Ask DrewDevil your legal questions

[DrewDevil]

[ QUOTE ]
Dear DrewDevil,

Thank you for taking the time to offer your free lawyer services to us poor people of OOT. I have a question. My mother always tells me that I should have been a lawyer. How should I take this? I'm not sure if she's giving me a compliment or a thinly veiled insult.

All help appreciated,

ads.

[/ QUOTE ]

She probably means you argue a lot.

[RayPowers]

I have a friend that went to Law School, passed, passed the bar exam, then was refused a law license based on an arrest over a decade ago. What was your interview process like after you passed the bar? Ever heard of anything like this? How stringent is Texas? (My friend was not even found guilty of charges, if I recall correctly, only arrested.)

Ray

[sethypooh21]

[ QUOTE ]

but I am "of counsel" with a 12-man firm

[/ QUOTE ]

This represents something of a brag, IMO. (At my firm at least, it seems like the "of counsel" have the best combo of bank and quality of life. The associates such as myself of course have neither, while the partners are all hour-billing worknits...)

[sethypooh21]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a friend that went to Law School, passed, passed the bar exam, then was refused a law license based on an arrest over a decade ago. What was your interview process like after you passed the bar? Ever heard of anything like this? How stringent is Texas? (My friend was not even found guilty of charges, if I recall correctly, only arrested.)

Ray

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not an interview, it's part of the "Character" review of your application to take the exam. Generally speaking, you don't have to do an interview unless there is some kind of red flag. In that case you may or may not be screwed depending on the jurisdiction. (Friend of mine was/is not able to even take the Delaware bar because he has a misdo assault conviction from a bar fight when he was in college)

[miajag]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a friend that went to Law School, passed, passed the bar exam, then was refused a law license based on an arrest over a decade ago. What was your interview process like after you passed the bar? Ever heard of anything like this? How stringent is Texas? (My friend was not even found guilty of charges, if I recall correctly, only arrested.)

Ray

[/ QUOTE ]

The only way I can imagine this happening is if he was required to report it and failed to do so. There's no way he'd be denied admission just because of an arrest 10 years ago, so there has to be more to this story.

[miajag]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have a friend that went to Law School, passed, passed the bar exam, then was refused a law license based on an arrest over a decade ago. What was your interview process like after you passed the bar? Ever heard of anything like this? How stringent is Texas? (My friend was not even found guilty of charges, if I recall correctly, only arrested.)

Ray

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not an interview, it's part of the "Character" review of your application to take the exam. Generally speaking, you don't have to do an interview unless there is some kind of red flag. In that case you may or may not be screwed depending on the jurisdiction. (Friend of mine was/is not able to even take the Delaware bar because he has a misdo assault conviction from a bar fight when he was in college)

[/ QUOTE ]

Everyone has to do an interview in my state (Maryland). I just had mine a couple weeks ago, I didn't have anything on my record other than some speeding tickets, so we pretty much just shot the [censored] for half an hour.

[RayPowers]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have a friend that went to Law School, passed, passed the bar exam, then was refused a law license based on an arrest over a decade ago. What was your interview process like after you passed the bar? Ever heard of anything like this? How stringent is Texas? (My friend was not even found guilty of charges, if I recall correctly, only arrested.)

Ray

[/ QUOTE ]

The only way I can imagine this happening is if he was required to report it and failed to do so. There's no way he'd be denied admission just because of an arrest 10 years ago, so there has to be more to this story.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, there was some kind of red flag in that he knew there was an issue and actually my wife was a character witness for him on things. They said they felt he had not been "open enough" in the application process. His side is something along the lines of "I put it in the application, but apparently they wanted a lot more detail."

I should try to dig up his blog, which had some details in it i think.

Ray

[DrewDevil]

[ QUOTE ]
DrewDevil,

I want to have a lawyer so that I can hit him up in case I run into any legal problem or have any legal question. How do I create such a relationship with a lawyer? Do I call up one and pay him an initial fee so I get access to him year-round?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've spent some time pondering this exact business model--like having a monthly membership fee that gives you access to a lawyer. I haven't figured out how it would be anything but a terrible deal for the lawyer. If you pay a lawyer $50 per month to be "on call," that's $600 per year, or about 3-4 hours' worth of work at average billing rates.

I've heard of very wealthy families paying a lawyer a huge annual retainer for such an arrangement, but I don't see how it would work for the majority of people.

Plus, I think most people hire lawyers for a specific finite purpose (I want a will, I need a divorce), not to have someone on tap. I could be wrong. Hell, if I could round up 100 clients paying me $100 a month, I'd do this in a second--much better than billing by the hour.

[ QUOTE ]
Also, what tips can I use to figure out if my lawyer knows his stuffs or is just talking out of his ass?

[/ QUOTE ]

Usually a lawyer will have a reputation in the community of other lawyers, and they will know which ones are full of it. I admit there's not a 100% foolproof method.

[ QUOTE ]
Lastly, I want to confirm if it is true that I should trust my lawyer more than anyone. I wasn't sure if you were leveling or not. Is it because of the "client-lawyer" privilege that allows an open relationship between the two person and that the lawyer cannot testify against his client in case the relationship go sour?

Thanks a lot!

[/ QUOTE ]

A lawyer cannot, with a couple of very narrow exceptions, reveal anything his client tells him, even after the representation ends, and a lawyer cannot do anything that even creates the appearance of a conflict of interest. A lawyer takes an actual oath to zealously represent the best interests of his client at all times and faces severe consequences if he does not.

[z28dreams]

Drew,

Some time ago I believe you said that you were doing most of this legal work on the side to take up your other interests in media.

I worked for the patent office for a brief time, and decided that going into IP law / being a lawyer in general would be terribly boring and I'd hate my life.

Please reassure me that I made the right decision in not going to law school.

[DrewDevil]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a friend that went to Law School, passed, passed the bar exam, then was refused a law license based on an arrest over a decade ago. What was your interview process like after you passed the bar? Ever heard of anything like this? How stringent is Texas? (My friend was not even found guilty of charges, if I recall correctly, only arrested.)

Ray

[/ QUOTE ]

In Texas, to become a lawyer you must graduate from an accredited law school, pass the bar, and apply to the state bar with a "Declaration of Intent to Practice Law." You submit to a background check, fingerprint, questionnaire, and the state bar has the ability to interview you to determine if you have the requisite moral character to practice law, or something. As I recall correctly, the state bar has pretty wide latitude to deny someone's application, so there doesn't have to be a criminal conviction on record, for example. There is an appeals process, but the appeal has to be filed within a certain time after the denial.