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Monday, December 12, 2005
Ind. Decisions - Nonlawyer misled Hispanic clients, Indiana Supreme Court says
"Court disciplines 'notario': Nonlawyer misled Hispanic clients, Indiana Supreme Court says" is the headline to this story today by Richard D. Walton of the Indianapolis Star.
The case was State of Indiana ex rel. Indiana State Bar Assoc., et al v. Ludy Diaz, reported in this 12/6/05 ILB entry titled "Supreme Court issues unauthorized practice decision against woman providing 'immigration services'".
Some quotes from the Star story:
The awning outside the Goshen, Ind., office read "Ludy Diaz, Notary Public." That translates into "notario publico" in Spanish, the language spoken by many of the self-described immigration counselor's customers.To the people of Mexico and other Latin American countries, notario publico means highly qualified lawyer. But Diaz, whose legal training consists mainly of attending immigration law seminars, did too little to set the record straight, according to the Indiana Supreme Court.
Last week, in a decision expected to have implications for other nonlawyers who may be exploiting cultural ambiguities, the court barred Diaz from the unauthorized practice of law. The court found that her use of the notario publico phrase in advertising misled trusting immigrants who paid her hundreds of dollars to help them. And by straying outside her competence, critics say, she put people's legal status at risk.
In one case, Diaz failed to effectively advise a Hispanic man with immigration problems seeking to stay in the country, said Tom Ruge, lead counsel for the Indiana State Bar Association, which brought the original complaint against Diaz. The man was deported, Ruge said. * * *
Diaz denies deliberately misleading anyone. If someone refers to her as an attorney, she corrects them. Her attorney, Patrick F. O'Leary, said she never held herself out to be an attorney and, in fact, commonly refers clients to lawyers.
The Indiana Supreme Court, however, said Diaz used the notario publico title to promote her business to Hispanics and did not do enough to let her customers know she is not a lawyer.
The court noted that Diaz sometimes ventured beyond immigration law. She also drafted contracts, a pleading and at least one will.
"In many cases her understanding of the underlying law was incomplete, her advice or the documents she prepared were faulty, and her clients suffered," the court ruling said.
Rafael Sanchez, chairman of the Indiana State Bar Association's Latino Affairs Committee, said the key now is to get the word out to people in the Hispanic community.
He says some nonattorney notaries who tout themselves as notario publicos may do so innocently, unaware that it is misleading. But those people, he said, must be made to know this: "You're taking advantage of the customer," he said. "You're dealing with people's lives."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 12, 2005 08:36 AM
Posted to Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions