Thursday, June 3, 2010

How not to practice law: don't ever read anything before using it

I have been away from the blog for some time while grading exams and doing some traveling but I will get back to it regularly soon. Meanwhile, here is a new entry to in our on-going list of things that help us describe how NOT to practice law, In this case, though, the end result fortunately for the lawyers involved is not discipline but embarrasement.

This is the tale of a law firm that scanned a certain deed to a piece of property to include the information in a foreclosure notice for publication in a local newspaper. Apparently, no one - either at the firm or the newspaper - read the notice before it was published. It read as follows: “The said land shall not be sold, leased or rented to any person other than of the Caucasian race.”

After a complaint was filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the statement was removed from subsequent editions of the newspaper and both the law firm and the newspaper issued appologies.

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