Seek Credibility, Respect, Budding Lawyers Advised

IRVINE — In an era when attorneys have provided a “target-rich environment for criticism,” newcomers should strive for credibility and respect, Orange County attorney Harold F. LaFlamme told 260 graduates of the Western State University College of Law at their commencement Sunday.

“Your reputation will take you a long way. Once you build it up, it’s worth everything to you,” said LaFlamme, 49, who gained national attention by representing Orange County babies in two controversial surrogacy disputes.

A former arms dealer in the Middle East, LaFlamme--a self-described “mediocre law student”--became an attorney at 35. His firm, the Juvenile Law Center, has represented 12,000 dependent children in the last decade. His appearance at Sunday’s ceremonies at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center was the first time a WSU graduate has returned to address a graduating class.

Signs of trouble among today’s lawyers are evident in a professional journal whose “discipline” section takes about half an hour to read, LaFlamme said. The most prevalent problems among attorneys are stealing their clients’ money, substance abuse and losing cases through negligence, he said.

Many attorneys have the opportunity to hold their clients’ money in trust accounts. “No matter how tempting it is, keep your fingers out of the pot,” he said.

Alcohol abuse has almost become an occupational hazard among attorneys, he noted. “If you can’t handle alcohol, stay away from it,” he advised.

The most effective attorneys, LaFlamme said, are those who say little, saving their information for the most opportune moment. Quoting Calvin Coolidge, LaFlamme told the future lawyers, “I never had to explain anything I didn’t say.”

Frequently scrutinized by the media because of his work in two highly publicized cases, LaFlamme also advised the graduates to work more closely with print rather than television reporters.

“TV types are really in show business,” said LaFlamme, who represented the infants in custody battles involving surrogate mothers Anna Johnson and Elvira Jordan. “They reduce everything you say to two- to three-second sound bites.”

LaFlamme also suggested that budding attorneys should “always use the press to attack the other side” if possible.

Though some lawyers have unfortunately earned their poor reputations, another explanation is that they simply reflect society’s “soft underbelly,” he said. Those who are caught up in greed and treachery don’t like the fact that “we know their secret,” he said.

Just as religion was once said to be the opiate of the masses, litigation today has become the opiate of the upper classes, LaFlamme said.

“As long as that is, they’ll always need us.”