How the legal systems of other nations handle juvenile justice can be fascinating and informative. Here is an article on an issue currently in the news in India: whether the nature of a crime should be taken into account before granting immunity to juveniles.

As is the case here, this is a hotly contested issue there.

Click here to read the article.

The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School leaves us speechless and stunned. With the rest of the country, we mourn the loss of life, the shattering of families, the destruction of a nurturing school community. All of us struggle to find ways to explain an event like this to our children and to make sense of it for ourselves. It seems beyond words.

Click here to read the article.

California chose to participate in an optional federal program and enacted Assembly Bill 12 (“AB 12”), which was amended by Assembly Bill 212. AB 12 was authored by Assembly Member Jim Beall, Jr. and Speaker‐Emeritus Karen Bass, and is also known as the California Fostering Connections to Success Act. AB 12 became law on October 4, 2011 and its provisions took immediate effect.

AB 12 allows young adults who meet certain criteria to remain in foster placement past age 18 and up to age 20. The new law is intended to help them make an easier transition to independent living and perhaps avoid the sometimes abrupt release of unprepared young adults from foster placement.

I recently wrote about the issue of communicating with parties already represented by counsel. The State Bar issued an opinion on this issue recently. Basically, ‘consent’ under the ‘no contact rule’ of California Rules of Professional Conduct 2-100 may be implied by the facts and circumstances surrounding the communication with a represented party.

Click HERE to see the Formal Opinion.

If you have an attorney, other lawyers representing other parties in the matter are prohibited from speaking to you. They must first obtain consent from your attorney, who will necessarily ask you how you feel about it. If you are being sued and have an attorney, contact your attorney IMMEDIATELY should someone else try to speak to you about the matter. If you are on probation or charged with a crime the rule also applies.

The California State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct state in Rule 2-100:

(A) While representing a client, a member shall not communicate directly or indirectly about the subject of the representation with a party the member knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter, unless the member has the consent of the other lawyer.

(B) For purposes of this rule, a “party” includes:

(1) An officer, director, or managing agent of a corporation or association, and a partner or managing agent of a partnership; or

(2) An association member or an employee of an association, corporation, or partnership, if the subject of the communication is any act or omission of such person in connection with the matter which may be binding upon or imputed to the organization for purposes of civil or criminal liability or whose statement may constitute an admission on the part of the organization.

(C) This rule shall not prohibit:

(1) Communications with a public officer, board, committee, or body; or

(2) Communications initiated by a party seeking advice or representation from an independent lawyer of the party’s choice; or

(3) Communications otherwise authorized by law.

Thus, under (C)(2), it is acceptable for a party (the person represented, not the lawyer) to speak to other counsel if they are seeking advice or representation from another lawyer. But it is NOT acceptable for other counsel to contact a party. If you have other questions about these matters, you may call my office at (916) 363-1211 or the CA State Bar ethics hotline at 800-238-4427, toll free from within California.

Click here to go to the State Bar Ethics page.