ow-to hire
an attorney
By Darrell -Ierome Banks
Michigan has over
29,888 attorneys within its
borders. How do you hire
.« & y,'.h nyou n
a will or for any 0 her legal
matter? An old joke goes
reflects the public's view of
. lawyers. How do you
choose a lawyer? Close
your eyes, take a deep
breath, and choose the law­
yer who doesn't smell like
1'08d kill.
P 0 II
Attorney
At
Law
ID CAL TWIN
of co had the i nti I
n tic composition, h the
fraternal twi had t same se­
n ticinheritan ofordinary ib­
ling. Bailey and Pillard
disoovered that 48 percent of the
lesbian or bi exual identical
twin ubj had a gay twin; 16
percent of th fraternal twin
ubj had gay twin ister;
but only 6 percent of the I bian
and bisexual subj had adop-
tive siste ho also I bi-
ans. Only five percent of the
women' brothers were gay.
Thi study strongly impli
Ion
olor
In
J
The best way to hire an
attorney is to ask your
friends. You may also be compatible' with this attorney. A
second option is to check the local and small papers. It is very
common for an attorney to advertis . Many include a sample of
the fees they will charge you.
Most of us believe we cannot afford an attorney. You may
have had an experience where an attorney wanted to charge
·you 2,888 for an uncomplicated divorce. You look at your bank
account and say; I cannot afford it. This is short t rm thinking.
Most legal probl ms calate and can pr vented. Like pre­
ventive medicine, prev ntive law is the best way to avoid
expensive legal matters.
When you start a business, with your co-workers or anyone
else, you need an attorney. A business attorney can advise you
on the many options to form and protect a "legal business".
Attorneys are not psychics. But, they can foresee problems that
can be prevented. Legal documents can be drafted to protect
each person from each other, and from potential plaintiffs.
SOME LI N CHOO E' an at orney b ed on the
amount you will b charged. An. attorney has several ways to
charge clients The first option is to charge a flat fee. An
example of. this would be paying for a one time service. An
attorney may charge you from $58-100 for a will.
Th second option is to tablish a payment plan. The
attorney may ui e a d posi of $100. You th n make pay-
men on a monthly basis. An exampl i a diver or other-
action that will r lv d quickJy
A majori yof ttorn y r uir that the client make a deposit
(retainer). Why do torn ys do thi ? An at orn y, unlik other
prof ionals (do to ,dentists) do not work on volum At­
torney are un Ie to charge an insurance company for services
provided.
Attorn ys re in busin to rve th public and to make a
profit. They uire their clients to pay a deposit because the
coats associated with pra tieing law ar expensive An attorney
has to pay for havin I 1 pa rs typed, r earched, filed and
served. As wi h 0 h r bu in they must m t the daily
expe of a payroll, lif -work m nsa ion-un mploy-
ment-m i i c oupl with oth r high expenses
an attorney h but to ch r an ially for his
time.
D
THE
ttorn y will r 1V 3 rc nt of th ttl 111 nt or
court victory
Attorneys will r th nt p y h legal cost in-
volved in ny I I ction To fit 1 w uit in Circuit Court
costs 42. If a jury is lected the filing f increases.
Movem nt a generation ago
wa on thi argum nt. It w
both unfair and antidemocratic
to tigmatize people of African
d nt for being born Black.
The problem withthi li ral
tbesi is that it might riously
unde imate the facto of ba­
tred and violence which fuel the
reaction against homosexuals.
There is a real danger in create
ing fiJCed biological castes of "bo­
mosexuals" and "heterosexuals",
which could be translated into
perman nt political hierarchi
of"opp " and "oppressors."
IN A CONSERVATIVE po­
litical environment, a reaction­
al)' government might even tl)'
launching a .scientific campaign
to isolate the genetic differences
between gays and straights, in
order to find a "cure for homo­
sexuality. "
All of us pay the price for h0-
mophobia. Consider the federal
government's relative inactivity
in combating. the AIDS epi­
demic, which conservatives still
characterize as a "gay plague."
The number of AIDS cases in­
creases by over 50,000 annually.
The total number of AIDS cases
increased by 100 percent from
the end of 1989 to September,
1992. Yet the federal budget for
AIDS/lllV related research in
1989-1992 grew by only one­
third.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, coordi­
nator of AIDS research for the
National Institutes of Health,
estimates that "fe.wer than a
third" of all "worthy" scientific
projects combating AIDS are
currently funded. In fiscal year
1992, the U.S. government spent
more than 3 times the amount of
money on "Star Wars" military
research ($4.2 billion) than on
all AIDS research ($1.2 billion).
In 1992, the U.S. spent. more
than five times the amount to
farmers for subsidies ($6.9 bil­
lion) -payments for not growing
crops-than for all AIDS re-
search. .
IJr. Manrung Marub! I Prole or 01
History and Poliucal Science; and the
Director ()I the Alnean.Amerzcan Studies
Institute, Columbia Utuuersuy, New
Ya'k. "Along the Cola' Line" is [eaturei
In 0 er 250 publuxiuons and 60 radio
tatusu In le m a u Mally.
e
By Mumia Abu-Jamal
his life to th wolv s, and in an
ct. tartling as it was un-
preced nted, withdrew h r
nomin tion while denigrating
h r scholarship, th r by d ny­
ing her he opportunity to ap­
p r b for the S na to stat
her
THU , TO APP
right-wing that had nev r
ported him, li nton th
to Prof. Guinier.
Clinton's withdrawal of the
Guini r nomination stunn his
most rd nt support 1'5, sp­
cially African-Am ric ns and
worn n, who m hurt most
by hi PI n politi I dum i­
n
Wh n v r linton slips in th
polls, hi quick fi has consisted
of a subtle but unmistakable ap­
peal to he low t common d -
nominator in American
politics-ra .
When then-candidate CI inton
was embroiled in th Gennifer
Flowers controv rsy, his re­
sponse was a mid-campaign
flight to Little Rock, Arkansas,
. to overs th x tion of Ricky
Ray Rector, br in-dania
Black man on D at h Row.
NIB AN SINK-
G in th poll, his political
instincts led him to denounce
rapper Sista Souljah, n ffront
to R v. Jess Jackson, who had
invited th m th to k t a
Rainbow Confe n
In the first in t nc , h
sought to divert att n ion from a
gnawing exual c nd I, y
d monstrating his oughn on
crim .
In th econd, h ought to
d monstrate "ind p ndence"
from the Black wing of the
mocratic Party.
From the hiring of a Reagan­
ite ideologue (conservative
writer David Gerg n) to the·
bandonm nt of Prof. Guini r,
Gu·nier
From.
Death
Row
h ntraJ th m was ever in- .
ult.or injury to Blacks, his most
loyal consti u ncy, in order to
attr Whit 0- 11 d " ntrist"
upport.
I it mere coin idenc tha
prior to th dumpingof Guini r,
Clinton's ratin w the low st
e r?
Th
Guini r in ord r to p
fa Ion that Will nrc pt
him nyway sho hat"N w
D moer t" is no different than
an "Old Republican."