This sad, heartfelt introduction to the Judge Alicia Franklin scandal is reprinted from the September 3, 2014 Mongoose newsletter. We understand our parents more and more as we age ourselves. "Enthusiasm" was something my father had for everything in his life: his work as a school principal, organizing his garage, caring for the yard, serving his church, taking apart and reassembling a washing machine just for the challenge, and raising four boys. My Dad loved his work, and for good reason was one year named "National Principal of the Year." When the school district would move him to yet another troubled school that needed help, the parents and teachers at his old school would protest and demand that he stay. The only time I can recall my father ever being really upset about his work that he ... Read More >
The Crime of Tampering With a Government Record
Texas Penal Code Sec. 37.10 states in part: 37.10. TAMPERING WITH GOVERNMENTAL RECORD. (a) A person commits an offense if he: (1) knowingly makes a false entry in, or false alteration of, a governmental record; (2) makes, presents, or uses any record, document, or thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it be taken as a genuine governmental record;.... Sec. 37.01(2) defines a "government record" to mean: (A) anything belonging to, received by, or kept by government for information, including a court record; This is the law former Judge Denise Pratt is alleged to have violated when she apparently back-dated court orders. One example of how attorneys can run afoul of this law arose in San Antonio recently: Former defense attorney Hilda Valadez, who pleaded guilty to charges of forging judges' signatures and double billing the county for indigent defense work, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison. .... Valadez, 52, was once regarded as the ... Read More >
Law Firm Rules for Fair Billing
A lot of attorneys, including me, are looking at their own billing practices after my articles on the outrageous and apparently false billing in CPS cases by Alicia Franklin. I have written ten simple rules for honest billing that I have now adopted as my law firm's policy. 1. Bill accurately and fairly and follow the “Golden Rule” – how would you want to be billed if you were the client? 2. Bill actual time spent and round up only a little. If you spend 3 minutes on a phone call, bill 0.10 instead of 0.25. If you literally were on the phone for 30 seconds with the client, do not bill for the call at all. 3. If you travel to court or elsewhere for more than one case, divide the travel time between the clients. 4. Do not bill for more than one client at once. If you are editing a pleading while sitting in court waiting to be called on another’s client case, only bill for one client during that period of time and do not ‘double ... Read More >