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PACER, Tear Down This Wall !!

PACER/ECF was a godsend for Third Wavers, connected attorneys, future lawyers, telecommuters, home office lawyers and, really, all lawyers when it was first established.  It sure beat the hell out of making tons of copies of a documents and either couriering or FEDEXing them to the Courthouse, and then turning around and mailing out copies to everyone and his dog who had any interest in the case.  The system now send me copies of everything filed in a case - twice.  State court systems, especially in Texas, are pathetically and terminally behind the times and the tech.  So, let us hear it for PACER/ECF!  It is probably the best government sponsored program ever.

That said, things do evolve, and it is time to move away from the closed access futures of the system.  My good friend Rick Georges over at Future Lawyer referred me to this article on Wire.Com, about Senator Joe Lieberman wanting to know why PACER has not eliminated its pay for access to view public documents.

According to the article, Chairman of the Senate's Government Affairs committee, Sen. Lieberman (I-Connecticut), bypassed the administrators of the system and sent a letter straight to the Judicial Conference of the United States, which stating in part:

"Seven years after the passage of the E-Government Act, it appears that little has been done to make these records freely available — with PACER charging a higher rate than 2002. Furthermore, the funds generated by these fees are still well higher than the cost of dissemination ..."

It is an ongoing attempt by some to open-source the nation's operating systems.  In this I agree.

Uploading is paid in the way of filing fees in most instances.  But, if you were an ordinary citizen you could walk into a Courthouse and see all these records for free.  (Unless the Court sealed them for good reason).  Sure you would have to pay for the cost of copying any document, as the government should not bare that costs.  So, you should be able to access these public documents freely now.

I am not supporter of Sen. Lieberman, but I do like this idea.

PACER/ECF was a godsend for Third Wavers, connected attorneys, future lawyers, telecommuters, home office lawyers and, really, all lawyers when it was first established.  It sure beat the hell out of making tons of copies of a documents and either couriering or FEDEXing them to the Courthouse, and then turning around and mailing out copies to everyone and his dog who had any interest in the case.  The system now send me copies of everything filed in a case - twice.  State court systems, especially in Texas, are pathetically and terminally behind the times and the tech.  So, let us hear it for PACER/ECF!  It is probably the best government sponsored program ever.

That said, things do evolve, and it is time to move away from the closed access futures of the system.  My good friend Rick Georges over at Future Lawyer referred me to this article on Wire.Com, about Senator Joe Lieberman wanting to know why PACER has not eliminated its pay for access to view public documents.

According to the article, Chairman of the Senate's Government Affairs committee, Sen. Lieberman (I-Connecticut), bypassed the administrators of the system and sent a letter straight to the Judicial Conference of the United States, which stating in part:

"Seven years after the passage of the E-Government Act, it appears that little has been done to make these records freely available — with PACER charging a higher rate than 2002. Furthermore, the funds generated by these fees are still well higher than the cost of dissemination ..."

It is an ongoing attempt by some to open-source the nation's operating systems.  In this I agree.

Uploading is paid in the way of filing fees in most instances.  But, if you were an ordinary citizen you could walk into a Courthouse and see all these records for free.  (Unless the Court sealed them for good reason).  Sure you would have to pay for the cost of copying any document, as the government should not bare that costs.  So, you should be able to access these public documents freely now.

I am not supporter of Sen. Lieberman, but I do like this idea.

Election Reform

Yes, as almost all bankruptcy attorneys now know, election reform is crucial.

Upcoming NACBA Elections - Ask The Candidates!

Jay Fleischman over at Bankruptcy Practice Pro is not only encouraging more bankruptcy attorneys to vote in the upcoming NACBA elections but, believing that many do not vote because they are not informed, is providing you an opportunity to know the candidates.  Read his post by CLICKING HERE.

As he points out, each year only about 400 of the 3,000 members of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys vote in these elections.  As a result, your decision and opinion might not be represented.  As Jay points out, "[w]ithout your input, NACBA is nothing more than a wast of space and time".  Yet, it seems that the organization is best to represent you and your interest in lobbying, technology, office management and more.  So, you need to get involved by voting.

Jay has, therefore, issued a challenge to the NACBA candidates.  It is called "30 Questions".  Each candidate will chose 10 questins for the other candidate to answer.  The members of NACBA will submit an additional 10 questions.  Jay has proposed 10 questions.  No holding back.  All serious questions will be considered.  Jay will then call each candidate seperately and ask the questions, and the entire conversation will be recorded, and then you will be able to listen to the questions and answers online via mp3 audio.

Send your questions to Jay by email at bankruptcy@gmail.com.  The questions need to be submitted before Friday, April 11, 2008 at 5:00 EST.

There Is A Problem With Emails To And From Your Client Of Which You Should Be Aware

As is common these days, bankruptcy attorneys and clients communicate via email.  You think the emails are privileged communications between the attorneys and the clients.  Certainly they are privileged as to the copy maintained by the attorneys.  However, many of these emails are being sent to the clients using general email boxes accessed by many or to their email address maintained by their employer or company.  This might be a mistake because unless these emails are encrypted (and let us face the fact that they are not) then these emails, and the content in these emails, might not be protected.

An example is the decision by New York State Judge Charles W. Ramos (here) which found that a Beth Israel doctor who sent emails to his lawyer from the Beth Israel email server did not have an expectation of privacy.

And, this argument is not limited to New York State courts either.  The New York Bankruptcy Court ruled the same same way in In re Asia Global Crossing, Ltd., 324 B.R. 503 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2005), where the Court found that emails between an attorney and the client left on the corporate email system waived the privilege.  This Court found that four factors should be taken into consideration when making a determination on this issue:

1.  Does the corporation maintain a policy banning personal or other objectionable use;
2.  Does the company monitor the use of the employee's computer or e-mail;
3.  Do third parties have a right of access to the computer or emails; and,
4.  Did the corporation notify the employee, or was the employee aware, of the use and monitoring       policies?

Especially in consumer bankruptcy cases these days attorneys often encourage clients to direct their questions to the law firm via email.  The law firms often collect email addresses from clients, without regard for these four factors, and send emails to the clients.  Now often the attorneys' emails are pretty mundane.  They remind someone of a hearing, give directions to the Court, inform them of the need to receive back signed paperwork.  Most of this is controllable as to content.  The problem is on the emails sent to the attorney.  Emails that might later suggest that the attorney knew of property not scheduled, or which might indicate a fraudulent transfer, or an uncorrected inaccurate answer to the Trustee during a creditor's meeting, or instructing a client how to answer a question at trial.  I do not know, but it would seem that this road is filled with potholes, and the attorney and client need to be mindful of this fact and act accordingly.

It might also open the door in future litigation for opposing counsel to subpoena the emails of your clients from their employer just so they can see what might be happening.

A Subprime Primer Online

I recently attended a very educational luncheon seminar at the Houston Association of Debtor Attorneys (HADA) in which the parties explained the subprime mortgage crises in explicit detail, using actors to describe each person in the process.  What you came away with was that the process is very complicated, and in hindsight prone to manipulation that has hurt so many.  Now, I have found a slide show presentation online that goes over the same detail.  It is very instructive as well.  You will need a Google Docs account to access it, but that is free and you only have to provide limited information.  You can view The Subprime Primer by clicking here.

Billy Price And His New G2 Web Media Site

As I have always stated, blogging is a necessary tool to any solo practitioner.  And, there is no easier way to incorporate a blog than by starting with blog software.  The reason is that blogging allows you to organically increase your presence on the web but, more importantly, it allows you to build a wealth of content that your clients (and perspective clients) need and appreciate.

That is the reason that I am delighted to see that my good friend Billy Price, a noted bankruptcy attorney in North Texas (the Dallas - Fort Worth - Plano area), has converted his static website for one built around his new blog.  You can view it by clicking here. I cannot wait to see Billy get started on all the subject matter that is the consumer bankruptcy practice of law.  I am adding him to my blog reader.

The other point is that these blog-based sites do not have to be as expensive as static websites, in which people and groups try to sell you expensive hosting services and have to work, for money, to increase your organic placement on Google and other search engines.  Want to increase your placement on a blog -- then blog -- and blog some more. Talk to people about what they want to know.  Build real content and your placement will start to improve.

Now the problem is that some people feel stymied by the design, hosting and set up aspects of any such endeavor.  There is no reason to fear.  Billy relied on G2 Web Media to do the initial work.  This company is operated by Grant Griffiths and his so Clay Griffith.  Grant is a legend of sorts in developing blogs as a client recruitment tool in the solo practice of law.  He currently runs Home Office Warrior. I think he can show you just how economical (cheap I think is really the word) it is to become an expert in your field, in your area, and in a way to find new paying clients.

New Site Attempts To Recycle Pacer Documents

As mentioned on Robert Ambrogi's Lawsites, Carl Malamud and his public.resource.org are trying to "liberate" government documents, and his latest project is Recycle Your Used Pacer Documents!.  As you know, Pacer requires users to register and to pay a fee of 8 cents a page.  Public.resource.org believe that PACER's registration requirement and fees create work to deny the public access to Pacer.  Therefore, the site will provide a way for Pacer users to upload and share the documents they download, making them available to others without cost.