Firms get scam spam March 10, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , add a commentIf you get a grammatically incorrect and misspelled e-mail from someone asking if you’d represent them in a case, chances are it’s a scam. Luckily the Indiana attorneys who received these e-mails recognized that right away.
In fact, it’s a scam the FBI warned law firms about in January. It’s a twist on the counterfeit check schemes – someone wants you to deposit a check, keep some money, and then send the rest back to them. But the checks are never legitimate and the gullible person now finds their wallet lighter.
The Bloomington law firm Ferguson & Ferguson received this e-mail in multiple times in the last few weeks. Associate Michael McBride said the firm started receiving them in late January in a cluster of two or three at a time, and then would receive a few more weeks later. They last received the scam e-mail Feb. 22.
The e-mails went to the firm Web site’s “General Questions” form, seeking large collections against real Indiana companies. The senders claimed to not speak English well, thus explaining the grammatical errors and misspellings littering the e-mails. The firm did a little digging and discovered they were coming mostly from South America and Asia, and the e-mail addresses had just been created within the last month or so. McBride said everything just seems slightly off about them.
Josh Brown, an associate at S.K. Huffer & Associates in Carmel, said his firm received a scam e-mail Jan. 26 from a woman claiming to be in Spokane, Wash., who was looking for counsel to represent her home-building company in a breach of contract suit in Indiana. The first thing Brown found odd was the woman signed the e-mail “Diana L.” When he learned everyone else in the firm also received the e-mail directly, he decided to do a little research. With the help of Google, he found a phone number and got a hold of a woman. But it wasn’t Diana. It was the actual owner of the builder, who said more than 30 attorneys had called her in the past day about the e-mail. Turns out the company was legitimate, but it wasn’t active in building anymore. The owner didn’t know who was sending the e-mails.
After Brown confirmed the scam, he contacted the Indiana State Bar Association and the local FBI branch to let them know. Carissa Long with the ISBA said the bar typically publishes notice of the scams in their membership-wide e-newsletter.
Brown said there are some law firms that conduct business only through e-mail, so they could be more susceptible to these kinds of scams that thrive on electronic communication. Just a quick phone call to the person in the e-mail or an Internet search could prevent the firm from falling victim to one of these scams.
“When red flags pop up, pay attention to those,” Brown said.
Brown had received only that one scam e-mail in January, but just this morning called to tell me that he got an e-mail from a guy claiming to be on house arrest in a foreign country who needed help protecting his $27 million. Something tells me Brown won’t be offering his assistance or bank account.
SCOTUS on TV March 9, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , add a commentThe Supreme Court of the United States hearings should be televised, justices should have term limits, and age doesn’t matter as long as the justice is healthy, say a majority of people polled about the SCOTUS.
Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind released results of its recent national poll of registered voters about the nation’s highest court. Three out of five voters say televising the hearings would be “good for democracy.” Nearly a quarter say airing the hearings would “undermine the authority and dignity of the court.”
Liberals, Democrats, independents, and younger voters are more likely to think televising the court would be a good development. Forty-five percent of respondents say putting the hearings of TV would be good because the judges would consider public opinion more, but 31 percent say that justices would consider the public opinion too much when making decisions.
Half of the people questioned say they’d watch the hearings if televised. I wonder if those are the same people that watch “Judge Judy” and other court shows.
More than half of those polled think the justices should be limited to a maximum term of 18 years instead of lifetime appointments. Nearly a third believe that being over 70 is too old to serve. Don’t tell that to the five justices on the bench who are older than 70. Those justices would be heartened to hear that nearly half think age doesn’t matter and the justice needs only to be healthy.
I’ll admit it – I enjoy watching “The People’s Court” and “Judge Judy” on TV. I get a kick out of the lawsuits and how the judges handle the parties in court. I’d also tune in to SCOTUS hearings if they were on TV, but probably not as often. Let’s face it, chances are those hearings won’t be as entertaining as Judge Judy. But unlike “Judge Judy,” the outcome of the SCOTUS hearing may have an actual impact my life.
Down times in 2009 March 8, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , add a commentWas 2009 really the worst year for the legal market in the past 50 years? Apparently so, according to a report released earlier this month analyzing the legal market last year and trends expected for this year.
Hildebrandt Baker Robbins consulting firm and Citi Private Bank claim last year was really bad – so bad that most attorneys practicing now are too young to remember a worse time.
Demand for legal services declined at a faster pace in 2009 than in 2007 and 2008, outside counsel spending dropped, billing and collection realization rates fell, and many in the legal community lost their jobs. More than 5,000 attorneys lost their jobs last year with the top 250 law firms in the country; thousands more attorneys, paralegals, and other legal professionals lost jobs. I’d say last year was pretty bad.
Looking ahead to 2010, the report may see a glimmer of hope for recovery, but nothing to get excited about. Although fewer legal workers have lost their jobs recently, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will still be cost-cutting measures, which could include jobs. In trouble could be partners, whose numbers grew during the downturn. Chances are profits per equity partner will be flat or up slightly, but it’s dependent on location, practice, clients, etc.
The report also emphasizes the impact rate increases during 2001 through 2007 had on the growth of law firms and the legal market. Firms often increased rates 6 to 8 percent each year, but now clients are pushing back. This push back is likely to stick around for a while. The report encourages firms to implement new models for pricing legal services, as well as recruiting and retaining attorneys, and partnering with other service providers.
It’s a “buyers market” right now. Have you seen any changes in your firm to respond to any of the issues addressed in the report?
Reporter goes to prison March 5, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , add a commentContributed by IL staff reporter Rebecca Berfanger
I’ve driven by the Indianapolis Re-Entry Facility on Indianapolis’ near east side more times than I can count. Today, I went beyond the barbwire fence of the former women’s prison.
While this was my first time inside a detention facility for a story – a sad thing to admit for someone who calls herself a legal reporter – I realize this is not the typical facility. When I spoke with the public information officer to get permission for my visit, she only referred to the men as residents, not inmates or prisoners. And, the re-entry program isn’t available for everyone. If one of the men violates the guidelines, he is sent to another Department of Correction facility.
I went there for an article I’m working on for the March 17 issue about a program called Thresholds and Transitions that started just this year. The program includes weekly “Healthy @ Re-Entry” classes that cover various issues, such as HIV/STD education, job placement, substance-abuse treatment, and advice for healthy relationships. The program aims to help the men find out what they need not only to stay out of the system after they get out, but also how to survive roadblocks they’ll need to overcome.
Today’s particular class featured speakers who discussed how to get jobs and substance abuse counseling on the outside. The third part of the class included a guide to other services the residents can use on the outside.
The facilitator of the discussion then asked if anyone had questions about the services listed in a guide they received. One of the participants asked how he could afford a lawyer, knowing he previously had custody issues with his children’s mother.
Then a lightbulb went on over my head. I guessed his question wasn’t the only one in the classroom regarding family law or other civil legal issues. Turns out, based on the reactions of other participants, I guessed right. Having reported on legal aid and pro bono services in Indiana for the last three years, I decided to raise my hand to explain how the services work and how to get information.
Even though I’m not an attorney, I felt proud of our readership and legal community at that moment knowing that these services are available, including information and services available to pro se parties.
After the discussion, a couple of the residents personally thanked me for explaining civil legal aid and pro bono efforts of which they were previously unaware.
Some of the men used words like “blessed” and “excited” regarding the opportunities they’ve had in the re-entry facility to unlearn the behaviors that put them in there in the first place. Maybe just knowing a lawyer on the outside will be willing to at least listen to their civil legal issues could make a difference.
After all, these men will have enough to deal with when they get out … and now they’ll have one more way to get help they need.
Another Ohio firm moves in March 3, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , add a commentLet’s begin saying our goodbyes to the name Dann Pecar Newman & Kleiman because in about a year, it will be gone from Indianapolis. Dann Pecar is the latest Indiana firm to merge with an out-of-state firm and lose its name.
Indiana lost the monikers of Sommer Barnard and Locke Reynolds in the past two years after being acquired by Ohio firms. Now Dann Pecar will become Benesch/ Dann Pecar and then just Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff. Benesch is also based in Ohio.
This may be the first one of the year – or at least first one we’ve learned about – but my guess is this may not be the only merger we’ll see in the next year. Dann Pecar’s former managing partner told the Indianapolis Business Journal that the firm had been searching for a merger partner for several years and even had discussions with two firms based in Indianapolis. He didn’t name them or say where two other firms they spoke with were based.
Legal consultants Altman Weil expect to see an uptick in mergers this year because many deals were on hold pending 2009 year-end results. Mergers were down 24 percent in 2009 as compared to 2008. The Midwest saw nine mergers last year, including Barnes & Thornburgh’s acquisition of a Minneapolis firm, and Indianapolis firm Galbraith Associates’ merger with a larger Cleveland-based firm.
Care to guess whether Indiana will see any more mergers this year? Will those mergers happen with a firm not based in Ohio?
No big recruiting changes March 1, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , add a commentBack in January, the National Association for Law Placement issued a report that proposed significant changes to how law firms recruit, including doing away with rolling-offer deadlines. But NALP has backed off the controversial changes and announced Friday its provisional timing guidelines for 2010.
After announcing its proposed changes, NALP got a lot of feedback, which led to the changes. For this recruiting cycle, the timing guidelines will remain largely unchanged, except for two modifications. Beginning in August, students will have 28 days to respond to an offer from an employer where the student hasn’t worked. For offers to candidates who have been previously employed, the response deadline goes to November 1 instead of Nov. 15.
You can read more about the proposed changes from the January report here.
NALP’s Board of Directors adopted the changes on a one-year provisional basis, and the association’s membership will have a chance to ratify the changes at the end of the provision year. Granted, the organization’s guidelines aren’t required, and it’s up to each law school and legal employer to agree to the terms and conditions for recruiting on campus.
Play discusses torture February 25, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , add a commentSubmitted by IL Staff reporter Rebecca Berfanger:
“Sunlight,” a play that examines both sides of the debate on torture of detainees, opens tonight at the Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis. It will be performed through March 20, including post-performance discussions March 5 and 14 featuring experts on the issues the characters present in the play.
The Phoenix invited me to attend a run-through of the play Tuesday night. After seeing it, I can say it will definitely encourage discussion on the legal aspects of the debate on torture and the rule of law following the terror attacks of Sept. 11.
Three of the four characters in the play are attorneys: Matthew, the zealous liberal president of a prestigious East Coast university; Vincent, the university president’s son-in-law and conservative dean of the university’s law school; and Charlotte, the president’s daughter and Vincent’s wife, herself a conservative lawyer in private practice. The fourth character is Matthew’s long-time assistant Midge, who tends to side with her boss, and provides comic relief from time to time.
The play opens the day after the president has allegedly ransacked the law school dean’s office in retaliation over the dean’s work supporting torture, including a course called, “The Law of Terror.” Due to the allegations following this incident, the university’s board is holding a meeting to vote on whether he should be allowed to stay in his position. Meanwhile, as Matthew’s daughter and lawyer, Charlotte is handling calls from the local media and shredding seemingly irrelevant documents at Matthew’s home.
Eventually Vincent and Matthew face each other in a passionate debate where Vincent explains why he is for torture, and Matthew takes a stand as to why he is adamantly opposed to it. Meanwhile, Charlotte, who has a very personal connection to Sept. 11 that affects both important men in her life, is torn between her loyalty to her father and to her husband, while coming to terms with her own views on the issue.
The play is especially relevant to Indiana’s legal community, considering Indiana University Maurer School of Law – Bloomington professor Dawn Johnsen’s nomination is still pending for the Office of Legal Counsel. While the play doesn’t expressly mention Johnsen, it does refer to the OLC’s work in allowing torture during the Bush administration. Johnsen’s reports against the work of the OLC under President George W. Bush are part of why she’s been a controversial nominee. (She was on the schedule for today’s Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, but was postponed for the fourth time since she was re-nominated earlier this year).
The first post-play discussion will feature Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis School of Public and Environmental Affairs faculty members Sheila Suess Kennedy and Jim White, who will be available following the 8 p.m. performance March 5. Kennedy specializes in civil rights and was executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana from 1992 to 1998. White served on the Indiana State Police for more than 20 years and serves as director of emergency management for Indianapolis/Marion County.
The post-play discussion March 14 will take place after the 2 p.m. performance and will feature history professor Peter DiMeglio. DiMeglio taught for 37 years at the University of Wisconsin, specializing in history of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries and world civilization. He was also the director of the University of Wisconsin’s Institute of International Studies.
The Indianapolis theatre is the second venue to produce the play as part of its National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere, following its first production at Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, Calif.
Phoenix Theatre is located at 749 N. Park Ave., Indianapolis. For ticket information and show times, visit the theatre’s Web site or call (317) 635-7529.
If you make it to a performance, let us know what you think.
Lawyers make bad drivers February 22, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , add a commentHey lawyers and judges, you are really bad drivers. At least, that’s what one auto insurance company says.
You are such bad drivers that you rank No. 1 on insurance.com’s “Top 10 Most Dangerous Drivers by Professions” list. The company based its rankings on its own data that showed certain professions are more likely to have had an accident. In its report, 44 percent of attorneys who received a car insurance comparison quote from the company had previously made an accident claim.
Insurance.com also throws in a couple of jokes Jeff Foxworthy-style about the ranking, like “If you’re both an expert at the law and an expert at getting stopped by the law, you might be a dangerous driver.”
Other dangerous drivers include financial professionals, government workers, marketing/advertising professionals, and bartenders or waiters.
Insurance.com’s vice president believes professions that demand multi-tasking are more likely to have distracted drivers. Those that ranked low on the list – athletes and homemakers – might be attributable to the fact they are often hauling kids so they may drive more cautiously or they aren’t on the road during rush hour.
Of course, insurance.com bases this report only on information supplied by people looking for auto insurance quotes and is using the ranking as a way to sell insurance. But does the list have any merit? Do you want to fess up and admit to being a distracted driver or see a pattern of accidents among your legal buddies?
Infamous civil rights lawyer February 19, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , 4commentsFrom IL reporter Rebecca Berfanger:
A documentary film about the life and civil rights cases of William Kunstler by his daughters was well attended at the Indianapolis Museum of Art Thursday night, and I’m happy I was able to be a part of it.
If you’re unfamiliar with the name Kunstler, you might have heard of some of the people he represented: revolutionaries who protested at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; inmates who started an infamous riot at Attica prison in New York in 1971; the American Indian Movement members who demonstrated at Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1973; a man convicted of and later exonerated for allegedly beating and raping a jogger in Central Park in 1989; a house cat named Tyrone who was held for crimes against humanity in a mock trial on TV in 1989; and those accused of bombing the World Trade Center in 1993.
Maybe you didn’t know about Tyrone, but the facts of the other situations continue to resonate among those who follow civil rights issues.
The film was made by his two daughters, both born in the late 1970s. They revered him growing up, but ultimately disagreed with some of the clients he chose to represent.
Following the film, civil rights attorneys JauNae Hanger and Richard Waples of Waples and Hanger in Indianapolis answered questions moderated by Fran Quigley, former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
Quigley only asked the first question – what would Kunstler do if he was a civil rights attorney in Indianapolis in February 2010?
Hanger and Waples suggested he’d likely still work with prisoners, and would probably be a criminal defense attorney who would make sure all people would have their day in court.
Hanger also discussed her work with juvenile justice issues, including the recent Senate approval of House Bill 1193, which will create a study group to look at best practices for how schools and police handle situations involving students.
For this reporter, born around the same time as Kunstler’s daughters, I was somewhat ashamed for not knowing more about the cases he worked on, which may be why the film seemed so powerful to me. Then again, there seemed to be some details the daughters mentioned that news reports of the time didn’t, and as a reporter, that might have also riled me up because those other reporters either weren’t given the right information or they chose to report things in a way that put Kunstler’s clients in the worst light possible.
The film is not in wide release at this time and Indianapolis was one of the first cities to show it, thanks to sponsorship from the Indianapolis International Film Festival, the law firm, and the IMA, but attorneys with an interest in this area should make a point to rent it or see if it ever is in a theater nearby.
Are you running? February 16, 2010
Posted by jmehalik , add a commentSen. Evan Bayh’s surprise announcement he’s not running for re-election quickly spread speculation at the Indiana Statehouse as to who may run for his seat. While IL reporter Michael Hoskins was there for a committee meeting, he overheard many legislators asking each other “Are you running?” for Bayh’s seat.
Perhaps some were joking; maybe others were feeling out the situation to see who may seriously consider moving on from the Indiana General Assembly to the U.S. Congress.
Bayh’s decision was also the talk of some of the appellate judges yesterday. It was the first thing brought up in conversations Hoskins had with them. Unlike the legislators, they didn’t joke about or mention running for the seat.
The announcement didn’t leave much time for a Democratic candidate to decide to run: this week is the filing deadline for the May primary. The party does have until June 30 to pick a candidate.