Topeka man remains jailed for illegal lawyering / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Associated Press

November 3, 2009

Topeka — In jail for three months so far, a man accused of practicing law without a license maintains that he is being held hostage by a government that wants him to sign away his right to help others.

David Martin Price, 48, of Topeka, has been in the Shawnee County jail since Aug. 6 despite his repeated efforts to get the federal courts to take up his case. Price, who is not an attorney, was jailed by the Kansas Supreme Court, which cited him for contempt for giving legal advice to others.

The justices want him to sign an agreement saying he won’t give any more advice before they will free him.

“If I sign that document, I’m giving them personal and subject matter jurisdiction,” Price told the Topeka Capital-Journal for a story Monday. “I’m not about to do that. (I’ll stay) until I can prove what they did was beyond the legal scope and beyond what the law requires.”

The saga began in 1998 when Price formed Pro Se Advocates, intending to help people with paperwork if they couldn’t afford an attorney. He hasn’t signed court documents or claimed publicly to be anyone’s attorney.

Kansas’ attorney general’s office received a consumer complaint in 2006 and filed a lawsuit — against Price, his wife and an associate — with the Supreme Court, which licenses and regulates attorneys.

In December 2007, the Supreme Court prohibited Price from acting as anyone’s attorney or providing legal advice. The court kept open the case against his wife and their associate, but the two ultimately settled it with the state.

Then in July 2008, Price sent a letter to the attorney general’s office for a Topeka-area man who had a dispute with a state regulatory board. Price listed himself as an “advocate” and demanded that the attorney general’s office pay the man $3,122 to cover his legal expenses, plus $750 in interest.

The attorney general’s office went back to the Supreme Court, seeking a contempt citation.

Price has filed legal challenges against Kansas court officials, which state and federal courts have found frivolous. He claims the court broke the law in jailing him and says he is a victim of political vendettas.

Suzanne Valdez, a clinical associate law professor at Kansas University, is a member of the Kansas Supreme Court’s Pro Se Committee. The term references individuals who represent themselves in court without assistance of a licensed attorney, but may lack the money to hire an attorney or the expertise to navigate the legal process. She said the laws are “muddy” regarding pro se and advocates, but people need to understand their legal limitations.

“The pro se litigant issue isn’t going to go away,” Valdez said. “You’ll always have people who can’t afford lawyers. Going into it, you want to make sure they have enough knowledge.”

Discussion

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3 November 2009
at 7:01 a.m.

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artichokeheart (Anonymous) says…

So let me get this straight. If a person writes legal documents for someone else they can be jailed? I know a guy who does this all the time. This same guy has also barraged the courts with frivolous motions on his own behalf. While the motions have for the most part been thrown out it makes me wonder if the same laws applied to the guy in the article could be applied to the guy I know. Yes I do have the documentation on this including the envolopes that were processed through the U.S. mail. This could be very interesting.
3 November 2009
at 7:14 a.m.

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snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

arti, don't be bagging on marge like that.
3 November 2009
at 9:44 a.m.

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brujablanco (Anonymous) says…

Oh, my arti, Maude's been delving into UPL again? Not surprising.