05/24/12 The NY Office of Court Administration has received a spate of terse and vitriolic comments from lawyers all across the state on their proposed program for resolving fee disputes. Rochester attorney, Louis Kash, chair of the Monroe County Bar Association’s fee dispute program wrote candidly to the OCA, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The criticisms come in wake of the OCA’s proposal for disposing attorney fee disputes through arbitration, but bars attorneys who are subjects of disciplinary proceedings from participating in such processes. According to the OCA the fee dispute program is an inexpensive and efficient alternative to litigation. This is in line with the political school of thought that believes in destroying the separation of powers, demolishing the authority and prestige of the courts, and brings all decision making into the hands of bureaucrats. It is line with the thought that a ‘selected’ group of people should have no say over what an ‘elected’ group of people says and does. The objections of the attorneys are quite cogent. As pointed out by many, attorney disciplinary proceedings are confidential until an attorney is formally disciplined. However, the fee dispute program that prevents under-probe attorneys from participating could expose their status publicly and breach the necessity and rules of confidentiality in attorney disciplinary proceedings. The New York City Bar Association has also openly opposed the proposed rule. Richard Supple, the chair of the NYCBA said, “The mere fact of a complaint is hardly compelling evidence that the lawyer actually engaged in misconduct.” Related Article Don’t Think Yourself into a Loser Don’t let the bad news get to you. As a law student you’d already be aware that an average law student leaves college with an average loan more than $100,000. You already know that the economy is in bad shape and there are inflated positive numbers all around from employment data to advertisements of earn .... Lawyers Looking for Love on the Internet In the 1949 Tracy-Hepburn film Adam's Rib, one character famously quipped, ''Lawyers should never marry other lawyers. This is called inbreeding; from this comes idiot children—and other lawyers.'' .... What They Don’t Tell Students at Law School Part-2 Law students truly need to understand that their aspirations for glory and achievements have value only in the context of a happy and well-balanced life. Career goals should never be created upon the perception that higher standards of living can substitute higher standards of life. A happy farmhand can have .... Anthony Sabino of Sabino & Sabino, who works as a fee arbitrator in Nassau County said that in cases where attorneys initiate fee disputes, clients would be able to delay arbitration by filing frivolous complaints against the attorney. The fee dispute would then be delayed pending the decision of proceedings related to attorney misconduct. And, says Sabin, “by that time, the fee could be beyond recovery.” The current program allows arbitrators to decide and determine only whether a fee was reasonable or not. Arbitrators are barred from considering “claims involving substantial legal questions, including professional malpractice or misconduct.” The OCA holds this is why it has proposed that attorneys who are under investigation for professional misconduct be barred from participating in fee dispute programs. Well, those who make it their career to hold people are innocent until proven guilty are now being held by the OCA as guilty until proven innocent. Apparently neither Shakespeare, nor the Obama administration, and now the OCA, likes lawyers at all. Malvina Nathanson, an arbitrator with the New York County Lawyer’s Association’s fee dispute program wrote tersely, “Arbitrators understand that they cannot resolve issues of malpractice or other legal questions. However, whether the fees were reasonable in terms of the services rendered can be determined without regard to malpractice.”

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Article ID: 7779     Article Title: “If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It”: Lawyers Criticize NYOCA Proposal on Fee Disputes Comment not found for this article. Comment

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