PHO TO BY DAN IEL LI PPI TT
A Legal Briefing
Farmington lawyer produces a legal newspaper for the uninformed.
LONNY GOLDSMITH STAFF WRITER
his past June, Farmington
lawyer Todd Levitt pub-
lished the first edition of a
monthly legal newspaper
for the average person — The
Legal Advocator.
The quest started nine
months ago to put together the
paper so that it would be in
laypersons' terms.
"I realized that often my
clients, and the public in gener-
al, are uneducated regarding the
law," Levitt said. "Information
is there, but we want to make it
accessible to the public."
All the articles are written
voluntarily by lawyers in the tri-
county area, who were told the
pieces needed to be done in an
easy-to-understand fashion.
"Since we started," Levitt said,
"we've gotten a variety of mail
from lawyers looking to con-
tribute."
There is a staff of four people,
other than Levitt: Lisa Asadoo-
rian, editor-in-chief and Levitt's
corporate partner, an advertis-
ing director, a design coordina-
tor, and a person in charge of
distribution, circulation and part
of the advertising staff.
The paper is free of charge
and paid for by advertisers. Cur-
rently there are 15,000 copies
printed, but that will be upped
to 20,000 by September. Getting
the paper out to the public is a
task that is handled by a staff
member.
"Most Border's and Barnes
and Noble Bookstores have it, as
well as many coffee shops and
coin laundry locations," Levitt
said. The paper can be found as
far north as Mount Pleasant and
as south as Monroe.
With all the press and pub-
licity that have followed many
recent trials, Levitt felt the time
was right for his newspaper.
"The law is so prevalent in the
public," he said. "People watch
the law shows on CNN, Court
TV, and the law dramas on net-
work television."
While Levitt's publication has
gotten "a great reception," he is
quick to point out that its dis-
claimer warns that it "does not
give legal advice."
"We're not going to take sides,
nor are we going to support or
promote any particular issue,"
Levitt said. "We are an infor-
mational publication only, de-
signed to put the information out
to the public."
In addition to the court list-
ings in the back of the publica-
tion, the August issue will
contain a glossary of legal terms,
at the suggestion of Asadoorian.
There will also be telephone
numbers for victim, suicide, and
abuse hotlines.
"We have the glossary and
phone numbers because we are
a service to the public. This pa-
per can serve a tremendous pur-
pose."111
Todd Levitt shows
off his paper.
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