ABA Section of Business Law
Business Law Today
March/April 1999
Snap Judgments
Not that many
While standing in the corner didn’t even make the list of common punishments for lawyers behaving badly, a recent survey shows such a high rate of misconduct among lawyers that it may be time to look at that as another means of "public punishment" for wayward lawyers.
Lawyer Discipline Systems recently took a look at data from 42 states and the District of Columbia and found that 542 lawyers were disbarred in 1996 and 3,235 received other forms of public discipline that year.
In addition to disbarment, suspensions, interim suspensions, censures (wait a minute, isn’t President Clinton a lawyer?) and probation also made the list of popular punishments.
On the positive side, next time some wiseacre tells you all lawyers are corrupt, you can neatly cut him off at the pass by informing him that it’s actually only 3,777.
Have debt, will travel
Lenient bankruptcy laws in some states have prompted many would-be defaulters to stop looking at their checkbooks and to start grabbing their travel books.
Sure, Iowa may seem a little less glam than New York, but homesteading laws there allow debtors in Des Moines to keep equity in their homes. In the Big Apple, though, bankruptcy regulations leave those who file with little more than an apple core.
As Congress has examined the nation’s bankruptcy laws, more notice has been taken of states like Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Florida and Texas, whose lax laws allow those in the red to hold on to more than they might otherwise.
In Florida — one of the country’s most bankruptcyfriendly states — the New York Times reports that Dr. Carlos Garcia-Rivera declared bankruptcy to avoid paying damages in four malpractice suits filed against him. Now he swims in his 100-foot pool, the Times said, while the plaintiffs in the malpractice suits will never receive a dime.
States originally established homesteading exemptions to give debtors a second chance. But, as the Times reported, many of these laws haven’t been revised since they were written 150 years ago. Plus, efforts to update bankruptcy laws have consistently been met with staunch opposition from private interests.
Now it seems that any possibility for bankruptcy overhaul is in the hands of Congress.
Rights vs. work place?
While on TV, "Candid Camera" is a classic laugh-track comedy, a similar plotline is bringing high drama to many of America’s workplaces as companies implement new ways to keep an eye on employees.
From hidden video cameras to taped phone conversations, the big boss is starting to seem more like Big Brother. In 1997, 35 percent of employers surveyed by the American Management Association said they used such surveillance techniques. The AMA also found that 80 percent of major U.S. firms tested workers for drugs in 1996, a leap from the 21 percent who tested in 1987.
And while the unwitting employees nationwide caught redhanded are crying foul, experts say the law is on the side of employers.
"There is a common perception that we take our constitutional rights into the workplace," said the AMA’s Eric Rolfe Greenberg. "The space in which you work . . . doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to your employer."
For many companies, new technologies have prompted them to revamp the way they monitor what employees are doing. Unocal, for instance, uses a screening program to block certain Internet sites and at Pillsbury a note flashes on computer screens warning users to be careful of what they send.
Tangled Web
What a tangled World Wide Web we weave . . .
Lawyers are almost rubbing their hands together with glee at the prospect of an increased number of Internet-related libel cases as the use of online technology continues to grow.
According to a survey conducted by The Affiliates, 68 percent of the nation’s lawyers expect to see more libel suits stemming from online misconduct over the next three years. None of those surveyed expected the number to decrease.
"More libel actions continue to be filed as the courts determine how existing legislation and First Amendment issues apply to the online world," said Kathleen Call, The Affiliates executive director.
Of course, knowing what we do about the much-debated seamy side of the information superhighway, it might do well for someone to alert the Supreme Court justices — Jerry Fallwell in the outhouse is going to seem pretty tame to them once virtual evidence makes its way into the courtroom.
Past-tense perks
The red carpet that many execs found rolled out for them fairly early on the road to professional success in the ’80s has been rolled up for all but the most important of VIPs, leaving many higher-ups on the corporate ladder without the company cars and country club memberships that were once the hallmark of corporate coming of age. Recent years have seen a nearly 20 percent dip in the number of companies providing company cars and almost a 10 percent decrease in firms who pick up the tab for airline VIP club memberships, the New York Times reported.
But not to worry. According to the Times, this trend away from the tangible trappings of power hasn’t precluded sizable compensation packages.
The Times says that changes in the business world have changed what pragmatic executives look for. Fast-paced takeovers and buyouts have even those at the top of the ladder constantly on the move.
"Executives want perks that are portable," executive recruiter Eva Wisnik told the Times. "They want benefits that they can’t take with them when they leave — when their companies are sold and it’s time for them to move on." And what’s more portable than cash?
In 1996, Executive Compensation Reports newsletter found 59 percent of 1,100 public companies offered so-called golden parachute agreements. More execs are also asking for severance packages that include one to two years’ pay and benefits, rather than the once-standard six months.
Armageddon for lawyers?
Alan Greenspan might not consider lawyers’ incomes among the leading economic indicators when he assesses the state of the economy, but to thousands of lawyers nationwide, the recent slowing in the growth of their incomes is surely a sign of economic Armageddon.
A recent study by the Michigan Bar Association found that the 1996 median income for that state’s lawyers was a meager $70,000, certainly enough to buy a quality tin cup in which to collect change at the corner, but still just a 2.9 percent increase from 1993, The Detroit News reported. The average lawyer’s income there in ’96 was $89,476.
The reason for these parsimonious pay raises, according to those in the biz, is that lawyers are almost literally becoming a dime a dozen. In the Michigan study, 65 percent of those surveyed said there were "too many" lawyers in their communities. Such competition drives prices down and takes lawyers’ pay with it, said Lawrence Stiffman, who helped conduct the survey.
Now, let’s see if we have this right: Supply and demand are determining the market price? We can definitely see how lawyers would perceive that as unfair.
— Heather Brewer
