Things That Make You Think, "Yuck!"

Imagine this.... you're going along, minding your own business and enjoying your day. 

The day was great until.... WHOA.... you found your name on both a forum AND within multiple blog comments!  This was within the world wide web, so your closest colleagues and a million other friends would learn of this communication within the same time period as you.  (This COULD be a good thing, but in this particular instance, your name was out there for all to see as though you were a defendant in a legal case.)  Yuck!

You probably experienced the element of surprise... which then probably turned into anger, especially when you learned that an attorney was responsible for the written communication.  Yuck!

We all know some hilarious attorney jokes because for some reason that particular profession seems to have poor public perception.  Granted, not all attorneys are horrible, but the actions of a few create lasting memories that contribute to lack of the public immediately trusting attorneys. 

I wonder... what effect occurs when an attorney chooses a behavior that appears to convey false statements, such as: 

"has trained over 1/3 of the physical therapy profession" yuck! - how the heck does he know that?

"never been one injury" yuck! - no reported injuries?  how was injury defined?  what data or evidence was used to deem "never"  OR could it be interpreted that there was never one injury but instead 50 injuries? 

not taking a course apparently suggests any therapist in disagreement has "no foundation or credibility from which to speak" yuck! - I've never jumped out of a plane, but I'm very sure that if I don't have use a parachute, I'm going to have issues

"a complaint has been prepared against them and all others" yuck! - you can't prepare a complaint against all others in the same complaint when a complaint is initially filed - it's not like an open claim or something

MFR "is revered with much respect by many healthcare professionals and patients as revolutionizing the Physical Therapy Profession" yuck! - hmm, news to me... where is the data supporting this statement?

finally "these individuals will consider exploring all the educational opportunities available to be fully informed."  yuck! - who are the individuals?  the ones that are "all others" and exactly how does one go about exploring all educational opportunities?  All of them will fully inform?  Hmmm...

Since there were WAY too many yuck instances, I decided I'd educate myself a bit on Professional Conduct for Pennsylvania attorneys (according to internet law, I believe, since we are in all different states and since the attorney that posted here and elsewhere didn't specifically state where he held licenses.  He technically may need to comply with Professional Conduct in all 50 states - but we'll ignore that to just keep things simple, okay?)    Information available for the public: Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.  The most current Professional Conduct Rules do have me pausing and wondering if this attorney followed conduct rules.  As I look through that long document, I'm curious as to how the disciplinary board would view a couple of the comments and posts by a particular attorney.  In particular, how about these specific professional conduct rules? 

Preamble 4:  A lawyer should keep in confidence information relating to representation of a client except so far as disclosure is required or permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law.

Preamble 5:  A lawyer should use the law's procedures only for legitimate purposes and not to harass or intimidate others.

Preamble 7:   A lawyer should strive to attain the highest level of skill, to improve the law and the legal profession and to exemplify the legal profession's ideals of public service.

Preamble 8:  ... preserving client confidences ordinarily serves the public interest....

Considering what some of us would legitimately view as an outcome of professional suicide for MFR, was 1.0 (e) considered?  informed consent....  explanation of material risks of and reasonably available alternatives...

What about the choice of communication 1.0 (h)? ... denotes the conduct of a reasonably prudent and competent lawyer.

Rule 1.6:  confidentiality of information

Rule 4.1:  truthfulness to others

Rule 4.2:  communication with person represented by counsel (IF there was counsel representation)

Rule 4.3:  dealing with unrepresented person  (if no one was represented)

Rule 4.4:  respect for rights of third persons  - a) in representing a client, a lawyer shall not use means that have no substantial purpose other than to embarrass...

Rule 7.2:  advertising

Rule 7.3:  direct contact with prospective clients

Honestly, all I can think is "Yuck!"  I would think that there were better alternatives available than the option chosen by the attorney.

Now, the next part is confidential... if you are motivated to take steps to report the potential multiple breaches in professional conduct, you can confidentially!  Shh... for those of you that just happen to have a problem understanding confidential... you report the behavior but you don't communicate in public that you reported the behavior.  We're not supposed to know!  You can complete an online form.

I'm confident many of you are motivated to defend evidence based practice.  In this particular situation, maybe the most we can do is send a message that we aren't going to let some attorney bully us and our thoughts.  My main reaction to this attorney's communication via the forum and blog was... Yuck!

photo by leafy tenement via Flickr

Selena Horner