Comments on: Con Man Posing as a Mediator Convicted of Fraud and Theft http://www.indisputably.org/?p=185 A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:21:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Brother Mat http://www.indisputably.org/?p=185&cpage=1#comment-1974 Brother Mat Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:37:48 +0000 http://www.indisputably.org/?p=185#comment-1974 Owen Fiss is a laughin' Owen Fiss is a laughin’

]]> By: Art Hinshaw http://www.indisputably.org/?p=185&cpage=1#comment-1972 Art Hinshaw Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:06:25 +0000 http://www.indisputably.org/?p=185#comment-1972 The point of the story is that he used mediation as a method of bilking people out of money. He tried to charge someone $25,000 just to file their divorce paperwork (Az does have legal document preparers, and he was one). One vicitm said it felt like extortion. It is important to note, that he didn't try to con everyone - just those who were the most vulnerable. Which circles back to Andrea's question about policing our community - how's the best way to do that? I think the emphasis on the lawyer angle in the newspaper articles was b/c that was something that their readership would understand. Notice that he was not charged with the unauthorized practice of law, which now has sanctions attached with it. However, his association w/ the legal profession indicates power (knowledge of the legal system), which he abused through intimidation tactics later. The point of the story is that he used mediation as a method of bilking people out of money. He tried to charge someone $25,000 just to file their divorce paperwork (Az does have legal document preparers, and he was one). One vicitm said it felt like extortion.

It is important to note, that he didn’t try to con everyone – just those who were the most vulnerable. Which circles back to Andrea’s question about policing our community – how’s the best way to do that?

I think the emphasis on the lawyer angle in the newspaper articles was b/c that was something that their readership would understand. Notice that he was not charged with the unauthorized practice of law, which now has sanctions attached with it. However, his association w/ the legal profession indicates power (knowledge of the legal system), which he abused through intimidation tactics later.

]]> By: Andrew Golden http://www.indisputably.org/?p=185&cpage=1#comment-1971 Andrew Golden Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:56:40 +0000 http://www.indisputably.org/?p=185#comment-1971 I suppose this might be an incredibly naive comment to make, but is the outrage because he did something illegal? Or is it because he didn't do something illegal but we wish that what he did WAS illegal? I ask because, having read this blog post and the articles, I'm not sure I see any point in which he said he WAS a lawyer. He heavily implied it, sure, and morally I find that to be incredibly sleazy. But is it a crime in the state of Arizona to prepare divorce documents for people? I mean, did he sign them with a bar number or something? Again, while I understand the need to keep this community professional -- and while the guy is without a doubt scummy for having done this -- the tone of the piece seemed to imply he shouldn't be allowed to continue working as he was because he wasn't a lawyer, not because he was a slimeball, and I'm not sure that it's fair to say that if it's not actually a requirement of mediators. Of course, if it is, I'm totally off base, and I've just wasted several paragraphs of time :-) I suppose this might be an incredibly naive comment to make, but is the outrage because he did something illegal? Or is it because he didn’t do something illegal but we wish that what he did WAS illegal? I ask because, having read this blog post and the articles, I’m not sure I see any point in which he said he WAS a lawyer. He heavily implied it, sure, and morally I find that to be incredibly sleazy. But is it a crime in the state of Arizona to prepare divorce documents for people? I mean, did he sign them with a bar number or something?

Again, while I understand the need to keep this community professional — and while the guy is without a doubt scummy for having done this — the tone of the piece seemed to imply he shouldn’t be allowed to continue working as he was because he wasn’t a lawyer, not because he was a slimeball, and I’m not sure that it’s fair to say that if it’s not actually a requirement of mediators. Of course, if it is, I’m totally off base, and I’ve just wasted several paragraphs of time :-)

]]> By: Andrea Schneider http://www.indisputably.org/?p=185&cpage=1#comment-1970 Andrea Schneider Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:42:24 +0000 http://www.indisputably.org/?p=185#comment-1970 Could this a be a sign that mediation is so successful that now con men are pretending to be mediators? (or, is this a good warning to us all about the need to police our community?) Could this a be a sign that mediation is so successful that now con men are pretending to be mediators? (or, is this a good warning to us all about the need to police our community?)

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