Hiring An Attorney - Does Courtesy Matter?

The answer to the question posed above is YES!

Many years ago, in my last year of law school, we were required to take a class that provided pointers on how to treat one's clients (and others) as an attorney. The class was taught using role-playing scenarios, with one of those scenarios being the attorney office setting. There was an attorney sitting at a desk, a client in a chair near the desk, and a telephone on the desk. You already know what happened, right?

Well of course, the attorney and client were having a conversation with the client explaining a very important point (important to the client), when the telephone rings. So, what is the attorney to do? Let it ring, and ring, and ring? Just pick up the receiver and start talking? Say, "excuse me for a moment," answer the phone and tell off the secretary to impress the client? None of these approaches (as well as several others) was recommended, and I remembered thinking ... "why are we wasting our time learning something that everyone already knows?

Unfortunately, many attorneys treat their clients and others in a discourteous manner on a regular basis. Even more unfortunate is that many attorneys believe that their time is more valuable than the time of others such that they are discourteous on a regular basis. But, does this matter?

What would your Mama say?

The fifth Scout Law is -- COURTEOUS!

Earlier this week I had a meeting scheduled with an attorney in downtown Salt Lake City, spent an hour or so preparing for the meeting, drove 15 miles for the meeting, arrived on time for the meeting, waited 15-20 minutes before calling the attorney's office when he did not show up, was advised by the receptionist that the attorney was cancelling the meeting, drove through rush hour traffic back to South Jordan, and the attorney called one and half hours later to leave a voice message about how busy his day had been and to apologize. From his voice message explanation it was obvious that it did not occur to this attorney to call me before the meeting time or even at the meeting time to say that he would like to reschedule.

Though this particular attorney has 40 years of criminal defense experience, the two clients in need of an attorney's services were ultimately referred to another attorney for representation. Does courtesy matter? See the first sentence of this post for the obvious answer.

Bottom line, a competent and professional attorney always treats his/her clients and others with courtesy and respect at all times. Do not settle for anything less when hiring an attorney to represent you or one you care about.

Eagle4Justice

City Council Meetings Can Inform Us All

Two of our sons are Scouts and working on two important merit badges, Communications and Citizenship in the Community. One of the requirements for the first merit badge is to attend a city council meeting. We recently moved to South Jordan and the City Hall is only a few blocks from our home, so we decided to attend the South Jordan City Council meeting this past Tuesday.

We arrived a few minutes before the 6:00 PM meeting start time and settled into three very comfortable chairs in the third row. One of the council members announced that the meeting would start a few minutes late as they had just completed another meeting and needed a short break. About 10 minutes later the Mayor, five Council Members, City Manager, City Attorney and Chief of Police all filed in and took their seats.

We already had our Agenda from the stack of copies placed near the door to the City Council Chambers. The Mayor opened the meeting by calling on a Council Member to give the Invocation. After that, the Mayor called on one of the six Scouts from the audience to come forward and lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.

One of the more interesting reports was given by a staff member under the direction of the City Manager, who actually runs the day-to-day affairs of the city. As with many city governments, South Jordan Citizens elect their Mayor and Council Members, who in turn appoint the City Manager. See South Jordan City Organization Chart

The City Manager's staffer gave everyone a tour around South Jordan, explaining what was going on in the different areas of the city. Here are just a few examples:

• Costco store to be built at 9800 South & Bangerter Hwy and open by Fall 2009.
• Gold's Gym looking at old Albertson's building for a new location.
• Olive Garden and McDonalds to be built in The District shopping center.
• The news report that South Jordan had spent all its snow removal money was wrong, and South Jordan citizens should not worry about snow removal.
• South Jordan has an ordinance that restricts parking in the street when it snows!

Woa ... wait a minute, what does this ordinance say because I sure have not heard of it? So, I looked it up and found it in the Municipal Code. I also learned that during 2008, the City Council had amended the particular ordinance for which I was looking.

So, by attending the City Council meeting we learned about this Parking During a Snow Event ordinance, which may save us a ticket and a few bucks in the future.

Another interesting item was revealed during the Citizen Comment time. A well-prepared gentleman informed everyone present of his view that the possible placement of a 100-foot tall cell phone tower in a city park would not be appropriate or advisable. He provided facts, figures, photos, and a compelling argument against placing such an industrial tower in a residential neighborhood and city park.

The meeting lasted about 90 minutes and served as a good reminder that local government and its officials play a key role in keeping citizens informed as well as make laws they believe will make their city a better place to live. Therefore, the City Council and its meetings are an important part of our Justice system in Utah.

Attend a City Council meeting in your area and you may be surprised just how invigorating it can be to learn about your community.

Eagle4Justice

Utah UTES Dismantle Alabama in Sugar Bowl

Good afternoon from South Jordan, Utah. That's right, we have moved from West to South Jordan, and only two weeks before Christmas! My advise: don't move during the winter in Utah as it WILL snow.

Anyway, we now live in South Jordan where they do not have Comcast and we have not figured out whether DirectTV or the DISH is the way to go. So, my Mom & Dad invited us over to their home in Taylorsville to watch the Sugar Bowl on January 2nd ... and what a great game it was for UTE fans.

The lack of respect for Utah was pronounced prior to the game, with Alabama all but crowned victorious before the game started. Fortunately, the crowning was reserved as UTE QB, Brian Johnson opened the first quarter with 3 quick touchdowns on Utah's first three possessions! Those 21 points would prove sufficient for #7 Utah to beat #4 Alabama.

Utah's Defense held Alabama to only 17 points, intercepted Alabama's QB twice and sacked him eight times for one fumble. The final score was 31 to 17.

The Utah UTES ended their season 13-0 -- the only undefeated team! Yet it will be either the Oklahoma SOONERS or Florida GATORS that end up No. 1.

The lack of certainty and fairness in picking the No. 1 College Football team under the current BCS system will ultimately result in its demise. JUSTICE will be done when the BCS system is replaced by an appropriate playoff system.

Until then, why not invite tonight's victor, either the SOONERS or the GATORS to play the UTES at Rice-Eccles Stadium?

Eagle4Justice

Utah UTES Dominate BYU - 48 to 24

Good afternoon from West Jordan, Utah. Its the Sunday after our Utah UTES dominated the school down south, BYU.

The "Big Game" started at 4 PM MST, and by 8 PM the score was final at 48-24. UTE QB, Brian Johnson led his Utah UTES to an UNDEFEATED 12-0 season and Mountain West Championship.

We would be remiss if we did not thank BYU QB, Max Hall for being our 13th player yesterday. Danke for your 5 interception passes, your fumble, and your personal foul penalty at the end of the first half. For those of you wondering why Max was the 13th and not the 12th player - well, apparently you have not been to a UTES Football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium - the 12th player is always there -- those UTE FANS!

The SL Tribune (video too) was all positive about the UTES today. Sadly, the Mountain TV Producers did not get the memo to have their pro-BYU announcers pump up the Mountain Conference Champion, Utah UTES, for the good of the conference. If you can believe it, one of those pin-heads actually said that Max Hall was "brilliant" at times during the game - someone needs to buy that guy a dictionary.

Coach Whittingham was his usual gracious self and the UTES were just plain fantastic - better than their BCS ranking of 7 indicates. I would like to see the Utah UTES and the Florida GATORS in the Sugar Bowl, and my money would be on Brian Johnson, Coach Whittingham, and the rest of those Mountain West Champion Utah UTES!

There is only one thing to say in closing, GO UTES!

Eagle4Justice

Eagle4Justice Blog is Launched

Good afternoon from West Jordan, Utah. This is my first post to the Eagle4Justice Blog and I'm looking forward to providing information and education about our criminal justice system. I will also talk about other topics of interest to a family man and father of four. These topics will surely include Scouting - which is my favorite hobby!

My current work project is the Utah Justice Foundation, a Utah Non-profit Corporation. We (my wife and I) formed the UJF earlier this year to carry out a mission of Seeking Justice for ALL in Utah^SM. The ALL includes criminal defendants, victims of crimes, law enforcement, the courts, and the citizens of Utah. We seek to assist defendants receive fair & balanced Justice, treatment, education and counseling necessary to allow them to permanently exit the criminal justice system. We seek to do this while being mindful of the victims such that everyone may feel that Justice has been done.

I am also looking for a competent and professional attorney and law firm to work with here in the Salt Lake area as I prepare to re-activate my California Bar license and take the Utah Bar exam next summer. Unfortunately, the California Bar does not have a reciprocity arrangement with any state in the country, so I must take the exam to hold a Utah Bar license.

Well, that's enough for now. Comment at will, as this is the U.S.A.

Eagle4Justice