Lawyers Giving Back looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we’re talking with attorney Charles Gordon…
If you’ve ever existed, investigative attorney Charles Gordon can find you. Not only that, he teaches other lawyers how to find you, too!
He’s an expert in the art of ‘Skip Tracing’—which is, rather like it sounds, the business of tracking down witnesses, debtors or former spouses who “skip” out on obligations—or, they could be missing heirs to estates, or they just need to be found for some other legal reason.
Gordon’s a Brooklyn Law School-educated attorney, but as he’ll tell you, “I haven’t litigated a case as the attorney of record in a long, long time. When I go to court it is as an expert witness. I’m an investigative attorney.”
The computer is a mighty sword in the search for those individuals who are missing pieces to legal puzzles. At his free workshops for the Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyer Project he teaches people how to use Google or ancestry.com and search licensed databases to locate people.
“It is something I really enjoy doing,” says Gordon. “I get some insight—especially when the lawyers bring up questions from their own practices and I talk about how I would handle the issue.”
“I tell them the computer is important,” he adds, “but the internet isn’t everything.”
Gordon’s a bit of a charmer, too and in his business, that’s a definite plus. “Lawyers who want to learn how to find missing witnesses or heirs to estates have to “use the schmooze”. It’s a Yiddish expression,” says Gordon. “Basically, what I mean is get out there and talk to people, don’t just sit at the computer.”
“Is there a dry cleaner or a bodega in their old neighborhood where someone might remember what happened to them,” says Gordon. “Or maybe someone there might remember somebody who would know where they went.”
Gordon loves his job. And sometimes, when a lawyer comes to him struggling to find someone critical to a case, if it’s a worthy one, Gordon will hop on the case pro bono and get the work done.
In the early 1970s, as Gordon was graduating from university with an English degree (yes, there was another degree before this one) his career options were limited. “I started out working a debt collector. I became very good at finding debtors and setting up car repos. And I loved the chase,” says Gordon.
“You could say I’ve carved a little niche for myself,” says Gordon, sitting in his sunny office on 7th Avenue in New York. He’s got a collection of phone books going back to the early 1900s—one of the artful tools in his people-finding kit. “Sometimes people will say something like, my uncle lived on a street with an animal name, but I can’t remember it.”
“I flip through the phone book and find Zebra Lane or Dromedary Street,” says Gordon. “I know where to start looking.”
As Gordon said, it’s an art.
Charles Gordon of Charles-Eric Gordon, Esq. specializes as investigative counsel serving the legal profession and real estate industries by locating missing heirs, legatees, beneficiaries, witnesses, debtors and defendant; especially those absentees missing for many years or about whom little information is known. Gordon also conducts investigations involving rent stabilization and rent control fraud by tenants and conduct asset investigations of judgment debtors. He serves as a consultant to private investigation firms and corporation counsel, and teaches continuing legal education courses on tracing missing persons and conducting landlord-tenant investigations.
LawyersandSettlements.com has a new column that looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we talk with Attorney Joshua Block of the ACLU…
It’s like pouring salt on the wound, say critics of the government policy of cutting separation pay in half for men and women discharged from the US military under the controversial ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT) rule.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has just filed a national class action claiming the practice violates the rights of the former service members under the equal protection and right to substantive due process components of the Fifth Amendment.
“A little over a year ago, a former member of the US Air Force, who had been honorably discharged under DADT, came to us and said his separation pay had been cut in half and wanted to know if we could help,” says ACLU attorney Joshua Block.
Since the administration is on record opposing discrimination against gays in the military, Block and the ACLU thought this would be easy to reconcile, but after a year of letters and telephone calls, nothing has changed for former US Air Force Staff-Sergeant, Richard Collins.
“We finally sent a demand letter saying we hope you fix this policy, but if you don’t, we have no choice but to bring this litigation,” says Block.
During his nine-year career, according to the documents filed by the ACLU, Collins had been an exemplary member of the armed forces. He was awarded a good conduct medal, served in Kosovo and was promoted quickly through the ranks.
Collins was honorably discharged in 2006 after two civilians who worked at his base reported seeing him kissing a boyfriend in a car stopped at red light. Collins was off duty, dressed in civilian clothes and more than 10 miles from his base in Arizona.
And Collins is not alone in being short-changed on separation pay. The amount of money owed to military personnel kicked out for being homosexual is “not insignificant,” says Block. “And the policy is offensive.”
“It is rubbing salt in the wound,” says Block. “These people are kicked out of the military through no fault of their own and then on top of that their separation pay is cut in half.”
The argument against gays in the military has historically been that it affects troop morale says Block. “So even if you believe that DADT was necessary for unit cohesion, it doesn’t provide a reason to cut someone’s separation pay in half,” he adds.
The class covers anyone who was honorably discharged over the last six years—with at least six years of service, and had their pay cut in half.
Although how many ex-military personnel might qualify as members of the class is unknown, it’s estimated there may be as many as 500 potential class members.
The suit asks that former service members be paid the money owed to them with interest, both pre- and post-judgment, and that the attorney fees also be paid.
The claims court cannot provide injunctive relief to plaintiffs says Block. “That’s beyond the scope of claims court; however, hopefully a judgment in our favor would stop the practice once and for all.”
Joshua Block is a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City working on the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender and AIDS Project.
Would you entertain an investment that pays up to 24 percent annually? Sound too good to be true? A Ponzi scheme?
Au contraire, Mon ami. Litigation is the new investment playground, my darlings…
One aspect of the legal system that will surprise some is the growth in legal lending. That’s right—the business of lending (for profit) in order to fund litigation.
Lawsuits are expensive. The larger legal houses may have the financial clout to self-finance. However for the remainder, financing the action in order to get you through to the settlement (and the payoff) can be a hardship, if not impossible.
So lawyers borrow money to fund lawsuits from entities that are in the business of doing just that.
The New York Times recently ran a fascinating story based on an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity, a non-profit based in Washington. There are a number of firms that specialize in floating loans to legal firms in order to finance lawsuits—presumably, after their efforts to secure financing through ordinary channels (the charted banks) fall through.
In comes Counsel Financial, based in Buffalo and financed by CitiGroup. There’s also LawFinance Group. And LawCash, based in Brooklyn. They come to the rescue when traditional Read the rest of this entry »
This new column at LawyersandSettlements.com looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we talk with Mike Bryant of Bradshaw & Bryant…
Attorneys often see, close up and personal, the tragedy that results from drunk driving. Five years ago, a Minnesota firm decided it would pick up the tab for people who needed a ride home from a bar during the first two weeks of the New Year. “Yes, it is expensive,” says Mike Bryant, an engaging, warm kind of guy and a partner in the four-lawyer personal injury firm of Bradshaw & Bryant.
“We pay for a couple of hundred rides during that period, but I like the idea of doing it,” says Bryant. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
The public has become increasing unsympathetic to people who drink and drive, and with good reason. “It creates a mess,” says Bryant, speaking about drunk drivers. “And it also affects their families, maybe their ability to earn a living, and if they are involved in an accident where people are injured or killed, it’s a disaster.”
The firm has handled many cases involving alcohol and catastrophic injury. “We have seen the effects that criminal charges have on people charged with driving under the influence (DUI), and we have also seen people who have been injured as a result of accidents involving alcohol,” says Bryant. “It is horrible all around.”
“I’ve had people phone me up and thank me, and taxi drivers like it too. They say they get better tips,” adds Bryant.
For the first year, Bryant’s firm paid for New Year’s Eve plus the next two weeks of cab rides, but the cab company said most people take care not to drink and drive on that particular night of the year because they know the police are watching.
“The problem is after New Year’s Eve,” says Bryant. “There are a lot of office parties, people having “get- togethers,” and that’s when they make mistakes. So we now pay for the two weeks after New Year’s Eve.”
Bryant says the free taxi rides at New Year’s have been a local tradition in the community. “There was another company that did it, but they stopped. We decided to jump in. We do it in conjunction with the radio station and the cab company, but we foot the bill,” says Bryant.
Interestingly, Bryant says the statistics show that Thanksgiving is actually when police find the most drunk drivers on the road. The firm is thinking about adding a few extra days during that time of year.
Mike Bryant is a partner with Bradshaw & Bryant. He is a graduate of the William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota. He has been named by his peers as one of Minnesota’s top 40 personal injury lawyers four times in five years.
Memorable, thought-provoking, grounded in principle—and one that capped off an emotional trial in New Orleans and marked a victory long overdue—the following are some quotes from attorneys we interviewed in 2009…(in no particular order)…
“The ultimate objective of every member of the plaintiff’s aviation bar that I know who regularly handles aviation cases, is to reveal the dangers in aircraft and in the aviation system to enhance the safety of aviation,” Goldman says. “That’s our major objective. It’s not just about getting an award for the plaintiffs, it’s about making aviation safer.”
“I always tell my clients, just tell it like it is,” says Levine. “I have told my clients two and a half million times that there is no substitute for the truth. The truth never hurts you.”
On stockbrokers who pilfer money from their clients…when it comes to arguing his case to recover money, Stoltmann says he goes down his four-letter checklist (aka “SCUM”):
S – was the investment suitable for the client given their age and risk tolerance
C – was the investor’s account churned or repeatedly rolled over in order to earn fees for the broker
U – were the trades and changes in the account unauthorized
M – were the risks and type of investment misrepresented to the client
On the stockbrokers themselves: “How can they sleep at night?” says Stoltmann. “They sleep very nicely in their mansions.”
On the federal court ruling that the Army Corp of Engineers which built the canal linking New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico, was to blame for the catastrophic flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina…
“The people of New Orleans are vindicated,” said Bruno before a throng of media representatives. “They (the Army Corps of Engineers) can no longer hide behind an immunity. It is time for the people of this city to be compensated.”
On the high percentage of Match.com profiles that were allegedly still shown as “reachable” even though the profiles did not belong to active subscribers…
“A simple analogy is—I sell you a six pack of ginger ale and two of the cans are empty,” says Hart. “If I sold you six cans and you believe that all six are the same, but they are not. Four of them are what you are looking for and two of them are empty—now how do you feel about that?”