Courting a Better Understanding of the Law
Most people are intimidated by lawyers and the law. Although some lawyers like it that way, others are realizing that it pays to have a public fully informed about basic legal issues.
One of the ways to do that is to offer free or low-cost classes, taught by lawyers, about legal fundamentals. Two Southland events provide some of that help.
One, a citizens law school designed to answer “all the questions you’ve always wanted to ask a lawyer but never had the chance” began last week in Beverly Hills. The other is an all-day conference at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse Feb. 2 to teach mediation skills to the public.
Sponsored by the Beverly Hills Bar Assn., the citizens law school is a six-part series on Monday evenings; it’s held at the Westwood United Methodist Church (10497 Wilshire Blvd.) and is open to all.
“When you usually see an attorney, it is because of a problem--you’ve been sued or need to sue someone, or perhaps someone has died,” said Kathryn Ballsun, a Westwood lawyer who founded the citizens law school a year ago.
The lawyer-taught series exposes students to legal issues in an objective setting, not when they are in the stressful, vulnerable position of needing immediate legal advice. It is a way to help the students become better clients or to learn how to resolve or prepare for legal problems without a lawyer, Ballsun said.
More than 200 people attended the first class, according to Ballsun. Another citizens law school is planned in February at the Holman Methodist Church in downtown Los Angeles. “And next year, we want to translate the course materials into Spanish and offer the course in East Los Angeles,” she said.
The cost of the series is $20. You can attend all or any of the remaining five classes. Here’s the schedule: Jan. 28: family law; Feb. 4: personal injuries and insurance; Feb 11: landlord-tenant relations and buying and selling your home; Feb 25: immigration law, creditor and debtor rights, plus the basics of bankruptcy; March 4: protecting the elderly and incapacitated, and estate planning.
For more information, contact Barbara Avis at (213) 553-6644.
The all-day conference, titled “Mediation and Peacemaking Day,” is intended to help people looking for ways, other than litigation, to resolve conflicts. Mediation can be used to help resolve landlord-tenant disputes, child-custody battles and neighborly wrangles. The program is open to the public and is free.
There will be presentations on how mediation works in the court system and how it has been used to resolve neighborhood disputes between the Korean and black communities. The agenda includes a series of smaller workshops on specific subjects, such as conflict resolution in the workplace, family disputes, consumer mediation and corporate disputes.
It will be held Saturday, Feb. 2, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse, Dept. 1, Second Floor, 111 N. Hill St. For information, call (213) 974-5524 or (213) 896-6533.
Klein, an attorney and assistant to the publisher of The Times, cannot answer mail personally but will respond in this column to questions of general interest about the law. Write to Jeffrey S. Klein, Legal View, The Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif. 90053.