Clarification for Professional Appointment

[Storm Chaser]

Members serving as legal officers are encouraged to accept and serve in other additional assignments, to the extent permitted by their professional responsibilities. Legal officers shall also report to the commander of the unit to which they are assigned for receipt of specific tasking as a legal officer as well as for assignments not related to their status as a legal officer (emergency services missions and government relations assignments are examples of these).

[capchiro]

You are correctemundo, however, their first duty, if they are appointed as legal officers is corporate matters and sometimes conflicts happen.  A Commander that encourages thinking outside the box will quickly presnt a conflict to our legal officer.  Were you aware that a legal officer may not represent a CAP member brought up on 2B charges?  Try explaining that to a squadron Commander..  A legal officer that resigns his legal position is just another member and can do whatever.  I would hope that if that happened they would want to complete the learning tracts for their own good.  Further if they are no longer serving in the legal officer position they are not entitiled to promotion without completing said tracts..   It makes it hard for a legal officer to step down until they make Lt.Col.   

[Ned]

My personal experience may be helpful here.

I was in CAP for over 10 years before I went to law school, working as a CP officer.

After law school and working as a prosecutor for a couple of years I was assigned as a Group Legal Officer (IAOD).  The Legal Officer workload was fairly minor compared to my CP duties, and mostly consisted of answering questions from squadron commanders and the occasional review of leases and contracts.  Maybe a couple hours a month on average. 

I had completed SLS and CLC along the way.  I received RSC credit by attending (and teaching at) a week long Legal Officers College.

I had to stop working as a legal officer in early 1992 when my license was suspended and I was forbidden to practice law.  I kept working in CP at the wing, region, and national levels.

So, pretty much everyone is right concerning legal officer duties:

From an ethics / professional responsibility standpoint, CAP, Inc is the client for every legal officer.  As a practical matter, there are relatively few instances where that matters when dealing with members.

Legal officers can and do frequently perform other duties.  I don't have the numbers to back this up, but my guess is that lawyers in general have pilot's licenses and own aircraft at a higher percentage than, say, restaurant workers or real estate agents.  Accordingly, they often available to serve as CAP aircrew.  And all things being equal, anyone with a lot of aviation experience and intimate knowledge of CAP rules and regulations can be a good candidate for a command slot.

Not surprisingly, we have a fair number of lawyers serving as wing and higher commanders.  We have had lawyers serve as our national commander.

I am not trying to suggest that lawyers are better, more talented, smarter, or whatever than all of our other terrific members.  (Indeed, there is a lot of truth in all of those "lawyer jokes" that we've all heard.)

My point is that they can be as talented and versatile as any of our non-lawyer members.

And we are happy to use their generous volunteer services in any capacity they choose to work in.



Ned Lee
Former CAP Legal Officer

[Devil Doc]

Appreciate you Response NED. If you dont mind, can you tell us how you lost you Legal License? I hope it wasnt from an CAP Issue.

[JeffDG]

Appreciate you Response NED. If you dont mind, can you tell us how you lost you Legal License? I hope it wasnt from an CAP Issue.

Off the top of my head, and this is based on nothing more than what I've seen publicly about him, he probably had to surrender it upon being elevated to the bench.

[Storm Chaser]

Appreciate you Response NED. If you dont mind, can you tell us how you lost you Legal License? I hope it wasnt from an CAP Issue.

Off the top of my head, and this is based on nothing more than what I've seen publicly about him, he probably had to surrender it upon being elevated to the bench.

I've never heard that a judge had to "surrender" their legal license to be a judge. Then again, every jurisdiction is different. Now, Ned said that his license "was suspended and [he] was forbidden to practice law". To me, that sounds different than surrendering it. I guess we'll have to wait until Ned tells us the story, if he so chooses to.

[Ned]

Subtle judge humor.  Sorry about that.

In California, full time bench officers are not permitted to practice law.  Our license is suspended and goes into "inactive status". 

The good news is that I don't have to pay State Bar dues, currently over $400 annually.

When I retire from the bench, I may resume the practice of law by paying the dues and catching up on my MCLE.

Sorry to distract from the thread.

[JeffDG]

Appreciate you Response NED. If you dont mind, can you tell us how you lost you Legal License? I hope it wasnt from an CAP Issue.

Off the top of my head, and this is based on nothing more than what I've seen publicly about him, he probably had to surrender it upon being elevated to the bench.

I've never heard that a judge had to "surrender" their legal license to be a judge. Then again, every jurisdiction is different. Now, Ned said that his license "was suspended and [he] was forbidden to practice law". To me, that sounds different than surrendering it. I guess we'll have to wait until Ned tells us the story, if he so chooses to.

OK, remember I'm a foreigner here.

But where I'm from, a lawyer gives up his right to practice law when appointed to the bench.  It's considered inappropriate for judges to practice law in front of other judges.

So, suspending the license makes sense.  Should he step down, or otherwise leave the bench, then I presume the license would be reinstated as a matter of course.  Well, I guess the circumstances of "otherwise leaving the bench" could make that less routine, but for someone who leaves honourably, I would expect that it would be highly unlikely to be be denied.

[Luis R. Ramos]

Ned-

Although sometimes I personally joke about threads being sidelined about other issues, I do not really mean that as I always appreciate a little opportunity, here and there, to learn a little beyond issues under discussion. No need to apologize...

Flyer

[Storm Chaser]

In California, full time bench officers are not permitted to practice law.  Our license is suspended and goes into "inactive status".

Well, that answers our question. Thank you, sir.

But where I'm from, a lawyer gives up his right to practice law when appointed to the bench.  It's considered inappropriate for judges to practice law in front of other judges.

I guess I've been watching too much 'Law & Order'. 

[capchiro]

Ned, that is strange since a Federal Judge I know is required to maintain his state license while he is a Judge.  I guess he could continue to be a CAP Legal Officer and you couldn't?  The more I learn the wierder it gets..

[SARDOC]

Ned, that is strange since a Federal Judge I know is required to maintain his state license while he is a Judge.  I guess he could continue to be a CAP Legal Officer and you couldn't?  The more I learn the wierder it gets..

The Federal Judges Code of Conduct allows Judges to participate in extrajudicial activities for certain things noted in Canon 4.  See the link

http://www.uscourts.gov/RulesAndPolicies/CodesOfConduct/CodeConductUnitedStatesJudges.aspx