| Texas lawyers do battle with do-it-yourself legal software |
 |
By MATT RICHTEL
New York Times |
|
| A controversial group of Texas lawyers, deputized by the state to protect
citizens against unauthorized legal advice, has lost its battle to ban the sale of the
popular self-help legal software package Quicken Family Lawyer '99. [A possible
showdown with Nolo Press, a pioneer publisher of do-it-yourself legal advice that has
branched out into software and the Internet, was averted when the Texas group dropped an
investigation of the Berkeley-based publisher.]
Whatever the ultimate outcome of the debate, the two sides - along with outside legal
observers - say the conflict raises important questions about self-help law in the digital
age.
The general controversy surrounds the proliferation of self-help Internet sites and
software, which are intensifying the long-standing tension between the publishers of
do-it-yourself legal materials and the traditional legal establishment.
Some lawyers say that the self-help materials oversimplify the law |
See TEXAS LAWYERS |
|
NEW
MCLE
COMPLIANCE DEADLINES |
GROUP 2
Last names H-M |
| Should have completed 36 MCLE hours by Jan. 31,
1997 |
| Those who did comply must
complete: 25 hours by Jan. 31, 2001 |
| Those who did not comply must complete: 61 hours
by Jan. 31, 2001 |
| Next compliance deadline: 25
hours by Jan. 31, 2003 |
GROUP 1
Last names A-G |
| Should have completed 36 MCLE hours by Jan. 31,
1998 |
| Those who did comply must
complete: 25 hours by Jan. 31, 2001 |
| Those who did not comply must complete: 61 hours
by Jan. 31, 2001 |
| Next compliance deadline: 25
hours by Jan. 31, 2004 |
GROUP 3
Last names N-Z |
| Should have completed 36 MCLE hours by Jan. 31,
1999 |
| Those who did comply must
complete: 25 hours by Jan. 31, 2002 |
| Those who did not comply must complete: 61 hours
by Jan. 31, 2002 |
| Next compliance deadline: 25
hours by Jan. 31, 2005 |
|
| Chair of MCLE review tackles job 'with no options barred' |
|
By NANCY McCARTHY
Staff Writer |
|
| A commission appointed to examine the State Bar's decade-old
continuing education requirements will approach its task "with no options
barred" and hopes to be finished by June. Former bar president David Heilbron, who
is heading the 12-member group, said it has a wide-open charter and every aspect of the
MCLE program will come under scrutiny, "even including doing away with it."
 The group is
charged with studying requirements in other states and other professions in California,
and Heilbron said it also will look at the quality of classes, the special requirements of
ethics, substance abuse and elimination of bias, and the number of hours attorneys must
complete.
In recently enacted legislation authorizing the bar to collect dues for the coming
year, the MCLE program was scaled back from 36 to 25 hours every three years (see
compliance chart above), and the law practice management requirement and the
exemption for retired judges were eliminated.
"We don't see our charter as being limited by what the legislation requires,
although it seems clear we couldn't go below what the legislation requires," Heilbron
said. He also noted that the group will be guided by an August Supreme Court decision
which upheld the MCLE program and found that exemptions for certain groups, including
retired |
See MCLE REVIEW |
|
| Bar honors legal giant Joseph Ball |
|
 Joseph A. Ball, a giant of
legal history in California, received the Bernard E. Witkin Medal from the State Bar last
month. The 96-year-old trial lawyer was honored for a distinguished record of
accomplishment and devotion to the law which "personifies the highest standards of
the profession."The Witkin Medal recognizes attorneys "who have changed the
landscape of California jurisprudence."
Ball's impressive resume includes serving as a member of |
See JOSEPH BALL |
