Sunday, January 16, 2005

How Can You Tell When a Lawyer is Lying?

Sorry, I can't finish this joke. At least not if I live in Hempstead NY. Seems a couple of guys were standing on the steps of the country courthouse waiting to go in and one started the joke. After they both said in unison "his lips are moving" a man up the line a bit, who happened to be a lawyer, told them to pipe down.

I'm guessing he is a honest, capable man who does the best he can for his clients in an ethical manner. No, I'm not joking, there are lawyers out there who happen to believe in ethics. There are lawyers you would admit to having as a friend. And I happen to know that lawyers have much thicker skins than this man showed. I'm guessing that he is tired of being tarred with the same brush as those other less-than-ethical colleagues who give lawyers a bad name. Maybe he had a bad night. Maybe he had a fight with his wife. Maybe his secretary quit. And now he has heard that old, tired joke that he has tolerated for years and it was the last straw. Whatever. He had had enough and told the two to pipe down.

When they didn't he reported them to courthouse personnel and they were arrested for disorderly conduct, a misdemeanors. Well, Harvey Kash and Carl Lanzisera, the men who were arrested just happen to be the founders of a group called Americans for Legal Reform which monitors the courts. They use confrontational tactics to push for greater access for the public. The pair said that for years they have stood outside courthouses on Long Island and mocked lawyers. "They just can't take it," Kash said of lawyers in general. "This violates our First Amendment rights."

Dan Bagnuola, a spokesman for the Nassau County courts, said the men were "being abusive and they were causing a disturbance." He said he did not have the name of the lawyer who complained.

I have to admit that I believe this does violate their First Amendment rights. I have a feeling that they have made obnoxious pests of themselves for years and the courthouse personnel were just looking for a reason to show them the way to the slammer. But, I also think that the charge will be dismissed.

I wonder if they will hire lawyers to represent them in court. I wonder if they will find a lawyer who will represent them in court.

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