Data of attorneys should be on the Web also

Thanks to Hilary Gowins of Shawmedia for giving me the idea.

Imagine a website where consumers could type in the name of an attorney and learn everything they needed to know before making an appointment: an attorney's educational background, certification of specialties (there are only two recognized...patent law and admiralty law), any publications written, and in what States and courts they have privileges to practice their profession.

What if they also could view any disciplinary actions, including convictions of felony crimes or misdemeanors and judgements or settlements in malpractice cases?

Unfortunately Illinois residents don't have such a tool at their disposal.

I would hope that Governor Pat Quinn would sign legislation of a similar nature regarding the legal profession in the near future; but don't hold your breath since many of our legislators are attorneys.

Just think what an advantage this would be to a client and his/her family would have in selecting an attorney skilled in the area of law they are seeking.

I just have one question: if it is such a good idea to have such a list available for patients seeking physicians seeking specialty trained individuals why is it not just as good an idea to have a list of attorneys for clients seeking attorneys that have experience, if not specialty training, in certain areas of law. An individual would not go to see a dermatologist if they had a broken bone...would they?

Thanks again Ms. Hilary Gowins of Shawmedia for giving me the idea for this blog.

Is there a double standard Gov. Quinn?

Is there a double standard Governor Quinn between sex offenders who are physicians and those who are attorneys? According to an article written by Tribune reporter Megan Twohey in Friday's July 22, 2011 Chicago Tribune...in the TRIBUNE WATCHDOG UPDATES section titled Sex offenders will lose their medical licenses there must be a double standard.

The article states that "Doctors and other health care workers convicted of sex crimes, forcible felonies or battery of a patient (client) will be stripped of their medical licences in Illinois under a sweeping new law." emphasis (client) added

"Gov. Pat Quinn signed the measure Thursday in response to a Tribune investigation that found predatory doctors, even those convicted of crimes, often faced little or no punishment from state regulators, said his spokeswoman, Brooke Anderson." No mention of weather the Tribune investigated the legal profession in regards to predatory attorneys convicted of crimes and weather or not they often faced little or no punishment from state regulators...I wonder why that was not mentioned; I wonder if the trial lawyers could have donated significantly more to the Governor's political campaign.

According to the article in the Chicago Tribune "The governor wants patients (why not attorney clients) to feel safe and to be safe," she said. (emphasis attorney clients) added  "After the things that were brought to light in the tribune, he supported the bill." I wonder if the governor feels the same way about attorneys that commit crimes. I wonder if the Tribune has the "guts" to do an in debt investigation of attorneys that commit crimes and if they ever even come to the light of day for investigation much less prosecution and loosing their law licenses. I think that would be an interesting study and one that would be fair and balanced....don't you? Go ahead and do it Chicago Tribune...I dare you...I double dare you!

DOCTORS..VENDORS....LABOR DAY THOUGHT

Since mankind lived in caves thousands of years before writing and language skills developed there existed the "healer", "witchdoctor", "medicine man", "shaman" or any one of a thousand other names that person may have been called...most of them long since forgotten over the eons since they walked and practiced what we today call medicine. They were individuals in a tribe or clan that had the secret knowledge passed onto them from their father or mother; in a true sense ...a family affair that continued as long as that family continued to exist. When the family died out that line of healing died out with it. Their skills were composed of many parts: mysticism, religion, observation of nature and the creatures around them and to some extent experimentation and magic and common sense. These skills though ancient and seemingly crude serviced mankind for thousands of years and apparently worked to some degree to get us through in spite of their inadequacies.

With the advancement of mankind and writing came the codification of all this knowledge passed on (verbally) over the ages; much of it nonsense and some of it true. Science as we understand it only began about 500 t0 600 years ago with observation of the world around us and gradually the scientific method evolved which involved theories and experimentation to verify the theory (hypothesis).

Today the healer of yesterday is called doctor or physician or even more recently denigrated to the level of a "vendor" and in that vending machine delivering an item or service. I personally would rather be called a "healer", "shaman" or anyone of multiple other terms lost to antiquity than a "vendor". The family of the ancient "healer" has now become the corporation which controls it's "vendors" by owning and controlling it's vending machines....hospitals, clinics, emergent care centers and anyone of many other entities. They are generally run and controlled by MBAs and accountants and laymen (business men) with their own agendas...not necessarily the same healing ones of the doctor...oh excuse me... the "vendor". This has been called progress. I sometimes wonder if it is progress in the right direction and with the correct people at the helm. If the people want a Walmart mentality servicing their health they will get the service they deserve.

In the last century or so we have seen more changes in medicine than have occurred in thousands of years. Let us not change it so much that the human element, the person to person connection along with the compassion is lost forever for then we who are "healers" will be forever delegated to the realm of "vendor" and the "vending machine" will take us into the future. A terrifying thought to me.