Scandalous Divorce Lawyers Who Sleep With Their Clients

I'm very proud of my soon to be billionaire friend Richard Komaiko who has written his first article for the Huffington Post.  Richard is the co-founder of Attorneyfee.com, a much better writer than me, and just an overall mensch.  Hopefully this is one of many articles to come.

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In "Sex and the City", Charlotte starts a romance with her attorney, Harry, while getting divorced from her husband, Tray. She finds true love in the arms of her attorney, and ultimately gets a fairy tale ending. In real life, however, fairy tale endings are few and far between. Far more common are disaster cases where romance between divorce attorneys and their clients results in calamity for both parties.

Consider the case of Raymond van Arnam, a New Mexico divorce attorney who, because of his affection for a client, became a little too zealous in pursuit of her interests. Van Arnam actually broke into the home of his client's estranged husband and invited two colleagues to join him in looting the residence. When the estranged husband returned home, Van Arnam rushed the man's car in a fit of rage, and was ultimately charged with fourth degree felony breaking and entering. Or consider the case of William Frick, a Missouri divorce attorney who became romantically involved with a client. When he discovered that his client was also seeing other men, Frick became jealous and started sending her threatening letters and vandalizing her property. The drama reached a climax when Frick was arrested for discharging a handgun at local security guards after he was caught spray painting her name on public property.

The vast majority of situations are nowhere near as tragic as van Arnam and Frick and nowhere near as romantic as Charlotte and Harry. The vast majority are somewhere in the middle, but even those situations pose a very real danger to the client in a divorce case. Normally, everything you say to your attorney is protected by attorney-client privilege. But that privilege only covers things you say to your attorney in his capacity as your attorney (ie, not pillow talk). If your former husband suspects that you're having an affair with your attorney, he can actually subpoena your attorney and put him on the witness stand to testify against you about the affair. Having your attorney testify about the intimate details of your private life would obviously be embarrassing, but it can also mean strategic suicide for your court case.

Nonetheless, this kind of thing happens every day. How common is it? Reliable numbers are hard to come by, but according to one nationwide survey of attorneys, 7% admitted to personally having a sexual relationship with one or more clients, and 32% admitted to having colleagues who carry on such affairs. It's so common today that there are actually law review articles with titles like "The Legal Profession's Dirty Little Secret"!
Up until 2002, not a single state had a law that explicitly prohibited attorneys from sleeping with their clients. And while most states do have such laws today, they are pretty watered down. Rule 1.8(j) of the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility (the rules set by the American Bar Association for governing the conduct of attorneys) says that "A lawyer shall not have sexual relations with a client unless a consensual sexual relationship existed between them when the client-lawyer relationship commenced." In other words, you can take your lover as a client, but you can't take your client as a lover.

By comparison, the rules of professional ethics for doctors are far more stringent. The Hippocratic Oath, written about 2,500 years ago, forbids physicians from having sexual relations with any patients or even family members of patients: "Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons".
The dangers of getting sexually involved with a client/patient have been recognized in more serious terms by almost every other professional association. The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatry Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Counseling Association, and even the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork all strictly forbid their members from having sexual relations with clients/patients under any circumstance. This permits one of two conclusions: either divorce attorneys have figured out some way to immunize themselves against the temptations of human sexuality, or they hold themselves to less stringent ethical standards than the masseuses and masseurs of America.

What do you think? Is it possible for a divorce attorney to give truly objective advice to someone with whom he's sharing a bed? Should divorce attorneys be permitted to represent their lovers at trial? And would you ever feel comfortable being represented by your lover?

Follow Richard Komaiko on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@RichardKomaiko

Links of the Day

Feel good story gone very wrong: "Basically, she did everything wrong," Ron Berman, a canine behavior specialist, said. "She went up to a dog she didn't know--who didn't know her--and she either tried to kiss him or hug him or put her face too close to his face. He felt threatened and bit her."  I wonder if NBC will try to use this in their defence of a lawsuit that is surely coming their way.
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Say it ain't so Tilted Kilt, I would never in a million years think you'd be sued for sexual harassment.  Everyone know that the girls working there are timid and shy creatures who dress like nuns and expect to be tipped and treated as such.
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Setting a great precedent before the NATO and G-8 summits in Chicago this summer, the City has offered to settle a lawsuit with these 800 no-good bums for $6.2M.  They were doing something illegal and now the City is compensating them for it, sounds like justice.

The Tragedy of Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is an awful and aggressive form of cancer. Mesothelioma affects the smooth linings of the chest, heart, and lungs and effects between 2,500 and 3,000 Americans annually. Due to difficulty in early detection (mesothelioma symptoms can often be attributed to other conditions), this awful disease is often diagnosed too late for any treatment other than palliative care.

Although the link between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma has been known since the beginning of the 20th century, many such revelations were concealed by the government at the request of the asbestos industry. In the post -World War II housing boom, asbestos was key product in providing housing materials and thus millions of people became “at-risk” for developing mesothelioma.

Today one of the most prominent “at-risk” populations for mesothelioma are the 9/11 rescue workers who sifted through the rubble of the Twin Towers searching for survivors and removing debris. Of the 12,000 police officers and first responders, 297 developed cancer, and 56 perished from mesothelioma or other forms of cancer related to the inhalation of the contaminated air at the site.

The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation is a non-profit organization “dedicated to eradicating the life-ending and vicious effects of mesothelioma.” As you can see in this chart Mesothelioma is severely underfunded comparing to other forms of cancer. Please go to http://www.curemeso.org/ learn about mesothelioma, find volunteering opportunities, and donate to this wonderful organization in search of a cure.

Dubrovnik- Summer of 2009

After a whirlwind tour through London, Lisbon, and Geneva in one week, my friends and I were looking forward to a relaxing week on the Adriatic coast. We arrived in Dubrovnik on an early morning Easyjet flight from Geneva, but our sense of exhaustion was quickly overcome during our ride from the Dubrovnik Airport into town. The road carved out of the hills, common place all along the coast, provided breathtaking views of sea and old town of Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik itself is a very busy small town, filled with tourists coming ashore off of the many cruise ships that dock nearby. However unlike many other European cities that serve as a tourist attraction (such as Venice) only a short walk away from city center yields an undisturbed local neighborhood where daily life goes on as usual.

We booked our accommodations at Hostel Marker (Apartments Lovrijenac) through Hostelworld.com, and stayed what in essence was an apartment just outside the city gates. At first we were disappointed by the lack of hostels in the town, as we were all looking forward to the community atmosphere that a hostel may offer. However, upon meeting our host, Marko, any sense of a lack of community was quickly overcome. Marko was the best host we have ever had, and quite possibly one of the nicest people I have ever met. Not only did he offer ample advice on what to see and where to go, one night he actually took us out and showed us the town from the local’s perspective. Marko arranged a rental car for us, transport to Montenegro, and even helped us retrieve a lost photo camera after my friend forgot it back in Dubrovnik, all in all I cannot say enough good things about him.

During the day we took Marko’s advice and spent time at the Banje beach, walked along city walls, and took a ferry to the island of Lokrum. Banje beach is located directly south of the old city. Although small, and a bit rocky it offers a cozy place to relax, take a dip, and have a drink along the water.

The city walls, are probably one of the biggest attractions of Dubrovnik. Very well preserved and very imposing, the walls take about two hours to circumnavigate and cost €7 to enter. The views of the old city and its distinctive orange roof tops present and excellent photo opportunity.
Lokrum is a nature preserve popular with hikers and nature lovers, the island is teeming with wild peacocks and offers beautiful vistas from its many cliffs. To get to Lokrum, simply board a 15 minute ferry by the south city gate.

For a small town, Dubrovnik offers a lively nightlife, although it is mostly limited to the weekends. Dubrovnik has two night clubs, East-West and En Fuego which are located on the opposite sides of town, about 1 km apart. The clubs charge a cover fee after 11, so make sure to arrive early if you don’t feel like paying cover. East-West appealed to my friends and I much more as it stands right above Banje Beach about 100 meters from the water. East-West has an open-air and an indoor section, I highly recommend staying in the outdoor section if you do not want to smell like smoke (smoking indoors is accepted here). Food in Dubrovnik is more expensive than elsewhere in Croatia, but is still relatively cheap by American standards. Many restaurants line the main street of Dubrovnik which spans no more than a few hundred meters. It is worth noting that only a few meters away from the main street, restaurants tend to be 25%-30% less expensive. Expect to pay between €6-€7 for a main course, beer is about €2.00-€2.50 for half liter of domestic brew.

Overall, we greatly enjoyed staying in Dubrovnik and the people we have met along the way. I cannot wait to go back to Croatia, which is an inexpensive, fun, and beautiful destination that I highly recommend to everyone.

The Righteous Amongst Billionaires

In recent years Warren Buffett has joined the ranks of George Soros as a “righteous” billionaire to millions of frantic Obama supporters preaching wealth redistribution. In his old age, Mr. Buffett has supported raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans who tend to pay lower tax rates than many middle-class citizens. Time and time again Mr. Buffett has pointed out that he does not pay enough taxes. Without trying to dissect whether his contention has merit, it is clear to me that Mr. Buffett’s demonstrative actions to emphasize his point have been quite hypocritical.

Tired of hearing of Mr. Buffett’s low tax rate, many of his detractors have suggested that Mr. Buffett voluntarily send a check to the U.S. government for the conceived shortfall. However, Mr. Buffet dismissed this request for unilateral action and instead offered to match any similar donations by Republican members of Congress. It appears that Mr. Buffett is only willing to do the right thing if others join him in action. This is akin to saying “stealing is horrible and completely reprehensible, but I will not stop stealing unless everyone else also stops.”

Recently, several media outlets have glorified Mr. Buffett for living up to his pledge when he matched Rep. Scott Rigell’s (VA-R) donation of $49,000 to the U.S. government (15% of Rigell's Congressional Salary). The media was awash with praise of Mr. Buffett, yet many such articles ignored a very simple incongruity. If Mr. Buffett believes that he should pay the same percentage of taxes as other Americans, why is he simply matching the dollar amount of Rep. Rigell’s donation? If Mr. Buffett truly wanted to be “fair” (according to his own definition), he would not merely match the dollar amount of Rep. Rigell’s donation, but he would prorate the donation to reflect his significantly higher level of income and net worth. Of course that would mean millions upon millions of dollars, not a measly $49,000 which to Mr. Buffet is like a quarter under the couch cushion.

I don’t know what is motivating Mr. Buffett’s call to action, perhaps it’s a feeling of guilt that stems from a lifetime of financial success (he has amassed a fortune of nearly $40 billion). Maybe it is the desire to leave a positive legacy in the twilight of his life. Regardless of what this driving force might be, it’s unfortunate that Mr. Buffett is only willing to take a stand at the expense of others who do not agree with him. If Mr. Buffett acts as a leader and does the right thing, as he has done with his philanthropic organizations, without asking the same of others, he will earn the positive legacy that he appears to seek.

I am back :)

I am back, and although it has been a long absence it was not for the lack of material. Much has happened in the world and in my life since last post over 2 years ago. I have become an uncle, I have a new job, I visited a few more places in the world. Life is good. Over the next few months I have committed to writing at least one post every week to satisfy the craving for creativity in my life, so look out for updated materials. Help me start a dialogue and let’s discuss life, friendships , and current events.

My trip to Europe

As I am writing this post I have not slept for 30 hours. I thought I'd share with you some of my impressions of the UK over the last day. Here is the recap of my day. Upon arriving at London Heathrow I knew I had to make my way to the London Paddington train station to catch my train to Bristol (my final destination in the UK). To get from Heathrow to Paddington I boarded an express train, and with a little help from a co-worker I managed to score a first class seat for this 15 minute journey. What did the first class ticket provide besides charging most people double the regular fare? I would say absolutely nothing. I could not understand who in their right mind would pay an additional 20 dollars to sit in the first class car, and yet there were three other passengers in the first class. And then I realized, I'm in Europe. Unlike the US, class tensions have dominated political and social discourse on the content for the over a millianea. Here there are distinct differences between the son of an aristocrat and the average joe's kid. For all of Europe's idealism and self-righteousness this simple example illustrates that the in Europe class warfare is a much more significant topic than in the United States. Where in the United States would you see passengers split out between the haves and the have nots on a fifteen minute journey?