Category: Legal Ethics

Contrary to popular belief, many people have positive experience(s) with their lawyers! About a week or so ago I posted the following request on a fabulous website called Help a Reporter Out (check it out): I am looking for people who have been injured in an accident whether it be vehicle related (car, motorcycle, bus, boat, plane, as a pedestrian, bicyclist) or in a slip/trip and fall type case (falling down stairs, off of a ladder, tripped on sidewalk, slipped in store) and whose case has been settled already. How has the accident affected your life? The lives of people around you?… Read More

You may be interested in an article that I came across in A Public Defender, a fascinating blawg. This particular article, Change Blindness and the Fallacy of the All-Remembering Cop, illustrates how faulty a witness’s memory might be. This phenomenon is known as Inattentional Blindness. Watch the short but very eye-opening videos below. The first one illustrates how an eye-witness can easily misidentify an alleged defendant. This, of course, would also apply to eye-witnesses in civil cases misidentifying or not accurately recalling people, places and things involved in an auto accident, slip and fall case, etc. Watch The Door Study by Daniel Simmons. In A Public Defender’s article, he… Read More

Note: This story has been fictionalized and all persons appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, places or events is entirely coincidental. What If I Want to Change Lawyers? Dan P. called my office and asked to speak with a lawyer – he got me. We chatted for a few minutes during which time he scratched the surface of his difficult, painful and frustrating story. Mr. P. is a South American immigrant who, along with his wife and other family members, came to this country to raise his family of four. For many… Read More

Despite public perception that lawyers are not held accountable for their actions, State Bar disciplinary committees have historically kept our profession in line. Of course, the Duke University debacle starring now disgraced and disbarred prosecutor Mike Nifong, is currently the most notable. His flagrant zealous and dishonest prosecution of three Duke University Lacrosse Team Members appears to have been for his own political gain. Several stories are currently in the news breaking out in excruciating detail the havoc that he wreaked on the innocent players, their families, Duke University and more. Interesting articles abound on the net and here are links… Read More