tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306411813710494991.post6026564582068063794..comments2023-03-26T00:36:03.611-07:00Comments on Role Model Lawyers: Is the San Diego Bar Association using public property and public funds to maintain a private club for lawyers?Maura Larkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800561169406889185noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306411813710494991.post-75088577837537517052014-03-27T15:26:49.815-07:002014-03-27T15:26:49.815-07:00 There is a mentality in San Diego that lawyers h... There is a mentality in San Diego that lawyers have an exclusive right to appear in a courtroom. However, that means that leaves out a good portion of San Diego residents who cannot afford their rates, particuarly in a system where cases are stretched out for years. <br /> Many people in the probate and family law courts have no access to justice at all. Legal clinics will not help with probate and there are no volunteer probate lawyers. The probate court in San Diego is run like a mafia with at least one of the judges appointing public guardians so the county can make money off what they charge the trust since the individual does not keep it. Instead it goes to the county who pays the judge and his staff. Since this judge is elected, rather than appointed, he also has motive to keep the legal community, comprised of professional fiduciaries and probate attorneys happy by givng them opportunities to make more money by how he handles the case, often violating the law itself in doing so. I suppose his motive is that when it comes time for re-election, they are the ones who will contribute to his campaign in the form of funds and/or endoreements.<br /> Those who find themselves thrust into a probate case or family law case without the ability to hire an attorney should not be handicapped further. Their only hope lies in having the resources to help themselves which means the law library and opportunity for legal education.<br /> Lawyers do not have exclusive rights to the law. It is a sad world if San Diego thinks so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com