Los Angeles County Bar Association
125 years of service
1878 - 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael T. Elliott
213-896-6450

The Los Angeles County Bar Association Announces Support for Senate Bill 1459

LOS ANGELES—April 25, 2002--- A letter was sent today from Roland L. Coleman. Jr., President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, announcing the Association’s support of Senate Bill 1459 to the bill’s sponsor, the Honorable Senator Gloria Romero.

Coleman stated this support is in keeping with prior Association Trustee actions supporting legislation that carries greater penalties against non-lawyers for the unauthorized practice of law (“UPL”).  It is the Association’s understanding that many uninformed persons in the immigrant communities are the victims of individuals who are not lawyers and who promise the unwary victims legal services that are either shoddy or not delivered at all.  A law such as this is needed as a deterrent because many people in the immigrant communities are unaware of what recourse they have once they have been victimized.

Coleman went on to say that the result of the practice this bill addresses often has a rippling effect.  Immigrants wait an interminable time for the processing of applications.  Poorly or improperly prepared applications take up valuable resources of the already over-burdened Immigration and Naturalization Service.  It is also our understanding that there are significant negative repercussions for the immigrant communities and those close to them because the applicants often have to borrow the money to pay for the substandard or non-existent services.