Source: Adrian J. Adams Esq.
The Hindenburg was an airship built in 1936 by the Zeppelin Company. Somebody at the company thought it was a good idea to fill it with highly explosive hydrogen and put 97 people in a cabin strapped to its underside.
In the predictable disaster that followed, 36 people died.
Don Wagner. Orange County Assemblyman Donald Wagner introduced something similar for associations. His Assembly Bill 1720 would allow owners to send their attorneys to board meetings. Like hydrogen-filled airships, nothing good will come from it.
Adversarial. In my experience, no one spends money on a lawyer to tell a board how much they appreciate their hard work. It is always adversarial. If the bill passes, an owner’s attorney can attend meetings and, during open forum, question directors, lecture them, bully them, and threaten them. Or, no less intimidating, the attorney could sit quietly the entire meeting and take notes on everything said–for use in a future (or 
current) lawsuit.
current) lawsuit.
Ethics Issue. Particularly troubling, the bill destroys the safeguards established by Rule 2-100 of the Rules of Professional Conduct which prohibits an attorney from communicating with a party represented by another attorney without the consent of that lawyer. The State Bar created this consumer protection to help level the playing field and Mr. Wagner wants to strip it away.
Ambushed. Wagner’s bill also states, “Where possible, the member shall give the board at least 48 hours advance written notice that his or her attorney will attend the board meeting.” Note that the sentence starts with “Where possible.” If an owner wants to blindside a board, I suspect he/she will not find it possible to give advance notice. That means boards will get ambushed.
Ambushed. Wagner’s bill also states, “Where possible, the member shall give the board at least 48 hours advance written notice that his or her attorney will attend the board meeting.” Note that the sentence starts with “Where possible.” If an owner wants to blindside a board, I suspect he/she will not find it possible to give advance notice. That means boards will get ambushed.
Legal Fees. The obvious outcome of this bill will be impaired meetings since boards and homeowners alike will be reluctant to discuss matters in front of an adversarial lawyer for fear of being sued. To counter the threat, boards will want the association’s attorney to attend meetings whenever they think other lawyers might attend. That means higher dues for everyone.
No Volunteers. It is already difficult to get members to volunteer for the board. Homeowners have busy lives working, raising families, and paying bills. Serving on a board is stressful enough because it takes away what little time they may have. Assembly Bill 1720 makes it worse by creating unnecessary fear of litigation. Who would serve under those conditions?
Hindenburg. Like Zepplin engineers, Assemblyman Wagner is injecting an unstable element into association meetings. Impaired operations and higher costs are sure to follow. This is entirely unnecessary. If an owner’s lawyer wants to present a grievance, he/she can pick up the phone and call me. It’s less expensive and gets better results. They don’t need to sit in a board meeting and glare at the board, or worse–threaten directors.
RECOMMENDATION: Please write Assemblyman Wagner and respectfully ask him to withdraw his bill. Amending the bill is not productive; it would be like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic–another bad idea. The bill should be withdrawn. You can call, fax or write Mr. Wagner at:
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