Legal challenge: James R. Felton, new president of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, wants to help law firms build their business and boost their image. He says one way is by stepping up their civic involvement.JAMES R. Felton is hoping for a kinder, gentler law community in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , one that volunteers its time and its expertise to any number of worthy causes. The newly elected president of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, the third largest such association in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County, with 2,100 members, wants to see these kinds of efforts because, he says, it is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do. Derided as mercenary mercenary Hired professional soldier who fights for any state or nation without regard to political principles. From the earliest days of organized warfare, governments supplemented their military forces with mercenaries. and threatened by legal document preparation services that have encroached on some types of practices, lawyers have a lot to gain by stepping up their civic associations, not only for their image, but for their wallets too, Felton believes. Helping local attorneys to build their businesses is job one for Felton, who took the top post at the Bar Association last month. Encouraging civic activities is a close second. Felton, who joined Encino-based Greenberg & Bass in 1991, specializing in business litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. , is a partner at one of the largest law firms This list of the world's largest law firms by revenue is taken from The Lawyer and The American Lawyer and is ordered by 2006 revenue:[1]
But his reputation is as much tied to his civic contributions as his professional accomplishments. Felton is a co-chair of the leadership development division of The Jewish Federation A Jewish Federation is a confederation of various Jewish social agencies, volunteer programs, educational bodies, and related organizations, found within most cities in North America that host a viable Jewish community. , Valley Alliance; works pro bono Short for pro bono publico [Latin, For the public good]. The designation given to the free legal work done by an attorney for indigent clients and religious, charitable, and other nonprofit entities. for the Alliance for Children's Rights The opportunity for children to participate in political and legal decisions that affect them; in a broad sense, the rights of children to live free from hunger, abuse, neglect, and other inhumane conditions. and regularly volunteers his time as a pro tem [Latin, For the time being.] An abbreviation used for pro tempore, Latin for "temporary or provisional." A person who acts as a temporary substitute serves pro tem. judge. Question: What does the Valley Bar Association provide to members? Answer: We provide various member benefits such as (discounts) with phone (companies) and relationships with insurance people for malpractice insurance Noun 1. malpractice insurance - insurance purchased by physicians and hospitals to cover the cost of being sued for malpractice; "obstetricians have to pay high rates for malpractice insurance" . The more important parts are, one, the state bar requires a certain number of (continuing education continuing education: see adult education. continuing education or adult education Any form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). ) hours, and we provide a mechanism for them to do what they're required to do by the state bar. The other two reasons are that law is a business, and by joining an association you will meet people in your field and other fields and to the extent that you garner these relationships and feed them you can get business opportunities. And maybe the most important, is we have a very close relationship with the judges in the Valley, and giving litigators an opportunity to know the judges they're before, which I think is something we do very well. I think makes people feel like they can better understand what a particular judge is thinking. Q: What are some of your challenges? A: The biggest hurdle I think I have is to try to get people to give up some of their time to come to association events when time is not only how we make our money but is also something that's very precious in today's world. I've got to give them a reason to think that either that will improve their life because they'll meet some nice people or it might improve their professional life because they'll meet some contacts that could improve their business. Q: What's your objective for the coming year as president? A: I have two objectives. The first objective is to try to make sure the lawyers in the Valley generate business opportunities for one another. I want to make sure that when a probate probate (prō`bāt), in law, the certification by a court that a will is valid. Probate, which is governed by various statutes in the several states of the United States, is required before the will can take effect. lawyer gets an environmental case across his or her desk that lawyer can find two or three lawyers in the valley that do environmental law and make sure that referral goes to those lawyers. The fact is that the more business you refer the more you will get back. The second goal is to get people thinking about helping the community in ways that are relatively non-intrusive. There are non-profit organizations A non-profit organization (abbreviated "NPO", also "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is a legally constituted organization whose primary objective is to support or to actively engage in activities of public or private interest without any commercial or monetary profit purposes. that need lawyers to make appearances, to draft documents and in many instances it doesn't take a lot of time. Lawyers should make the time to help the community in which they get their business. From a business perspective, I think people who are looking to find a lawyer want to know that lawyer is civic and community minded. Q: The legal profession has not engendered a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings from the public. Is your interest in encouraging civic-minded efforts a way to counterbalance that? A: You're right. And there is definitely a perception that lawyers are all about dollars. And the reason that perception has become reality is because the newspaper and the TV focus on the bad aspects of each of professions and not always the good ones. So I think each lawyer's job is to get the community to know that we're not bad people. Yes, we run businesses just like the guy who owns a donut shop runs a business, and we're affected by the same issues. But we all often do lots to help people. And it's really up to us to make sure the community knows that. Q: Is it different practicing in the Valley than in other areas of L.A. like downtown? A: It's much different than downtown and Century City. They're really much more like hubs than the rest of the Valley, which is so spread out. Downtown you've got the eating spots where you probably see many of the lawyers on a regular basis. My impression is that downtown everything's significantly closer, and part of our challenge is to make the Valley much more like a hub. Q: Are some specialties more prevalent here? A: Our largest sections in terms of numbers are probate, family law and the workers compensation section. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if that's also true of other areas, but certainly it seems like the Valley has more than its share of lawyers in those practice groups, and I don't know the reasons for that. Q: Why did you decide to move to a firm in the Valley from what was then Augustini, Wheeler & Dorman, a downtown firm? A: Part of it was a desire to broaden, and I grew up in the Valley and thinking that I wanted to practice here. And part of it was because of the opportunity this firm provides in terms of a recognition of family. Both of the partners here when I started were always taking time off as necessary to go to a kid's soccer game, baseball game Noun 1. baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League . I take work home most nights so that if I have to do something during the day or if there's an event, a parent conference or a parade at school, I'm going to go because you can't replace those things. There's a recognition here that those things are not replaceable. Q: Why did you choose to practice law? A: My dad is a lawyer, and from about the time I was 12 I wanted to be a lawyer. And so much of the law is about writing, being able to write a persuasive brief, it's really fun. It's fun to be able to write a piece of persuasive material and convince someone of your position. Q: What's made you stay with the practice of law? A: Generally speaking, our country is built on laws and the best way to resolve disputes is by having lawyers. What we do is competitive and I suspect that there is a part of me that likes the competition of winning. It presents a challenge which I like and when you do a good job for a client, you've done something. Q: What got you started volunteering so much of your time? A: It probably started in college because of some of the community programs. Brandeis had, and seeing how helpful as college kids we could be. And to some extent through The Jewish Federation, our principal responsibility is what we call to repair the world, and what I learn there I bring to the Bar Association. Snapshot James R. Felton Title: Partner, Law Offices of Greenberg & Bass Age: 39 Birthplace birth·place n. The place where someone is born or where something originates. birthplace Noun the place where someone was born or where something originated Noun 1. : Los Angeles Education: Bachelor's degree in English and American Literature American literature, literature in English produced in what is now the United States of America. Colonial Literature American writing began with the work of English adventurers and colonists in the New World chiefly for the benefit of readers in from Brandeis University Brandeis University, at Waltham, Mass.; coeducational; chartered and opened 1948. Although Brandeis was founded by members of the American Jewish community, the university operates as an independent, nonsectarian institution. , 1985, and J.D. from UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles. It is generally regarded as the top law school in Southern California, as well as one of the top fifteen law schools in the United States. in 1988. Career Turning Point: A player in junior golf tournaments, he realized at about age 12 that he was never going to be good enough to be a professional golfer. Most Admired Person: Wife, Robin Personal: Married, three sons |
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