West Themis Law

When the trial Court Judge reads a statute completely wrong, the Plaintiff/ party's only relief is to appeal a matter (if they have the resources for such a costly endeavor). How can a basic premise liability/ negligence (with a 2 year statute of limitation), where a woman trips over a scale at a medical clinic be considered "negligence by a health care provider in the rendering of a professional service" (where a plaintiff only has a 1 year statute of limitations)? See J...ohnson v. Open Door Community Health Centers, 1st Appellate District, Division 4. Summary: Johnson was at an Open Door clinics on November 3, 2011, to review test results with a nurse-practitioner. Before she entered the treatment room, her vital signs were taken and she was weighed on a scale located against the wall in the hallway outside of the treatment room. After the consult, Johnson left the treatment room and headed toward the exit, needing no further treatment. On her way out of the treatment room, she tripped on the scale, which she alleges was moved during the consult and was partially obstructing the path from the room to the hall. Johnson fell and suffered serious injuries. Almost two years later, Johnson filed a personal injury lawsuit. The trial court dismissed, citing the one-year limitations period for a negligent act or omission to act by a health care provider in the rendering of professional services, Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, Code Civ. Proc., 340.5. The court reversed, finding that the general, two-year statute of limitations for personal injury applied. The injury had no connection to the provision of medical services or the manner in which they were provided.

State Bar helps clients of bogus immigration law practice The State Bar of California announced today that it has obtained an interim court order to assist an estimated 2,000 clients who had paid for legal advice from a Los Angeles immigration practice that was operating without proper authority. The Los Angeles County Superior Court interim order signed Thursday, July 6, allows the State Bar to seize client files and other records of the unauthorized law practice of Servicio... Latino Legal Office, SLLSCO Inc., 1625 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite M-107, Los Angeles. The State Bar will return clients' documents to them and inform them it may be in their best interest to seek other legal counsel. The court order also freezes the office's bank accounts. The State Bar sought the court order in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, which investigated, and the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, which brought criminal charges against operator Eddie Rivas Bonilla earlier this year. All three agencies are part of an immigration services fraud working group that aims to protect vulnerable consumers from falling victim to legal scams. Bonilla had promised a Department of Consumer Affairs investigator posing as a potential client that there was an 85- to 90-percent chance he could obtain her asylum if she paid an advance fee of $5,000. Bonilla is not licensed by the State Bar of California and is not authorized under federal law to represent consumers before the Board of Immigration Appeals or the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. On April 10, Bonilla pleaded no contest to the unauthorized practice of law and received probation, along with fines and penalties. On June 30, after a follow-up investigation showed the office was continuing to operate out of compliance, Bonilla's probation was revoked, leading to additional fines and penalties. Read the court order and the State Bar's petition, Part 1 and Part 2. As the state licensing agency for lawyers, the State Bar cannot represent clients or refer them to a particular attorney.