Bar ushers in new era
of public protection with fraud prevention, outreach efforts
By Patrick M. Kelly
President, State Bar of California
We often think
of the bar as an entity that solely deals with admissions and discipline. However,
as I have noted in my previous president's pages, we are doing many more things
such as admissions reform, enhancing MCLE, attorney education and urging
attorneys toward civility. However this month I want to bring you up to date on
an exciting new aspect of the bar – reaching beyond our traditional role and
truly meeting our core mission of public protection and improving access to the
courts. These public outreach initiatives include immigrant protection,
protection from those engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, working with law enforcement and community
outreach.
Immigrant protection
When numerous consumers fell prey to loan modification
scams perpetrated during the housing crisis, the State Bar fought the problem
by disciplining the lawyers involved and steering victims to the Client
Security Fund to get their money back when possible.
But if the State Bar had been more proactive in its
approach to the problem, might we have seen fewer victims in the first place? I
believe so. That’s why the bar’s recent legislative efforts to prevent fraud on
the immigrant community, combined with increased public outreach, are
absolutely vital to our public protection mission.
We know from our work with partner law enforcement
agencies that immigrants are already being targeted by scammers who take their
money and do little to help them gain legal status. Such fraud will only
increase if Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform. Without question,
the vast majority of immigration law practitioners are superb lawyers who
provide quality representation to their clients. Only a small percentage of
practitioners, both lawyers and non-lawyers, are likely to threaten to cause
harm to those clients that are seeking immigration reform services. Tragically,
a small number of practitioners have the potential of harming a large number of
clients, given the sophistication of advertising schemes today.
For that reason we are strongly supporting legislation
pending at the state level to immediately assist in helping to protect the
vulnerable community that would be seeking assistance under comprehensive
immigration reform.
The legislation, AB 1159, authored by Assemblywoman
Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, would place reasonable requirements on both
lawyers and non-lawyers, preventing them from demanding and taking money now
for services that cannot be provided until the federal government has acted.
Fighting the unauthorized practice of law
We at the bar
have identified that there is an increasing number of non-lawyers who are
representing themselves to be attorneys. Not only is this false advertising, it
misleads consumers to believe they are obtaining the services of a skilled
attorney, when in fact they are not. Sadly, with the many issues our district
attorneys and law enforcement have to deal with, there are insufficient
resources to meaningfully attack this serious problem. For that reason, we at
the bar have addressed this challenge by supporting AB 888, authored by Assemblyman
Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, which would allow the State Bar to bring civil
actions for fines and penalties against those engaged in the unauthorized
practice of law.
In addition to this legislative effort, the State Bar
staff has been building relationships with outside groups that share our public
protection mission in order to educate consumers on how to avoid being
victimized.
Participation with law enforcement and the Department
of Consumer Affairs
Over the past year, the State Bar has participated in a
series of summits with various law enforcement agencies to share information
about problems that have come to the forefront. Topics have included bankruptcy
fraud, immigration fraud and the unauthorized practice of law. The bar participated
in the California Consumer Affairs Association’s annual convention, making
important connections with consumer protection agencies throughout the state.
We have also established relationships with the foreign embassy and consulate
community so we can work in partnership with them to educate immigrants who may
be reluctant to contact government agencies.
Community outreach
As I noted
above, one important aspect of public protection is trying to identify and
alert the public to potential problems they may face that brings them into
contact with the legal system. One such area is consumer fraud. The bar is
currently planning a series of local town hall type meetings in conjunction
with local, state and federal elected officials to alert our citizens to
consumer fraud. These programs are currently in the planning stage, and we
expect to have our first meetings in the fall of this year.
I am proud of the State Bar’s efforts to become more
proactive rather than reactive and take a leadership role in preventing fraud. This
is truly a paradigm shift and the beginning of a new age of public outreach and
protection by the State Bar.