What would happen if all of the WTS in-house attorneys quit?

by truth_about_the_truth 17 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  truth_about_the_truth

  I was wondering, if the WTS legal dept. got overwhelmed with lawsuits and their volunteer attorneys at bethel decided that they couldn't take it anymore and decided to leave bethel, how would this affect the society?

  Would the society have to consult outside attorneys? Outsource them eventually? If that happens, how would it affect the WTS?

  Non-witness attorneys in charge of handling their affairs would have a drastic affect on the WTS policies wouldn't you think? Not to mention the additional financial drain due to massive legal fees which for the most part they have been able to avoid up to this point because of their volunteer lawyers.

  It's an intriguing possibility.
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  daystar

  TaTT

  You gonna hatch a plan for us?
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  wombat

  Truth has indeed evolved a clever plan. All of us posters must instigate litigation against the WTS on the same day. That would overwhelm their in-house lawyers and they would all quit.

  So let's get together eveyone and start suing on the same day.

  I suggest that the 1st of April is a good time...........
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  truth_about_the_truth

  You gonna hatch a plan for us?

  Somehow I don't even think it's necessary. Given time the plan will most likely evolve by itself.
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  Virgochik

  I wonder how many there are of them, and how many are nearing the end of their 5 years, or however long it is, that they work for free? If some of those leave, the remaining ones will be even more stressed, teehee!
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  just2sheep

  
  virgochick,

  about 2 years ago someone who is supposed to know told us that there were 93 in house lawyers at that time. they were hoping to make it 95...also the org does have a policy of hiring outside local lawyers in litigation(i guess someone has to know where the courthouse is located)

  edited to add this thought...the legal department is probably the only dept at bethel that will not be in fear of downsizing in the foreseeable(is this actually a word.lol) future.
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  blondie

  
  
  
  
  
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  uninformed

  That is astounding---95 Lawyers!! I remember when good old Brother Covington was the only lawyer, and he used his time defending Cassius Clay's religious right to refuse military service.

  (another Peaceful Muslim)

  u
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  MinisterAmos

  I had the pleasure of asking a JDud Attorney a few questions regarding the local hall. These guys are laughable.

  I asked him where he passed the Bar and he stated that he had not. I asked him how he could legally portray himself as an Ättorney¨without having passed the Bar in the state where he was giving advice and he stated that this was a ¨service to the brothers¨. Meaning that if they haven´t passed the Bar they can be sued for UPL or unlicensed practicing of law so please don´t rock the boat.

  You can be a Doctor of Law by graduating from Law School, but you have to pass the Bar and be admitted before you can be an Attorney. It´s ILLEGAL to provide legal advice, even free, if you are not a member of the Bar in the state you are giving the advice. Ever wonder what happened to all those Legal Help computer programs? Out of business because of UPL.

  So the final census is that the Dubz legal team can only give legal advice in the state in which they are members of the Bar unless it's a Federal matter in which case a NY Bar member can jump in. The WTBook Co. must go outside in all other cases and spend those $$

  The thing I can´t understand is how any Dub can pass the LSAT.
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  Oroborus21

  Greetings:

  MinisterA: dumb comments. Many JWs are highly intelligent, many already possess keen legally bent minds, and besides that, many of my lawyer colleagues are not that bright so there is no correlation between being an attorney and being especially brillant, though most are smart. and for the record I was an active JW when I took the LSAT (it isn't really a "pass/fail" exam), got into Law School (actually my being a JW at the time helped me get into law school and was especially noted by the professor who wrote my letter of recommendation) and when I passed the Calif. Bar (the hardest one in the U.S.)....moving on...

  the WTS has bags o' money so paying either JW lawyers (still not a whole lot of them) and non-JW counsel is no problem and never will be a problem

  as others noted outside counsel are already used and used all the time....

  finally, it is the ethical duty of every lawyer to engage in some free (or reduced-cost) pro bono publico legal work if they can afford it and this pro bono work is often done for charitable organizations and religious orders, so many JW and non-JW lawyers are happy to include such work among their other clients and many firms are happy to allow one of their attorneys to do some pro bono work since it makes the firm look good. Since many of the cases that would be lodged against the Witnesses would likely be in the realm of first-amendment and civil rights, this would be even more likely to happen. So I don't think that lack of counsel is ever going to be a real problem for the Society.

  -Eduardo