News Scrapbook 1986-1988

San Francisco, CA (San Francisco Co.) Record r (Cir. SxW. 7,000)

ivarr1a. ea s In State Bar Discipline Systent CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Bar officials have "very linle bleeding- heart attitude" toward unethical at· lorneys. monitor to review and recommend change ' e. ing

OCT 2 3 187

improve 1ts systems, noting that the Bar establi bed a separate Office of lnvcstiga- llons last year and •·professionalized'' the office of tnal counsel. Olivarria may represents a trend to fill the disciplinary system ranks with experi- enced law enforcement officials. James Bascue, who was appointed head trial counsel last May, is on loan from the Los Angeles county district attorney's of- fice, where he served as ch ief deputy D.A. Kenneth J. O'Brien, director of the in- vestigations office, is a former deputy chief of the San Diego Police Depart- ment. O'Brien in turn hired a team of in• vestigators with police backgrounds. Almost everyone involved in the disci- plinary system agrees there have been problems in the past. ''Discipline didn't really receive the at- tention from the Board of Governors that it should have 10 years ago when the number of attorneys was growing al a rapid pace," Olivarria said. By the time the board realized there was a problem with inadequate discipline of attorneys, he said, "it was already too far gone for them to deal with on a short-term basis." Most reform advocates are taking a "wait-and-see" attitude abou~ romised reforms, he said. <3 S But at least one perennia critic re mains pessimistic. ·•1 don't see [the Board of Governors] as being really that well-intentioned," said Richard An- nottco, a maverick board member from Los Angeles who was appointed by President Pro Tern of the Senate David Roberti, D-Los Angeles "They have their stated agendas and their hidden agendas. They're doing a tap dance." Annotico, who is not a lawyer, characterized the Bar's disciplinary sys- tem as "circumvented, circuitous, com- plex and convoluted," he said. "The ~ys- tem from top to bottom needs substantial overhaul. It's more costly, slower and far more secretive than it need be. " Fellmeth disagreed. "There has been a very unusual and unexpected po~itive re~pon e from people like Mr. Olivarria and people on the board and upper staff," he said. "l ~ee nothing but good faith m front of me." "We've made significant progress, but we've still got a long way to go," Olivarria said.

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in the State Bar's disciplinary system. Fellmeth released his first report in May, a scathing indictment of the Bar's failure to regulate the legal profes- sion. Olivarria criticized some of the report's conclusions as "hasty and super- ficial," a charge Fellmeth vehemently 'I think Olivarria is going to be agood chairman. He listens well and he's got common sen e and he has a consumer perspective.' "There are con lusions that are ten- tative, but they're labeled as such," Fellmeth said. "The report was very thoroughly put together. It's prehmmary, but based on detailed empirical research of the kmd the Bar's not able to do." He described the report as "the most in-depth, empirically based study of the discipline system that's ever been done." Fellmeth and his taff read through Bar files, tracked cases and interviewed most of the people who do the actual work of investigating and trying cases, a opposed to the policy-makers, he said. "There's a great deal more work to be done," he said. "The recommendations are tentative, but they go to very basic structural issues." Fellmeth's next report is due to be released Nov. I . Fellmeth said it will m- clude eight to 10 very specific rule- change proposals for the board to con- sider. "A~ we go along and learn more and more, our reports will get more specific," he said. "I don't thin I, we 're really that far apa, on what v..e want to accomplish," Olivarria said. "It's just a matter of how we get there." He castigated the Fellmeth report for failing to acknowledge the Bar's effort to denied. -Robert C. Fellmeth, director of the Center for Public Interest Law

The Stale Bar in- vestigallng and, where appropriate, di ciplining California attorneys accu ed of incompetence or unethical behavior. In recent years, the Bar has been the focus of a barrage of criticism about laxity in attorney discipline, and the state Legislature responded with a series of reform measures. The Bar allocated $ 17.9 million, about two-thirds of the Bar's $25.1-million budget for 1988, to the disciplinary sys- tem. Some Bar groups, such as the Commiuee of Bar Examiner , have sepa- rate budgets. Olivarria was assigned to chair the dis- cipline committee by Bar president P. Terry Anderlini. The committee advises the board on procedures to be followed in d1sciplmary matters. It operates in con- junction with the State Bar Court. "I think it's an excellent appomt- ment," said Herbert Rosenthal, the State Bar executive director. "He's a very able guy. 1t might be reassuring to the public to have a non-lawyer as chair ·' Olivarria's appointment has been en- dorsed by Bar crillcs, as well as its sup- porters. "I ve known Gil personally for a good many year , and he's been active in Riv- erside County in civic affairs and poli- tics," said Sen. Robert Presley, D-River- side. "I wa pleased when the governor named him to the Board of Governors and I've talked with him on more than one occasion about the Bar's discipline problems. This would be a good challenge for him, and I think he'll do an equitable job both for clients and for at- torneys in improving the discipline sys- tem." Presley sponsored several major bills in the Legislature last year to improve the discipline system. "I think Olivarria is going to be a good chairman,•' said Robert C. Fellmeth, a Uni~er.l!!Y of San Diego law profe sor and dtrector of the Center lor Public Intere t Law. "He listens well and he's got common sense and he has a con- sumer perspective." California Attorney General John Yan de Kamp appointed Fellmelh as bar is charged with

on-Lawyer olices Bar

n· cipline

or i;uur ol the p hl1c member~ arc ap• gov rn r and t\l.0 h) the Le•i laturc. Board m mhcrs crvc without pay, al- th 1ugh 1hcy ,ire rc1mhurscd for travel ex- pen cs. Publtc 111emhcrs Lan collect 50 a da) for c ch day th ) work !l(lt to ex- ec d 500 a month. Th appomtm nt came a .t complete surpri,e, Olivarria said. Despite heavy cntic1 m directed ut the Bar over the year by public orri ials, pmatc ind1v1d ual , the pre and cititcn group , Oltv,m1a s;iid he h no regrcb about ac ~cptm , th · Job " really cnJO) th work," he said, addtn!! that he wa plca~cd to find that SEE OLIVARRIA, PAGE 7 pointed hv th

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T ust deed: Mexican laws murky, seminar told Continued from Page C- 1 1\_ t; ( the ~aw prohibiting for~ig~ers from can government seems to be flexible year terms, he said, because the for perhaps as long as five years, to ownmg land near M~xtco s borders on trust deeds when it comes to property was to be used for construe- give foreigners more time to look for and coasts was "archaic." But he said major developments for tourism. tion of multimillion-dollar hotels. buyers. the law wo_uld be hard ~o change Chayet told of several trust deeds The Mexican government will But he pointed out that eight Mexi• cause foreign ownershi~ o! land m t~at had many years to run. The for- probably rule on trust deed questions can_ f der_al gover:nment ~ecretariats Mexico was s~ch a vola_tile issue. . e1gners who held those trust deeds "on a case-by-case basis," Chayet - mcludrng foreign affairs and de- However chayet said, the MeXI- were allowed to renew them for 30- said.

Qll,n'• P. c. e 1,, lY exica ust e law m By Arthur <.olden s1arr \\rit r

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fense - have a say in foreign inv . ment in the restricted areas, and that it would be extremely difficult to ob- tam a consensus on the issue. Indeed, Vargas said, while some of the secretariats want to encourage trust deeds as a means of promoting hard-currency investment in Mexico, other ecretariats would like to discourage their use Vargas said the future of the trust deeds would likely be decided by Carlos Salinas de Gortari, presiden- tial candidate of the ruling Institu- tional Revolutional Party - and all but certain winner - in general elec- tions next July. Zack Cha; et, a Mexico-born law- er now practicing in San Diego, said

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) San Diego Business Journal (Cir. M. 7,500) OCT 2 6 1987

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, .....SEMINAR: Dr Dennis Briscoe. a professor of management and personnel at the University of S~. will speak on the role of leadersnip in organizational excellence starting at B a.m. at USD's Manchester Conference Center. The sess,on fee s $15. A continental breakfast will begin at 7:30 a.m. For more i'2f$1Tlat1on call J hn Nunes at 260-4682. ""?.y,;~ /

OCT 25 1987

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Sunday October 25 1987

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL/THE WEST

/ , Some help from above gives USO 23-7 win over Claremont By C~ ~ey the referees threw a late flag and hit NCAA Division III playoff bid. after a punt. But, four plays lat~r, "~his is the biggest g~.me_ we've p!ay _a full game. "We'd been r,1an- . 1arr Writer CMS with a 15-yard penalty that Very big. It forced the Stags (3-3} Pembroke (6-of-19 for 57 yards with had_ m my_ four yea:s here, said USD mng 1t (that play) all week_ long. . gave USO a first down on the CMS to abandon what they do best - run. three interceptions) threw the ball semor wide receiver Jeff Mansu- The Toreros _scored_a~am on their CLAREMONT - u~~~~sity of S n Diego defensive dtlfafor 26-yard line. "Our game is ball control," said behind receiver Tim Bray, a_nd fresh- khanL second possess~on, dnvmg 62 yards CMS coach John Zinda. "That field man defensive back Chris Kmg made USD scored on its first play from m four plays with Bar_ksd~l~ (13 car-

Seven plays later, Mark Fenick's 27-yard field goal made the score 17• 7, USD, with approximately nine minutes remaining (the stadium clock ceased to ~unct)on m the first quarter so ?fftc1al time was kept '·That (the penalty) was a big play," said USD coach Brian Fogar- ty, whose team (5-1-1) is going for an only on the field).

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Kevin MCClm'Y started yelling at the official early in the fourth quarter of yesterday's 23-7 victory over Claremont• udd-Scripps (CMS). McGarry, perched 50 feet above Stag ' Field m an observation tower, had counted 12 defenders on the field as USO punter John Gillis prepared to kick. McGarry's lung power paid off as

ries for 46 ~ar~s) r~mng it m.from 4 yards. Femck s kick made it 14-0. The Stags scored in the third quar- Tailback Chris Dabrow, the lead- ing rusher in Division III entering the game with a 152.2 average, rushed nine times for 70 yards on the drive, scoring on a 15-yard run. ter.

scrimmage, as freshman quarter- back Brendan Murphy faked to Barksdale and hit Mansukhani with a "We'd seen on film that their cor- ner was sneaking up ana biting on the run fake," said Murphy, who completed 10 of 17 for 141 yards and became the first USD quarterback to 72-yard pass.

a leaping interception at USD's That gave the Toreros the ball with

goal took us out of our game." Forced to pass, the CMS offense

four minutes remaining.

sputtered.

After four Ty Barksdale runs, Todd Jackson (nine carries for 84 yards) broke through the middle for a 57-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach, 23-7. Fenick missed the

USD's Erik Peterson sacked Mike Pembroke for 6 yards on a third- down play deep in Stag territory to force a punt with approximately

eight minutes remaining.

conversion.

CMS got the ball back at midfield