TOUGH TALK ON HELP FOR THE LITTLE MAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100180078-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 20, 2007
• Sequence Number: 78
• Publication Date: August 13, 1979
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/06/20: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100180078-0
ARTICLE _?PE a RED
0IV Pr'_GE C'+ i
THE WASHINGTON POST
13 August 1979
91t, 91t Talk- on Help
For the Little Man
ALLY-%S-CRITICS of the legal profession are.
15 never in short supply. There's always some-
one ready to knock the lawyers about their fees
and the way they conduct their business.
But at the 'National Conference of Bar Presi-
dents here last week, the critics were the lawyers
sion if they., refused to .treat an infected finger,". he
said. But the lawyers have no efficient-and a[-
fordable-way to treat complaints about things like
broken refrigerators ' and car warranties. Those
kinds of cases don't lend themselves to "economi-? .
cal solutions," Huckaby. told the lawyers.
One solution; IIuckaby.said ; would' be for the
try to get lawyers to accept
organized bar to
.
those-kinds `of cases on an -''assigned risk basis"
for a reduced fee.- Others suggested that lawyers
agree to take fees .oh 'installment 'plans.' start
group legal practices=like doctors-and support
prepaid legal plans.
The lawyers also have to make contact with
the public, inform them., about potential legal
pro blems and then see' to ,ft that' legal services
i .A
are delivered..
person. is 'atrald' of:' legal prob
"The 'ordinary
,,
themselves. And they had some tough things to lems,. afraid of conflict and-' afraid of lawyers,'
say about the way law is practiced and why it has f Yale' Law School Professor Geoffrey,:G.__Hazard:'
ress into an industry geared to big issues and rich those concerns. it. is-. also - reluctant to change
cannot get the legal help they need for a reason-
"The dominant tendency is to:" . [maintain' the
able price. The lawyer's traditional role as counse- status quo) so we render legal services tomorrow j
I
]or has deteriorated because lawyers are too busy .
in the [same] form and" measure; as they were,
putting out quality paperwork. The profession has 'rendered by our forefathers" Hazard said.
failed to tell the public about its legal needs. And ! The lawyers know the clients are unhappy
the public still sees the lawyer as an unapproach-.,J about fees and services, said Dean David T.
able authority figure in a plush office and a put Link of. the University of Notre' Dame Law
stripped suit.
The real crunch comes for the middle-class.
Expensive cars and homes can be bought on install-
ment. Lawyers, however, are tailor-made, high-
priced and paid-on-delivery.
Lawyers have heard this talk before. But their
response-so far, anyway-has been slow at best.
"Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously. es-
pecially when we talk about our own practice of
law," said Thomas S. Johnson, the chairman of the
American Bar Association's Consortium on Legal
Services and the Public.
,.. School. And, the,lawyers are unhappy with the
'growing management tasks of their jobs. Many
lawyers 'are "slipping." Link told the bar leaders.
"They're becoming mechanics" instead of being
counselors.
Tut the practice of .,law can be streamlined
ticith, sophisticated office. hardware that can im-
"prove services, lower fees and make "attorneys
happy to be lawyers," Link said.
"Good lawyers are concerned about qualit}-
not :time.. or efficiency-but they.fail to realize
than part of quality is reasonable price," Link
i., said. , ? ? .
ers could make better use of fancy
ATa
law
b
y
y
..
e
lie is running out of patience and we are running equipment-if they can afford to buy it-and
out of time." ' maybe-.that will result in more reasonable.,fees..,
Johnson and three other ?speakers put the ques- The real, question is whether the legal pro-.
tion of what. should be done to about 300 bar presi- . - c estio the. business of
dents and executives who filled a ballroom fessio fession lf f continue
o . to young lat .sone morning for a session on economics of law ary.. problems to..
and the legal g
practice and legal needs-part of the ABA ,s 101st ' practitioners clinics,' or the e solo
ol business annual meeting here. it, decides that the bar as a whole should share
"We are not serving a vast portion of the pub- in this unprofitable responsibility to the public.
lie with legal services," said one of the speakers, 'At this point, the best the lawyers can say Is
that they're thinking about it.
Gary C. Huckaby, chairman of the ABA's commit- tee on delivery of legal services.
"We'd have no respectfor the medical profes- Adm. Stansfield Turner, the director of the
_CQ iTIr1IT 2
He warned the bar leaders, "The American pub-
STAT
STAT
Approved For Release 2007/06/20: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100180078-0