State Bar Funding Cutoff

* The Times fails to mention in “Cases Against Lawyers Pile Up After Bar Layoffs” (Oct. 12) that the State Bar of California dismisses 90% of all consumer complaints with little or no investigation. The bar is a trade association, established to protect the interests of its members. That is why it spends $450,000 a year on a lobbyist in Sacramento, rather than on investigating consumer complaints, and why it continues to resist legislative oversight and efforts to end its self-regulation. The failure of the bar to discipline errant attorneys has little to do with a lack of funding, in that it did little to discipline even when it was fully funded.

RICHARD LUBETZKY, Attorney

Los Angeles

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Your article may mislead many victims of lawyer misconduct into assuming they have no recourse because the state bar has nearly closed down its lawyer discipline program. If a client has been harmed by a lawyer’s negligent or intentional misconduct, that client can and should sue the lawyer for malpractice.

Clients with meritorious cases should not be discouraged. There are many highly skilled attorneys who will sue lawyers for malpractice. Many will take such cases on a strict contingency fee basis. The client will pay nothing for legal fees unless the case is won.

RICHARD TENTLER

Oxnard