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By: Pamela J. Starr
Reprinted with permission from Pamela the Paralegal – virtual paralegal and blogger extraordinaire: http://pamelatheparalegal.com/
Today we’re bringing the wildly fabulous and incredibly candid Pamela Starr onto the TPS stage to tell you about a ridiculous (it is ridiculous) employment ad she recently came across, which sought – of all things…a “disbarred attorney” to fill a paralegal role. Wait…WHAT? Yep, our thoughts exactly. Keep reading, and if you can’t keep the duct tape securely affixed over the corners of your non-disbarred, highly-competent paralegal mouth after reading today’s post, leave a comment. The free therapy hotline is officially OPEN for business!
(Cue the disbarred attorneys running…)
I’m still trying to wrap my head around this Craigslist ad under CL >new york >queens >all jobs >legal/paralegal jobs:
In my head, I hear the voice of Inigo Montoya:
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Back in October 2011, I wrote about an employer seeking “JD Paralegals” – “Qualified applicants will have to have at least a JD.”
Seriously people, I know the public thinks poorly of our industry, but at what point did we, as legal professionals, sink so low as to blur the lines of ethics and common sense?
For the record, the order of disbarment in New York states:
“Ordered that pursuant to Judiciary Law § 90, effective immediately__________ is commanded to desist and refrain from (1) practicing law in any form, either as principal or as agent, clerk, or employee of another …”
One attorney commented that he sees no problem with a disbarred attorney working as (hold on to your seat for this one) a paralegal. After all, ‘if the work will be will be supervised by an attorney in good standing, what could be the harm?’
Well sir, several state bars actually have rules that prevent disbarred attorneys from acting as paralegals. And, the National Federation of Paralegals (NFPA) has issued its own opinion:
http://www.paralegals.org/associations/2270/files/Ethics_Opinion_05_02_disbarred_attorneys.pdf
It’s one thing to have a disbarred attorney APPLY for a job, it is outrageous to advertise for one. I worked long and hard to become a damn good, respected, paralegal – I don’t want my industry sullied by the assumption that it’s okay to replace me or my peers with a disbarred attorney.
If an employer wants to take the chance and hire a disbarred attorney, fine – let them; but seriously, why would anyone EVER advertise for one?
What do y’all think?
Pamela J. Starr, CBA, J.S.M., Virtual Paralegal Extraordinaire, tenacious redhead from the GSOT and lead paralegal/owner of StarrParalegals, LLC, Pamela serves on NFPA’s Ethics Board, blogs as her alter ego, ‘Pamela the Paralegal’, attends grad school and has launched ‘Sessions with a Starr’ – a Career Mitigation© platform devoted to helping professionals redefine their career options in an e-based economy. She has been featured in, and written for, several publications (BankruptcyProfessional.com, The Fulton County Daily Report, Law Technology News, GPSolo Magazine) and has presented several webinars on ECF and working virtually.
_____
Since you performed illegal acts that ultimately led to your disbarment from the practice of law, we’d totally like to welcome you aboard as our next paralegal. We feel your scandalous past would make for an ideal fit.
Is this crazy? We think so! We’d love to hear your thoughts…
The Paralegal Society™ 
Obviously this pursuit is motivated by the almighty dollar – they think they’ll be getting more bang for their buck …. and they probably will, but not the kind they’re bargaining for!
I once assisted my firm with the search, interview and hiring of a Paralegal. I did not, of course, make the final decision, but I was at least asked! It was a firm with 13 attorneys. My choice was not hired; but, we found out much later (just by chance as one of the Associates was doing some research) that our newest Paralegal was actually a disbarred attorney from Arizona! He, too, has been ordered not to work in the law in any capacity. It was a shock, and once discovered, he was escorted to the door!
Great idea – hire someone who has proven themselves to be ethically-challenged! I sense this firm is on the brink of getting exactly what they deserve.
What Dianne said. Apparently this firm does not hold ethics in high regard and I, for one, find that pretty scary. And disheartening.
Honestly, this sadly doesn’t surprise me one bit. These days employers want the most for their buck. So instead of hiring an experienced, ethical paralegal, they’d rather have a J.D. that can do all the work of an attorney for $50k less a year. What do they care if the attorney was disbarred? They will be supervising the employee and probably going through measures to monitor his or her work.
I recently came across a post on Craiglist for a wanted paralegal. The post said that newer graduates are ok, but required a Bachelor’s Degree, 1-3 years experience, and indicated they would train…fair enough…except they wanted to pay minimum wage! I was so insulted that I actually replied, scolding them for wanting to pay McDonalds wages to an educated individual that took the time and effort to go to school and make their self more valuable, just to be insulted by this post, and they should seek out an intern if that’s all they can afford. I mean, really??
So, again, to read that employers are stooping that low doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.
You get what you pay for.
Keep fighting the good fight, Paralegals!!
I really am speechless on this one. It is beyond repulsive that an attorney would think so little of the paralegal profession. Clearly not anyone I would EVER work for or recommend clients too.
Wow, this is definitely an insult to the paralegal profession. It’s also scary that the person would be handling financial documents. Isn’t the financial industry under enough scrutiny these days? Do they really want to have someone who is already ethically challenged handling documents?
I had the misfortune of having to work with a disbarred attorney working as a paralegal in a law office. He was convicted for the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs. He gave bad legal advice – yes I said legal advice – to clients. This was permitted by the attorney I worked for. He would take carefully indexed files and evidence folders and dump them on the floor and mix up the documents that myself and another paralegal so diligently prepared. I could not take it anymore and found employment in another firm. Attorneys out there – please do not use disbarred attorneys as paralegals. They gives those of us who are excellent at our job a bad reputation to live down. DO NOT HIRE DISBARRED ATTORNEYS!!!
jlm
Some perspective. I’m a suspended attorney. A few years ago I was going through (unknowingly) some pretty awful bipolar cycles, during which I did some things that were unethical. Reported them to the Bar, along with the mental health issue. Still had to take some time off, and my re-entry is conditioned upon a clean bill of health. Thankfully, I’ve gotten good treatment and appear to be on the right path. So, what am I to do while unable to practice, but where I can still feed my family with the only skillset I have? In descending order of distance from the actual practice of law, and ALL under the supervision of licensed attorneys who are fully aware of my situation, (a) ghostwrite pleadings, briefs, etc.; (b) legal research / writing (memos); (c) trial support and prep; (d) document review and organization; (e) handling courthouse filings. These have all been “projects” as opposed to full-time jobs, so I haven’t prevented anyone other than a contract-worker from being hired for a project.
I’m not saying that unlicensed “attorneys” are sympathetic figures. We’re not. The discipline process does two things: (a) turns us back into a “regular person” for what we are allowed to do within the practice of law — we don’t become less than a regular person; and (b) create a public record of why were aren’t allowed to practice, to allow anyone dealing with us to know what they are getting. (Thus, one contract I worked under had me represent/warrant that I am med and therapy compliant.) The public record is much more effective that it was 25 years ago, as it is only a mouse click away.
That being said, an ad seeking “disbarred attorneys” could be a pretty silly thing for a couple of reasons: (a) as noted above, the likelihood of getting a penitent disbarred attorney is not necessarily high; and (b) there really aren’t that many disbarred attorneys (I’ve seen some numbers, all below 1%). But, on the other hand, I can think of two non-suspect reasons to run such an ad: (a) the firm/person running the ad is a penitent disciplined attorney who was given a break, and wants to pay it forward; or (b) the person/firm running the ad doesn’t want disciplined attorneys to thing “oh, they’ll never hire me.” (But, that should more be “disciplined attorneys welcome.”
Interesting topic.
Eric while I can understand your situation I don’t think the majority of disbarred attorneys out there are disbarred for medical reasons such as yours. Their predicaments are published in state legal newspapers for all to read. Most disbarred attorneys are reprimanded because there were unethical, non-communicative with their clients and courts and/or involved in illegal activity. If the state bars an attorney from working in the legal field it should include being barred as working as a paralegal as well. I have worked hard to get where I am and left one job due to unethical behavior. The paralegal profession deserves to be revered and respected we are just as, if not more, ethical than the attorneys we work for and the public expects that.
I wish you well in getting your health issues under control, I understand that can be an awful situation to be in but maybe you and the public would be better served if you took this time (while you wait to be reinstated) to write, speak and mentor other professionals that may not understand the symptoms until it is too late as you did.
I am a Paralegal and I think that depending on what the Attorney was disbarred for it would be fine and great to have a disbarred Attorney work as Paralegal. They have a law degree in which Paralegals do not and they have actual experience practicing the law. In addition, many disbarred Attorney’s should not be disbarred. If you look into it and actually educate yourself about this subject, our system is very corrupt. The disciplinary boards in many states are very corrupt and unfair. It is a politics game. Many lawyers should be disbarred but it all depends on the situation and the lawyer.
For one thing, attorneys, generally, don’t know the job of being a paralegal (just like paralegals might not completely know the job of being attorneys. It’s really hilarious to watch an attorney accomplish a task paralegals perform daily. For similar reasons, it’s immaterial that attorneys have law degrees and actual experience (maybe?) practicing law because paralegals need neither to do their jobs.
Contrary to your apparent belief, attorney regulation entities do not pass out disbarments like freebies. There are reasons why attorneys are disbarred. Disbarment implies malfeasance, breach of fiduciary duties, commission of fouls and possibly character flaws. For that reason and others I myself would not want to work with a disbarred attorney who is also working as a paralegal.
As a wrongfully suspended attorney, I find your article disgusting.
The “scarlet letter” aspect of suspension is also revolting. You’d think the inability to practice law would be enough. Yet your group (which, sorry, doesn’t know squat compared to an attorney) would have it that even a paralegal job is off limits. Nonsense. You also have no idea how little it takes to get suspended. All I did was misplace a non-critical portion of a client file when I moved. I also made the mistake of contesting my suspension. The bar piled on the costs so high I can’t afford re-admission.
You guys could make the very same mistake that I did, with no punishment whatsoever, except for perhaps losing a job.
So, get off your high horse, paralegals!
I am sure I will regret replying to your post, however, I think you are missing the point. There are some disbarred attorneys that could work as paralegals but not the majority of them depending on why they were disbarred. It sounds like you have a huge chip on your shoulder and do not appreciate valuable support staff including paralegals. Had you had in your employ support staff that had your back the “non-critical portion of a client file” would not have been misplaced. And yes I have seen many people working as law firm support staff that should not be there. To also throw out there that our group doesn’t know squat compared to an attorney is also telling as to your personality and how you view your support staff. I as well as many other of my colleagues have been praised for what we know and told “I am counting on you to know all about the new rules and procedures so you can keep me on track.” An experienced paralegal is a valuable asset to a well run law firm or law department.
Great post, Dana!
Aside from your comment being self serving in every way, counselor, your comment comes off like a convicted criminal. I.e. convicted criminals always feel their incarcerations are unjust because they never “did it.”
Further, “You guys could make the very same mistake that I did, with no punishment whatsoever, except for perhaps losing a job.”
BS. Law communities are small, sir. Word travels fast. When prospective attorneys/legal employers learn that paralegal candidates screwed up, they stop considering them for employment. In other words, they are blackballed. In fact, counselor, even if they did not screw up attorneys give paralegal candidates who left their firms under untoward circumstances bad or neutral references. Both are tantamount to blackballs.
Best of luck with your efforts at being readmitted.
Bob, I agree with you (and Dana) 100%. I have zero sympathy for WSA. He wouldn’t survive at my job for an hour. The attorneys with whom I work not only depend on my support, they are under no illusion that they could perform my duties. To be fair, I could never fill their shoes, either; we have a mutual respect for each other’s contributions here and we work together as a team. However, it is on me to deliver continuous professional, ethical and accurate work product, thereby helping not only our Legal Department but our company to be a worthy presence in our industry. I’ve studied and worked long and hard, and continue to educate myself in my field, to become a highly competent, respected, valued paralegal, and to have someone remark that I don’t “know squat compared to an attorney” is extremely offensive.
I don’t know about your state, but here in Massachusetts there are so many JDs in good standing who can’t find regular work as lawyers that I once read about one who only got 1 or 2 small cases a year and whose regular job was scrubbing the fronts of cars in an otherwise automatic car wash.
(I found this site because I had a relative who was automatically disbarred for helping one of his clients fence stolen goods. After working as a paralegal, he set up a tax business that got busted. Later he died of a drug overdose. I loved to get free legal advice from him, but only for the humor value,)
Wow. I am dumbfounded. No, really, I am. It is highly unethical to hire a disbarred attorney for any position in a law firm. That is the first thing that comes to mind, and then the shock sets in and I think “WTF”? Really? A firm for which I once worked erroneously hired a lawyer who was disbarred in another state but did not disclose to the hiring partner. He was quite arrogant, and fired the second he was found out. He didn’t even have time to clean out his cube.
Where can i find more opportunities like this? Disbarred attorneys can still work in the legal arena, they just cant represent clients in the capacity of a lawyer.