Page images
PDF
EPUB

"Law Lists

STANDING COMMITTEE ON LAW LISTS

COMPOSITION AND JURISDICTION *

(1) This Committee shall consist of five members, each of whom shall serve until the adjournment of the third annual meeting following his appointment, and until his successor is appointed, and from whom the President shall designate a chairman annually; provided, that in the original appointment of this Committee the President shall designate one member to serve until the adjournment of the first annual meeting following his appointment, two to serve until the adjournment of the second annual meeting following their appointment, and two to serve until the adjournment of the third annual meeting following their appointment, but thereafter successors shall be appointed for three-year terms. (2) This Committee shall

(a) procure information regarding law lists, and
advise members of the Association thereof;
(b) recommend to the House of Delegates for
adoption such standards or rules, and amend-
ments thereof, for law lists as may seem in the
interest of the public and the members of the
profession;

(c) adopt such reasonable rules and regulations
for the conduct of its authorized activities as it
may find desirable;

(d) endeavor to protect the public and members of the profession from dishonest, fraudulent or unworthy conduct of persons who represent, or claim to represent, law lists;

(e) cooperate with law enforcement officers and others interested in the censure or punishment of such dishonest, fradulent or unworthy conduct; (f) investigate annually at the expense of the publishers of law lists which shall request the committee to do so, whether such publishers respectively are complying with the provisions of the Rules and Standards as to law lists:

(g) issue an annual certificate of compliance to the publisher of any law list which the committee, upon such investigation, finds has complied with the Rules and Standards as to law lists of the Association, and the regulations of the committee; and revoke, conditionally or otherwise, the certificate issued to the publisher of any such law list if the committee finds that the publisher thereof, after receiving such certificate, has violated any of such rules, standards, or regulations."

RULES AND STANDARDS AS TO LAW LISTS

That the following Rules and Standards, and each of them, be adopted as and for Law Lists which request a certificate of compliance:

1. Every list of attorneys at law, legal directory or other instrumentality maintained or published primarily for the purpose of circulating or presenting the name or names of any attorney or attorneys at law as probably available for professional employment, shall be deemed a Law List.

2. The purchase or use of a Law List the publisher of which has a certificate of compliance may be recommended to attorneys at law, or laymen, by its issuer, only on the basis of the circulation, physical makeup and accuracy thereof, and the extent to which lawyers listed therein have been investigated. Efforts by the issuer of a Law List to otherwise secure employment for any attorney listed therein, or presented thereby, shall be deemed ground for not issuing a certificate of compliance, or for the revocation of the certificate if it has already been issued.

3. No certificate of compliance shall be issued to the publisher of any Law List or continue unrevoked

(a) if, in connection with the preparation, publication, distribution or presentation thereof, the issuer does, causes, permits to be done, encourages or participates in the doing of, any act or thing which, directly or indirectly, violates the Canons of Ethics of this Association, or which constitutes the unlawful practice of the law;

(b) which shall be conducted upon a basis which does not tend to promote the public interest, or which employs a practice not in accord with a high standard of business conduct;

• An defined by the By-Laws of the American Bar Association, Article X, Section 7(p).

Adopted by the House of Delegates, September 30, 1937, with amendments made October, 1941, August, 1942, February, 1944 and August 1969.

(c) or if the price for representation, or listing therein, or for a copy of the list, is not uniform within reasonably prescribed areas;

(d) or if any obligation is assumed by either user or attorney, to employ, exclusively or preferentially, in the forwarding, receiving or exchange of legal business, the attorneys listed therein;

(e) or if in the physical makeup thereof, preferential prominence shall be given to the name of any attorney or attorneys listed therein, by different size or character of type, underscoring or other methods employed by printers for emphasis or to attract attention; but the foregoing shall not prohibit the publication in the geographical section of a Law List of such professional card as the Canons permit or of a reference there to such card in another section of the book;

(f) or if the issuer thereof shall endeavor to direct, or control, the professional activities of any attorney listed therein or presented thereby;

(g) or if such Law List shall be published or issued as a part of any professional, commercial, trade or business publication or journal;

(h) or if the issuer thereof neglect or refuse to promptly and fully (a) notify the Association through the committee, in writing, of any payment or payments made by such issuer, or by an indemnitor, upon claims against a listed attorney, or (b) cooperate, at the request of the Association, through the committee, in the investigation, ascertainment and proof of the facts of such claims. 4. The publisher of a Law List which has received a certificate of compliance from the committee may rate its listees in a manner not disapproved of by the committee.

5. The committee shall make and promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to administer and interpret these Rules and Standards.

51

OATH OF ADMISSION

The general principles which should ever control the lawyer in the practice of his profession are clearly set forth in the following Oath of Admission to the Bar, formulated upon that in use in the State of Washington, and which conforms in its main outlines to the "duties" of Lawyers as defined by statutory enactments in that and many other States of the Union-duties which they are sworn on admission to obey and for the wilful violation of which disbarment is provided:

I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR:

I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of

I will maintain the respect due to Courts of Justice and judicial officers; I will not counsel or maintain any suit or proceeding which shall appear to me to be unjust, nor any defense except such as I believe to be honestly debatable under the law of the land;

I will employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to me such means only as are consistent with truth and honor, and will never seek to mislead the Judge or jury by any artifice or false statement of fact or law;

I will maintain the confidence and preserve inviolate the secrets of my client, and will accept no compensation in connection with his business except from him or with his knowledge and approval;

I will abstain from all offensive personality, and advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless required by the justice of the cause with which I am charged;

I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay any man's cause for lucre or malice. SO HELP ME GOD.

The American Bar Association commends this form of oath for adoption by the proper authorities in all the States and Territories.

Mr. FORD. Having made those remarks about the ABA, I would like to get you to agree with me on another observation. You have been making reference to a specific code, which is a part of the ABA Code. Isn't it a fact that the provisions that we have been discussing here are repeated in one fashion or another in all of the jurisdictions of this country?

Mr. SUTTON. I will just mention that briefly.

Mr. FORD. I shouldn't like it to be left in the record that having criticized the ABA, we are now turning to this organization as the only authority for all that you have been saying, and I don't want to take anything away from your testimony. Isn't it true that although this is the central form in which these ethical considerations are reduced to writing, they are duplicated in one form or another in the States?

Mr. SUTTON. I can be more specific about that, I believe. The Code of Professional Responsibility was adopted by the ABA House of Delegates unanimously in August 1969. The ABA, as you know, is just a voluntary bar association, and this would not have the force of law, but it was very quickly picked up by the States. The last count I had was that 43 States had adopted the Code in one form or another. Different States have different provisions. Some adopt them by court rules, and some by the bar association, and many by courts referring to them in their opinions. I think there has been one State since then, but I'm not sure.

For example, my State of Texas is going to vote on the adoption of the code in October. I anticipate that very shortly this will be in effect in almost all the States, with two or three exceptions. Right now, it is certainly the prevailing view, with the force of law, in a sense, in the States, because it has been adopted by the States. I wouldn't say all the States, but virtually all.

Mr. FORD. How many States are like my State of Michigan, with an integrated bar where a membership in the State Bar Association is a requirement for practicing law? I haven't kept track.

Mr. SUTTON. Many States have integrated bars. We have an integrated bar. I know that the Michigan Bar Committee worked on the code, and my recollection is that they recommended it for adoption this past year. I'm not sure, but I think Michigan is one of the States that adopted it. It is an integrated bar. Other States have adopted it. New York State Bar has adopted it, and it is not an integrated bar. Mr. FORD. We are now going to ask the Kansas City panel to come forward-Paul Miller, Director of the Legal Aid Defender Society for Greater Kansas City; Patrick Kelly; the Honorable James G. Baker, who is a member of the House of Representatives-is that the proper reference in the State of Missouri?-and Arthur A. Benson, II, staff attorney.

STATEMENT OF PAUL MILLER, DIRECTOR, LEGAL AID DEFENDER FOR GREATER KANSAS CITY

Gentlemen, do any of you have any prepared remarks that we can put into the record at this point?

Mr. MILLER. Yes; I have a statement on behalf of one of the people who was supposed to be a part of the panel, but who was unable to attend.

Mr. FORD. Without objection, and hearing none, the statement will be entered in the record at this point.

(The statement referred to follows:)

PREPARED STATEMENT OF RUSSELL MILLIN, KANSAS CITY, MO.

My name is Russell Millin. I have been engaged in the private practice of law in Western Missouri for nearly 20 years. From 1961 to 1967, I served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. For the last 2 years, I have been Chairman of the Northwest Missouri Law Enforcement Assistant Council, an organization set up to channel federal funds to units of local government for the improvement of the criminal justice system.

I am here today to state my support for the passage of House Bill 6360, which authorizes continuation of the legal services program through the establishment of a National Legal Services Corporation.

No other government program within my knowledge or experience has done more to bring about needed change within our society than the legal services program as administered by the Office of Economic Opportunity during the past 5 years. Its impact has been tremendous. In addition to having provided access to our legal system for thousands of poor people by means of direct representation, it has brought about and continues to bring about meaningful and long overdue changes in the laws-laws that discriminate against and oppress the poor and the disadvantaged.

That it has been able to accomplish this kind of dramatic change within our rigid and conservative legal system is due, in my judgment, to the freedom from political pressure under which it operates. Bright young lawyers have been attracted to this arena not only because of the opportunity it offers to challenge age-old inequities and inequalities, but also because of the freedom of action made available to them.

We say in our nation that human beings have a birthright—a right to freedom, a right to equal treatment under the law, a right to be free from oppression and tyranny. We say it, but do we meant it?

These young lawyers in the legal services program have set out to make such ideals more of a reality.

This program is vital to the continued well being and development of our rapidly changing social structure. It must not be diluted.

To curtail this effort or to limit the scope of legal services activities would have a chilling effect on the enthusiasm of the lawyers involved and would be a rebuff to the poor.

In the Midwest, particularly at Kansas City, we have seen much evidence that the legal services program has many practical accomplishments to which we can all point to with pride. It also has the added effect-probably of primary importance of easing tensions, in that the poor and the deprived know that somebody is in there swinging away for them.

It should be expanded rather than diminished. The smaller cities in Western Missouri need the benefits of a legal services program-St. Joseph with a population of 72,691, Springfield with a population of 120,096, Joplin with a population of 39,256, and Columbia with a population of 58,804.

I am particularly disturbed about the efforts of the Administration to restrict the legislative activities of legal services attorneys, to prohibit all political activities of legal services lawyers, to prevent them from consulting with and representing the poor in criminal matters prior to charges being filed, and the establishing of a fee schedule for legal services lawyers.

The poor need lobbyists. Legal services lawyers are particularly qualified to know the points at which the need for relief is most critical, and they have demonstrated their ability to draft legislation to alleviate the problems we face.

The restrictions placed on legal services lawyers by the Administration's proposals, if enacted into law, cannot help but dampen their efforts and will probably cause many of them to withdraw from the program.

Insofar as setting up a fee schedule is concerned, the danger here, instead of beginning at the present level of eligibility for free legal services, and establish

ing a modest fee schedule from that level upward, the Administration might very well go below that level and set up fee requirements for the poor who cannot afford to pay. To my knowledge, the Administration does not spell in sufficient detail the manner in which these schedules would be set up. Every precaution should be taken to the end that no person, regardless of how poor or how disadvantaged, cannot obtain those remedies and exercise those rights under the law which are their birthright.

Mr. FORD. Now, will you gentlemen proceed in whatever manner is most comfortable to you, and I will try to refrain from interrupting. Mr. MILLER. Chairman Ford, I would also request that a small package telling something about the Legal Aid Defenders Society be attached as an appendix.

Mr. FORD. The material that you are referring to will be included in the record at this point.

(The material referred to follows:)

PROPOSED WORK PROGRAM, YEAR F

I.a. What problems will you deal with in the program account? This program will continue to handle legal problems of eligibe participants; sample areas include problems involving welfare, private or public housing, wages and employment, family matters, consumer protection, selective service, urban renewal, and other legal uroblems encountered by clients. We will continue to handle legal problems of target-area groups, to assist community groups in corporate organization, and to provide legal services for poverty-area residents in activities involving housing and economic development. Our lawyers will continue to prosecute cases and work for administrative and legislative change in areas calling for law improvement. We will continue to work vigorously in community legal education in order that community residents can learn how to avoid legal problems, can begin to participate in the legal processes where feasible, and can learn to seek our services at an early stage in any legal problem.

1.b. What are the objectives of the program account and what benefits should result from its operation?

Our objectives are four-fold: (1) to provide legal services to clients and groups with legal problems who are unable to pay for the services of a private lawyer; (2) to assist neighborhood groups in becoming non-profit corporations or profitseeking businesses; (3) to work vigorously for improvement of laws and administrative processes which are particularly burdensome to the poor; and (4) through our community legal education program to educate the community in regard to legal and non-legal problems common to the poor.

Short-range and obvious benefits from operation of the program will include the following: (1) Approximately 13,000 clients will receive personal and individual services in dealing with their legal problems. (2) A wide variety of groups, organizations and prospective inner-city enterpreneurs will be helped to formally organize, apply for grants and loans, and will receive continuing legal assistance, thereby benefiting the client community through direct addition of funds. (3) In addition to specific cases aimed at improving laws and administrative processes, the Society will aid in preparing a variety of pieces of legislation for state and local consideration, thereby alerting officials to these needs so that remedial action, beneficial to all inner-city residents, can be taken; furthermore, the presence of lawyers representing the target community in administrative and court proceedings will automatically exert an improving effect upon these systems beneficial to the target community. (4) Through the dissemination of legal education materials and information, target-area residents will be benefited by becoming better able to identify and deal with their problems as they arise and will learn to seek our services when needed.

Long-range benefits, more difficult to measure, will flow from providing the target community direct access to our society's machinery for justice, thereby allowing the target community to realize the benefits of having differences resolved according to law and to understand that the legal system can be made to work for them and not merely against them.

I.c. Why do you believe these results can be achieved?

Our experience indicates that (1) the community will continue to use the services we provide and benefit from them on an individual or group basis; for

« PreviousContinue »