To the editor:
Newspapers often report news events in such a fashion that it arouses the suspicions of cognizant readers as to why pertinent facts are not included.
Is it intentional, incompetent or naivete? The Post-Dispatch (Aug. 13) reported that "James C. Christmas...was charged Friday with stealing after he posed as an attorney and took money from a client in return for legal service, authorities said."
There are obvious facts left unanswered by the reporter. Who were the authorities? Who signed the complaint? Who was the judge? Who is the reporter? Is this a misdemeanor or felony charge that mandates a jury trial?
Is the charge of "stealing" a sly way for the lawyer clique to try to protect what they claim as turf from a legitimate non-lawyer service?
Lawyers use the services of paralegals and accepted personnel, they have no license to practice and are not "stealing" or practicing law without a license.
This "stealing" or unlicensed practice of law has clear definitions; an unbiased person standing before a judge representing a client, demanding fees or filing papers with their signature and a fake license member while demanding a fee. Assistance of counsel is the exception.
Was Christmas "stealing" or is the court being used in a criminal attempt to squelch a legitimate business enterprise? Would a jury be allowed to define "practice of law?"
Charles Sullivan
Waterloo