UTAH BAR JOURNAL M Vol
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
:; I ~ 1 II ,i UTAH BAR JOURNAL m Vol. 9 NO.3 March 1996 a ~1 Iii I" 11 ~ 11 II ~ ,~ I ~ Response to "State vs. Teuscher, the i 'Exception' Swallows the Rule" 8 \1 A Modest Proposal Concerning "Esquire" 10 'I E-Mail for the Office and the World 12 27 The State of the Judiciary !I ~ J E The State's Most Practical, Reliable, and Affordable Statutory Reference... SUPERIOR ANNOTATIONS FOCUS PORTABLE AND CONVNIENT...Each AND DEFINE YOUR RESEARCH... individual volume is small enough to carry Michie's Utah Code Annotated contains notes to the office or the courtroom. to decisions which directly construe Utah law. The case notes are arranged under brief, COMPREHENSIV INDEX ELIMINATES concise headings which we list at the begin- FRUITLESS RESEACH...We update and ning of the notes to facilitate research. replace the General Index annually. With each printing, we improve the index entries PROMPT UPDATES AND ADVANCE according to user suggestions about popular CODE SERVICE ASSURE THE MOST terminology. CURRNT LAW...Michie wil publish fully annotated cumulative supplements within ALL RULES CENTRALIZED IN ONE 90 days of receiving the revisions from the '- EASY-TO-USE VOLUME...Streamline and legislature. During the period between the simplify your research efforts with our Rules publication of supplements, our Advance volume which includes and indexes all local Code Service keeps you up-to-date with peri- federal rules for Utah. Annual supplements odic cumulative pamphlets. ensure that you have up-to-date information. po To order or for more information, call today: ~~-', 800-562-1215 MICHIE Please use code PE4 when phoning in your order. -- í i , . UtahD - UTAH BAR JOURNAL- Published by The Ulah State Bar 645 South 200 East Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Vol. 9 NO.3 March 1996 Telephone (801) 531-9077 VISION OF THE BAR: To lead society in the creation of a justice system President Dennis V. Haslam that is understood, valued, respected and accessible to alL. President-Elect MISSION OF THE BAR: To represent lawyers in the State of Utah and Steven M. Kaufman to serve the public and the legal profession by promoting justice, profes- Executive Director sional excellence, civility, ethics, respect for and understanding of, the law. John C. Baldwin Bar Journal Committee Letters to the Editor...............................................................................4 and Editorial Board Editor President's Message ..............................................................................5 Calvin E. Thorpe by Dennis V. Haslam Associate Editors M. Karlynn Hinman Commissioner's Report......................................................................... 7 Wiliam D. Holyoak Randall L. Romrell by Debra J. Moore Articles Editors Response to "State vs. Teuscher, the 'Exception' Christopher Burke Lee S. McCullough Swallows the Rule" ...............................................................................8 by Robert N. Parrish Letters Editor Victoria Kidman A Modest Proposal Concerning "Esquire" .........................................10 Views from the Bench Editors Judge Michael L. Hutchings by Rick L. Knuth Judge Stephen VanDyke Legislative Report Editor Law and Technology ...........................................................................12 Lisa Watts Baskin by David Nuffer Case Summaries Editors Scott. A. Hagen State Bar News .................................... ............. ................................... i 7 Clark R. Nielsen Book Review Editor The Barrister........................................................................................25 Betsy L. Ross "How to . ." Editors Views from the Bench....... ...................... ........................................... .27 Brad Betebenner by Chief Justice Michael D. Zimmerman David Hartvigsen Patrick Hendrickson Book Review.................................................................................... ...3 i Judicial Profies Editors Mamie Funk Derek Pullan Utah Bar Foundation ...........................................................................33 Stephen K. Christiansen ADREditor CLE Calendar........................ ............................................................ ..34 Cherie P. Shanteau Law and Technology Editor Classified Ads .....................................................................................35 R. Bruce Findlay Young Lawyer Representatives COVER: Spring Snowstorm at Devils Slide near Morgan, Utah, by Steven L. Staker, Michael O. Zabriskie Esq., Bountiful, Utah. Mark E. Burns Members of the Utah Bar who are interested in having photographs they have taken of Utah scenes published on the cover of the Utah Bar Journal should contact Randall L. Romrell, Associate General Counsel, Huntsman Glen Cook Chemical Corporation, 2000 Eagle Gate Tower, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84 I I i, 532-5200. Send both the slide, David Brown transparency or print of each photograph you want to be considered. David Erickson Thomas Jepperson The Utah Bar Journal is published monthly, except July and August, by the Utah State Bar. One copy of each J. Craig Smith issue is furnished to members as part of their State Bar dues. Subscription price to others, $30; single copies, Denver Snuffer $4.00. For information on advertising rates and space reservation, call o~ write Utah State Bar offces. Judge Homer Wilkinson Statements or opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Utah State Bar, and publica. tion of advertisements is not to be considered an endorsement of the product or service advertised. Committee Liaison Maud C. Thurman Copyright (l 1996 by the Utah State Bar. All rights reserved. March 1996 3 b -- I I i ~LETTERS~ I Dear Editor, involving double and triple biling, has Do I expect the Bar Association to take a caused the legal profession to be the most role in such reform? Of course, I do not. If I have been a member of the Utah State despised of all, instead of the most honored reform comes, it wil be only if each person Bar Association since 1949. I have seen and respected. who calls himself or herself a lawyer lawyers change from professionals, who We have an obligation to discourage liti- reviews the oath taken when you were felt an obligation to serve their fellow citi- gation that we know has little or no chance of sworn in and becomes or remains the pub- zen regardless of expectation of compensa- succeeding, or that results in only causing lic servant who sees to it that at all times tion or the popularity of the cause to being trouble. In those cases there is an obligation justice is being done, both for the system businessmen only. I have seen unbelievable to be the peacemaker, even though other- and the client and that if the cause is just we charges of thousands of dollars made for wise you may anticipate many bilable hours represent our client for afair fee or none at drafting simple motions that are written, that may make the monthly balance sheet all, if the situation warrants it. rewritten and reviewed by two or three look good. \ other lawyers in the same firm, when a sin- Should there be lawyer reform? Of course George B. Handy, Esq. gle competent lawyer could have turned out there should be if you expect the profession Ogden, Utah the same work in an hour or two at a mod- to survive the many deserved onslaughts est charge. The practice of bilable hours, upon it and the contempt that we are held in. THE LAW FIRM OF CLYDE, SNOW & SWENSON A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT Aneli Rowberry Smith HAS BECOME A SHAHOLDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE FIRM AND THAT Amanda Dickson Seeger HAS JOINED THE FIRM AS AN ASSOCIATE 1\ ONE UTAH CENTER, SUITE 1000 " 201 SOUTH MAN STREET SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84111-2208 TELEPHONE (801) 322-2516 FACSIMILE (801) 521-6280 4 Vol. 9 No. 3 A Report on Consumer Reports By Dennis V. Haslam judged lawyers differently depending upon lawyer could have done a better job of rep- It isback sometimes and look difficult at ourselves to take as lawyers a step whether the matter was adversarial or anoth- resenting them. This sounds like lawyers and counselors in America. We have differ- er type of legal transaction. The good news is need to have a better desk-side manner. ent view of ourselves, even among our- that, in wil preparation, estate planning, tax selves. Last month, Consumer Reports did planning, routine real estate matters and DISSATISFIED CLIENTS a piece entitled "When You Need a Lawyer." adoptions, approximately 75% of the respon- More than one-fourth of the respondents This magazine has a long history of per- dents were highly satisfied with their lawyers. in adversarial cases were somewhat, very or forming consumer oriented testing or infor- The numbers begin to drop significantly completely dissatisfied with key concerns: mation gathering and reporting the results in contested matters. Just over 50% of clients the speed with which cases were handled, to its membership, which is described by were highly satisfied with their lawyers in how well the lawyer kept them informed, or the magazine as tending to be better edu- cases involving insurance (health and home- legal fees. Most people, regardless of the cated and better off financially than the owners) claims. The numbers decrease in type of case, felt lawyers were polite. U.S. population as a whole. The report declining order with cases involving mal- There was great dissatisfaction with points out that the information is based practice, negligence, products liability, real respect to whether the lawyer: upon the client's