbara Beaten with a Plate of Spaghetti

Dominic Barbara, the New York divorce lawyer famous for representing Joey Buttafuoco and others, made the news this week after his wife, Leslie Barbara, smashed a plate of spaghetti over his head. Leslie, also a divorce lawyer in New York, spent the night in jail. Leslie’s lawyer, Randy Zelin, must have his hands full, because after Dominic bailed out Leslie, she was arrested again for violating a restraining order when she returned to the couple’s Glen Cove home.

Emanuel Zeltser Industrial Espionage Conviction Upheld in Belarus

The Supreme Court of Belarus upheld the August conviction of New York lawyer Emanuel Zeltser. Zeltser was convicted of industrial espoionage and using false documents. A website dedicated to freeing Zeltser, saveemanuelzeltser.com, claims the President of Belarus is railroading Zeltser as a favor to Russian mobsters and because of soured US-Belarus relations.

Dallas “King of Torts” Dies

Fred Baron, known as the “King of Torts,” died Thursday in Dallas at the age of 61. Baron was not only known for amassing a fortune representing plaintiffs, but also for his generosity toward the Texas Democratic Party and a variety of charitable organizations.

Several weeks ago, I posted about the excesses of copyright attorneys. Now, Tim Ferris (author of the terrific best-seller, “The 4-Hour Workweek“) has a post with an even more outrageous example of overlawyering – a letter he received from a Massachusetts lawyer demanding that Tim omit a reference to the lawyer’s client (a sales call center) from his book. Why? Because the company was enduring “unnecessary work” in weeding out all of the unqualified potential customers being sent their way thanks to the book.

Rather than politely asking that the reference be deleted – or, far better yet, asking that it be corrected to encourage only qualified leads to call in – the company immediately resorted to the legal blunderbuss. How incredibly shortsighted.

Lawyers can tell you what your legal rights are, and they can write nasty letters on your behalf. However, they can – and should – also provide counsel on whether taking such a heavy-handed approach is really the right strategy. Something to consider when choosing a lawyer for your business: Will this lawyer be a partner, counseling you on the implications of different legal strategies, or will they simply be an order-taker?

OK – my favorite Legal Guide has rolled in. Construction Attorney, Chad Koplien, wrote a Legal Guide targeted towards subcontractors called Tips on Contracts with General Contractors. The introduction: “This guide will help you identify the weasel clauses common in General Contractor (GC) contracts.” And no, this has nothing to do with a Mustelidaen Christmas.

We all know lawyers like to go into politics. A quick cross reference of Washington’s election ballot and the Avvo database was pretty amazing:

Governor – Christine Gregoire
Lt. Governor – Marcia McCraw
US Congress – George Fearing
US Congress – Doug Cloud
Attorney General – Rob McKenna
Attorney General – John Ladenburg
State Representative – Matt Shea
State Representative – Jay Rodne
State Representative – Terry R. Nealey
State Representative – Brendan Williams
State Representative – Kim Abel
State Representative – Troy Kelley
State Representative – Fred Finn
State Representative – Jamie Pedersen
State Representative – Roger Goodman
State Representative – Gerry Pollet
State Representative – Deb Eddy
State Supreme Court Justice – Mary Fairhurst
State Supreme Court Justice – Charles Johnson
State Supreme Court Justice – Debra L. Stephens
Court of Appeals Justice – Ann Schindler
Court of Appeals Justice – J. Robert Leach
Court of Appeals Justice – Elaine Houghton
Court of Appeals Justice – Robin Hunt
Court of Appeals Justice – Kevin M. Korsmo
Court of Appeals Justice – Stephen M. Brown
King County Superior Court Justice – Tim Bradshaw
King County Superior Court Justice – Suzanne Parisien
King County Superior Court Justice – Julia Garratt
King County Superior Court Justice – Jean Rietschel
King County Superior Court Justice – Barbara Mack

Who gets the Avvo nod on the ballet? As a self-serving marketer, I have to endorse the candidates who have claimed their Avvo Profile: Brandan Williams, Troy Kelley, Tim Bradshaw and sitting Attorney General, Rob McKenna.

Next time you are tempted to paint the legal industry with a Luddite brush consider this: Technically savvy personal injury attorneys have allegedly been changing their listed address with Google Maps in order to “show” proximity to the Chatsworth Metrolink accident which killed 25 people on September 12th in Los Angeles. See the Google map results for Metrolink accident lawyers near Los Angeles, CA. Not only have the addresses allegedly been changed, but an enterprising attorney identifies himself specifically as a “Train Accident Lawyer” on his Google listing.

Mike Blumenthal brought this to my attention in his article Ambulance Chasing in the era of Google Maps which questions if these tactics are against the ABA’s Rule 7.3 against barratry. I’m torn on this one – enterprising attorney cutting above the digital clutter to provide valuable services to consumers or manipulative online ambulance chasing? I’d love to hear what you think . . .

Overlawyered brings up the strange case of Connecticut lawyer Barbara Shea, who is suing that state’s attorney grievance committee to stop publishing information about a 2002 suspension and three reprimands she received. Shea claims that clients and potential clients have found this information, thus costing her business.

So – an attorney wants the state regulators to keep the public in the dark about her misconduct so that she can get more business. You’ve gotta love that kind of chutzpah!

Let’s face it, it’s hard to get sanctioned by the state bar. In 2007 in Washington, home to 22,087 lawyers, there were 2,029 written disciplinary grievances, resulting in . . . 74 disciplinary actions. Attorney discipline is serious stuff, and consumers need to know about it, even if it occurred years ago.

Consumers can choose for themselves whether a decade-old disciplinary action is relevant today. And attorneys can take proactive steps to present themselves as having moved past the circumstances of their discipline. What should never happen is an attorney taking to the courts in an effort to stifle public awareness.

For its part, Avvo is proud to make attorney disciplinary information easier to find (you can see Barbara Shea’s sanctions in both her Connecticut and D.C. profiles, so far she hasn’t been sanctioned in New York). And we give attorneys the tools to do what they should be doing rather than racing to the courthouse, rebuilding their practices and reputations by making themselves stand out online. Ultimately, the answer for attorneys recovering from bar discipline isn’t less information about their past, but more information about their present.

This week I invited a handful of lawyers into the office to get their feedback on how they use Avvo. I heard numerous times that what’s working is Avvo Answers. Consumers get the legal guidance they need and an easy way to find out more about the attorney who answered their question with a link to the lawyer’s Avvo Profile. Lawyers get contacted by potential clients who already know a lot about their practice and much more likely to hire them. Win-Win.

How appropriate then that I also came across this client review for Aaron J. Slavin of Clearwater FL this week…

Customer review: I found Aaron on this site when he answered a question I posted and so far I am glad I did. First I checked out his credentials and was impressed with the fact that he graduated from a top law school. Then I looked at his work history and felt good about that for several reasons. His experience in the state attorneys office, the fact that he worked there for 6 years, his trial experience and the notable cases he handled there all gave me confidence in his experience and ability. He is easy to talk to and easy to reach on the phone and he has kept me very informed as to the progress of my case. I actually get the good feeling that the guy is actually working for me as a individual. My advice is that if you have to hire an attorney, look at all the things I looked at. With Aaron, talking with him on the phone was the deciding factor. My case is not over yet but so far I am very happy.

You can request your own client reviews from the Overview or Review tabs in your profile. Or simply send your former and current clients a link to the attorney review page on Avvo.

Those of you disenchanted with the legal profession may want to take a cue from Nathan Sawaya. Sawaya makes a six-figure income as a professional Lego artist. After graduating from NYU Law School in 1998, Sawaya worked as a corporate lawyer in New York. In 2004, he entered a competition sponsored by Lego to become an adult master builder. He won the competition and became an employee of Legoland for $13 per hour. He parlayed the Legoland gig into a lucrative and succesful career as a Lego artist.

A few weeks ago, we conducted a survey of top-rated Avvo attorneys to to determine which presidential candidate – Senator Barak Obama or Senator John McCain – would be the better candidate to address the current economic crisis. Some of the findings:

• Senator Obama’s plans to allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgages, to create an exemption for people who filed for bankruptcy because of medical expenses, and to roll back portions of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 will resonate with voters
• Sixty-five percent of the bankruptcy attorneys believe that Senator Obama’s economic plan offers more for “main street” voters than the plans offered by Senator McCain

See the rest of the Avvo survey results.

CNN Health recommends Avvo as a resource for consumers in financial hardship in an article, Stressed about Money? Free help is a call away. The article discusses some predatory pitfalls in the current financial crisis and highlights four trustworthy resources, including Avvo’s free legal advice forum.