|
June 2009
NEW YORK
Judge Calls Frivolous Suits Against Attorneys a
'Disturbing Trend'
Mark Fass, New York Law
Journal
6-29-09 --
A Staten Island, N.Y., judge has thrown out a small
claims action over a broken furnace filed by the buyer
of a house against the seller's attorney. . . . Civil
Court Judge Philip P. Straniere (See
Profile) commended the claimant for admitting
that after he learned that the seller had moved out of
state, he pursued the action against the seller's
attorney pursuant to his own attorney's advice. His own
attorney denies that claim. . . . The judge nonetheless
dismissed the action and scheduled a hearing to
determine the damages, if any, from the claimant's
frivolous action. . . . "This is another case of what
appears to be a disturbing trend of litigation being
brought by persons suing attorneys who did not represent
them for that attorney's proper representation of his or
her client," Judge Straniere wrote in
DeFelice v. Costagliola, 81/09. "The
theory behind bringing these baseless legal actions
being that owing to the small amount of money involved,
the lawyer would pay the claim rather than engage in the
cost of litigation." . . . Pro se claimant Joseph
DeFelice purchased a house in Rossville, Staten Island,
in December 2008 from seller Catherine Able, who was
represented by solo-practitioner Jon Costagliola.
CALIFORNIA
King City to get Superior Court self-help services in
July
Californian.com
6-24-09 --
The Monterey
County Superior Court will be expanding its Self-Help
Center services to the King City courthouse on the
second Friday starting on July 10. Currently, the
Self-Help Center services are only located at the
Monterey courthouse. The expansion is part of the
court’s effort to provide greater access to the court to
residents of the south county.
. . . The center
provides free legal assistance primarily in family law,
including divorces, child custody, visitation, child
support, domestic violence, and paternity cases. But the
center also provides limited assistance in civil and
small claims cases.
. . .
The Monterey County
Superior Court opened its center in March 2008 and
currently assists 1,000 approximately 1200 people per
month on average. It is a part of the Judicial Council’s
Equal Access Project designed to provide assistance to
self-represented litigants in civil and family law
matters. . . .
"Improved
customer service and access to the court's resources is
what we continue to strive for, and providing access to
our court staff at a more convenient location is a step
in the right direction," said Lenor McLaughlin, director
of court operations.
. . . “It takes
someone over one hour to drive to the Monterey
Courthouse from King City or Greenfield, and an hour to
return,” said Luis Alejo, staff attorney of the
Self-Help Center. “This expansion will make it much
easier for south county residents to obtain access to
the courts.” . . .
King City hours:
July 10, August 14, September 11, October 9, November 6
and December 11, 2009 from 8:30am to 11:30am.
. . .
Information: Call 831-647- 5890, or visit
www.montereycourts.org
and click the link to Self-Help Center.
WASHINGTON
Accused Wallingford rapist questions victim
Prosecutor in Seattle
rape: 'I can't help but believe he is getting off on
terrorizing this woman again'
By Levi Pulkkinen,
Seattlepi.Com Staff
6-23-09 --
She remembered his eyes and her fear. . . . First came
his hands and the knife. Then his voice, threatening to
end her life and those of her young children. The rape
came later. . . . But, from the witness stand, she said
it was Sankarandi Skanda's eyes caught in a bedroom
mirror of her Wallingford home that frightened her most.
. . . "As I look into his eyes, I see that he's just
full of malicious intent," she told a King County jury. "It was scary, and
I was more scared than I'd been since he had grabbed
me." . . . Skanda's eyes followed her Monday, as he
tried to watch her face as she took questions from
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Julie Kays. Accused of raping
the 35-year-old woman after breaking into her home in
October, Skanda is representing himself against charges
of first-degree rape, burglary and robbery. . . . The
woman had to face her alleged attacker in court and
recount her version of events before him. But because
Skanda is acting as his own attorney, she also had to
take questions from the man who she says violated her
home and body.
MISSOURI
Man serving as own lawyer at murder trial
Dirk VanderHart •
News-Leader
6-15-09 --
A Nixa man accused of bludgeoning a woman to death in a
Springfield homeless camp is expected to represent
6-15-09 --
himself as his trial opens this morning. . . . Aaron M.
Letterman, 26, faces charges of second-degree murder and
armed criminal action in the April 2007 death of
44-year-old Tyla Rhodelander. . . . Authorities say
Letterman and his uncle, Michael Humphrey, met the woman
walking near a Springfield cemetery on April 28 and
asked her if she needed a place to stay. . . . The pair
allegedly took Rhodelander to a makeshift camp site near
the 2300 block of East Chestnut Expressway and helped
her set up her tent. . . . Humphrey later told police
Letterman spent several hours in his tent with the
woman, and they both emerged and began listening to
music. Humphrey said he tried to follow Rhodelander back
to her tent to have sex with her, but that Letterman
followed them into the shelter.
MASSACHUSETTS
High court rules defendants can lose right to have
lawyer
By Boston Globe Staff
6-13-09 --
People have a fundamental right to have a lawyer when
they go to criminal court, but they can forfeit that
right if they threaten or attack their court-appointed
counsel, the state's highest court has ruled. . . . The
Supreme Judicial Court ruled Friday in the case of a man
who threatened in a blood-smeared letter to "physicially
assault, spit, kick, head butt, etc." his lawyer. The
defendant, Mark Means, was ordered to represent himself
at his September 2005 Plymouth Superior Court trial on
charges of assault and being a habitual criminal, after
a judge learned of the threats. . . . The SJC said that
a defendant has a fundamental right to have a lawyer and
that the right is "essential to individual liberty and
security." But it also said the right, in certain cases,
can be forfeited.
INDIANA
Courts seeing more 'pro se' cases filed
Web video offers help for
litigants without attorneys.
By Jeff Parrott, Tribune
Staff Writer
6-8-09 --
When Patrick Washington realized he might like to
eventually marry his girlfriend, the 35-year-old South
Bend man knew he'd have to take care of something first.
. . . He was still legally married to another woman,
Emily McIntyre. They married in 1993, when Washington
was just 20, but separated after six months and have
been apart ever since, he said. . . . Washington, laid
off from his foundry job, couldn't afford to hire an
attorney, but he didn't let that stop him. The St.
Joseph County Bar Association pointed him to an Indiana
Supreme Court Web site that offers step-by-step
instructions on how to divorce without a lawyer. . . .
The process is formally called "pro se," which is Latin
for "for oneself." . . . Washington recently appeared by
himself at a hearing before Magistrate Larry Ambler, who
agreed to finalize the divorce and issue a decree of
dissolution once Washington paid up to $160 in court
costs.
LOUISIANA
State Supreme Court chief appoints Judge Winters to task
force
Staff report • news@thenewsstar.com
6-8-09 --
Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Stephens Winters
has been appointed by Chief Justice Catherine D. “Kitty”
Kimball as a representative on the Louisiana Supreme
Court’s Pro Se Litigant Task Force (for people who
represent themselves in court litigation). . . . Winters
is one of 16 members Kimball appointed today. . . . “The
purpose of the committee is to study the issue of pro
se, or ‘self represented,’ litigants and to examine what
steps can be taken to assist such litigants and to make
appropriate recommendations,” Kimball said. . . . The
committee is comprised of judges and lawyers from an
array of public interest law practice. . . . Judge Harry
F. Randow, 9th Judicial District Court, is the chairman
of the Pro Se Litigant Task Force.
WISCONSIN
Unbundled legal services increasingly popular
by Correy E. Stephenson,
Dolan Media Newswires
6-2-09 --
In an uncertain economy, lawyers are using unbundled
legal services to expand their client base. . . . The
practice of unbundling legal services, also known as
limited scope representation, falls into three general
categories: consultation, such as giving advice and
direction; document preparation, sometimes referred to
as ghostwriting; and limited representation in court. .
. . The idea is that with a lawyer’s help, clients can
“more effectively spend their litigation money,”
explained M. Sue Talia, a private family law judge in
Walnut Creek, Calif. and the author of Unbundling
Your Divorce. . . .The increasing popularity of
unbundled legal services can be attributed to a number
of factors, Talia said, including the reality that “over
the last 10 years, middle class individuals have
basically been priced out of legal representation. They
don’t qualify for legal aid and they can’t pay for full
service.” . . . In addition, greater access to
technology and the growing self-help movement have
increased the number of people who don’t see the need to
pay a lawyer as a gatekeeper to the legal system, she
said.
CONNECTICUT
Want A Do-It-Yourself Divorce? Hire A Coach\
Fairfield family law
attorney adds new twist to her practice
By Douglas S. Malan,
Connecticut Law Tribune
6-1-09 --
After 20 years of practicing family law, Fairfield
attorney Susan Wakefield was ready to give it all up for
a new career. Litigation was a grind, neither party in
the divorce and custody cases was ever happy and the
process left Wakefield emotionally drained. . . . The
breaking point came last year when a client whom
Wakefield went out of her way to help stiffed her for
several thousands dollars in unpaid legal fees. . . .
But before she leapt out of the law, she hatched an
idea—to find a way to help clients without Wakefield
actually having to go to court. Her inspiration came at
a good time, when a record number of pro se litigants
are trying to navigate Connecticut courthouses. . . .
Since January, Wakefield has expanded her practice to
include what is called legal coaching or consulting.
When self-represented parties come to her, Wakefield
helps them figure out the process for themselves. Her
services range from explaining documents and legal terms
to assisting with post-divorce motions for contempt and
modification. . . . “I’m trying to get away from the
litigation end of my practice and focus on helping
people navigate their way through the system,” Wakefield
said.
May 2009
NEW YORK
Inmate wants $1M from N.Y. lawyer
By Kelly Holleran
-Monongalia Bureau
5-18-09 --
A West Virginia inmate is seeking $1 million from a New
York lawyer who he says won't inform him of what
happened to $12,000 police took from his car during a
routine traffic stop. . . . Melvin Miller filed a
federal lawsuit April 14 against John Della Ratta Law
Office, blaming Ratta for not telling him what happened
to his cash. . . . Miller claims he was arrested in 2006
after police stopped his vehicle and found $12,000
inside it. . . . After his arrest, Miller hired Ratta to
represent him. The case against Miller eventually was
dismissed because of illegal procedures the officers
followed during Miller's arrest, the complaint says. . .
. Miller asked Ratta what would happen to the $12,000
found in his car, and Ratta offered to represent Miller
in exchange for his usual counsel fee of 20 percent,
according to the complaint. . . . Miller says he agreed
to the terms in hopes that he would get his money back.
. . . About one month after Miller hired Ratta, the
lawyer told Miller that he had turned down an offer from
the district attorney to return some of Miller's money
to him, the suit states.
WISCONSIN
Ethical questions in pro se cases
by Jack Zemlicka,
Wisconsin Law Journal
5-15-9 --
If attorneys had their druthers, everyone would have
legal representation when they came to court. . . . But
the reality in a recession is more and more litigants
are representing themselves, especially in family,
probate and small claims cases. . . . In those
situations, attorneys are often asked to consider not
only the needs of their client, but those of the
self-represented party. . . . The dynamic can raise both
ethical and financial questions about how much time
attorneys can afford to spend helping a pro se litigant,
what they can say and who pays for that time? . . . “I
am very cautious when explaining legal principles to an
unrepresented person, simply because what I might say
may be heard differently by that party and that can
create all sorts of different problems,” said attorney
Dean R. Dietrich, chair of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s
Professional Ethics Committee.
MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts high court authorizes limited assistance
representation
By Sheri Qualters / Staff
reporter
5-5-09 --
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently
authorized so-called limited assistance representation
or unbundled legal representation, which enables
litigants to hire lawyers for part of their casework and
perform some legal work on their own, across all of the
state's trial courts. . . . The court system is touting
the program as a low-cost alternative to pro se
representation for financially strapped litigants and an
effort to reduce the high percentage of pro se caseloads
in some courts. . . . The May 1 order expands the
unbundling program to all trial court departments from
pilot projects launched in August 2006 in the Norfolk,
Hampden, and Suffolk county probate and family courts.
Get your FREE Last Will & Testament from RocketLawyer.com!
April 2009
WASHINGTON
Webster Blames Delays on Justice System
KNDO/KNDU
4-21-09 --
The convicted felon
acting as his own attorney in his rape trial says the
justice system is mostly to blame for all the delays in
his case. . . . David webster took the stand again today
in his own defense. Webster is accused of raping a
cellmate inside the Franklin County Jail more than five
years ago. . . . Under cross examination, the prosecutor
pointed out to Webster that he has had five attorneys
who he's either fired or have asked to be removed from
the case. The prosecutor asked Webster if he has
problems getting along with people. . . . "No. I think
I'm one of the best persons in the world. I think I can
work with anybody who want to be worked with. I can have
no problem with getting along with a moron, or idiot or
somebody who just don't want to get along with me." . .
. Yesterday Superior Court Judge Cameron Mitchell
removed Webster from the courtroom briefly for repeated
angry outbursts.
NEW YORK
Admitted drug user wins freedom as own 'lawyer'
Man, 52, defends self;
acquitted on most counts
By Robert Gavin, Staff
writer
4-16-09 --
He told jurors he used heroin and cocaine. He said he
knew "nothing" about the law. . . . He used profanity on
the witness stand. . . . But, in the end, 52-year-old
Jorge Cruz' decision to defend himself in court this
week paid off -- he is not going to prison. . . . An
Albany County jury today acquitted Cruz of felony
cocaine possession charges that could have sent him
behind bars for 10 years. After 3 1/2 hours
deliberating, the panel also convicted Cruz of
misdemeanor heroin possession; he was sentenced to time
already served in the Albany County jail. . . . It ends a
case in which Albany County District Attorney David
Soares' office alleged Cruz, a grandfather, possessed
more than $5,000 worth of cocaine in a Watervliet Avenue
motel room between June 15 and June 16 last year.
In a Downturn, More Act as Their Own Lawyers
By Jonathan D. Glater,
New York Times
4-9-09 --
Elise Barros made her way to the front of the courtroom,
convinced that the lawsuit against her was a mistake and
would be quickly dismissed. . . . “I don’t understand
why I’m even here,” said Ms. Barros, who was challenging
a lender’s claim that she owed it more than $7,000. She
had repaid the loan, she told the judge in state court
in March. “I have proof — documents.” . . . What she did
not have was a lawyer. . . . So the judge sent her and
the lender’s lawyer into a mediation session, where it
became clear that Ms. Barros actually did not have the
documents, at least not the right ones. When the judge
returned to her case later in the day, he ordered her to
come back in three weeks, when the process would begin
again. . . . Financially pressed people like Ms. Barros
are representing themselves more and more in court,
according to judges, lawyers and courthouse officials
across the country, raising questions of how just the
outcomes are and clogging courthouses already facing
their own budget woes as clerks spend more time helping
people unfamiliar with forms, filings and fees.
March 2009
NEW YORK
Judges Agree: NY Lawyer Is a Pro Se Pest
New York Lawyer, By
Noeleen Walder, New York Law Journal
3-20-09 --
An attorney with a "penchant for vexatious conduct" must
continue to seek prior court approval before initiating
further litigation on her own behalf, a state appeals
court has ruled in
Capogrosso v. Kansas. . . . Solo
practitioner Eleanor Capogrosso filed a total of 16
lawsuits where she was named as party-plaintiff before
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Debra A. James put a
halt to the "frivolous and repetitive actions."
CONNECTICUT
More Litigants Go To Court Without Lawyers
State committee seeks
ways to assist self-represented parties
By Christian Nolan,
Connecticut Law Tribune
3-16-09 --
Waterbury Family Court Judge Elizabeth A. Bozzuto says
that more than half of her court docket consists of
people representing themselves. Is it a sign of the
recent economic hard times; an indicator that lawyers
are pricing themselves out of some business, or both? .
. . Whatever the reason, the number of pro se litigants
is on the rise. Now Judicial Branch officials are trying
to figure out how they can help the do-it-yourself types
through the legal process, which in turn should help
speed up court dockets statewide. . . . “It’s just about
making the process more accessible and easier for them
to navigate,” said Bozzuto, co-chair of the 27-member
Self-Represented Parties Committee, which began meeting
last year as part of Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers’s
Public Service and Trust Commission. . . . Bozzuto
explained that many self-represented litigants come to
family court seeking divorce or child custody, as
examples, but don’t understand why the hearing cannot
take place as scheduled. For instance, she said they
might not understand requirements of providing notice
upon the other party.
CALIFORNIA
Superior Court Opens Self-Help Legal Center in Pasadena
Courthouse
By Sherri M. Okamoto,
Staff Writer
3-12-09 --
The Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday celebrated the
grand opening of its 12th self-help legal access center,
located at the Pasadena Courthouse. . . . Northeast
District Supervising Judge Candace J. Beason hailed the
event as “a fabulous, fabulous occasion.” . . . Beason
said she had been looking forward to the opening of the
clinic—housed in what had been the courthouse’s law
library, which was moved across the street to the public
library—because, as a member of the bench, she had seen
a “significant number of people with questions and
misconceptions of the legal system.” . . . Neal S.
Dudovitz, the executive director of Neighborhood Legal
Services of Los Angeles opined that “it’s been quite a
journey” since the first self-help center opened at the
Van Nuys courthouse in 2000. . . . Over the years,
Dudovitz said the self-help centers have helped over
500,000 people, and assisted over 91,000 in the last
year alone. . . . These clinics “are about core values
of out democracy,” he insisted. “Everybody has to be
able to walk through the doors of the courthouse,
everybody has to be able to be heard…or our justice
system will not survive.” . . . Los Angeles Superior
Court Civil Supervising Judge Elihu M. Berle echoed
Dudovitz’s concern and opined the Pasadena clinic “could
not have come at a better time.” . . . Noting the
“devastating effect of the economy on our community,”
Berle suggested a growing number of people with legal
problems do not qualify for legal aid, cannot afford an
attorney, but still require assistance navigating the
court system.
NEW YORK
Yeshiva Teacher Appearing Pro Se in Sex Abuse Case Found
Guilty on All Counts
During the trial, the
defendant cross-examined his daughter, who accused him
of molesting her for seven years, beginning when she was
9 years old
Mark
Fass, New
York Law Journal
3-12-09 --
Israel Weingarten, the yeshiva teacher charged in
Brooklyn, N.Y., federal court with sexually abusing his
daughter for seven years, since she was 9years old, was
found guilty Wednesday on all five counts. . . . With 14
federal marshals lining the courtroom, Eastern District
of New York Judge John Gleeson warned the audience
against emotional outbursts, but the verdict was met
with near silence. With its pro se defendant,
sensational charges and furtive peeks behind the closed
doors of the
secretive Satmar society, United States v.
Weingarten has transfixed the Brooklyn legal community. . . . Following the announcement of the verdict,
Weingarten, who appeared pro se, told the court, "As I
said to the judge in the beginning, I need adjournment
because I was unprepared and I was denied that." Gleeson
responded, "You have your objection, you have my ruling.
I'll see you [for sentencing] on April 3." . . . The
victim, surrounded by five marshals, sat in the front
left aisle; six of Weingarten's other seven children,
who claim their father is innocent, sat in the front
right. Afterwards, the victim compared being
cross-examined by her father to "being molested again."
MILITARY COURT
Military Judge's Release of Pleading by 9/11 Defendants
Draws Criticism
By Peter Finn, Washington
Post Staff Writer
3-11-09 --
The decision by a military judge at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, to order the release yesterday of a pleading by
defendants accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks was criticized by defense counsel and civil
liberties groups, who said the judge was defying
President Obama's executive order to halt all military
commissions. . . . Defense Department officials defended
the judge's order to release the six-page filing from
Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four co-defendants, saying
that it was in compliance with Obama's order. . . .
Shortly after taking office, Obama wrote that "all
proceedings of military commissions to which charges
have been referred but in which no judgment has been
rendered . . . are halted" pending a government review
of the cases of all detainees.
Accused 9/11 Suspects Declare Themselves 'Terrorists to
the Bone'
By Jess Bravin The Wall
Street Journal.
3-10-09 --
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others accused in the
Sept. 11, 2001, conspiracy called U.S. allegations
"badges of honor" and declared themselves "terrorists to
the bone" in a written statement slated for public
release Tuesday. . . . The six-page statement, dated
March 1, was filed with a military judge at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, in response to nine charges filed by military prosecutors last year.
Titled "The Islamic Response to the Government's Nine
Accusations," the statement mocks American authorities
for failing to foil the Sept. 11 plot and casts the
U.S. as a terrorist aggressor whose own actions provoked the suicide
hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people. . . . The
statement calls the conspiracy charge "laughable." . . .
"Were you expecting us to inform you about our secret
attack plans?" it says. "Blame yourselves and your
failed intelligence apparatus and hold them accountable,
not us." . . . "Also, as the prophet has stated: 'War is
to deceive,'" it states, in one of several passages that
assert religious sanction for al Qaeda attacks.
You can access the pro se
filing titled "The Islamic Response to the Government's
Nine Accusations" by
clicking here.
FEDERAL COURTS
Federal courts react to tide of pro se litigants
Districts set up centers
to assist; mainly civil rights, employment.
Amanda Bronstad / Staff
reporter
3-9-09 --
In response to a growing tide of pro se litigants in
federal courts, legal centers in at least three
districts have been set up to provide services and
advice to parties who represent themselves in civil
cases. . . . The newest center opened on March 5 at a
federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. Last year, a
similar one opened in the federal courthouse in San
Francisco. A third program, operating out of the federal
courthouse in Chicago, has been operating since 2006. .
. . The centers reflect the increasing number of pro se
litigants in federal courts, particularly in employment
and certain types of civil rights lawsuits. . . . "It's
part of a whole movement that's taking place in the
courts to try to recognize, as a practical matter, that
most people just can't afford lawyers these days," said
Richard Zorza, coordinator of the Self Represented
Litigation Network, which works with organizations on
pro se litigant issues. . . . About 150 centers exist
nationwide to assist pro se litigants, but most are part
of state courts and vary from clinics to telephone
hotlines to online resources, Zorza said. "It's
certainly unique doing it in federal court," he said. .
. . Unlike state courts, where pro se litigants
frequently show up in divorces, the vast majority in
federal court appear with employment claims, such as
violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act and
other anti-discrimination statutes. . . . The new pro se
centers focus on civil cases and, for the most part,
litigants who are not prisoners. The services are free.
At the Pro Se Clinic in
Los Angeles, which covers the
Central District of California, a poster advertising its
services in the courthouse lobby already had drawn up to
15 people a day before its official opening on March 5,
said Janet Lewis, supervising attorney of the clinic.
|
