Court of Appeal Upholds Judgment Against Lawyer for Elder Abuse

By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer

The First District Court of Appeal Friday affirmed a judgment requiring several individuals, including an Oakland attorney, to pay more than $400,000 in damages and attorney fees to the conservator for an elderly disabled woman.

Div. Four upheld the award against Oakland attorney Carol Veres Reed, along with Ida McQueen’s sister and uncle, for misappropriation of funds from the unauthorized sale of property that McQueen’s father left her in trust.

McQueen, now 75 years old, suffers from physical and mental disabilities. Her father provided in his will that she could live in the family’s Oakland home for life. He also established a testamentary trust, giving the trustees discretion to use the principal for McQueen’s benefit during her lifetime, with the remainder of the assets to be divided among her surviving siblings after her death.

McQueen’s father died in 1990, and his two brothers were appointed to administer the estate. McQueen remained in the home until 2000, when she was taken to a nursing home due to medical complications.

Lawyers Visit

While in the nursing facility, she was visited by Reed—who had handled her father’s estate, and whose father had prepared the will—and her brother, attorney Richard K. Veres. The two lawyers presented her with a power of attorney, naming her sister, Earline Drumgoole, to act on her behalf.

A witness later testified that McQueen told him that she did not understand who her visitors were or what they had her sign.

Unable to return to the home, which was apparently uninhabitable, she was later placed in a community care facility. Her uncle, Ray Blackshire, acting as trustee, sold the house in 2004 for $240,000, with the net proceeds being placed in Reed’s client trust account and later distributed among several family members, with a part of it going to Reed as the still-unpaid legal fees for handling the estate of McQueen’s father 10 years earlier.

In November 2004, the Regional Center for the East Bay, a public entity that assists the disabled, learned that the house had been sold without McQueen’s knowledge or consent, and that she had not received funds from the distribution. Legal proceedings were initiated, resulting in the appointment of a conservator for the limited purpose of bringing an action for elder abuse.

Conservator Sues

The conservator sued Reed, Drumgoole, Veres, Blackshire, and a nephew of McQueen’s. Alameda Superior Court Judge Jo-Lynne Lee ruled before trial that the testator’s intent was to create a life estate in the house for McQueen, and that her interest was not extinguished upon the sale.

The defendants claimed at trial that they had a good fait reasonable belief that the life estate had ended, and that McQueen could not have benefited from the sale of the home because there would have been a reduction or elimination of her SSI and Medi-Cal benefits.

The conservator disputed this, presenting expert testimony that the proceeds could have been protected through proper financial planning, although a rebuttal witness testified that would not have been possible during the relevant time frame.

The judge granted McQueen’s nephew a nonsuit, and the jury exonerated Veres. As to the remaining defendants, the jury found for the plaintiff on theories of conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, concealment, and—in Reed’s case—financial elder abuse and breach of fiduciary duty as an attorney, and awarded nearly $100,000 in compensation.

Lee awarded the conservator more than $320,000 in attorney fees against Reed under the elder abuse statute.

Presiding Justice Ignacio Ruvolo, in an unpublished portion of his opinion for the Court of Appeal, said Reed was properly found liable.

He rejected the argument that jurors held her to an erroneously higher standard of care because she was an attorney. The jurist said the argument was inconsistent with the jury instructions, and that defense counsel made no showing that jurors ignored the instructions.

Nor was it error, Ruvolo wrote, for the judge to instruct the jury as to the Rules of Professional Conduct. While the rules themselves do not create tort liability, the presiding justice explained, it was appropriate for Lee to read them to the jurors so that they could resolve a “potentially confusing” factual issue.

Reed, the presiding justice explained, testified that with respect to the power of attorney, she was acting as counsel for both Drumgoole and McQueen. It was therefore proper, Ruvolo said, for the judge to explicate the ethical requirements regarding representation of adverse interests and the duty to inform a client of significant developments.

In the published portion of the opinion, Ruvolo concluded that the judge was correct in instructing the jury to disregard McQueen’s government benefits in calculating damages.

This was a proper application of the collateral source rule, Ruvolo said, even though there appear to be no prior published cases on whether federal government benefits are a gratuitous source under the rule.

The case is Conservatorship of McQueen, A126825.

http://www.metnews.com/articles/2011/mcqu011811.htm
------------------------
Chalk one up for the good guys!

Grandma Goes to Court

In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'

She again replied, 'Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a
youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.'

The defense attorney nearly died.

The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said,

'If either of you sonofabitches asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair.'

More Predictions for 2011...

The excerpts taken below do not reflect the view of E.A. and or it's editor who would like to believe that Americans politicians are noble and caring individuals who are there for the peoples and are working hard to protect the hard working American public from injustices and ever vigilant to make sure the American people get the government and the justice they deserve but represent the view of a few fringe elements out there who refuse to drink the kool aid and obviously do not watch the evening news and are not aware of the green shoots and the economic recovery underway with a robust stock market leading the way. President Barack Obama recent remark to the report of increase jobs from the hiring of 411,00 census workers to say." "This report is a sign that our economy is getting stronger by the day." …

We are publishing this article in the interest of contrasting opinions..........

Editor

"I would love to wish all a Happy New Year, but unless one is a member in good-standing of the DC Hog Trough Diner 2011 is going to suck even worse than 2010. That may be hard for many to imagine, but the US has now engineered the Perfect Storm to assure that the USS Titanic is going to sink.

The bailouts and QE1 did nothing except accelerate the rate of transfer of wealth into the right pockets, and probably not your pockets. The proposed QE2, QE3, QE4, or as many 'quantitative easing' shams and scams as they want to do will continue to not work and accomplish nothing for the average American. The ship is going down and it is going to be more pain, no gain for what is a broke and broken US system.
Expect higher interest rates in 2011. The Bank of England has already stated up to 5%, and real inflation is much more than that. When food and energy prices are escalating but not factored into the real inflation rate, the numbers you are seeing are a sham, a lie.
If 'economic stimulus' did not happen at interest rates ranging from 0% to 1%, when they rise to 5% to 10% expect even less economic results in 2011. Sooner or later all parties end and it is then time to face the music. The music and what America will have to face in 2011 will be about the ugliest bitch of a year that has happened in the last 100 years.
Of course, the Fed will continue to manipulate the stock market so Americans think they are getting rich swimming with the sharks. When the value of the dollar is declining, the capital markets increasing as yet another bubble, the net effect is zero growth. In real terms, it might actually prove to be negative growth, more contraction and more bad employment news.

The rest of the world is asking the question so I will ask it too. What in Hell does it take to wake you stupid people up over in the 50 states of La-La Land?
Are you so wrapped up in dumbass you cannot grasp or understand anything that is fundamental to your wellbeing? Get this straight, Uncle Sam and Big Brother are not your friend.

Trust that hunger, poverty, lack of food will increase in 2011. These morons in DC do not care if you are starving, and evidently Americans cannot make the mental connection as to why they are hungry and starving.
The US will set an all time record in debt versus lack of production output in 2011. The US is not the world's largest economy and has not been in several years. The EU has taken that away even with a stronger currency and China just pushed Japan out as the second largest production output.

The only 'change' in the world is every place except America. The voters of America did not vote for change in November 2010. The same liars, thieves and traitors are still firmly in control of America, so there will be no change, only the appearance of change.

Printing money is not industrial output. That is simple to grasp but seems to be lost on most Americans. When US GDP is around 46% 'financial services' and a large amount of that is brazen fraud, America needs to rethink its business plan. First it killed the output, then the jobs and now well on its way to killing a nation. I doubt that America will rethink its business plan in 2011, so expect more of the same and maybe worse.

I wonder at times if Americans can grasp the sheer magnitude of fraud that was the rigged, artificial 'robust economy' Bush kept bragging about and was literally a house of cards housing market. There was only about $4 trillion stolen from foreign nations, banks, pension funds, insurance companies and private investors to create the illusion that everything was just hunky-dory in Nitwitville, America.

Americans seem to want their salvation delivered to the door like a pizza. It has never worked that way, 2011 will not change that fact.

The BP Deep Horizon blow out will continue to destroy an entire ecosystem. What was recently reported as 'BP oil covers 1,000's of miles of ocean floor' will change to read "BP oil covers 10's of thousands of miles of ocean floor". Many will continue to get sick, up to and including the point of either dying or their health being ruined for life.

Yeah, Americans like to talk about their freedoms and rights. Go ahead, all Americans have the right to eat as much oil contaminated seafood as they wish.
Be careful swimming in what used to be a beautiful gulf, the sharks are running out of food.

The American voice will continue to become less relevant in this coming year. It does not take a crystal ball to figure that one out. When a sound asleep nation is lead by liars, con-artists and idiots, there is no possible outcome but a stupid end solution.

Global Warming will continue to be revealed as a scam as much of the world braces itself for the worst winter in the past 100 to 200 years.

Americans will still obediently comply with any TSA abuse, thinking wrongly that America is being protected. Maybe when TSA starts shoving their fist up American asses, Americans will realize that the hardest nation on Earth to travel within is the United States for Americans and foreigners alike. There are no problems elsewhere and no TSA sort of shakedown, humiliation and abuse.

Financial collapse of America? That is very likely, so make sure you have food, means to raise or buy food, and make sure the lifejacket is handy. There are very turbulent waters ahead.
If you have not considered moving to a real nation, you might want to consider that. America is toast!! "

By Karl Schwarz
12-31-10

Related=>>Fall of the Republic (Video)

Attorneys and Judges Find Elder's Estates Ripe Pickings

by George Brennan as reported in the Cape Cod Times

They didn’t think of him as a lawyer. They thought of him as a trusted family friend.

So when thousands of dollars went missing and the paper trail led to attorney John “Jack” Roberts of Dennis, they were at first shocked, then hurt and finally angry.

Roberts, now disbarred, pleaded guilty to stealing $137,000 from the estate of Alice May of Sandwich and was sentenced to house arrest. On Friday, he was arraigned on a charge of larceny by a single scheme in the theft of $650,000 from Norm Sasville, a Middleboro builder. Prosecutors said they plan to seek jail time if Roberts is convicted again.

“He pulled the carpet out from me,” Sasville said in an interview before Roberts was indicted. “He was a good friend. He was a goombah.”

Roberts was released on $1,000 bail after his arraignment in Barnstable Superior Court on Friday.

But Roberts is not alone.

In recent years, the Cape has had its share of high-profile cases involving lawyers bilking clients out of thousands.

In 2006, Anthony Bott, an Orleans attorney, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $350,000 in insurance settlements from 12 clients.

He was sentenced to 2½ years in Barnstable County Correctional Facility and 10 years of probation.

And plenty of ink has been spilled on the ongoing tangle of former Orleans attorney Richard Birchall. Birchall has been jailed on contempt charges, a judge finding that he is capable of repaying the $2.7 million he owes to his former client Suzanne D’Amour of Brewster.

But while that case has the added intrigue of D’Amour once spending time in jail on perjury charges for lying to a grand jury investigating the murder of her husband, the other Cape cases involve regular Joes or elderly people looking for legal help from someone they trusted.

“It really is disgusting,” said Adele Lundquist, an 83-year-old Brewster woman who was a victim of Bott. “It’s like your house getting broke into. It’s a violation.”

Lundquist was seriously injured in a car accident. Her car was sideswiped by a woman who blew through a stop sign. Her family attorney recommended Bott, who at the time was considered one of the Lower Cape’s top personal injury attorneys.

Months passed and Bott kept putting Lundquist off telling her settlements could take years. It turned out he got her an $85,000 settlement within months, but like 11 other clients, he had fraudulently signed her name and pocketed the cash.

“You go through stages where you feel betrayed, you feel hurt, you feel angry,” Lundquist said.

Nancy Allen, whose inheritance was partially stolen by Roberts, expressed similar feelings. Her mother, Alice May, had considered Roberts a friend. She said it felt like she had been “physically assaulted” when she figured out Roberts had grabbed the money to feed his gambling habit.

Abridged for E.A.

Some Attorneys Find Elder's Estates Irresistable!

By Matt Zapotosky

Washington Post Staff Writer

A prominent La Plata lawyer was charged Wednesday with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from an estate he was appointed to handle, and investigators are exploring the possibility he might have taken money from several other clients.

Frank P. Jenkins, 44, was charged with one count of theft over $500, according to online court records. Police did not immediately release all the details of Jenkins’s alleged scheme, but said he took hundreds of thousands of dollars from a woman who thought the money was being set aside in a trust as part of an estate settlement.

Jenkins apparently withdrew money from the trust himself, police said, though investigators are still probing what he did with it.

A woman who answered the phone at a number listed in Jenkins’ name hung up Wednesday evening after a reporter identified himself. Online court records show Jenkins handled a wide variety of cases ranging from divorces to contract disputes to criminal indictments.

Source=>>

Orwellian Tactics To Put an End to Elders Rights in Florida

Reposted from 8-21-09

Carol Kinnear, second from left, flanked by daughters Kellee Watt, left, and Kathy Howland, with grandson Matt Howland.

Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer hat tip EstateOfDenial.Com
Original=>>tampabay.com

Her wish was clear: For the rest of her life, regardless of her health, she wanted to stay home.

CLEARWATER — Carol Kinnear, a retired Belleair Elementary teacher in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, signed an update to her trust in June 2008.

She had lived there for more than 30 years, crossing the road to Clearwater Beach and reading Mary Higgins Clark mysteries on the wraparound porch. As long as she could afford the at-home care, she decided, she would stay and watch the sunset.

The trust provision, her daughters thought, would assure she could do that.

On Monday, Kinnear, 78, was taken from home and moved to an unnamed facility, the act of a court-appointed guardian. She would be treated there for “high anxiety and confusion,” the guardian wrote in an e-mail. Her children, blocked from contact, were told it was in their mother’s best interest.

Earlier this year, to safeguard their mother’s estate after money had come up missing, they had filed for guardianship in a Pinellas court.

Now they find themselves the victims of unintended consequences, guarded against by the person they had sought for help.

“My mother has means. She doesn’t need to be in a secret home,” said daughter Kathy Howland, 50, of Largo. “She set this up long ago to make sure this wouldn’t happen.”

Local attorneys, however, say the guardian has done nothing wrong. When Kinnear was deemed “incapacitated” in April, court records show, her rights to decide medical treatment, residence and “social environment” were transferred to the guardian.

“The guardian’s determination trumps whatever language was in a previous trust,” said Richard L. Pearse Jr., a Clearwater guardianship lawyer. “The home environment is not always the best suited to provide a high level of care, even if the money is there.”

Trusts cover the delegation of assets but not personal wellbeing, said Elizabeth Wall, a St. Petersburg attorney representing Kinnear’s guardian, Teri St. Hilaire. The documents are too unrestricted and inflexible to establish sound health decisions.

“A guardian is obligated to attempt to comply with a person’s wishes,” Wall said. “But you can’t anticipate the future. …

If following their wishes puts them at risk, then you have to do something different.”

Among some of the county’s 3,000 open guardianships, Kinnear’s situation is a common conflict. Irene Rausch, a former president of the Florida State Guardianship Association, said guardians and families often differ on what would be best for the ward.

“It’s kind of difficult when a professional guardian is appointed because family members say, ‘Who are you? I’m a family member. I’m entitled,’ ” Rausch said. “People are very fearful of guardianship. They try to avoid it.”

Kinnear’s daughters had thought it could help. A guardian would have the power to manage her health care and assets, including the beach home once appraised at $1.8 million.

Problems, they said, began soon after.

Kinnear’s first guardian, Sandra Scott, caused her to fall after giving too high a dose of medication, said Kellee Watt, 45, of Indian Rocks Beach.

St. Hilaire, who replaced Scott on July 1, didn’t return phone calls and e-mails from the daughters.

Requests for different aides after Kinnear complained of verbal abuse were ignored. The move on Monday was based on a doctor’s recommendation, St. Hilaire wrote in her e-mail, but neither Kinnear’s longtime physician nor her neurologist were consulted, Watt said.

Neither Scott nor St. Hilaire responded to messages this week from the St. Petersburg Times.

The statutes don’t clearly define how involved guardians must keep the family. Average caseloads of 40 to 50 wards, Rausch said, can make it tough for guardians to keep up.

The daughters have recourse to assess the guardian’s methods — filing for a court monitor. But that means more paperwork,

procedure and time while their mother waits away from home.

“What is concerning to me is the structure and lack of oversight for guardians,” Watt said. “They’re essentially without a boss.”

Source=>>

“The guardian’s determination trumps whatever language was in a previous trust,” Save your money, Trusts,Power of Attoneys, Surrogate Health Care Documents,
are all worthless they are " too unrestricted and inflexible to establish sound health decisions."

As has been my personal experience in my opinion these documents are a joke they do not hold up in court unless it benefits the guardian and or their attorneys who customarily charge upwards of $400 per hour up until the elder's assets are depleted to do tasks that family members here to performed out of love.

Furthermore do not be shocked or surprised when family members are demonized and for the elder's own good are blocked from contact from the elder as this is standard operating procedure in these cases, however they are kept separate and the media does NOT report on this blatant violations of civil rights since elders are not highly valued, an elders loss of contact with his children/grandchildren/loved ones and the subsequent draw down of the elders wealth, (Asset Consfiscation) (IRA)Involuntary Redistribution Assets is considered no big deal , as this only affects elderly people.....

The Betrayal of Clara G. Fernandez by APS

Clara as seen here on December 24th, 2008 enjoying her Christmas Dinner

RE: CLARA FERNANDEZ FILE NO: 44-2005-CP-6l-K during the hearing of a motion to end Guardianship for a less restrictive form of governance as per Florida Statues Least Restrictive Alternative RequirementF.S.§744.331(6)(b).

During this proceedings beginning at 3:30 p.m, and concluding at 4:00 o'clock p.m., on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2008, reported by court reporter Lisa Roeser, RPR, at the Monroe County Courthouse, Courtroom A, 502 Whitehead Street, Key West,

The Florida Department Children and Families sent attorney Michelle Perez

The DCF has investigated Clara's family six (6) times. A criminal can only be tried once, but the DCF can try you time and time again to try to find something, however after going back 5 years of financial records by crack DCF investigator Melanie Miller wheras she found nothing in- appropriate, neither did an audit by CPA firm hired by the Wards's family.

In all of the six (6) investigations the family's handling of the financing was cleared of any wrongdoing.

In spite of this fact the DCF sent their attorney to vehemently argue against the termination of the Guardianship that kept Clara from receiving much needed Dental care because "It was too expensive."

click to enlarge document


"here in line 4 MS. PEREZ: Judge, just briefly. It`s DCF's concern that now that the guardianship has been dissolved that Mr. Raul Fernandez will now be in control of the entire estate of his mother."

God forbid that the family be in control of the Estate and of the "WARD's " due legacy and NOT the State of Florida and their legions of attorneys even though they had been cleared of any wrongdoing during six (6) separate investigations)


The DCF attorney paid by our tax funds argued vehemently against the ending of the Guardianship despite Florida Statutes of Least Restrictive Alternative Requirement F.S.§744.331(6)(b) that says that a guardianship is to be used as a last resort when the "Ward " has NO family!

One of the major substantive changes to Florida Guardianship Law which was brought about by the October 1989 legislative revisions, was the requirement that there be no least restrictive available alternative to guardianship, before the court could appoint a guardian.


Laws in place to protect victims and their families are loosely enforced and subject to arbitrary interpretation and abuse, that why we think that additional laws are a waste of time if current laws are continued to be ignored with impunity despite the alleged requirement that Guardianship statutes and the rules related thereto must be strictly construed. See In re Keene, 343 So. 2d 916 (Fla. 4" DCA 1977).

The Betrayal of Our Children

Lying Lawyers Paid Tax Dollars to Officially Abduct Your Children

Diary Entry by Steven G. Erickson

Connecticut,USA

Connecticut DCF Attorney Maureen Duggan file photo

Lawyers on Ethics Commissions, such as Maureen Duggan, can be caught lying, committing perjury, manufacturing evidence, using false identities, obstructing justice, getting involved in complex plots and schemes, acting unethically, and while being paid tax dollars to safeguard families and children, harm families and children, defrauding tax payers, and not be fired! Is this proper use of your federal tax dollars we ALL PAY?

Maureen Duggan, an official of Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families, DCF, is paid $105,000. Her punishment for possibly committing a number of felonies is to take 9 hours of ethics classes over 3 years. [story]
Lawyers oversee lawyers. Lawyers can be 2/3 of a Judiciary Committee in the legislative branch making laws for further attorney abuse of the public. A high percentage of law students, paralegals, and even lawyers are legislative aids. There is undo influence, backroom deals, and public corruption with the current system.

Former Governor John G. Rowland was bragging that child abuse went down 45% on his official webpage, and the response was to take 445% more children. His alleged mistress, the former head of DCF, Kristine Regaglia, also received freebies and bribes from organized crime figures for mobsters to build, supply, and run “Kiddie Max” prisons for kids. [more information in this post]

Abuse [like this] occurs across America.

We need a “People’s Grand Jury System”, We the People should be able to bring evidence of wrongdoing, public corruption, police, judicial, attorney, official, and prosecutorial misconduct to any courthouse where an independent grand jury, with term limits, votes to privately investigate, prosecute, indict, etc.

[Information on Grand Juries and why we need them]

From John Q. Public all the way up to the US President, everyone should be accountable to the same laws and receive just punishments, with consistency, fairness, and incentives to best serve the public while not wasting hard earned tax dollars.

Those receiving tax dollars should act in the best interest of the public, not their interests.

“Silence signifies acceptance.”

-Steven G. Erickson

My thoughts on the “legal” system revolving as many citizens into prison as is possible [click here]

Steven G. Erickson is a freelance cameraman, blogger, photographer, documentary producer, screenwriter, sometimes journalist, and can and will travel anywhere if the terms are right. His objective is to reform America's courts, creating a "People's Grand Jury" system, exposing and fixing public corruption, corporate abuse of the public, and punishing police, official, prosecutorial, judicial, and attorney misconduct.

The Relatives are Restless it may be Because the Lawyers are Larcenous.

Here in the last weeks of 2008, we’re going through our files trying to catch up reporting on cases that have come in to us.

See the EoD News Archive for a tale about a former Toledo city councilwoman and attorney who will be sentenced in January for theft of between $500,000 and $1 million. The stolen funds appear to have come from numerous estates handled by Karyn McConnell-Hancock. This woman was charged earlier this year for faking her own kidnapping. Hancock’s husband and father, a Toledo Municipal Court judge, received national attention after an appearance on Good Morning America in which they cited a case related to the father/judge as potential motivation for the abduction.

Truth is stranger than fiction. And we wonder why our legal system is dysfunctional?

*Title by E.B post by EoD

DON'T WAIT TO FILE COMPLAINTS AT THE STATE BAR AGAINST ATTORNEYS

By Donie Vanitzian (View author info)

Dogged persistence is the key to filing attorney complaints. Let's face it--attorneys don't want to be scrutinized! Not by the bar. Not by the public. Not by the courts. Not by the media. Not by their clients. Not by opposing counsel.

There is an element of performing an important public service when filing complaints against attorneys that have "acted improperly" (the Bar's words, not mine). Because, in my opinion, the State Bar has failed miserably in policing its own, the public must take pains to make their sentiments known, not once, but over and over and over again without fail. One way to accomplish that is to file complaints with the State Bar against errant attorneys--and keep filing them.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HIRE THE ATTORNEY IN ORDER TO FILE A COMPLAINT AGAINST HIM OR HER

This means, if you believe that the association's attorney or the management company's attorney for that matter, has violated rules of professional responsibility, or some other statute, or has been unethical, you CAN file a complaint against that ass attorney or management company attorney with the State Bar. From the consumer's point of view, the worst that can happen is that the Bar informs you there is no case. But they will READ your complaint and consider it without charging you a fee. This appears to be one time where your tax dollars are at work, take advantage of it.

Remember, if the complaint has no merit, the Bar will write you back and tell you.

REGISTERING A COMPLAINTDo not be intimidated. Do not back down. Just do it.Obtain a complaint form from the Bar's website:

In California http://www.calbar.ca.gov/ In Florida Click Here=>>

ARE YOU THE ATTORNEY'S NEW BEST FRIEND?

For every complaint against an attorney that does NOT get filed, you become that attorney's new best friend.

Basically, reasons for not filing complaints against ass attorneys typically amount to a combination of fear and laziness on behalf of the owner. Understandably exhausted from the ordeal leading up to even "considering" the filing of a complaint in the first place, one's hands go up in the air, the file goes in a bottom drawer or in the trash, and such lawyers make a slick getaway.

Waiting to file a complaint at the Bar does not make the situation better. Waiting to file is not the same as waiting for a fine wine to age."Waiting" MAY prejudice you or if there is a statute of limitations, it may run out.

Though not referred to in these terms at the Bar, an unspoken inference might be, you waited so long YOU LOOK GUILTY. "What took you so long to complain?" "Why did you stay with your attorney if you were not happy?" "Why didn't you make your displeasure known to your attorney early on?" "Did you ask your attorney for a refund?" "Why didn't you fire him?"

A QUICK WORD ABOUT THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION "Defending Liberty - Pursuing Justice" is the motto of the American Bar Association. Owners are not limited to filing a complaint only at the State Bar, you can also file a complaint with the American Bar Association (ABA) (http://www.abanet.org

Related Posts:

Does America Deserve a Just Judiciary?

Call to Action Congressman Mario Diaz Balart - South Florida

Glorianne M. Amor
Office Manager
Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart
12851 SW 42nd Street, Suite 131
Miami, Florida 33175
305-225-6866
Fax: 305-225-7432
Gloria.Amor@mail.house.gov

Dear Congressman Mario Diaz Balart;

I would like a chance to meet with you and discuss elderly abuse and exploitation issues. I have first hand knowledge that the Elderly People of South Florida are being ruled incompetent , this in order to steal all their assets, including their homes.

The Judge's, Attorney's and Guardian's are working together to extort millions and millions of dollars from these elderly people.

We believe since the State Attorney refuses to prosecute these criminals then we believe special legislation must be made to ensure these crimes are stopped immediately which not only destroy the elderly peoples lives but their families.

As special legislation was made for Terri Schiavo case called the Sunday Compromise we believe since the State Attorney allows these crimes to continue, possibly she is friends with these attorneys and judges, there must be special legislation past to ensure the elderly will not become victims of elderly abuse and exploitation any longer.

My mother is! a victim, she was ruled competent by the Court Appointed Psychiatrist and the Judge refused to restore her civil rights , to date she lost over $600,000 thousand dollars. I would like to discuss special legislation to protect people like my mother, Thank You and I am looking foward to meeting with you at your earliest convenience.

Robert Sarhan, M.D.
Tel. No 305-338-6160
--------------------------------------------

To all our readers in Dade County, South Florida and surrounding areas that have been touched by this sad state of affairs, fleecing and financial abuse that our elders are faced with by the very same people that are suppose to protect them. Please E mail , then call Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart 305-225-6866 to ask that the congressman give this matter the attention that it deserves after you have called and E mail then please call Dr. Sarhan who is waiting for your call so he can coordinate his meeting with the congressman.

Thank You for being part of the solution..... Let America Know ... We Care..

To Be Forewarned is to be Forearmed!

By Lou Ann

An industry exists in which lawyers, accountants and other unethical participants, sometimes with complicity from probate courts, can separate any of us from our property when certain (not that unusual) circumstances occur. These circumstances can be orchestrated and lead to an Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA). This often occurs with wills, trusts, guardianships or other probate-related situations.

To think that property and assets are your own and that you have control over their ultimate distribution is a mistake. Situations such as are described at www.estateofdenial.com occur more often than most people would ever believe. A close study of this issue leads one to recognize that going to court is not a path that necessarily provides reasonable resolution. This course too easily leads to lawyers or administrators becoming the functional beneficiaries while the intended beneficiaries are left with reduced or no assets as well as potentially significant legal expenses.

With regard to targeting the elderly, I would especially caution anyone living in a retirement community or area which attracts older folks (maybe because of medical facilities). I refer to attorneys or other professionals who seek this type clientele as “walker stalkers.”

Through the transfer of wealth that is getting ready to occur in the next 20 or so years, Involuntary Redistribution of Assets cases will likely skyrocket. People think proper estate planning will protect them – wrong! People think they don’t have enough assets to be a target –wrong!! There is no inoculation from the threat of IRA. Forewarned, however, is forearmed.

How To Avoid A Forced Guardianship

By Barry Yeoman, AARP Magazine

Nobody wants to end up in a guardianship, and the best way to prevent it from happening is to prepare ahead. Here are the two most important things you can do now to avoid having your life and finances put in the hands of strangers:

1. Select someone you trust to make health care decisions for you if you couldn't—a family member, friend, or legal representative. Then outline your wishes in a legal document called a Health Care Durable Power of Attorney or health care proxy. That person will make sure your wishes are followed.

2. Designate someone to manage your finances if you're not able with a financial Durable Power of Attorney, a specific document prepared by a lawyer, outlining what you want that person to do for you and when.

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In an ideal world Mr. Barry Yeoman is correct and these prior directives should avoid a guardianship and a lot of people out there think they are protected by having a Trust, Will and POA and Health Surrogate planning documents. However in the real world having these does not necessarily means the court is going to acknowledge this documents. In the case of Clara G. Fernandez she had very detailed planned these documents and all were in order.

In other words these documents are only valid in a perfect environment, when certain (not that unusual) circumstances occur which is in a lot of cases then these documents become a moot point.

I think attorneys ought to disclose when they charge people hefty fees to draw up these documents they should be totally upfront and provide disclosures to the effect that in the event that un usual circumstances occur or in the event event that one of the members of the family has to litigate to bring assets back into the trust because they were improperly taken, then these prior planning documents become null and void. And the wishes of the testator are to be bulldozed over with no consequence and little remedy to afflicted families.

Any feedback to this article by attorneys and I know we have quite a few readers out there that pratice law , please let us hear from you on this subject.

Florida Code of Judicial Conduct

the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct
by Judge Charles J. Kahn

Page 10

Most judges have come to realize that they cannot do their job without lawyers. Most lawyers have concluded that the obverse is also true. Although judges and lawyers meet in a formal context during court proceedings, many other less formal relationships and connections exist between judges and lawyers. Oftentimes, questions about such relationships and connections are governed by the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct (“the code”)1 and the opinions of the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee (JEAC or “the committee”).2 This article seeks to familiarize Florida lawyers with solutions to frequently occurring situations involving relationships between lawyers and judges.

Social Relationships Between Judges and Lawyers
Lawyers, like members of any profession, commonly form friendships among themselves, and these friendships may well endure beyond the time one of the lawyers takes the bench through election or appointment. Under Canon 2 of the code, “A judge shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all of the judge’s activities.” In particular, “A judge shall not allow family, social, political, or other relationships to influence the judge’s judicial conduct or judgment.”3

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In the United States, the term "recusal" is used most often with respect to court proceedings. Two sections of title 28 of the United States Code (the Judicial Code) providing standards for judicial disqualification or recusal. Section 455, captioned "Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge," provides that a federal judge "shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned." The same section also provides that a judge is disqualified "where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding"; when the judge has previously served as a lawyer or witness concerning the same case or has expressed an opinion concerning its outcome; or when the judge or a member of his or her immediate family has a financial interest in the outcome of the proceeding.

28 U.S.C. sec. 144, captioned "Bias or prejudice of judge," provides that under circumstances, when a party to a case in a United States District Court files a "timely and sufficient affidavit that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either against him or in favor of an adverse party," the case shall be transferred to another judge.
The general rule is that to warrant recusal, a judge's expression of an opinion about the merits of a case or familiarity with the facts or the parties must have originated in a source outside the case itself. This is referred to in the United States as the "extra-judicial source rule" and was recognized as a general presumption, although not an invariable one, in the 1994 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Liteky v. United States.

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