I've written and commented about it before, but I just can't help but keep scratching my head.
How is it even possible that a brand new agency that just came into existence in 2007, and which has now had a year to get some basic infrastructure built, still has no internet presence at all?
I'm speaking of the RCs, or the OCCRCs, or whatever you want to call them. Try the search engine of your choice to try to find out something about your new lawyer and her office if you are a parent in a dependency case. Most of the time, you will only find this blog.
Here are the last four searches that brought readers to this blog:
1: philip massa attorney florida -- google result #7, higher results reprintings FACDL opinion in Supreme Court.
2: 19th circuit regional conflict counsel -- google result #5, higher results from stale news article and state budget items.
3: phillip j. massa defense attorney florida -- google result #1.
4: dependency lawyer in ocala -- google results #4 and 6.
It's like this every day. I get people coming here looking for information on Jeff Deen, or Jackson Flyte, or the others, and this absurdly simple and unimportant blog is the information people find on the web. I used to think that fact would make some of them more friendly with the idea of exchanging information, but I was wrong about that.
But why are internet searchers finding this site and not information directly from the RCs? Because the RCs have exactly zero web presence of their own.
Come on already. Your clients are poor, but they use the internet too.
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8 comments:
To make it even better. Massa's people are told that they can't meet with clients at their offices. They can only meet them at the Courthouse. So even if you can find them you aren't allowed to go there anyways.
And never mind "finding" Massa's attorneys at the jail - they aren't permitted to visit. Oh, and they won't accept collect calls from their inmate clients either.
Forgot about those wonderful facts. I feel for the attorneys working there. They are trying to do their jobs in accordance with their ethical principles but aren't allowed to.
Oh, I could go on and on.
I feel for some of the young attorneys working for the RCs as well. Honestly, I try to help them as much as I can, and in my county I'm as close to a mentor as they've got, from what they tell me.
It gets old sitting in hearings where the RC attorney only says "I don't know anything about this case", or "I don't have a file"
The comment about clients not being able to meet with their attorneys at the office is not true. Also, the comment about collect calls is not true either. The agency doesn't need to accept collect calls because they have a direct line from the jail like the pd's. Maybe instead of listening to gossip you should research things more carefully. There are bound to be issues in any new government agency. It takes time to develop. The attorneys in RC 4 are committed to their clients and work extremely hard, sometimes into the night and on weekends. Other attorneys should really take a look at themselves and evaluate whether they are trying to bring an agency down because their own business is suffering. Bottom line is that the clients are getting excellent representation.
The "jail phone line" makes sense, but do you ever GO to the jail? I doubt it because ever since the RC took over and out firm hasn't taken the indigent cases, we are getting more private cases than ever before. Many of the clients have tried to work with the RCO but were NOT represented properly. In other words, thanks to RC 4, our business in Dependency and Delinquency is actually UP!!
comment about RCs doing their job - they can't do their job because they have to be outside in the hallway speaking with clients at the same time they are supposed to be in the courtroom. Also, there are only a limited amount of cases an attorney can reasonably handle to provide effective assistance of counsel. The Ethical rules can be slammed if not already very soon as an attorney has an ethical obligation not to take on any more cases if the attorney cannot provide effective assistance because of a backlog. For example, see what the PDs in Miami & Broward have done by sending out all or most felony cases because of a backlog. The Ethical rules do not only pertain to criminal cases but to all cases and also malpractice cases are available to clients if an attorney does not provide the proper representation.
Yes we do go to the jail. Glad you're business is up, but I don't believe it's due to the rc's. Many of my friends report their business is up- I believe it is due to the pd's office not us. We only handle a small percentage of cases compared to them. More power to you if your business is up, many of our clients can afford lawyers but choose to be cheap and go for the free lawyer. They should have probably come to you in the first place.
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