Everyone knows lawyer jokes, but few know about “client jokes.”  You will hear them when two lawyers talk. “Do you know what they call the only person in court in a tee shirt?  The Defendant.”

Often I have said, “I am not your parent and I realize that how you dress is none of my business, but: clean up and wear a coat and tie to court.”  If you don’t want to spend much money I assure you that the local Thrift Store will have you ‘stylin’ for under $20.  For men or women, in a nutshell, my advice is to dress like someone to whom you would be willing to lend money.

Observe that in court the police officer, whether on or off duty, always looks sharp; the prosecutor or plaintiff’s attorney looks sharp; and the defense attorney looks sharp.  The reason is that the judge views everyone’s dress as a sign of respect…..or not.  Understand that unless you are simply visiting, no one attends court in a vacuum.  Whether plaintiff, defendant or victim, you always want something from the judge or jury.  Several years ago the American Bar Association did an extensive survey about the amount of time it took a jury to decide innocence or guilt of a Defendant.  The result: under 10 minutes after first sight.  Dressing formally enhances your credibility; dressing informally or worse, diminishes your credibility.  That’s just a statement of the truth.   Of course dress alone will not turn a losing case into a winner or vice versa, but why give the opposition unnecessary assistance?  Whatever edge dress may give you, always take it.  Cases have been known to turn on clues unrelated to testimony.

So when a lawyer tells you to dress up for court, even traffic court, the comment is meant to be neither elitist nor intrusive.  It simply recognizes that on some level, most of the participants in court, whether plaintiff or defendant, are there because they chose to be (i.e. knowingly engaged in conduct, or associations with others, whose likely result was appearing in court).  Since you chose the courtroom as your arena, the lawyer’s job is to tell you the rules.  If you do not want to play by the “court dress up” rules, don’t defy them, just stop choosing court as your destination.

The Colorado Medical Durable Power of Attorney and Colorado Living Will (pull the plug) approved forms were updated late last year. Every few years they are updated and improved. For example the power of attorney now contains a new section titled “Relationship to Living Will” which gives the option to override certain terms of the Living Will based on specific instructions given to the agent. Also the Living Will now has a new section titled “Permission to Speak with Interested Persons” in which you may list your relatives or others that the treating physician may speak to prior to withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures.

The new forms do not mean that your old ones are not effective or that you need to replace them, but feel free to call about whether the new forms contain directions that you would like to implement.

My brother’s wife, Marianne Klancke, passed away very unexpectedly earlier this month. Many of you reading this newsletter knew her. She was bigger than life and I always believed we’d have another 25 years of conversation and time together. Her passing leaves a huge hole in our family and the Fraser Valley community. My brother, Kirk, is very active in Colorado water issues, Trout Unlimited, Lions Club and many other charities and events. Marianne was a huge supporter of his causes but she, in her quiet, tenacious way, made her own immense impact on Grand County and Colorado. Marianne helped bring necessary improvements and planning to her community for almost 40 years. She helped others with her coaching, often without pay and she continued to express herself artistically with her beautiful paintings. Marianne was one of those people who was involved in so much, in so many ways, yet always shone the light away from herself.

Marianne accomplished more in her 58 years on earth then many of us will accomplish in a long lifetime. Her latest passion, the charity “Advocates for a Violence-Free Community” had just raised the funds and purchased the Sprout House, a shelter for battered women in Grand County. Marianne was putting the final touches of paint on the safe house walls 2 days before her death.

Please consider honoring this extraordinary human being by making a contribution to her lastest love, The Advocates of Grand County. To date, over $17,000 has been raised in Marianne’s memory. Much more is needed. Any gift would be so appreciated and is tax deductible. Gifts can be sent to Advocates of Grand County, PO Box 155, Hot Sulphur Springs, CO 80451. Feel free to reference Marianne on the payment. Thank you.

Somehow, it just does not have the same impact as, “I’ll sue”, does it? A few years ago, it was widely believed that arbitration was the average person’s escape from a lengthy and expensive court case. Arbitration cases are heard by one or three arbitrators, often a retired judge or respected attorney. Usually these cases are performed within a matter of weeks instead of years, in a relatively informal setting without the rigid rules of evidence and the strict procedure of a jury trial. Costs can be as little as $1,000-$2,000 for the arbitrator’s time. Originally, it appeared to be every citizen’s dream of swift and simple justice and so, for a time, every agreement drafted by a lawyer contained an “arbitration” clause rather than “go to court and sue” clause.

Individuals soon realized that swift and simple justice is a benefit by, at best, no more than half the combatants in a case. Worse, in arbitration many times both sides thought they lost the same case. There is an element of reasonableness, of multi-perspective, of fresh air if you will, from a jury-decided case that you just can’t get from the decision of one, or three, legal representatives. To compound matters, arbitration proceedings are virtually un-appealable. Many court case losers take comfort in the fact that they can appeal the decision and possibly get it reversed, or at least ask for reconsideration of the judge’s ruling. For all practical purposes, no higher court is going to review testimony or evidence or law as a result of arbitration. Many arbitration clauses even contain the language of “binding arbitration”, where the parties agree ahead of time there will be no appeal or request for reconsideration. Short of misconduct by the arbitrator or plain mathematical miscalculation, the arbitration award stands without further review. Accordingly, since there can be no appeal based upon the arbitrator’s reasoning, the arbitrator is not required to even give the reason for his or her decision. All you get is the decision: I win…you lose…pay this money…case closed for good. Many individuals have come to find this justice a tad too swift and simple.

Then who still uses arbitration? An agreement to arbitrate a contract dispute is still the fastest and cheapest way to go. You will also see arbitration clauses in contracts between you and major companies (e.g. insurance). One reason big companies use arbitration is that arbitration is not a public proceeding. Hence, no public record of the decision. Another reason is that arbitrators are not permitted to award punitive damages. A major player can protect itself from a jury judgment of “punies” in a contract gone bad by inserting an arbitration clause. As long as you know what you’re agreeing to up front, you can use arbitration. Just be aware of what remedy is included in the contract, agreement, warranty, etc. If you don’t like it, request a change to the clause. Don’t agree to arbitration just because the pre-printed wording includes that remedy.

A business consultant once told me, “Statistically you will die within eight years of the day of your retirement, whenever that occurs…..whether you retire at age 50 or at age 80.”

Over the years we have counseled many individuals who have “retired” (translation: made enough money to quit) in their 40′s, 50′s and 60′s about what to do when they no longer have to work.  They usually find that, after a certain amount of time off, they want an occupation once again.  Even golf and fishing can become repetitive.  It would seem a happy dilemma to choose a new occupation when you need not worry about money.  However, it is a dilemma none the less.  It seems that on some level the individual realizes that in their 20′s they chose to “do” something that admittedly made money, but was sufficiently difficult, time consuming or tiring and that once the money was made they wanted to get out.  Having had that experience, they seem to be very cautious about what to “do” for the next, and possibly final, career of their lives.

I tell them not to think in terms of  “what they are going to do”.  That’s the same attitude they used 20, 30 or 40 years ago. It’s time for a new one.  Pretend that the year is 2041 and you have just died peaceably at the age of 90.  Your grandchildren and great grandchildren are talking about you in admiring, glowing terms regarding your later in life career and how it reflected who you were and what you valued.  Listen to what they are saying.  What are the words that you would want to hear if you could somehow listen? Now apply it.  Whatever you hear them saying, is what your next career should be.  Or how about forcing yourself to think back on when the whole world was open to you and you declared to your parents and the kids you played with what you were going to do when you “grew up”. What was it you said?  What did you want to do with your life before money and job responsibility got in the way?  Now, apply it. It’s not too late.  If you’re ready to retire, your financial self is provided for.  What about your mental and emotional self?  There is no right or wrong to this equation.  It is just a way to work backwards in deciding how the second half of your career life can be spent.  Simply live the life career that will permit your grandchildren and great grandchildren to have a great conversation and help you defy the 8 year rule.

Colorado is one of the few states that recognizes  common law marriages.  Be aware of what you say and do if you don’t want to be deemed common law married.  Under Colorado law, all that’s required is that 2 people agree to be husband and wife and represent themselves as such to one or more outsiders.  This could be done innocently or to gain certain advantages.

A court will look at the specific facts and circumstances surrounding each particular case, but joint bank accounts, calling one a “spouse” when applying for health insurance benefits or filing a joint tax return are all red flags.  If a couple is common law married, if and when the bloom is off the rose, either can seek compensation, property,  support or maintenance in a divorce proceeding.  Suddenly, what you thought was a nice relationship that just didn’t work out, becomes the subject of a court proceeding and ½ of your assets are up for grabs.   There is no such thing as a common law divorce.

When I hear about someone being stopped for going 80 mph down the highway and then determined to be DUI as well, I wonder what were they thinking.  Specifically, I wonder why someone who should have known that they were drunk would then “volunteer” to be pulled over for speeding.

When I read in the newspaper about the high school teacher having sex with a student or the child who died during a “therapeutic” session, or the group treasurer who takes a few thousand dollars from the organization, I say, “I wish I could have been that teacher’s, that therapist’s, or that treasurer’s, attorney and counselor for 10 minutes.”  I wish we could have had a conversation beforehand.

It is said, “We judge others by their conduct; we judge ourselves by our intentions.”  Those mental intentions lay the groundwork for mental lies and excuses that serve us poorly.  “The sex was consensual…..I never thought the child would die…..I planned to repay the money before anyone found out.”  As someone who has spent time visiting criminal defendants in jails and prisons, I will tell you, YOU DO NOT WANT TO GO THERE.  Forget about what you have read about minimum-security “resort” prisons with golf or tennis.  You do not want to go to even the very best prison in this country.  Not for a minute.  But those mental lies and excuses people tell themselves put them there.  And on top of it all, the criminal justice system is easy to get into and very difficult to get out of.

Since I am not often permitted that 10-minute conversation that prevents someone from doing something really dumb, I can at least send a general advisement to all of you reading this.  I suggest you play a little pretend game.  Whatever questionable or unusual conduct you may be thinking about doing, or are doing, pretend that you are explaining it to a newspaper reporter or a prosecuting attorney.  Explain it out loud so you can really hear yourself and have the reporter/prosecutor ask you the ugly questions in return.  If your mouth goes dry and the words don’t flow or don’t sound as good as they did in those mental excuses, don’t do it, or stop whatever you’ve started.  Really think about what you’re doing; don’t be a volunteer for trouble.

Colorado is a perfect wind power state.  The issue is not how hard the wind blows, but how to transmit the power from the wind to its intended final location.

Currently over 340,000 homes in Colorado are capable of being powered by Colorado breezes. Wind turbines only take up 3-5% of land surface to capture such energy.  Stay tuned. This is becoming an active area of the law as ranchers and wind developers negotiate land leases for thousands of acres, and surface rights for turbines and transmission lines.  The Colorado rancher is moving from cattle leases to wind and is changing the power source of the future.