Desert Bar l Announcements / Articles

The Federal Bar Association Inland Empire Chapter presents "Municipal Bankruptcies" with speaker Franklin C. Adams, Partner at Best Best & Krieger LLP. Wednesday, June 19, 2013, 12:00pm-1:15pm. George E. Brown, Jr. Federal Courthouse, 3470 Twelfth Street, Courtroom 3, Riverside, CA 92501. Lunch will be served. FBA Member: $25.00; RCBA/SBCBA Members: $30.00; Non-Members: $35.00; Gov't Employees: $20.00; and Law Students: $10.00. RSVP no later than June 14, 2013, to Julie Cicero at (951) 328-4440 or julie_cicero@cacd.uscourts.gov. Please remit payment to: FBA/IE, P.O. Box 42, Riverside, CA 92502. RCBA/FBAIE certifies that this activity has been approved for 1 hour of general MCLE credit. To download the flyer for this event, please click here.

The May 2013 edition of the Desert Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter is now available for download. To download, please click here.

The Federal Bar Association Inland Empire Chapter presents the Federal Attorney Admission Ceremony for admission to practice before the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Presiding over the ceremony will be U.S. Magistrate Judges David T. Bristow, Oswald Parada and Sheri Pym. Thursday, June 6, 2013, at 8:00am @ George E. Brown, Jr. Federal Courthouse, 3470 Twelfth Street, Courtroom 3, Riverside, CA 92501. There will be a reception immediately following the ceremony, and a continental breakfast will be served.

Attorneys seeking admission will need to complete the Application for Admission (form G-60) found at www.cacd.uscourts.gov and bring it with them to the ceremony. Family members and friends are encouraged to attend. Cameras will be permitted. There is no charge for the ceremony, but your RSVP is greatly appreciated. The ceremony will conclude in time for new admittees to attend the California State Bar Admissions Ceremony at the Riverside Superior Courthouse.

Judge Dale Wells will be joining us for this month’s FLS dinner at Trilussa’s on Thursday, May 16! There has been much confusion about the state of the family law courts in Indio, and he will bring us up to date as much as can be achieved, before he prepares to move into his new assignment. We are starting at 5:30 p.m.

Also, we hope to get the May FLS newsletter out early next week. If you have anything to share or submit, please email it to T.W. Arnold at twarnold@verizon.net (marked “FLS Newsletter”) for inclusion!

Victoria Williamson has been selected as the new Director for the Riverside County Law Library. Victoria began her career in Riverside with Best, Best & Krieger LLP where she ultimately became Director of Library Services. She went on to acquire positions as a Reference Librarian at the University of LaVerne College of Law, Assistant Director of Public Services, and later Assistant Director of Strategic Directions & Development at the San Diego Law Library. With over 22 years of experience, she has returned to Riverside ready to lead the Law Library in living up to its mission of providing free and open access to the law for all in the County. To read the entire announcement, please click here.

The Indio Branch of the Riverside County Law Library will be temporarily closed from April 3-14, 2013, as it moves to its new location at 46-900A Monroe St., Indio, CA 92201. Opening Day is Monday, April 15, 2013. Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm. Directions from Larsen Justice Center: Oasis St. south to Dr. Carreon Blvd. Turn right on Dr. Carreon Blvd. At Monroe St., turn right. Immediate right into Desert Courtyards parking area. It is the first building on the left hand side. Phone: 760-863-8316. For more information, click here.

The March 2013 edition of the Desert Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter is now available for download. To download, please click here.

The February 2013 edition of the Desert Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter is now available for download. To download, please click here.

The January 2013 edition of the Desert Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter is now available for download. To download, please click here.

The October 2012 edition of the Desert Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter is now available for download. To download, please click here.

San Francisco, Oct. 3, 2012 - The State Bar announced today that it has filed disciplinary charges against three attorneys as a result of stepped up enforcement of Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) requirements.

The attorneys falsely reported to the bar that they had fulfilled the requirement to complete 25 hours of MCLE, according to charging documents filed Monday in State Bar Court. The three cases mark the first disciplinary action to result from the State Bar's increased scrutiny of MCLE compliance. More charges are expected in coming weeks. A total of 27 lawyers were referred to the Office of Chief Trial Counsel as a result of last year's random audit of 635 lawyers.

Charges were filed against Hal Erwin Wright, 58, of Davis (bar #157814); Leah Singer-Lamstein, 45, of San Rafael (bar #161413); and Jeffrey J. Parish, 68, of Alamo (bar #47046). Because the offense charged involves moral turpitude, it carries with it the possibility of actual suspension or disbarment, according to the bar's disciplinary standards.

"It is truly unfortunate that we need to take this action against any lawyer," State Bar Executive Director/CEO Joe Dunn said. "Lawyers can easily avoid this problem by simply meeting the well-known MCLE requirements that have been in place for 20 years."

The State Bar requires active attorneys, except those statutorily exempt, to take 25 hours of continuing education courses every three years, including four hours of legal ethics and an hour each of elimination of bias and detection and prevention of substance abuse or mental illness. Lawyers must keep documentation for at least a year after their compliance is due.

In July, the State Bar expanded its audit to 2,600 attorneys whose last names begin with the letters H through M. That audit, which represents 5 percent of attorneys whose MCLE requirements were due this year, is still in progress. Next year, the bar plans to audit 10 percent of attorneys whose MCLE requirements are due. Those attorneys' names begin with the letters A through G.

For more information about MCLE requirements and reporting, visit the State Bar's MCLE web page. http://mcle.calbar.ca.gov/

The DBA sadly announces the passing of Commissioner Ronald D. Lorden, on July 26, 2012. A Celebration of Life memorial service will be held this Sunday, August 5, 2012, at 11:00 a.m., at the residence of Dr. Robert Steinberg, in Rancho Mirage, California. Those planning on attending should RSVP no later than Friday morning to Jackie Steinberg, at jacedds@yahoo.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the memory of Ronald Lorden to the City of Hope, in Duarte, California.

The votes have been tallied, and we are now happy to announce your incoming Officers and Board of Trustees of the Desert Bar Association for 2012-2013:

OFFICERS:
President - David B. Mulé
President Elect - Patricia S. Muro
Secretary - Michael B. Rover
Treasurer - Julie A. Rosser

TRUSTEES:
Karen J. Sloat
Carlos L. Campos
James T. Latting
Kimberly T. Lee
Robert J. Gilliland, Jr.
Roger K. Tansey
Christoffer J. Thomsen

The DBA was sad to learn that Mark Sullivan passed away this past weekend. The service for Mr. Sullivan will be this Friday, July 6, 2012, at 3:00pm at Forest Lawn in Cathedral City. A reception will immediately follow at Mr. Sullivan's office, located at 555 South Palm Canyon Drive, 2nd Floor, Palm Springs. For more information, please contact Heidi at (760) 327-1529.

The June 2012 edition of the Desert Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter is now available for download. To download, please click here.

You may download a copy of the latest issue of the DPLPA newsletter by clicking here. Warning: It is 3MB, so be prepared for a large download.

We are reaching out to the legal community, friends and family asking for donations from people to help with respite and other care for Jennifer (French) McQueen, who has been stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, at the age of 39. Jennifer has worked as a paralegal in the community for almost 20 years, working for BB&K, Leonard Bock, Ealy, Hemphill & Blasdel, Law Offices of Mark Sullivan, Peters & Freedman, and The Law Offices of Joseph Roman. After receiving her diagnosis, Jennifer continued to work for as long as possible, but at this point (just one year after diagnosis) she no longer has use of her hands, arms or legs, and therefore can no longer work.

For those of you not familiar with ALS, it is a cruel disease that robs its sufferers of all ability to make voluntary movements, but your mind remains completely in tact. We encourage you to research ALS (follow the links below watch a video or two) and see just how devastating and debilitating this disease is and how quickly one's life can change so dramatically due to this disease. There is NO CURE for ALS and since there is little to no funding (we have researched all avenues), Jennifer’s mother has opened a PayPal benefit account for donations to help with Jennifer’s day-to-day expenses, particularly respite care for her husband who is caring for her full-time, and trying to work. When he does work, she has a part-time care giver for a few hours a day which costs $18/hr (a whopping $1,152 a month!), and because of the expense, Jennifer must spend large parts of each day alone, without the help she requires. She cannot do even the simplest things, like feed or dress herself, and she is entirely dependent upon others for her daily care.

While she has some family and a few close friends that have been caring for her in a physical capacity, her need for help is increasing and she and her husband are in desperate need of financial assistance. Her only source of income is State and Social Security disability insurances, one of which runs out this June, and which will cut her benefits drastically, and then she will have to see if she can qualify for other disability benefits, but the prospects look bleak. Come June, the cost of the few hours per day of her caregiver will exceed the disability benefits she receives!

Despite her condition, Jennifer’s approach to life remains positive, but if she is to get the care she needs it is critical to find a source of funds that will be sufficient to assure she is as safe and comfortable as possible. We are trying to raise funds to increase the number of hours for the caregiver per day, plus expenses for such necessities, like future medical equipment. Jennifer's Honda Accord is for sale (see classified ads), as she no longer has any use for it and could use the money from the sale to help with the cost of a used van equipped with wheelchair access (very expensive), in order to transport Jennifer to various appointments, including the ALS trials and studies in which she is participating at UCI in Orange County.

Please help us to take care of one of our own. Below is a link where people can send money to a benefit account for Jennifer. Every little bit helps! Your generosity is so very much appreciated. Thank you!

For those who have not heard, former magistrate judge JOHN C. RAYBURN passed away on Monday, May 14, 2012, at the age of 52. He was appointed as a United States magistrate judge for the Central District of California on October 13, 2006, and sat in the Court's Eastern Division in Riverside until his resignation in July 2008.

From October 1991 to his appointment as a magistrate judge, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. During this time, he served in all three offices - Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and Riverside - including as a Deputy Chief in the Santa Ana branch office and as Chief of the Riverside branch office. After leaving the bench, he returned to the United States Attorney's Office and retired in 2009.

He is survived by his wife, Linda; daughter, Jennifer; sons, John and Joseph; and a large extended family.

Mr. Rayburn's funeral services were on Saturday, May 19th in Glendora. The U.S. Attorney's Office has suggested donations to the Alzheimer's Association, specifically the chapter at 17771 Cowan St, Suite 200, Irvine, CA 92614.

To download a copy of the In Memorium tribute to Mr. Rayburn, please click here.

The May 2012 edition of the Desert Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter is now available for download. To download, please click here.

The State Bar is taking a more aggressive approach to auditing MCLE compliance than it has historically. All California lawyers need to be aware of this change in the Bar’s MCLE auditing process.

The result of the State Bar’s recent 2011 MCLE audit of one percent or 635 lawyers has confirmed the need for increased auditing. Of the 635 audited attorneys, 539 provided the necessary documentation showing full compliance. Of the remaining 96 attorneys, five have been suspended due to their inability to show any compliance. Most of the remaining 91 attorneys had minor reporting deficiencies and received a cautionary letter from the MCLE compliance group about future compliance. Approximately 25 of the 91 are being referred to the Office of Chief Trial Counsel for disciplinary action. Using simple math, we see that 15% of this reporting group were not in compliance.

This result is troubling and reaffirms the action being taken by the State Bar. In 2012, California attorneys can expect that five percent or roughly 3,000-4,000 lawyers to be audited. In 2013, the goal is to audit 10% which translates to 7,000-8,000 lawyers. Letters requesting proof of compliance for 2012 will be mailed in June.

The message is clear. California lawyers must fulfill and accurately document and report their MCLE requirements. No California attorney should be surprised if their compliance certificate is audited. For more information regarding MCLE requirements and reporting, visit the State Bar’s MCLE web page.

If you have any questions, please send an email to Carol Madeja, Managing Director of Bar Relations Outreach at carol.madeja@calbar.ca.gov.

The National Lawyers Guild is a national, non-profit legal and political organization comprised of lawyers, legal workers, law students, and jailhouse lawyers, now celebrating 75 years since the Guild’s founding. More information is available on their website at www.NLG.org.

Membership and New Local Chapter Formation: There must be a minimum of eight dues paying members to form a chapter. They are currently taking applications to form a chapter in the Inland Empire. Until a new chapter is formed, members can be designated as "at large". Chapter members can be lawyers, legal workers, law students, or jailhouse lawyers. For membership information, contact Jamie Munro at membership@nlg.org or call (212) 679-5100.

Legal Observer Program: The Legal Observer® program is part of a comprehensive system of legal support designed to enable people to express their political views as fully as possible without unconstitutional disruption or interference by the police and with the fewest possible consequences from the criminal justice system. Legal Observers® are trained and directed by Guild attorneys, who often have established attorney-client relationships with activist organizations, or are in litigation challenging police tactics at mass assemblies. Local Training Date and Location: TBA. At this time they are planning for a teleconference training in this area. For Legal Observer Training, contact Jim Lafferty, Director of Los Angeles Chapter, at jlafferty@nlg-la.org.

The April 2012 edition of the Desert Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter is now available for download. To download, please click here.

California’s statutory summary judgment and adjudication provisions are found in Code of Civil Procedure section 437c. The statute was amended by the State Legislature effective January 1, 2012. The changes are significant.

Prior to the amendment, a party could move for summary adjudication of (1) one or more causes of action, (2) affirmative defenses, (3) claims for damages, or (4) issues of duty. In reality, this mainly translated into summary adjudication motions on certain causes of action, on punitive damages, or on straightforward affirmative defenses such as the statute of limitations.

The purpose of allowing such motions under the statute is to expedite litigation and eliminate needless trials. PMC, Inc. v. Saban Entertainment, Inc. (1996) 45 Cal.App.4th 579, 590. However, despite the stated purpose of the statute, parties interested in having the court determine major issues that, if resolved, would not dispose of an entire cause of action or an entire affirmative defense, could not look at 437c for a mechanism for judicial resolution of the issue. Before the recent amendment, the only option to adjudicate issues was through a motion in limine.

Now, with the adoption of these changes to Section 437c, parties can move for summary adjudication of a legal issue or claim for damages even if that issue does not completely dispose of a cause of action, an affirmative defense, or an issue of duty, according to specified procedures. To read more on this topic, click here.

The general Ethics Information page at the State Bar website has added a new area dedicated to Ethics and Technology -- a collection of resources that address professional responsibility issues raised by the use of Internet websites, email, chat rooms and other technologies. The resources include advisory ethics opinions, articles and MCLE programs.

Most of the resources are internal links to other pages on the bar’s website and some are external links to local or specialty bar associations. The new page is organized both by the type of resource (ethics opinion, article, etc.) and by subject matter (law firm websites, electronic files, social networking, etc.).

The new service focuses on providing basic legal research leads on how the rules apply to new technologies rather than specific law office systems, hardware or software options. For the latter, the resources of the State Bar’s Law Practice Management & Technology Section can be considered.

To facilitate a lawyer’s ability to readily identify and address legal ethics issues, the State Bar has published an e-Reader version of the Rules of Professional Conduct and the State Bar Act. The e-Reader version of the rule book is compatible with the Kindle Reader App, a free e-Reader application available for iPads, iPhones, Blackberry phones, Android phones, Macbooks and PC laptops. The book also works on all versions of Amazon.com’s Kindle.

For a limited time, the e-Reader version of the rule book can be purchased at Amazon.com for $4.99, a quarter of the price of the hardcopy book. It offers several useful features including a search function, bookmarking, highlighting and annotating. In addition, once downloaded to a tablet, smart phone or other compatible device, the book can be accessed at any time, even without an Internet or cellular data signal.

The bar’s rule book has been published for more than 65 years. The 30-page edition published in 1949 has grown to 411 hard copy pages. In addition to the rules and State Bar Act, the book includes other related authorities such as selected Rules of Court, code sections, the Federal Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule, the State Bar Pro Bono Resolution, the Lawyer Referral Service rules, MCLE rules and more.

Gov. Brown has signed a measure to authorize a $10 rebate on all California lawyer dues and to change how the State Bar is governed. SB 163 had earlier passed both houses of the legislature by votes of 39-0 in the Senate and 68-9 in the Assembly. The bar board of governors is expected to act on the bill Oct. 5 by formally setting the dues at the authorized level.

The $10 rebate means most active lawyers will pay dues of $400 next year. The reduction is also available to inactive lawyers, who will owe $115. A check-off box on the bill also will offer the option of donating $20 to legal services for the next two years. The current $10 check-off produced $1.6 million in 2011.

The measure also calls for the transfer of $2 million in both 2012 and 2013 from the bar’s insurance affinity program account (non-mandatory dues money) to IOLTA-funded legal services programs. Click here to read more.

CA SUPREME COURT OPINION: CASSEL V. SUPERIOUR COURT OF LOS ANGELES (SUPER. CT. NO. LC070478, FILED 1/13/11)

"The issue here is the effect of the mediation confidentiality statutes on private discussions between a mediating client and attorneys who represented him in the mediation."

The [Court of Appeal] majority concluded, when a mediation disputant sues his own counsel for malpractice in connection with the mediation, the attorneys — already freed, by reason of the malpractice suit, from the attorney-client privilege — cannot use mediation confidentiality as a shield to exclude damaging evidence of their own entirely private conversations with the client. The dissenting justice urged that the majority had crafted an unwarranted judicial exception to the clear and absolute provisions of the mediation confidentiality statutes.

Though we understand the policy concerns advanced by the Court of Appeal majority, the plain language of the statutes compels us to agree with the dissent.

ABA Journal: Plaintiff Who Discussed Suit with Lawyer on Work E-Mail Can't Claim Privilege

Posted Jan 20, 2011 8:02 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A woman who sued her employer claiming discrimination can’t shield her lawyer e-mails in the litigation because they were sent from her work e-mail account, a California appeals court has ruled.

Gina Holmes had claimed the e-mail was protected by the attorney-client privilege, according to stories by Wired’s Threat Level blog and Technolog on MSNBC.com.

The Sacramento-based appeals court said the e-mail was not a protected confidential communication because Holmes’ employer, the Petrovich Development Co., had warned that employee e-mails were not confidential and were subject to monitoring.

“The e-mails sent via company computer under the circumstances of this case were akin to consulting her lawyer in her employer's conference room, in a loud voice, with the door open, so that any reasonable person would expect that their discussion of her complaints about her employer would be overheard by him,” the court said.

Last March, the New Jersey Supreme Court protected e-mails sent from a personal account on a work computer to a lawyer. The court noted that the e-mails weren’t clearly covered by the employer’s policy, and they contained the standard warning that they were confidential attorney communications.

To view this article on the ABA Journal website, please click here.

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