TTSOML #60: Finding A Lawyer After Gatti

Back to finding a lawyer after Gatti...I had turned him and Smith into the Bar, so after that, no one really wanted to touch me, though I definitely had sympathizers. As I said before, some lawyers were Gatti fans, and others were "foes", or at least, dismissive with a sort of snort (which was the attitude of some law enforcement in Portland, Oregon as well).

I guess I should explain a little. Some law enforcement was still pissed at Gatti because a case he had had held up investigations in the entire state while the decisions were pending. What happened is that Gatti pretended to be a chiropractic doctor to get information out of a chiropractor for a medical malpractice lawsuit involving liposuction-gone-wrong. He lied and recorded the conversation without telling the other doctor that he was recording. In Oregon, at that time, there was a 2-party consent law, which meant if a telephone conversation was recorded, it required the consent of BOTH (or all) parties to be legal. Some states have 2-party laws and other states only require the "consent" of one party, meaning the other party could be recorded without their knowledge.

So Gatti flouted the law, and used it in his case. The doctor in question filed suit in turn, and Gatti's lawyers argued if LAW ENFORCEMENT could secretly record conversations, lawyers and others who operate in matters of justice, should also have this liberty, because the truth is not always revealed willingly. It went to appeal, I think, and what happened, is that while the case was being decided, Gatti's team and the judge agreed, NO ONE could record conversations until the matter was settled. So even law enforcement had to hold off taping stuff, which didn't make anyone very happy with Gatti. In the long run, though, it was a victory for the public in Oregon, because Gatti won, and the law was changed to a 1-party covert taping law. So now, in Oregon, thanks to Dan Gatti, one party may secretly record another party over telephone, and use this as evidence in court or for whatever they like--it's legal.

Anyway, Dan was well-known in Oregon, for a variety of reasons. Some thought his surname was too close to "Gotti", for comfort. That, combined with the fact he was Italian led some to believe he was part of a mob.

It was hard to find a lawyer for my case primarily because civil rights attorneys want to be paid as they go. It's not like Personal Injury claims where there are MRIs and X-rays and a clear cut case. Most civil rights cases require a lot of work, the evdence is sometimes difficult to obtain and damages slightly harder to prove, and usually, the civil rights infringement is done by a powerful group--a corporation or organization with money (or they probably wouldn't have dared to infringe on anyone's rights in the first place). Many of the lawyers I spoke with were afraid of the Catholic church, or of filing suit against any part of it.

I started doing a little research on my own, because I didn't know what was going to happen. I told Christa if no one took my case, I would file it myself. At the last minute, I found a civil rights lawyer who had a very small practice. His office was tiny, and his desk covered with papers.