Correspondence with AG’s Office about LEST Project

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Student Profile – Elizabeth Hughes

Elizabeth Hughes  has been a resident of Maryland her entire 28 years of life.  Upon completion of high school, Elizabeth  pursued a college education in the mountains at Frostburg. State University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science /Pre-law.  Following graduation in 2005, Elizabeth established residency in the Cockeysville area and for the past six years has worked as an accounting in the food service industry.  Liz decided to further her education by pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Legal and Ethical studies.  Three years have gone by, with a December 2011 graduation approaching.  Following graduate school, Elizabeth plans to pursue a doctorate in public policy.  Hoping to transition into a policy analyst position, Elizabeth wants to make sure that those strategies  which are created follow a legal and ethical standard.  For the time being, Liz is busy working, studying and wedding planning.

1 – What drew you to the LEST program in the first place?  I was undecided as to whether I wanted to dive straight into law school or find a masters program that was centered around legal education.  I began researching many different programs but the LEST program was the perfect match, providing a very detailed course offering and curriculum.  The ability to be in the program and it not interfere with my full time job was an extreme selling point. 

2 – What about the LEST program is unique and sets it apart from other pre-law or legal masters programs?  As a political science and pre-law undergrad you do not see the real difference until you actually start your classes.  With course like contract law, administrative law etc, they really focus on the students understanding of the legal foundations and the detailed orientation of different categories of law.  Because most of the professors are lawyers, they provide a real world understanding of law in and out of the classroom.  They provide not only the knowledge but their expertise and insight.  They are truly motivators of law education. 

3 – How has the LEST program, the Legal, Ethical, and Historical Studies division, and UB as a whole helped forward your academic and career goals?  The LEST program has really helped open my eyes and motivate me to decide what career path I want to take and provided the possibilities of furthering my education.  I also believe that being so involved in the program and pushing myself to do my best, I am really proud of what I have achieved especially scholastically. 

4 – How have your studies in LEST expanded your ideas about law, politics, and ethics?  As I said before, I started down this LEST path to help me decide whether I wanted to go into law.  However, preparing to graduate and leave the program I have shifted my focus from law to public policy and researching.  I want to work towards improving the policies that guide us everyday and make sure that those policies are in the best interest of all parties involved.

Student Profile – Nija Bastfield

I grew up in the Baltimore, Maryland area. I have two wonderful parents, Larry and Pauline Bastfield, and a younger sibling, Larry Bastfield who attends Morgan State University on a full scholarship for basketball. I attend the Star of Bethlehem Spiritual Temple Church. I graduated from Saint Frances Academy where I was a four year letterman in woman’s baskeball. I attended Goucher College my freshman year of college and eventually transferred to Stevenson University, also named Villa Julie College. During, my undergraduate career I was involved in the Justice Society and the woman’s basketball program.  I majored in Paralegal Studies and obtained my B.S. in January 2009.

I decided to pursue a masters degree in the legal field and I was drawn to apply to the LEST program at the University of Baltimore. I have also served as a graduate assistant to Dr. Cotton, the director of the LEST program, to develop a community assistance clinic for low income families with minor legal issues. I plan to pursue my Jurist Doctorate degree and eventually become an attorney and dedicate the majority of my time to public service.

I graduated from Stevenson University and I attempted to take the LSAT and attend law school. Life didn’t go as planned in 2009, so I decided to go another way in my education. I was going to attend Stevenson University for my Masters Degree in Forensic Studies-Legal Track, but I just wasn’t interested in that particular study. One day, my mother was at the hair salon and she was talking to an alumni of UB who was in the LEST program. She told her how beneficial it was and how I may like it. I looked into it and I knew that this was the program for me. I knew that I was not quite ready for law school, but I needed something that would help me to enrich my critical thinking, legal writing, and analysis skills.

There are several factors that set the LEST program apart from other legal programs. The faculty is one of huge diversity. Each faculty member is highly educated and they each have different teaching styles which helps you to learn. Also, the program offers two tracks. This is beneficial because you have some people who want to attend law school and then you have some that just want to learn about the law in more depth. Another aspect is the various classes that are offered. I was able to take advanced legal writing classes, ethics and film class, and a criminal law class. Further, the community aspect of the program makes it unique in that it wants to help all people.

 I am now able to analyze, write and also think on a different level. It has helped me to appreciate the public service side of the law by helping establish the community justice project for the LEST program. Being a graduate assistant for the LEST program has allowed me to network with various organizations and to establish several relationships. I have recently taken the LSAT and applied to law school. It has ultimately helped boost my confidence and made me more motivated to attend law school and do the work. Overall, I am grateful for UB and the program.

 Studies in the LEST have expanded my ideas about the law, politics, and ethics. I am able to engage in conversations with people that are involved in the law and politics.  All in all, my studies in the LEST program have provided me with so much knowledge that I may not have received had I attended another program.

Student Profile – Frank Lucas

Frankie Lucas, born in Newark, New Jersey is a graduate of Kean University. He acquired a Bachelors of Arts (BA) degree in criminal justice and political science, and is a graduate assistant for the LEST program.  He has provided a continuum of services to a vast population in various communities such as Newark, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia and recently Baltimore, Maryland. He has over a decade of experience in proactive community service, and is currently employed as a civil rights investigator for Baltimore City.  He has demonstrated by actions that if you persevere and remain professionally engaged one can achieve success in the battle for social justice and equality.  Frankie has ambitions of becoming a law student and becoming a practitioner of law concentrating on the public interest and civil rights, while remaining internally connected to his roots.

 1 – What drew you to the LEST program in the first place?

What drew me to the LEST program was the curriculum. The program provides an array of legal courses that has increased my knowledge of the law and intensified my ambitions of entering the legal profession.   With the inclusion of a particular course track for those interested in pursuing law school, as well as the free LSAT preparation sessions, the process in attracting me to the program was quite easy.   The LEST program provides a legal education that increases my marketability as a legal professional and assists me on my journey to become a law student.

2 – What about the LEST program is unique and sets it apart from other pre-law or legal masters programs?

What sets the LEST program apart from other pre-law or legal masters programs would have to be the students and the community engagement component.  The various backgrounds and work experiences that my colleagues bring to the program has resulted in an interesting classroom experience that has been intellectually stimulating.

 Additionally, the LEST program offers students the opportunity to interact with community organizations.  The grassroots interaction increases one’s knowledge of the graterBaltimorearea, its people, communities, and issues that allows the LEST program to create a dynamic course of study for its students and establish long-lasting ties to the community.

3 – How has the LEST program, the Legal, Ethical, and Historical Studies division, and UB as a whole helped forward your academic and career goals?

The LEST program and UB as a whole has allowed me to bring my passion for the public interest into the program and utilized these skills to assist in the development of community collaborations and future endeavors.  The Legal, Ethical, and Historical Studies division has been the catalyst in the development of my academic and career goals surrounding the issues of civil rights and social justice. 

4 – How have your studies in LEST expanded your ideas about law, politics, and ethics?

The LEST program has exceeded my expectations and has truly provided the tools and real-world experiences that have guided my comprehensive study of law, politics, and ethics.  I have a better understanding of the law and observe politics and ethics from a different perspective. Now, I am more concise and deliberate with my assessment of ethical issues and less polarized when it comes to legal discussions surrounding law and morality.

Who Owns The Law? Part 7

Lawyers and judges are fierce defenders of the Constitution, except, it seems, when it comes to the free speech rights of nonlawyers.  When nonlawyers try to communicate their interpretations, ideas, and opinions about the law to other people, they can wind up being prosecuted for the unauthorized practice of law.

 For example, a man named Dacey wrote a book intended to help readers avoid probate court by giving them forms and instructions on how to create legal trusts.  The New York County Lawyers’ Association took him to court and obtained an injunction prohibiting the publisher from distributing the book and a criminal contempt against Dacey for engaging in UPL.  Dacey appealed, and the Appellate Division, which is New York’s middle-level appellate court, upheld the injunction and criminal contempt.

 But one member of that five-judge Appellate Division dissented and argued that the book was not UPL because it did not involve the practice of law at all (because there was no relationship between Dacey and his readers that was like that of an attorney and client).  The dissenter also concluded that if it was the practice of law, it would be protected by the First Amendment.  Dacey and his publisher then took the case to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.  The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the lower courts based “on the dissenting opinion at the Appellate Division.”

 But that didn’t mean that the bar stopped going after nonlawyers who offered instructions and forms to do-it-yourselfers.  The Florida State Supreme Court twice decided, in Florida Bar v. American Legal and Business Forms (1973) and Florida Bar v. Stupica (1974), that nonlawyers who supplied the general public with legal forms and instructions for filling them out were engaging in UPL.  Stupica involved a “Divorce Kit” that was designed to enable people to file their own divorce papers.  The court explained why it considered that UPL:

 The forms standing alone do not involve unauthorized practice.  However, the forms are coupled with direct legal instructions and advice as to their use or application in the field of dissolution of marriage law.  We consider this to be legal counselling.  The information in the “Kit” taken together as a whole focuses directly upon the practical processes of securing a no-fault dissolution of marriage and is direct legal advice.

 The court also found that the the First Amendment did not protect the speech in question.

 However, just a few years later, in Florida Bar v. Brumbaugh (1978), the Florida Supreme Court changed its mind.  It concluded in Brumbaugh that nonlawyers “may sell printed material purporting to explain legal practice and procedure to the public in general and ¼ may sell sample legal forms” and “[t]o this extent we limit our prior holdings in Stupica and American Legal and Business Forms, Inc.”  This statement left unclear exactly how much of what the court decided in the prior cases remained good law, but it is evident that the court was retreating to somewhere in the vicinity of the line drawn by Dacey. 

As these cases suggest, bar associations and courts have had quite a bit of difficulty determining when nonlawyers are permitted to engage in speech about the law.  Censorship of books seems almost certain to violate the First Amendment, especially when the “clear and present danger” they offer involves such matters as the creation of trusts and the filing of pro se divorces.  But definitions of the practice of law tend to cover many kinds of speech about the law, leading to First Amendment problems.

 If instructions on how to fill out legal forms are protected by the First Amendment, what about computer programs that fill out legal forms?

Student Profile – Paul Rodriguez

My parents are both from Guatemala in Central America, and I was born in the United States in good old Baltimore City (woop woop!). I attended Calvert Hall College Highschool in Towson and then went onto obtain my B.S in History at the University of Maryland at College Park. I am currently in my second year of the Legal and Ethical Studies program, and plan on attending law school in the state of Maryland afterwards. I currently play on the Rangers Indoor Soccer team at UB, and am a member of UB Green, as well as a student worker in the Office of Admissions. I have an older and younger sister, and a bunch of crazy friends, who I would be lost without.

What drew you to the LEST program in the first place?

I was initially interested in Law school, but I had been out of school for three years after obtaining my undergrad degree, and I realized I was not focused enough mentally to perform well on the LSAT. My sister had actually found the program and suggested that I apply, and it was the best decision I have ever made.

What about the LEST program is unique and sets it apart from other pre-law or legal masters programs?

Well, the professors come from so many backgrounds academically, and the classes offered really cover such a wide range of issues that are connected to the law, that there is definitely something for everyone. That, and UB is very good at fostering that academic community so that you won’t find yourself lost in the program, as help is always just around the corner. A big plus also is that it makes a serious effort to place a focus on ethics, which if you follow the news at all these days, seems to be more and more important in many professional fields as well as society in general.

How has the LEST program, the Legal, Ethical, and Historical Studies division, and UB as a whole helped forward your academic and career goals?

I couldn’t even begin to say how. It has helped me open myself up to new experiences, new friends, new intellectual pursuits that I think I otherwise would not have had, had I decided not to go back to school. The program itself has pushed me to become engaged with my professors on an intellectual level, and challenged me to think in new ways without feeling discouraged that what I knew wasn’t good enough. On the contrary, I have felt validated more often than not as a result of the way the professors have engaged me as a student, and as an individual. As a whole, UB has afforded me opportunities to participate in very positive ways, whether it is as a student worker in the admissions office giving a prospective student a tour of the campus, or as a Spanish language interpreter for the UB Law School immigration rights clinic, an experience I will never forget. It has helped me become more well rounded.

How have your studies in LEST expanded your ideas about law, politics, and ethics?

I realized that if you really want to pursue a career in the law, you must have the most serious mind (as Yoda would say) to grapple with some of the concepts that exist in that realm. I say realm because sometimes it seems like the law is a world unto itself, however, I have learned that the whole point of it is its utility and importance to society overall. Ethics is not something I ever considered as a professional matter, however, more and more the program has made me realize this is something which is critical to have if society is to have laws and politics which serve its people rather than itself.

Student Profile – Memory Jackson

Memory M. Jackson was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She received an education through the Baltimore City Public School System. Upon completion of high school, Memory pursued a college education at Coppin State University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. Later, Memory decide to further her education by pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Legal and Ethical Studies at the University of Baltimore and she is expected to graduate in 2012. Following graduate school, Memory plans to purse a law education to become a criminal prosecution attorney. As an attorney, she hopes to make communities safer by prosecuting criminal offenders to the fullest extent of the law, which will also bring closer to families who have lose loved ones due to the criminality of another.

1 – What drew you to the LEST program in the first place?

My desire to enhance my substantive knowledge of law drew me to the LEST program. I saw this program as an opportunity to learn more about various aspects of law. Also, as an aspiring law student, I thought the LEST program would enrich my critical and analytical skills which would ultimately help me succeed in law school.

2 – What about the LEST program is unique and sets it apart from other pre-law or legal masters programs?

What is unique about the LEST program is that it’s one of a kind. I can honestly say that I have not come across another pre-law program that have two paths. The first path gives students an opportunity to learn about the historical and philosophical aspect of law. While the second path prepare students for law school and/or legal careers.

Also, the professors are excellent. They are highly competent and passionate about teaching. I’ve never reached out to a professor for help and did not get results. They truly care about the students and want them to succeed. Dedication like that is hard to find. And that is what sets the LEST program apart from other pre-law programs.

3 – How has the LEST program, the Legal, Ethical, and Historical Studies division, and UB as a whole helped forward your academic and career goals?

Overall, being a student in the LEST program has been a great experience. It has instilled a greater knowledge and understanding of law and has enabled me to be more marketable in the legal field.

4 – How have your studies in LEST expanded your ideas about law, politics, and ethics?

My studies in the LEST program has significantly broaden my perspective of law, politics, and ethics. I now know how ethical, historical, philosophical, and political aspects are applied not just to the legal field, but also in every day life. It expanded my understanding of the world around me. Now, I’m able to think more critically and analyze complex cases and issues.

Student Profile – Jesse Pulliam

This is the first in a series of profiles featuring some of the most interesting people in the LEST program. Each profile will feature a picture, a short bio, and some Q&A. Our first student is Jesse Michael Pulliam, a second year student in the program.

Bio: Several years ago I was a struggling student vying to get by in community college, so graduate school for me was never in the picture and I wasn’t sure if I would even attain my associate’s degree let alone my bachelors. However, school is like an art and you have to go where your strengths and areas of interest are. For me during my two plus years spent at community college I took an interest in criminal justice. I graduated with my associates and was attracted to University of Baltimore’s undergraduate program in Jurisprudence because there were very few colleges in the Maryland area that offered Jurisprudence many were offering pre-law. I transferred in the fall of 2008 and had to complete a semester with a successful completion of a 3.0 gpa before I could be matriculated into the Jurisprudence program. I successfully achieved the 3.0 gpa and entered into the Jurisprudence program. I enjoyed the material and focused in areas of history and philosophy. I graduated in May of 2010 and that summer started taking classes in the Legal and Ethical studies program. The masters in Legal and Ethical Studies program meshed very well with my future career endeavor which is law enforcement.

1 – What drew you to the LEST program in the first place?

I would have to say that after finishing my B.A in Jurisprudence at the University of Baltimore, I enjoyed the material and wished to further my studies at the graduate level. In addition, the program allowed me to pick and choose areas of law that would be applicable with my future career in law enforcement.

2 – What about the LEST program is unique and sets it apart from other pre-law or legal masters programs?

What I found unique about the program was through the course of my research most of the programs were either masters in legal studies or in ethics, you did not find the two combined. This hybrid mixing of the programs in my view allows for a more rounded approach when it comes to analyzing complex legal issues.

3 – How has the LEST program, the Legal, Ethical, and Historical Studies division, and UB as a whole helped forward your academic and career goals?

The program and division have given me a specific set of knowledge that I need for my future career, law school would have accomplished this however, there are some parts of the law that I do not need to know and I found the LEST program very educational specific/applicable for applicants seeking careers in law enforcement

4 – How have your studies in LEST expanded your ideas about law, politics, and ethics?

The program has shown me that the law is more complex in some ways and a lot simpler in others most things I have found hinge on the interpretation of a word. A quote that summarizes the program goes along the lines “the study of law taught me how two similar things can be completely different.” The program has also helped me to articulate and see the counter arguments to my position and that the acknowledgement of the other side does not necessarily weaken my side, but that a good argument will acknowledge both sides. I find that through the course of the program when hot button ethics or political cases are on the news I do more research first before I speak on the issue. Many people want to be part of the great debate before they analyze and gather all the facts, so the program has taught me that it’s okay not to be the first to speak, but rather to speak on the issue with the correct set of facts.

Who Owns the Law? Part 6.

Who Owns the Law? #6

 Are real estate professionals in Maryland engaged in the unauthorized practice of law? 

 Maryland Business Occupations and Professions Law § 10-101(h)(2)(ii) includes in the definition of the practice of law “preparing an instrument that affects title to real estate.”  In 2005, the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation asked Maryland’s Attorney General whether “a bank loan officer engages in the unauthorized practice of law if the loan officer completes a mortgage loan form generated by computer.”  See 90 Op. Atty Gen. Md. 101.  The question had come up because of  “a letter from a local attorney, who reported that another law firm had advised a client bank that the use of computer-generated loan documents might constitute the unauthorized practice of law.”

 The AG opinion acknowledged that Title 10 does seem to prohibit such an activity, remarking that “[a]t least one of the forms in question – the deed of trust – is ‘an instrument that affects title to real estate.’ Under BOP § 10-101(h)(2)(ii), the ‘preparation’ of such a document is encompassed within the statutory definition of the ‘practice of law.’” But the AG opinion concluded that this “mechanical function” has nonetheless been recognized as permitted and does not constitute UPL.

 Contracts for the purchase of real estate, like those filled out by real estate agents, might also qualify as instruments that “affect” title to real estate, at least insofar as they are legal documents necessary to the passing of title.  Further, the preparation of these contracts – with their many blanks to fill in, text to cross out and write in, addenda to add or not add – involves drafting of a seemingly quintessential legal nature, along with associated legal advice.  

 In theory, however, the parties to the transaction or their lawyers are the only ones who do any “nonmechanical” contract-writing in Maryland.  The Director of Legal Affairs for the Maryland Association of Realtors explains that the real estate agent only “acts in an advisory capacity” when it come to such transactional details and “may generally perform ‘ministerial’ acts, such as assisting a person (a client or a customer) in completing or filling out a contract.”  Charles A. Kasky, Renegotiating the Purchase Price, Maryland Realtor, November 2006, p. 50.

 But that same Director of Legal Affairs also tells agents what the legal impact is of striking certain text from a particular paragraph in the purchase contract forms used by realtors.  Charles A. Kasky, Properties Being Sold “AS IS” in Maryland, Maryland Realtor, November 2005, pp. 30-31.  In order to avoid UPL, the agent who knows this information cannot present it to any client as an attractive strategy.  Indeed, she would have to give the information to all clients merely as an option, without saying whether it would be a good thing to do or not.  And whatever advice she gave about the transaction would have to scrupulously avoid any legal implications.

 Maybe real estate agents manage to thread this needle and avoid UPL, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they did what clients probably want, which is to hear the real estate agent’s best judgment on this and other matters with which she has knowledge and experience.

 In addition to what loan officers and real estate agents do and might do, in Maryland, settlement or closing agents from title insurance companies often conduct real estate closings, an activity that once exclusively belonged to the bar.  In some jurisdictions, a battle still rages on the legitimacy of this practice under UPL prohibitions (see, e.g., Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts v. National Real Estate Information Services, 608 F.3d 110 (2010)).  But in Maryland, it is assumed that nonlawyers from title insurance companies guide the parties through the complicated legal process of closing.  See Maryland Insurance Law §10-101(i) and (j).

 In other words, Maryland real estate professionals seem to be involved in some practice of law, with the tolerance of the bar.  These real estate professionals have in a sense paved the away for nonlawyers in Maryland to provide other services that lawyers also provide. Does this example give guidance about roles that nonlawyers might play in other areas?