Re: Using Legal Advice [WAS: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com) | |
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 13:13:04 -0800 (PST) |
On Mar 14, 2005, at 2:35 PM, Eileen McCourt wrote:
The benefit of lawyers in our situation could be tointroduce reasonableness into the discussion about what is actually harmful to the community. In a group that has committed to consensus, or that is atleast trying to understand what that would mean in terms of day to dayoperations, resorting to legal remedies every time there is a disagreementdoes not seem helpful in resolving these disagreements.
Calling a lawyer is not the same thing as "resorting to legal remedies" necessarily. Just because a lawyer is consulted does not mean anyone is being adversarial. A wise lawyer (and of course there are many unwise lawyers) has much experience with negotiating settlements and often has ideas about resolutions that may not be apparent to those involved in the fracas.
And lawyers can often calm fears. This is very helpful to people who are afraid of financial, legal, or personal risk. To deprive these people of these answers and just expect them to "trust" on the basis of no evidence that trust is appropriate, is not being fair to their concerns anymore than they are being "fair" in expecting everyone to be as structured as they are.
Community associations should have lawyers on retainer who are familiar with their community and can clarify the questions of members without setting up an adversarial situation. Our lawyer meets with us once a year, for example, and we make a list of questions to ask her. This meeting clarifies a lot of fears and incorrect assumptions. It certainly isn't adversarial. She understands what kind of community we are and what we ideally want. She is "our" lawyer.
Sharon ----- Sharon Villines Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC http://www.takomavillage.org
- Re: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities, (continued)
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Re: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities Sharon Villines, March 14 2005
- RE: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities Rob Sandelin, March 14 2005
- Using Legal Advice [WAS: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities Sharon Villines, March 14 2005
- RE: Using Legal Advice [WAS: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities Eileen McCourt, March 14 2005
- Re: Using Legal Advice [WAS: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities Sharon Villines, March 14 2005
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Re: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities Sharon Villines, March 14 2005
- Re: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities normangauss, March 14 2005
- RE: Concerning Consensus and established CoHo communities Rob Sandelin, March 14 2005
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