Click Official ELI Links
Get Help With Your Extortion Letter | ELI Phone Support | ELI Legal Representation Program
Show your support of the ELI website & ELI Forums through a PayPal Contribution. Thank you for supporting the ongoing fight and reporting of Extortion Settlement Demand Letters.

Author Topic: Photo Attorney Operation Seems Sketchy  (Read 3882 times)

Matthew Chan

  • ELI Founder, "Admin-on-Hiatus"
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2763
  • 1st Amendment & Section 230 CDA Advocate
    • View Profile
    • Defiantly
Photo Attorney Operation Seems Sketchy
« on: September 16, 2014, 11:41:09 AM »
I have some burning questions that I never looked at before that seems suspicous to me.

PhotoAttorney is not actually a law firm in itself. At best, it is simply a website / fictitious name for Law Office of Carolyn E. Wright, LLC. Carolyn Wright also has a corporate registration in Georgia and Evan Andersen is her attorney there. So that isn't a problem.

It is my understanding that law firms are NOT allow to use fictitious names to represent themselves in most states.

What is sketchy to me (and perhaps a violation of professional rules for lawyer and law firms) is some of the non-Nevada, non-Georgia lawyers for PhotoAttorney that are signing on behalf of a Nevada law firm that they are not even licensed in.  Example: I see an obnoxious letter from Earl Richardson who is registered with the Kansas Supreme Court as a Kansas lawyer but he lists no contact info whatsoever for himself.

http://intranet.kscourts.org:7780/pls/ar/ATTORNEY_REGISTRATION_PKG.list_attorney_detail?i_reg_num=23680

And yet he signs off on the Photo Attorney letterhead as if he were a lawyer for Carolyn Wrights law firm in Nevada.  And he sends this letter to someone NOT in Kansas and NOT in Nevada.

Earl signs his name on a letterhead for a Nevada-based law firm but he isn't a Nevada lawyer.  And Carol Wright doesn't appear to have a corporate registration in Kansas.  It should be noted that Carolyn's letter doesn't even prominently display her law firm name.  It is in small print at the bottom.  And Earl Richardson sends this letter to a state that is NOT NEVADA, KANSAS, OR GEORGIA.

If Earl Richardson is practicing law in Kansas and sending out letters, I am thinking he needs to send out letters in his name under his letterhead.  He isn't representing Carolyn Wright or her law firm, he is allegedly representing the photographer.

I haven't quite figure this twisted situation out yet or have all the details but I want to find out if this scenario is actually permissible by each of the respective states.
I'm a non-lawyer but not legally ignorant either. Under the 1st Amendment, I have the right to post facts & opinions using rhetorical hyperbole, colloquialisms, metaphors, parody, snark, or epithets. Under Section 230 of CDA, I'm only responsible for posts I write, not what others write.

DavidVGoliath

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 221
    • View Profile
Re: Photo Attorney Operation Seems Sketchy
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2014, 11:51:50 AM »
... so you're saying you've never heard of the concept of doing business as, d/b/a (and other variants thereof) and/or the practice of remote working?

If the Richardson receives a salary or retainer from the PhotoAttorney people, then he's staff - regardless of where he's geographically located; as long as any correspondence shows the address of the law firm that he's employed by, this should be a non-issue.

Another point: when an attorney sends out correspondence on the instructions of a client, they will always make mention of it - they'll use language such as "we represent X" or similar. An attorney might make a suggestion to a client as to a course of action, but it's up to the client to green-light any suggestions.

Lastly, on the point of sending correspondence out-of-state: you could have a Californian attorney send a letter to a New York infringer on behalf of a photographer in Texas and it would, as I understand it, be perfectly legitimate.

To the best of my knowledge, the only issue arises when the matter escalates beyond cordial negotiations and starts heading down the road of litigation; per the example above, the Cali attorney would either need to obtain pro hac vice with the state bar wherever the defendant is resident, or pass the matter to an attorney who is licensed in the state where the action will be brought - which could mean someone within the same company, or an outside entity.

Matthew Chan

  • ELI Founder, "Admin-on-Hiatus"
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2763
  • 1st Amendment & Section 230 CDA Advocate
    • View Profile
    • Defiantly
Re: Photo Attorney Operation Seems Sketchy
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2014, 02:44:52 PM »
Lawyers are often held to a different standard than laymen (which also include photographers). I am suspicious of how some lawyers in the "copyright enforcement biz" operate so I scrutinize very hard on the details.  Notice, I qualify my statements as I wasn't sure about some of the issues.

I was told that there was a time that lawyers were not allowed to use firm names that didn't include a partner's name. I found out yesterday that has changed due to First Amendment issues. So that is resolved in my mind.

I am almost positive that Photo Attorney lawyers are NOT on salary.  Most work for around 30%-40% commissions.  Earl Richardson doesn't designate any business contact info whatsoever.  That is suspicious to me because every lawyer I looked up generally has contact information. He is the first lawyer I have seen to have zero contact information.

Earl Richardson appears to be a Kansas attorney with a current listing with the Kansas Supreme Court.  He has an expired Texas Bar license.  I have been unable to find a Nevada online search to verify whether he is able to practice in Nevada. I might have to make a phone call.  He clearly uses and signs a letterhead for a law firm based in Nevada. There is no disclosure of the PhotoAttorney letterhead of where their lawyeres are licensed to practice as many letterheads do.

You obviously take up for the photographers profession and position, I advocate for the victims.  And honestly, I am not going to accept your or most people's opinion as I will find out for myself the finer points from qualified sources.

ELI's strength is partially built by thinking outside of the box and not making any assumptions. I just follow the paper trail.

Lawyers like Earl Richardson want to bludgeon someone with an insane 5-figure claim for one image.  Well, it is only fair before a non-lawyer victim directly engages an allegedly lawyer that uses copyright law as a blunt force instrument that we need to find out the details on that fellow.  They are quick to take advantage of non-lawyers legal ignorance. Well, I am just as quick to find legal ways to find and discover their Achilles heel and use their lawyerly status against them, if necessary.

And part of being a lawyer is that they took an oath to follow a set of rules that most laymen are not required to.

... so you're saying you've never heard of the concept of doing business as, d/b/a (and other variants thereof) and/or the practice of remote working?

If the Richardson receives a salary or retainer from the PhotoAttorney people, then he's staff - regardless of where he's geographically located; as long as any correspondence shows the address of the law firm that he's employed by, this should be a non-issue.

Another point: when an attorney sends out correspondence on the instructions of a client, they will always make mention of it - they'll use language such as "we represent X" or similar. An attorney might make a suggestion to a client as to a course of action, but it's up to the client to green-light any suggestions.

Lastly, on the point of sending correspondence out-of-state: you could have a Californian attorney send a letter to a New York infringer on behalf of a photographer in Texas and it would, as I understand it, be perfectly legitimate.

To the best of my knowledge, the only issue arises when the matter escalates beyond cordial negotiations and starts heading down the road of litigation; per the example above, the Cali attorney would either need to obtain pro hac vice with the state bar wherever the defendant is resident, or pass the matter to an attorney who is licensed in the state where the action will be brought - which could mean someone within the same company, or an outside entity.
I'm a non-lawyer but not legally ignorant either. Under the 1st Amendment, I have the right to post facts & opinions using rhetorical hyperbole, colloquialisms, metaphors, parody, snark, or epithets. Under Section 230 of CDA, I'm only responsible for posts I write, not what others write.

Oscar Michelen

  • ELI Legal Warrior
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1301
    • View Profile
    • Courtroom Strategy
Re: Photo Attorney Operation Seems Sketchy
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2014, 04:04:16 PM »
Just to clarify, many rules prohibiting lawyers from using trade names or DBAs like PhotoAttorney or KickAss Law Firm have been struck down as unconstitutional. Lawyers can have associations with lawyers by making them "of counsel" as opposed to direct hires. This allows them to be affiliated with the firm but not necessarily draw the same salary every week - it can be based on the hours they put  in or the work they produced.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2014, 05:17:09 AM by Matthew Chan »

Matthew Chan

  • ELI Founder, "Admin-on-Hiatus"
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2763
  • 1st Amendment & Section 230 CDA Advocate
    • View Profile
    • Defiantly
Re: Photo Attorney Operation Seems Sketchy
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2014, 05:18:45 AM »
Photo Attorney only lists one guy as "of counsel". That doesn't quite explain the others.
I'm a non-lawyer but not legally ignorant either. Under the 1st Amendment, I have the right to post facts & opinions using rhetorical hyperbole, colloquialisms, metaphors, parody, snark, or epithets. Under Section 230 of CDA, I'm only responsible for posts I write, not what others write.

 

Official ELI Help Options
Get Help With Your Extortion Letter | ELI Phone Support Call | ELI Defense Letter Program
Show your support of the ELI website & ELI Forums through a PayPal Contribution. Thank you for supporting the ongoing fight and reporting of Extortion Settlement Demand Letters.