Category Archives: Attorney-Client

That Defendant Gates Is Looking for a Lawyer Can Only Mean that a New Conflict With Manafort has Now Become Clear

Posted on October 30, 2017 by richardzorza

This is really weird.  A defendant in a very high profile case, Gates, goes into court today essentially without a lawyer and has a public defender stand up for him on a very short term basis.  Its not a cost … Continue reading →

Posted in Attorney-Client, Criminal Law, Defender Programs, Dept. of Justice, Federal Courts, Legal Aid, Legal Ethics | Comments Off on That Defendant Gates Is Looking for a Lawyer Can Only Mean that a New Conflict With Manafort has Now Become Clear

Speculative Thoughts on Changing Lawyers in Mid-Case — Manafort Edition

Posted on August 10, 2017 by richardzorza

I want to draw your attention to the some specific language in the Politico story on Paul Manafort’s change of lawyers, quoting a Manafort spokesman (see especially my bold language): A spokesman confirmed the change. “Mr. Manafort is in the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Criminal Law, Dept. of Justice, Judicial Ethics, Legal Ethics | Comments Off on Speculative Thoughts on Changing Lawyers in Mid-Case — Manafort Edition

Professional-Client Partnering Lessons

Posted on July 22, 2017 by richardzorza

Note: This is an access to just version of a recent post on my Patient Partnering Site. A recently published tool intended to be used by medical institutions to encourage their patients to think of themselves as members of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Communications Strategy, Court Management, Defender Programs, Law Schools, Legal Aid, Legal Ethics, LSC, Medical System Comparision, Self-Help Services, Systematic Change, Usabilty | 1 Comment

Yet Another Way to Challenge the Legal Sufficiency of the Trump Presidency — Competency to Sign Orders and Bills

Posted on March 15, 2017 by richardzorza

There has finally started to be some attention to the 25th Amendment mechanism for removal of the President (Larry Tribe on MSNBC, transcript here). The main problem is that while the VP would surely welcome such a development, can not … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Congress, Constitution, Supreme Court, White House | Comments Off on Yet Another Way to Challenge the Legal Sufficiency of the Trump Presidency — Competency to Sign Orders and Bills

We Now Have Data To Help Prioritize ATJ Strategic Focuses

Posted on August 28, 2016 by richardzorza

Yesterday, when I blogged about the first good national sample data on numbers of self-represented cases, and particularly on those who face a lawyer alone, I promised additional more broken down data. These numbers, taken from the same NCSC Landscape of … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Attorney-Client, Court Management, Housing, Legal Aid, Metrics, Non-Lawyer Practice, SRL Statistics | 4 Comments

We Now Have the Data That shows That The One-Side-Self-Represented Case is the Dominant Case Situation in US Civil State Courts and That We Need a Fundamental Rethink of The State Civil Justice System

Posted on August 26, 2016 by richardzorza

Some data from NCSC should be helpful in relating access to justice strategy to overall legal system changes. This is because this data simply blows away the way we think about the courts. The dominant analytic mode has always been … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Self-Help Services, SRL Statistics, Systematic Change | 3 Comments

Integrating the ABA Futures Report and the Justice For All Components

Posted on August 14, 2016 by richardzorza

Its finally here, the ABA Future of Legal Services Report. As expected, it covers a lot of ground, and is a lot to read. As an aid to speedy integration into other projects, I have prepared this table that compares … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Alternative Business Structures, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Court Fees and Costs, Court Management, Document Assembly, E-filing, Incnetives, Law Schools, Legal Aid, Legal Ethics, LEP, Mediation, Middle Income, Mixed Model, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Plain Language, Planning, Referral Systems, Research and Evalation, Rules Reform, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Systematic Change, Technology, Transparency, Triage, Unbundling | 2 Comments

Advocate System Versus System That Does Not Need Advocates

Posted on July 8, 2016 by richardzorza

A recent conversation with my friend Peter Fielding, a doctor who lives at our retirement community about patient/client advocates led to some interesting conclusions for both the medical and legal worlds. When Peter and I discussed the fact that some … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Medical System Comparision, Systematic Change | 6 Comments

ABA Commission Paper on Legal Check-Ups Could Offer Opportunity to Integrate Private Providers Into ATJ Triage Movement

Posted on March 25, 2016 by richardzorza

A few days ago, the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services, fresh from a major step forward in getting House of Delegates approval for their Model Regulatory Objectives, issued for comment a draft Issues Paper Concerning Legal Checkups. … Continue reading →

Posted in ABA, Access to Counsel, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, De-Regulation, Incnetives, Non-Lawyer Practice, Technology, Triage | 2 Comments

Good News From the ABA — Regulatory Objectives Adopted

Posted on February 9, 2016 by richardzorza

Today on what the American Lawyer (limited-free link here) reports was ultimately a voice vote, the ABA House of Delegates approved the Model Regulatory Objectives proposed in Resolution 105, previously discussed and listed here and here. The full Resolution, as … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Non-Lawyer Practice, Systematic Change | 1 Comment

Conference of Chief Justices Recommending its Members Consider “Regulatory Objectives” for Regulation of Lawyers and Nonlawyers Could Help Move the ABA Process Forward

Posted on February 7, 2016 by richardzorza

When I blogged yesterday on “Is The ABA Really Willing for the Headline to be ‘Bar to Public: Drop Dead?‘”, I had not known that the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) had, on Wednesday, passed a resolution on the same … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Legal Ethics, Non-Lawyer Practice | 1 Comment

Thoughts on the Medical Consent Process and Implications for the Relationship Between Courts, Legal Advocates and Clients

Posted on January 23, 2016 by richardzorza

Yesterday, I had a bone marrow biopsy, as part of my ongoing medical care dealing with bone marrow cancer.  That biopsy is not my favorite thing, but let me tell you, as often at Hopkins, you are reminded just what … Continue reading →

Posted in Attorney-Client, Criminal Law, Defender Programs, Judicial Ethics, Legal Ethics, Medical System Comparision, Personal, Public Defender, Transparency | 2 Comments

Important Paper On Impact of Technology On Need For Lawyers May Answer One Question, But Ask Bigger Ones

Posted on January 8, 2016 by richardzorza

A recent New York Times article reports on a just drafted study on the potential impact on legal employment markets of the spread of technology. As explained in the Times: . . . [T]here are many human activities that cannot … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Document Assembly, Metrics, Non-Lawyer Practice, Research and Evalation, Rules Reform, Simplification, Technology | Comments Off on Important Paper On Impact of Technology On Need For Lawyers May Answer One Question, But Ask Bigger Ones

Five Transformative Bar Reform Ideas To Get to 100% to Justice — Paper Abstract

Posted on January 5, 2016 by richardzorza

A few months ago, the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics invited me to submit a paper on the relationship between access to justice, commercialization of the legal practice, and judicial ethics.  The paper will be published in the summer of … Continue reading →

Posted in Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Funding, Legal Aid, LSC, Middle Income, Mixed Model, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Political Support, Systematic Change, Tax Policy, Technology, Triage, Unbundling | 2 Comments

Both Disturbing and Humorous Piece on Ways Women Have to Present to Avoid Being Ignored

Posted on October 15, 2015 by richardzorza

Alexandra Petri  has a piece in the Washington Post which I find sadly disturbing on Famous quotes, the way a woman would have to say them during a meeting. Example: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Woman in a Meeting: … Continue reading →

Posted in Attorney-Client, Discrimination | 3 Comments