JUDGE ANNA VON REITZ: ANSWER TO HIRING ATTORNEYS
JUDGE ANNA VON REITZ
Never hire a Bar Attorney. Ever. He is an Officer of the Court and his first duty and loyalty is to profit the Court --- and how is that going to happen except by--- in one way or another--- dis-serving and defrauding you?
This is a big part of the reason that these "Courts" enjoy a 97% conviction rate. People hire attorneys thinking that these men are going to work for them and for their good, but in fact, they are financing their own destruction.
If any Court addresses you, you need to present a certified copy of your recorded Mandatory FSIA Notice and ask them pointedly --- who gave you permission to address me?
If they attempt to enter a plea for you, you must remind the judge that he or she is precluded from practicing law while on the bench. And you do not consent to his or her action.
If they attempt to assign a Public Defender, require him or her to accept complete commercial liability for any harm done to your "vessel and cargo"---- they will slink away.
So, how can you hope to defend yourself against these pirates in robes and fend off their odious presumptions?
Start by looking for and hiring a competent "Counselor-at-Law" (see definition of same at bottom of this page, note 5 and 6).
A Counselor doesn't work for the court --- he or she is actually likely to work for you and for your benefit against the court. A good Counselor-at-Law has studied both law and procedure, but is not necessarily someone who went to Law School.
In fact, the product of our American Law Schools is more likely to have problems functioning as a Counselor-at-Law because he or she has learned very little about actual law or justice and a great deal about procedure and little "tricks" to pull, catch phrases to use, and things of that nature---- which don't apply to the functions of a Counselor-at-Law.
Increasingly we are seeing former judges and former Bar Attorneys entering the fray as Counselors-at-Law. They have torn up their Salvage Tickets (Bar Cards) and are now doing what they can to salvage their profession and make correction.
That's good on them, and I encourage their defection, but they often face a year or two of reorientation and intense learning, during which time they may not be as effective as a Counselor-at-Law as someone who never went to a Law School.
We are looking forward to establishing a Mentor's Program for Counselors-at-Law to help transition former Bar Members.
We are also seeing self-styled free-lance Private Attorney Generals (PAG's) who basically perform the functions of a Counselor-at-Law for US Citizens. By all means, if you are not able to quit your federal government job, are an African American, or otherwise obligated to remain in the federal jurisdiction and subject to their courts for the time being--- look for a Private Attorney General.
Rod Class has trained up quite a few Private Attorney Generals and more are in training. These men and women, like Rod, take on the Beast from a different jurisdiction, but like Counselors-at-Law, PAG's work for you--- not the court.
COUNSELLOR AT LAW, offices. An officer in the supreme court of the United States, and in some other courts, who is employed by a party in a cause, to conduct the same on its trial on his behalf. He differs from an attorney at law. (q. v.)
2. In the supreme court of the United States, the two degrees of attorney and counsel are kept separate, and no person is permitted to practise both. It is the duty of the counsel to draft or review and correct the special pleadings, to manage the cause on trial, and, during the whole course of the suit, to apply established principles of law to the exigencies of the case. 1 Kent, Com. 307.
3. Generally in the other courts of the United States, as well as in the courts of Pennsylvania, the same person perform's the duty of counsellor and attorney at law.
4. In giving their advice to their clients, counsel and others, professional men have duties to perform to their clients, to the public, and to themselves. In such cases they have thrown upon them something which they owe to the fair administration of justice, as well as to the private interests of their employers. The interests propounded for them ought, in their own apprehension, to be just, or at least fairly disputable; and when such interests are propounded, they ought not to be pursued per fas et nefas . Hag. R. 22.
5. A counsellor is not a hired person, but a mandatory; he does not render his services for a price, but an honorarium, which may in some degree recompense his care, is his reward. Doubtless, he is not indifferent to this remuneration, but nobler motives influence his conduct. Follow him in his study when he examines his cause, and in court on the trial; see him identify himself with the idea of his client, and observe the excitement he feels on his account; proud when he is, conqueror, discouraged, sorrowful, if vanquished; see his whole soul devoted to the cause he has undertaken, and which he believes to be just, then you perceive the elevated man, ennobled by the spirit of his profession, full of sympathy for his cause and his client. He may receive a reward for his services, but such things cannot be paid for with money. No treasures can purcbase the sympathy and devotedness of a noble mind to benefit humanity; these things are given, not sold. See Honorarium.
6. Ridley says, that the law has appointed no stipend to philosophers and lawyers not because they are not reverend services and worthy of reward or stipend, but because either of them are most honorable professions, whose worthiness is not to be valued or dishonored by money. Yet, in these cases many things are honestly taken, whi ch are not bonestly asked, and the judge may, according to the quality of the cause, and the still of the advocate, and the custom of the court, and, the worth of the matter that is in hand, appoint them a fee answerable to their place. View of the Civil and Eccles. Law, 38, 39.
Reference Resouces:
Bouvier 1856 Sixth Edition Law Dictionary in PDF File Format
ADAPTED TO THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND OF THE SEVERAL STATES OF THE AMERICAN UNION
by John Bouvier
Revised Sixth Edition, 1856
http://allthatstreaming.com/pdf/john-bouvier-revised-1856-sixth-edition-law-dictionary.pdf
Bouvier 1856 Sixth Edition Law Dictionary Website
ADAPTED TO THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND OF THE SEVERAL STATES OF THE AMERICAN UNION
by John Bouvier
Revised Sixth Edition, 1856
https://www.1215.org/lawnotes/bouvier/bouvier.htm