Jose Baez rejected by Florida Bar on first try (Orlando & Miami News Articles)

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Not that I want to be a spoilsport on all the fun, but this article does seem to be a little unfair.
The court records try to have some anonymity for the bar applicant, which is why they use the initials. Even though Baez is a disliked public figure, he's not running for political office. He's just trying to do his job. This does seem like an uncalled for character assasination from the Sentinel.
Just like you all, I too dislike Baez. But now, I think I dislike the Sentinel even more for making me feel sorry for him!

With that said... there is one tidbit in the article that I think is a legitimate concern:

"Additionally, the Board found that J.A.B.'s misrepresentations and lack of candor in his answers to the specifications and during his formal hearing testimony were further grounds for disqualification," the Supreme Court wrote.

I have not had the good fortune to go before a character and fitness review board (yet) but I hear that if you are just open and honest, and show that you've overcome, or are taking steps to overcome whatever they're concerned about, that you will probably pass. The above quote shows that JB's insolence, and lack of respect for the court is nothing new, and will not improve at trial. This is good news for those who want KC convicted because the jury will notice it and despise him for it.
 
Remember the one-two punch we've been waiting on since the latest non evidence doc dump...well I think it's safe to say this is the first blow...now I just can't wait for the next doc dump, which I suspect will contain the second blow in the one-two punch that will send JB and the entire A camp reeling and send KC straight to death row.
 
He is still arrogant, has no respect for the legal process and is totally rude to his opposing prosecutor and still doesn't answer direct questions, he always dances around the issue. He has not be rehabilitated in that sense..he may have overcome his "financial" situation but not his demeanor..:mad:

He is a perfect match for KC...his true colors will shine through at trial and will be despised by the jurors...which means, :behindbar for KC for the rest of her sorry life....

After a formal hearing, the board found the allegations proven and recommended that he not be admitted to the Bar.
Click to expand...

No rumor, fact...
 
I believe I read where JB lives about a mile away from the owner of Fusion. Maybe they know each other, or had a passing acquaintance. I would think KC would have called her pals at Fusion about a lawyer before she would have listened to some random inmate.

I thought JB had two daughters that had both gone to Colonial HS. And doesn't one of them work in his office?
 
Wow, I am a bit surprised that the other news outlets did not discover this history on "JAB". I am sickened, but not that shocked, that he failed to pay child support for his daughter while living it up. It speaks to his character and confirms just how JAB has conducted his personal life, he should be ashamed , but I doubt he is.

Way to go Sentinel !!!!!
 
I wonder how long it will be before the Sentinel is branded a "tabloid" news outlet, just as WFTV was, by JAB ?
 
So, were these two non profits started so that JAB could receive his license to practice law, in the state of Florida ? This from the Sentinel article released today...

In 2004, Baez created another nonprofit in Miami, Miracles for Children Foundation Corp., according to state records. It continued until Sept. 16, 2005.

The following week, Sept. 22, Baez was admitted to practice law. Because the admission process for lawyers is not public, there is no way to know what effect these nonprofit groups had on the Bar's action.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...ose-baez-caylee-050309,0,3439656.story?page=2
 
I don't feel sorry for him. If you put yourself in the limelight you have to put your whole life and career out there too.
 
LizzieN said:
Failed to support his only child, altering checks, having a questionable background and the Bon Bon Bikinis!! This is no dream team. The man is a joke.
Click to expand...

And he created two charitable organizations (I'm sure that helped with his rehabilitation in the eyes of Florida Bar Examiners). Both organizations are now defunct/dissolved according to the article. The article states that the first, Miami Domestic Violence Project, was dissolved two years later. The second, Miracles for Children Foundation Corp., continued for approximately a year.
 
sua_sponte said:
Not that I want to be a spoilsport on all the fun, but this article does seem to be a little unfair.
The court records try to have some anonymity for the bar applicant, which is why they use the initials. Even though Baez is a disliked public figure, he's not running for political office. He's just trying to do his job. This does seem like an uncalled for character assasination from the Sentinel.
Just like you all, I too dislike Baez. But now, I think I dislike the Sentinel even more for making me feel sorry for him!

With that said... there is one tidbit in the article that I think is a legitimate concern:

"Additionally, the Board found that J.A.B.'s misrepresentations and lack of candor in his answers to the specifications and during his formal hearing testimony were further grounds for disqualification," the Supreme Court wrote.

I have not had the good fortune to go before a character and fitness review board (yet) but I hear that if you are just open and honest, and show that you've overcome, or are taking steps to overcome whatever they're concerned about, that you will probably pass. The above quote shows that JB's insolence, and lack of respect for the court is nothing new, and will not improve at trial. This is good news for those who want KC convicted because the jury will notice it and despise him for it.
Click to expand...

I fir the most part agree. I am not seeing much real benefit in airing someones 10 year old dirty laundry in public. Especially when we do not know the exact nature of the issues involved and are just painting it with a broad brush. he came out of teh military and experienced personal finance issues. This is neither uncommon nor overly shocking. While the child support issue is not particularly nice, once again it is far from uncommon.

However the 10 year old reports do raise a couple of disturbing red flags, because they do seem to reflect a patern with him of lack of candor before the court and the citizenry that continues to this day. The reason the Florida Bar has such high standards of financial propriety is to insure that the lawyers have no underlying motive to put their personal interests ahead of the clients. Once again this is the same reason why you are supposed to pay a criminal lawyer up front, and they cannot be paid in any contingency basis. There smoke and mrrors surrounding his method of compensation in this case runs completely counter to these ethical principals. Given this past history with the bar we can fairly safely assume that he knows exactly what the bar expects in the way of financial propriety and client relations. Is he currently meeting that standard or obligation?

It also troubles me because this report is the first real evidence I at least have seen, that might trigger a legitimate Ineffective or Incompetant Council appeal. Yes we have whined about JB for ages. But up until this point he was still obviously a fully qualified bar attorney who KC specifically hired and chose. You are allowed to choose an obvious idiot as a lawyer. Thats why you can represent yourself. The standards for challenging the competancy of a privately hired attorney who you can fire at will are much higher then if you are dealing with a public defender. But this report means that the bar had questions about JB... for 8 years. Stuff that the client could not possibly have known about. That might not be so good a set of circumstances in the long run.
 
BeanE said:
"this profile you are writing has nothing to do with Jose Baez's representation of Casey Anthony and appears to be a sensationalist persecution of a Hispanic lawyer who has been targeted by a newspaper... "

the investigators said he left out parts of his history, including that he wrote a bad check and entered a pretrial program to avoid conviction.

I agree with Ms. MacKenzie. These are all mishconshtruthamentificalications solely because Mr. Baez is Hispanic. Being an immoral deceitful law breaker has nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...

Note that the spokeswoman does not say that J.A.B. is not Baez. She cleverly says that it has "nothing to do with Jose Baez's representation of Casey".

:)
 
JB is a a prime example of why attorneys (especially defense attorneys) get a bad name....My father was, believe it or not, an honest attorney (no disrespect to any lawyers on this forum, many people view lawyers has liars). He was a well respected man and one of the main reasons was his honesty. I often wonder what he would think about this case and this disgrace of an attorney. First off, it amazes me that JB and BC for that matter, are all over the news doing interviews and allowing their clients to do interviews. What ever happened to "no comment". Those are the ONLY two words that should ever have come out of anyones mouths (with the exception of at the begining when they should have been pleading with the kidnapper to return Caylee). Second, JB's courtroom manner is just horrible. He is disrespectful not only to the pros but the judge and to the entire legal process. If KC gets convicted she surely will be granted a new trial on appeal due to the terrible representation that she received.

In a way I feel bad for JB getting involved in this mess. As many of you have pointed out, this information should be private. But, if you get involved in a high profile case, you have to expect that your dirty laundry will be aired. JB should be doing personal injury, workers comp, wills and estates, etc. I know an attorney that JB reminds me of and he has is a very wealthy man that chases ambulances. That is what JB would be good at. This is way out of his league, and I think his career will be ruined.
 
The Florida Bar's requirements can be a lot more stringent that the other states. At law school they beat us to death with how we had to fill out the application. Nerdy kids were getting sick and figuratively ****ting themselves about what they could have done wrong and would have to disclose. Frankly, I was ****ting myself too. You have to DISCLOSE EVERYTHING and failure to do so can jeopardize your admission to The Florida Bar. Period. You have to give lists of every place you have ever lived and stuff I could not even REMEMBER. They gave examples of nameless people who did not get approved and for particular reasons. Now, at Jose's school I don't know what they went over with their students.

We definitely understood to err on the side of caution and to tell and explain everything rather than having the examiners find out and have to try and explain it later. Not telling anything was worse than telling with an explanation.

Being a Florida lawyer has a lot of responsibilities. You have to be ethical and upstanding (or at least appear to be!). Some states are not as stringent. We don't want foxes guarding the damn henhouse. Why would you approve a person who cannot handle their own money and finances with the trust accounts of clients? There is a totally logical reason for the Bar's requirements.

[P.S. I am NOT an attorney because I withdrew from school, lest anyone assume that I am. I may go back someday though...]
 
Searchfortruth said:
So, were these two non profits started so that JAB could receive his license to practice law, in the state of Florida ? This from the Sentinel article released today...

In 2004, Baez created another nonprofit in Miami, Miracles for Children Foundation Corp., according to state records. It continued until Sept. 16, 2005.

The following week, Sept. 22, Baez was admitted to practice law. Because the admission process for lawyers is not public, there is no way to know what effect these nonprofit groups had on the Bar's action.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...ose-baez-caylee-050309,0,3439656.story?page=2
Click to expand...


With Florida corporations (both profit and non-profit) have to renew every year and this involves a renewal fee (hehehe).

I could make ASSumptions...and I think the Sentinel writer was trying to make them too if you read between the lines.
 
I would think that the FL Bar review committee will have all of this past history at hand in JB's file when they are considering the current complaints against him.

Coupled with the fact that the current complaint was filed by Judge Strickland, I suspect that JB may be put on either suspension or disbarred by the time of trial.
Several of the lawyers have stated that a complaint filed by a Judge is a big deal indeed.

Considering his previous lack of candor, I don't think that JB will be on the case long enough to be the cause for appeal. It is entirely possible that Judge Strickland filed his complaint specifically due to a mistruth in regards to the in camera questions about the financial aspects of dream team payments and not just the directive to 'not call 911' that was alledgedly given to DC.

Rules of the Florida Bar:

http://www.floridabar.org/divexe/rrtfb.nsf/WContents?OpenView

Standards for Lawyer Sanctions:

http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBLa...ca758a1382421b60852574ba00649949?OpenDocument

I, too, think that another big blow will fall soon. Perhaps several. The Sentinel may have written this knowing full well that the results of the current complaint are about to come down.
 
KARMA...hello ...just sayin'
J.A.B., bring it...the American public is waiting for it...

Are you ready to RUMBLE? Sorry still hyped after the Celtics win last night...
 
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