SHAPE UP - CA Bar Tells its Lawyers

SACRAMENTO - Did you hear the joke about the two opposing lawyers who were really nice to each other?

No? Don't worry, neither has anyone else.

Concerned that the practice of law has simply gotten too darned mean, the California State Bar this summer authored new "California Attorney Guidelines of Civility and Professionalism."

The rules are a sort of Miss Manners guide to legal etiquette, instructing lawyers to use appropriate language, not exaggerate about their cases to the media, and try to show some common courtesy when scheduling depositions or serving papers.

State Bar President Sheldon Sloan said he saw the need for the guidelines because of increasing nastiness in the profession.

"I've been practicing a long time and over the years I've noticed a decline in the civility accorded between lawyers in a profession where traditionally the lawyers on opposite sides have gotten along pretty well," Sloan said.

"I really noticed it, frankly, in the large urban areas more than the smaller areas. The truth of the matter is, you can win a case without having to be uncivil to your opponent."

Among the guidelines?

Attorneys should avoid hostile, demeaning or humiliating words.

Attorneys also should be punctual for court appearances, should not disparage the intelligence or ethics of others when they're not relevant to the case, and should not produce disorganized or unintelligible documents during the discovery process.

Sloan said some attorneys play games - such as intentionally scheduling a deposition on an inconvenient day for opposing counsel, such as the Friday after Thanksgiving, or a child's school graduation day.

When asked to reschedule as a courtesy, they refuse. The other attorney then has to complain to the judge, wasting valuable court time to resolve a petty matter.

While the guidelines are nonbinding, Sloan hopes encouraging attorneys to sign a pledge to follow the rules can help rein in bad behavior.

And, he added, judges could decide to use the rules as guidance to impose sanctions when faced with nasty or petty bickering among lawyers in court.

Still, naturally, when many lawyers are involved in an issue of rules, there is plenty of debate. California has more than 210,000 lawyers, more than 156,000 of them actively practicing.

Some attorneys feel that the guidelines are unnecessary, simply because the legal profession already has plenty of rules governing conduct. And with the new guidelines being nonbinding, some think they aren't likely to make rude lawyers suddenly start playing nice.

Within the Los Angeles County Bar Association, two subgroups - the litigation section and the Professional Responsibility & Ethics Committee - opposed the new rules.

"To the extent that there's a civility issue that needs to be addressed - and there always will be and has been since the beginning of the practice of law - we didn't think we needed another set of rules," said Los Angeles attorney Richard J. Burdge Jr. Instead, Burdge, chairman of the County Bar Association's litigation section, suggested that the State Bar should press for more courses on the issues of civility in law schools.

Some experts believe there has always been a lack of courtesy among some elements in the legal profession.

UCLA law professor Adam Winkler, who specializes in legal ethics, said the lack of professional courtesy has been a problem for decades, but that the growing size of the profession might be pushing attorneys to be more competitive and aggressive. The larger number of attorneys also makes it less likely for repeat interactions, making it less likely for attorneys to feel obligated to be polite to one another.

Winkler also said the perception of rudeness can sometimes be fed by the proliferation of television shows featuring attorneys - though often real life is worse.

"The public perception of lawyers has been bad for a long time. Television shows don't do anything to make lawyers' reputations better," Winkler said.

"Maybe that enhances the public perception of lawyers lacking civility. But I think people watching those shows might get a better impression than if they saw actual lawyers in practice. Any lawyer who's worked in litigation has seen his share of unprofessional and uncivil conduct."

harrison.sheppard@dailynews.com

Seattle Criminal Defense

Two Shot in Burien

P-I STAFF

Two people were rushed to Harborview Medical Center on Friday night after being shot in Burien. Police responded to the 1800 block of Southwest 116th Street about 10:20 p.m. after an argument escalated into a shooting, authorities said. Police believe they have identified the gunman, and were trying to locate him. The suspect is believed to have fled in a blue sedan. The victims' conditions were not immediately known.

State's new felony DUI law put to use

Man looks at 5th conviction in 10 years

By VANESSA HO
P-I REPORTER

A Bothell man with a long history of drunken driving is the first person in King County to be charged under a new state law that makes a fifth DUI conviction a felony.

On Wednesday, prosecutors charged Karl Solid, 44, with one count of felony driving under the influence. A Washington State Patrol trooper reported seeing Solid's car drift off state Route 522 near Bothell and swerve into other lanes Saturday night.

Solid's blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.28 percent, according to charging papers. That is more than three times the legal limit.

If convicted as charged, Solid will face six to eight years in prison. Interim Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg said Solid's latest arrest is the kind of case the Legislature had in mind when it passed the new law, which makes a fifth DUI in 10 years a class C felony. The law took effect in July.

"By the time a driver has five DUI convictions, they are a clear and present danger to public safety," Satterberg said in a statement.

According to charging documents, Trooper Brian Dixon watched Solid's Honda Accord swerving and drifting off the road near Interstate 405.

When Dixon tried to pull Solid over, he continued driving, then stalled and drifted backward until he almost collided with the trooper's car.

The trooper saw that Dixon's face, shirt and arms were covered in blood. Solid said he had fallen going from his house to his car, "because he had been drinking," according to the trooper's account in charging papers. Dixon said Solid was so impaired that he had to hold him upright.

King County prosecutors said Solid has eight DUI-related convictions in Western Washington dating back to 1991. Five occurred in the past 10 years.

When arrested Saturday, Solid was driving on a revoked license. He also was on probation from a deferred DUI prosecution last year.

Solid, who also has theft and forgery convictions, remained in the King County Jail on Wednesday on $250,000 bail.

He is scheduled for arraignment Oct. 3.

Judge violated regulations in keeping teen out of prison

By CLAUDIA ROWE
P-I REPORTER

By showing mercy to a teenager and keeping him out of state prison, a King County judge has flummoxed Department of Corrections officials who say the decision to sentence the youth to home detention was improper -- and, in fact, against the law.

Friday, Superior Court Judge Harry McCarthy listened to an hour of tearful testimony from the family of Jordan Jantoc, 17, who accidentally shot his stepbrother to death in their basement bedroom a year ago and pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter.

The teen's mother, stepfather and siblings pleaded for leniency, pointing out that the boy had no criminal record and that the shooting was unintentional. Time in prison, they said, would only harden the impressionable youth.

McCarthy agreed, ruling that Jantoc should spend 24 months on electronic home-monitoring. For the last year, the teen has been doing just that, living under his parents' supervision and not setting foot outside of their Boulevard Park home, except for school.

But according to the King County Prosecutor's Office, Corrections said no. Under state law, home detention is not available to offenders convicted of a violent offense. And it is also not to be levied for more than one year.

"This is an unusual case, and the judge was trying to do something creative," said Mark Larson, chief deputy prosecutor. "That creative sentence was not something the DOC was comfortable implementing. They are not the Department of Creative Alternatives, and they have very strict guidelines by which they handle offenders."

Deputy Prosecutor Don Raz had initially recommended a three-year sentence for Jantoc. And Larson noted that it is up to Corrections -- not the judge -- to determine exactly where that time should be served.

But McCarthy appears to have made the decision himself. The judge did not return a call seeking comment.

For Jantoc's family -- whipsawed between joy at the initial home-detention decision and fear at the sudden roadblock -- the latest wrinkle comes as a shock.

"Can you believe this?" said Lena Jantoc, the teen's mother. "Isn't the judge the one who's supposed to make these decisions? When I found out, I was trying not to cry. Are they going to put my son in jail now? We're all so worried."

Matthew King, the boy's lawyer, said he wasn't surprised at the glitch.

"We were hoping, frankly, that this would fly under the radar," King said. "There have been cases at DOC where they don't pick up on an error and let it slide."

He plans to meet with Raz and offer a proposal to McCarthy that would achieve the same end, keeping the youth at home but through alternate means. One method might be to set a new sentencing date far enough into the future that credit for time served -- at home and under his parents' supervision -- would take care of the two-year problem.

Larson seemed to concur.

"This is an unusual case," he said. "We were not advocates of this particular outcome, but we're not going to stamp our feet and be sore losers."

A hearing with McCarthy has been set for Oct. 5.