"Inactive" stigma?

[22tony22]

I just lost an interview with a big international firm because I was on "inactive" status from January through May of this year. I am a 2001 graduate and was admitted December 2001. I was laid off last year. At the beginning of this year, I was not working, so I thought I would save money by switching my bar status to "inactive." Doing this saved me $350. About two months later I started doing some contract work -- ghost writing motions and legal research. Nothing I did required me to sign papers or make an appearance. Nor was I representing any clients. Last week, I had to make an appearance at court, so I paid the "active" dues. Anyway, the hiring partner told the recruiter I've been working with that he felt uncomfortable with the "inactive" period on my record. He learned I was inactive by looking up my name on the Bar's website. I could understand him being uncomfortable with my being unemployed since the end of last year, but the inactive reason seems plain irrational. The recruiter made it clear from the outset that I was only doing contract work this year and was essentially ghostwriting papers, so I think the firm knew I haven't been regularly employed. The "inactive" thing really does seem to be their main concern. The hiring partner went around the recruiter, called me about it, and I explained that I went "inactive" to save money, and then went "active" when I had to make an appearance. Also, according to the recruiter, however, the firm wanted to talk to me because they felt obligated to shop around before extending an offer to a particular candidate they had already interviewed. Anyway, here's my question. Is there an unwritten stigma about "inactive" status? If so, what is it and how can I defuse it?

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by 22tony22
I just lost an interview with a big international firm because I was on "inactive" status from January through May of this year. I am a 2001 graduate and was admitted December 2001. I was laid off last year. At the beginning of this year, I was not working, so I thought I would save money by switching my bar status to "inactive." Doing this saved me $350. About two months later I started doing some contract work -- ghost writing motions and legal research. Nothing I did required me to sign papers or make an appearance. Nor was I representing any clients. Last week, I had to make an appearance at court, so I paid the "active" dues. Anyway, the hiring partner told the recruiter I've been working with that he felt uncomfortable with the "inactive" period on my record. He learned I was inactive by looking up my name on the Bar's website. I could understand him being uncomfortable with my being unemployed since the end of last year, but the inactive reason seems plain irrational. The recruiter made it clear from the outset that I was only doing contract work this year and was essentially ghostwriting papers, so I think the firm knew I haven't been regularly employed. The "inactive" thing really does seem to be their main concern. The hiring partner went around the recruiter, called me about it, and I explained that I went "inactive" to save money, and then went "active" when I had to make an appearance. Also, according to the recruiter, however, the firm wanted to talk to me because they felt obligated to shop around before extending an offer to a particular candidate they had already interviewed. Anyway, here's my question. Is there an unwritten stigma about "inactive" status? If so, what is it and how can I defuse it?

If I were a partner, I might wonder why you went inactive as well, as it could appear that you went inactive to avoid disciplinary action. It also could be construed to look like you're not very dedicated to the profession. FYI you actually could be up for discplinary action as you were engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when you were working on a contract basis as an attorney. That's a violation of the ethics rules, Tony. There are tons of attorneys who will never see the inside of a courtroom, nor put their name on a pleading, but all of them are on active status, and are required to be if they're going to practice law in CA. I know it's $350, but don't risk your $100k education and career on issues like this.

Good luck and keep at it.

Flinty

[22tony22]

Thanks for the feedback. I posted the same question on the "other" bulletin board and got a very similar response. They said it looks like I don't take my professional status seriously. Also, they said, given the fact I've been doing contract work, it looks to a lot of people like I was practicing law without a license
during the period I was on "inactive" status.

Your response got me worried so I did check the Bar's website for answers on what counts as practice of law. As I always understood it, so long long as I wasn't undertaking direct representation of a client, and so long as I worked
under the supervision of an attorney, and so long as that attorney did not hold me out as another lawyer, I was safe. So, here is what I found after a brief review. I couldn't find a definition for "practice of law." What I found instead were definitions for activities that weren't "practice of law." For
example, B&P Sec. 6450(a) says a "paralegal" can, under the supervision of an attorney on active status, perform the following tasks: "legal research; interviewing clients; fact gathering and retrieving information; drafting and analyzing legal documents; collecting, compiling, and utilizing technical information to make an independent decision and recommendation to the supervising attorney." In a nutshell, those were my job duties as a contract
worker. I never spoke with or communicated with any of my supervisor's clients.


Sec. 6450(b) goes on to say what a paralegal cannot do: "(1) Provide legal advice. (2) Represent a client in court. (3) Select, explain, draft, or recommend the use of any legal document to or for any person other than the attorney who directs and supervises the paralegal." I did not do any of those
things.

Any thoughts?

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by 22tony22
Thanks for the feedback. I posted the same question on the "other" bulletin board and got a very similar response. They said it looks like I don't take my professional status seriously. Also, they said, given the fact I've been doing contract work, it looks to a lot of people like I was practicing law without a license
during the period I was on "inactive" status.

Your response got me worried so I did check the Bar's website for answers on what counts as practice of law. As I always understood it, so long long as I wasn't undertaking direct representation of a client, and so long as I worked
under the supervision of an attorney, and so long as that attorney did not hold me out as another lawyer, I was safe. So, here is what I found after a brief review. I couldn't find a definition for "practice of law." What I found instead were definitions for activities that weren't "practice of law." For
example, B&P Sec. 6450(a) says a "paralegal" can, under the supervision of an attorney on active status, perform the following tasks: "legal research; interviewing clients; fact gathering and retrieving information; drafting and analyzing legal documents; collecting, compiling, and utilizing technical information to make an independent decision and recommendation to the supervising attorney." In a nutshell, those were my job duties as a contract
worker. I never spoke with or communicated with any of my supervisor's clients.


Sec. 6450(b) goes on to say what a paralegal cannot do: "(1) Provide legal advice. (2) Represent a client in court. (3) Select, explain, draft, or recommend the use of any legal document to or for any person other than the attorney who directs and supervises the paralegal." I did not do any of those
things.

Any thoughts?

You keep mentioning that you were a contract worker. Were you contracting yourself out as an attorney, or a paralegal? I think that's what the State Bar would be more interested in, not the tasks you completed. Actually, your supervisor/supervising firm could technically get reprimanded as well, if they knew you weren't authorized to practice law. I'm not suggesting that any of this is at all likely, but these are the kinds of ethical issues that you should be aware of and avoid.

Flinty

You've got an argument. However, you're not in a position where you want to make arguments. You're in a position where you want your "I"s dotted and your "T"s crossed.

In other words, there's nothing you can do about it now, and you're probably okay, but the prudent approach would've been not to take the risk.

[edited to fix typo]

[22tony22]

just one more question. i lost an interview because this was frowned upon. any ideas how i could neutralize the smell? and oh yeah -- i am on "active" status now.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by 22tony22
just one more question. i lost an interview because this was frowned upon. any ideas how i could neutralize the smell? and oh yeah -- i am on "active" status now.

Based purely on the smell the story has generated on this board, I'd say you will neutralize some of it by not calling yourself a "contract attorney" on your resume for this period. If you were doing advanced paralegal work and being billed at that hourly rate, make sure your resume doesn't overreach and say you were an (unlicensed) contract attorney.

Then, explain that you went on inactive status in order to take a job as an advanced paralegal so you could keep working until something better came along --- because you're a really hard worker and couldn't stand waiting for the next attorney job. That way, the paralegal job explains the inactive status, rather than the other way around. Don't say you did it to save $350; say you did it in order to get a non-attorney job.

Also, personally, if I saw a period of inactivity, I'd wonder about confidential bar discipline. You might want to get your records from the state bar and offer them to potential employers in order to allay their discipline concerns. "See? No discipline!" (Yikes --- it's come to that.)

[22tony22]

Thanks for the advice. Someone on the other board protested the partner's decision because what I have been doing is no different from anything a summer associates and a law grad might do. Unfortunately, things are more complicated, as I learned today by calling the State Bar's ethics hotline. (The following is NOT legal advice. It is just a report of the things I was told by the Ethics Hotline and the Billing Department of the State Bar. So, PLEASE don't make any decisions based on this report of statements made to me when I called the Bar.) Apparently, by switching to "inactive" status, a lawyer cannot do anything related to legal services -- that includes working as a law
clerk or paralegal. The Ethics Hotline directed me to certain regulations the State Bar promulgated. So, even though a lawyer may not be practicing law him/herself, an inactive lawyer can't do anything in furtherance of another lawyer's practice of law. Obviously, the regulation is aimed at employers who might try to circumvent the fee rules by hiring law grad "paralegals" for whom they don't have to pay any dues. The Ethics Hotline told me that typically, when the Bar finds out about this kind of infraction, the Bar demands payment of back dues and that's about all. More serious infractions typically receive other penalties like temporary suspension etc. The trick here is to remember that "inactive" status does not only preclude you from practicing law it also precludes you from providing any legal services whatsoever to any one -- even if the activities are the same as a law clerk or summer associate or law grad waiting for exam results. BUT the screwy thing is this -- The billing deparment of the Bar told me you can practice even if you don't pay one red cent of your dues until September!!! Suspension doesn't kick in until September, and you only pay a 10% late payment fee if you pay before September. So if a lawyer pays $50 towards his/her dues, and switches to "inactive," the lawyer can't even come near a law office. But if the lawyer holds on to the $50 until September, it would appear that the lawyer can walk into court head held high and tell the Bar, "hey the check's in the mail." That sounds very screwy to me. Very screwy. Bottom line is that inactive members cannot practice law nor can they even do anything that is involved with the practice of law.

[AngryMulletMan]

Originally posted by 22tony22
That sounds very screwy to me. Very screwy. Bottom line is that inactive members cannot practice law nor can they even do anything that is involved with the practice of law.

Well, life isn't fair. If I were you, I would contact an attorney who specializes in these matters and see what, if anything, you should do to make sure you don't wind up smelling even worse than you do already to potential employers and to prevent your name from being printed in the back of CA Lawyer.

The sad thing for you is that these attorneys often charge very high fees, much higher than the $350 you "saved" by going inactive.