Lawyer Diaries: Pro Bono Case

This Lawyer Diaries blog post is about one lawyer's pro bono case helping an old man against a contractor's lawsuit. It's an excerpt from Professor Andrew McLurg's 1L of a Ride.

***

Incoming students naturally feel like they should be doing something to get ready for law school before they get there. They should be, but not necessarily the things they think they should be doing. Below are two pre-arrival ??To Do???lists, one for intangibles and one for tangibles. Law students and law student advice usually focus on the tangibles, but the intangibles are just as important and harder to accomplish.

Pre-Arrival ??To Do?? List: The Intangibles

Be excited!
Be excited about going to law school. It?s a big deal and you should treat it that way. Approach it with enthusiasm. Not dread (distinguishing dread from a healthy apprehension) and certainly not apathy?nothing would be worse than that. My experience observing law students has taught me that President Harry Truman got it right when he said he had studied the lives of great men and women and ??found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm.??

Law school is an entry pass to an exclusive club offering unique challenges, opportunities, and rewards. Your degree will grant you the power to single-handedly change people?s lives for the better. That?s what ordinary lawyers do every day.

In my original draft of this chapter, to inspire you, I talked about some big, important lawyers and how their big, important cases changed history. It was all true. Experience has shown time and again that lawyers are the only group with the conviction and courage to consistently stand up and fight for justice when it?s unpopular to do so. Lawyers created the liberties we cherish and have fought to protect them for more than two hundred years. Thirty-three of the fifty-five framers of the U.S. Constitution were lawyers. Tales about lawyers who altered the path of America could fill this book.

But a conversation in the hallway with a 2L caused me to change course. As I was walking into class, he came up and recounted a dispute he?d been having with his landlord. He said he was able to resolve it because a lawyer offered to help him without charge because he was a struggling law student. The student told me: ??Professor, I?m going to remember that when I become a lawyer. I?m going to remember what it felt like to have no money and no power and no voice and how that lawyer helped me.??

That brought back to me the real heart and soul of what it means to be a lawyer. Big cases change history, but the smallest and simplest cases often have the biggest impact on ordinary people. I decided to cut the history lesson and tell you instead about a very tiny case I handled as a young lawyer. It was a pro bono case, meaning there was no fee involved. The Jacksonville, Florida legal aid organization called and asked if I would help an elderly man being sued by a home improvement contractor for breach of contract. I was tempted to say I was too busy?which I was, such is the life of a young litigation associate as many of you will learn?but I accepted the case.

My client was a man in his eighties whom I?ll call Clarence Jackson. Mr. Jackson had shown up at the legal aid office clutching a packet of papers, explaining to the intake interviewer that he had signed a contract with a home improvement contractor to have some repairs done on his house for $1,000, a lot of money back then, especially for a man living on Social Security. He said the contractor didn?t complete the work properly, so he refused to pay. The contractor hauled off and sued him and, in a letter, threatened to take his house away.

I drove out to the house on a hot, humid summer morning to meet Mr. Jackson. The house was in a neighborhood on ??the other side of town?? that I had never visited. Honestly, it wasn?t much of a house. It was very small and very old, but exceptionally well-kept. Mr. Jackson greeted me at the door and I took an instant liking to him. He was a gentle, softspoken man of diminutive stature. He wore overalls and I felt ridiculous standing on the porch sweating in my lawyer power suit. He invited me in, showed me pictures of his kids and grandchildren, and gave me some iced tea.

We sat in the living room looking over the contract and the legal complaint, then he took me on a tour of the premises. He pointed out the shoddy workmanship by the contractor: bare, wrong-size fascia boards nailed haphazardly at the roof line, a toilet that poured water out the bottom every time it was flushed, a window that was inches too small for the opening, etc. I remember getting mad. The nerve of that contractor to not only do such slapdash work, but sue Mr. Jackson and scare the heck out of him by threatening to take his home away.

I took some pictures with a Polaroid camera and went back to my office to prepare an affidavit for Mr. Jackson to sign and a motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit. Summary judgment is a way for a court to dispose of a case without a trial. We had a hearing on the motion in the judge?s chambers. At the end, the judge granted our motion? dismissing the case?but with all the legalese the old man misunderstood. He thought we lost. When the judge adjourned the hearing, Mr. Jackson put his hand on my shoulder and said, ??Thank you, Mr. McClurg, I know you did a good job. I guess some things just can?t be helped.?? I said, ??Mr. Jackson, it?s okay. We won.??

This excerpt is posted with permission from Thomson Reuters which holds the copyright for the work.

Source: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/lawyer-diaries-pro-bono-case.html

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How To Successfully Gauge Real Estate Before Purchasing | Bob ...

With the present U.S. economy, there has never been a better time to buy real estate, so join the rising ranks of home owners. This is a very profitable market and comes with lower rates and a lower investment to begin with. The information included here will enable you to determine the best ways to get involved in the real estate market.

It is not necessary to purchase a home with fireplaces in every room. You will probably never use it and they can be difficult to keep clean.

If you are serious about purchasing a property, get a professional building inspector to have a look at it. It is best to hire a professional, rather than a friend or relative, because you won?t have much recourse if the person you ask to do the work misses something important.

Keep tabs on pre-foreclosures. Pre-foreclosure properties are definitely a real estate option to be considered, especially if you have the time to search for the right investment property. When an owner is at high risk of having their home taken back by the bank thanks to delinquent payments is a situation known as pre-foreclosure property. You can search on the internet or talk to any lender for pre-foreclosure properties. You can also advertise your willingness to pay cash for homes. A good tactic is to talk with the owner of the property and offer them slightly more than they owe on their loan. This is a great bargain, since many people don?t owe the full market value of their homes.

Make sure ahead of time that you can come up with the down payment your mortgage company will need. If you do not have a significant down payment, your mortgage company will require that you purchase private mortgage insurance. This adds up to extra money you will need to pay monthly in order to show the lender you can make the mortgage payments.

A mortgage calculator can help you to determine if a home is in your budget. They can calculate for you based on your income, expenses, and even debt. Then you have a good idea of what you are able to comfortably afford if you don?t stretch yourself thin.

During your first meeting with an agent make sure to ask all the questions which are pertinent to your situation. Ask them not only the number of homes they have sold in the past year, but also, how many were the type of home you are looking to buy. Professional agents will be able to quickly answer these questions.

Just because the seller chose not to accept your offer, it does not mean that you cannot find a way to compromise. So, do not lose hope yet. The seller might be willing to do some repairs or cover the closing costs, in order to make the sale possible.

Deciding what to offer when preparing to buy a home is important. If you work together with the seller, you are sure to reach a selling price that you both feel comfortable with.

Do your homework before buying a property. There are several important factors to consider when purchasing rental property. The first one being sustainability. You will want to know if the property is in good condition and how much upkeep it would need. Secondly, where is the property located? This especially goes for rental properties. Check for accessibility to bus lines, shopping outlets and services. The third is the average income of the area. This is a key difference from locating by centers of activity, because this indicates higher-rent areas, which are more beneficial for landlords than lower rent areas. You should also keep in mind that concerns about location are not as high a priority for high rent areas. Locational issues do become more of a factor in areas with a lower rent.

When purchasing a house, make sure you have enough room for current and/or future children. Also, look at safety issues, such as a swimming pool or stairs. Looking around at homes previously owned by families is a great way to find a family-friendly environment.

Numerous programs are available to assist with a down payment on property, and you should research them to determine which one you could qualify for. This reduces what you need to save before buying a home, along with closing costs paid by the seller.

Before you begin house hunting, examine your credit report. When you get a copy of your credit history, look through the report the issues you might have. You will need to have your credit in good shape when starting the process of buying a home as this is what helps you secure a loan.

Being organized will make the course for buying real estate much easier. Keep a notebook dedicated to only the information you accumulate online, from your agent, from friends, and from the newspaper. Doing it this way will put all your information in one place so you are able to find it easier when needing to reference it.

Prior to making the final decision to purchase a particular home, you should thoroughly research the neighborhood that it is located in. You need to find a neighborhood that meet your needs so that you will be totally satisfied with your home for the long haul. Be aware of what you are buying, including the surrounding homes, businesses and people.

Those who are wise and jump into this swirling market should follow the above article closely. It will help you avoid trouble and walk away with real estate that is under-priced and growing constantly in value. The key is to purchase the property and hold until the time is right before you make your big

Bob Spiro

For MLM Pros Team Founder

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Source: http://www.empowernetwork.com/formlmpros/blog/how-to-successfully-gauge-real-estate-before-purchasing/

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Tips About How To Enhance Personal Development iWebdeveloper ...

Exactly what is self improvement? It is what you need to do when your existence has fallen right into a rut and you will need a challenge. Out of the attic room of recollection, you could attract some early on want to accomplish, in sports or even the artistry or community service. This is the time to change this need into real good results. Here are some tips to help you get started off.

You need to know with regards to self improvement to not assume effects over night. It could be an extremely annoying experience, but established yourself up for success by only wanting improvement with a crawling speed. When you anticipate a lot of from oneself too quickly you will be far very likely to give up on account of deficiency of progress.

Usually do not be happy with living in concern from day to day. Uncover your worries, then look for ways to specifically address the underlying reasons for your apprehension. Choose just to tournament all those concerns that happen to be holding you back or do not have realistic grounds. Experiencing one?s anxieties go-on can relieve a big problem from the shoulder muscles.

Alter can be intrinsically scary, only one key to profitable self improvement is mastering that fear. Self improvement is the ability of cultivating good variations in oneself. This is simply not an art form which can be utilized without having knowing that the outside entire world is consistently changing way too. Embracing modify outside can result in better outcomes inspiring change inside.

A great suggestion which can help you with the personal development objectives is usually to share your tale with another person. By revealing your story with other individuals, you?ll convey more assist because people will know about your desired goals. You might also get the chance to stimulate other folks.

As you set about any self improvement prepare, you will end up greater ready in case your body and mind have the freedom from synthetic influences. Do away with habits and vices, like tobacco, caffeine, leisure time prescription drugs, as well as any other elements that may alter your impression and affect your concentrate. As an added benefit, you will be far healthier and pleased with your efforts!

A great idea that will help you together with your self improvement targets is usually to see the positive area in every single circumstance. If you?re attempting to greater your way of life in some way, usually check out the positive part because it will inspire you. Studying the bad area will just make you stay lower.

To help you within your personal development targets you must do significant amounts of studying on the subject and select books published by people with a PhD. There may be a great deal of substance on the subject that gives you knowledge of what has prevented you producing these modifications sooner and the ways to overcome these problems.

Simply because every person is different, the options for private growth might appear practically endless. Don?t allow this to vastness keep you rear. The tips you might have just read through will help you establish your main goal, but only you are able to come up with the objective that is certainly just right for you. Allow the following tips guide, although not restrict, your efforts.

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Source: http://iwebdeveloper.co.uk/2012/10/13/tips-about-how-to-enhance-personal-development/

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Mitt Romney 'Free' To Use Kid Rock's Song

'I make music to have people hear it,' he tells MTV News about 'Born Free.'
By James Montgomery

Kid Rock
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1695488/kid-rock-mitt-romney-born-free.jhtml

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Revisionary Parenting | Code Name: Mama

October 12th, 2012 by Dionna | 7 Comments
Posted in Consensual Living, Consistent and Loving Care, Current, Guest Posts, Just for Fun/Miscellaneous, natural parenting, Reviews and Giveaways, Strive for Balance

Today I?m happy to host a guest article from Gennifer Albin, a friend of mine and the author of Crewel. Read about Gennifer?s journey from SAHM to WAHM to WOHM (sometimes!) and how AP helped smooth the transition. And be sure to enter the giveaway at the end of today?s post ? you could win a set of children?s books, as well as Gennifer?s new novel, Crewel.

_________________________

When I first started writing seriously I had a precocious three year-old and an infant. My early attempts at writing involved sitting down to nurse my daughter with my macbook perched on a folding tray table. I got pretty good at typing with one hand, and as I nursed on demand, I also got a lot of writing time. Unfortunately, it was a precarious set-up and one afternoon while standing with wiggling baby in one arm, boppy on my lap, and three year-old at my feet, I realized too late I?d misjudged how close I had moved the table. My chair knocked into it and a glass of water sitting next to my macbook baptized the keyboard. And thus began my transition to out-of-house writer.

Which leads to the first way parenting has changed for me since I started writing:

I became better at mutual parenting.

I have a very supportive husband who?s always been on board with breastfeeding, bed sharing, baby wearing and all my natural parenting inclinations. He would grab the sling and the baby when we went out to eat so I could finish my meal. He loved having the babies in bed with us. He fed me spoonfuls of food during the early nursing weeks when I was still figuring everything out. But for all his obvious enthusiasm, as a stay-at-home mom I clung to mommy guilt when it came time to ask for me time. After all, how could I ask him to stay home with the kids after he?d worked all day? He rebutted this every time with a reminder that I was doing important work, too.

After the water incident, he encouraged me to go out to the library and work an hour or two each night. I resisted at first, but slowly we fell into the swing of it. We perfected how long I could be away before baby needed to nurse. We communicated if our needs changed. For instance, if one of the children was having a particularly rough time, he might ask if I could come home early. And as things got serious with the book, I relaxed into letting him take over the primary care so I could focus on my career.

Now we?re both at home writing and learning how to keep a household running. I no longer cling to what I feel are my responsibilities as a mom. We work together to meet our children?s emotional and physical needs, and it?s working for us.

As book deals happened and editorial letters arrived, I learned to ask for help, and I stopped trying to be perfect. You might think I learned those things from becoming a better mutual parent, and certainly all these transitions are tangled up in one another, but at the end of the day, I?ve always been the one who does it all. The kid who does the whole group project to ensure it?s done correctly and on time. That was me. Even as I became better at sharing parenting with my husband, I wasn?t good at asking for his ? or anyone else?s ? help, which had a lot to do with wanting things to be perfect. Well, one thing I?ve realized is that in my pursuit of control, I often took on too much, ensuring nothing I did came out perfectly. Yes, delegating a task to someone else means it will be done their way, but that?s not always a bad thing.

I also learned that it?s okay to need help. My family and I went through a lot before I sold Crewel, and I got pretty good at putting on a brave face and pretending everything was fine ? that I didn?t need help. Once deadlines started hitting, I figured out pretty quickly that not only did I need help, but that no one minds if you ask for it. My family and friends love me and they want to help, and realizing that helped me find my tribe.

I?d been a loner most of my stay-at-home mom years, venturing out occasionally to a play date or group activity but never gelling with anyone. Part of opening myself up to help was opening myself up to relationships. I made new friends with similar lifestyles, interests, and values. Existing relationships evolved and grew. My mother and I discovered that writing and painting share many of the same joys and trials. My children?s extended family grew beyond the obligatory family holidays to include adoptive aunts and uncles and cousins. Now I have a whole network of people that lend me support every day whether it be emotional or practical.

But the one thing that never really changed was how Attachment Parenting naturally fit into my lifestyle as my family transitioned through the publishing process. I breastfed my daughter for two beautiful years. My children slept in our bed until they wanted their own. My son still occasionally crawls in with us in the wee hours, and our daughter dreams in her own toddler bed at the foot of ours. Most of the changes I experienced in parenting were my own; AP provided a foundation for my children during these transitions.

We find adventure in the everyday, and our attachment roots have produced four independent, curious people that are happy to explore the world, always knowing we?re secure in our relationships with each other.

_________________________

Gennifer Albin is a recovering academic who realized she could write books of her own and discovered, delightfully, that people would read them. She lives in Kansas with her family and writes full-time. Her debut novel, Crewel, the first in a trilogy, will be published in October 2012 by FSG/Macmillan.
You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook. She also blogs infrequently at genniferalbin.com and weekly at The League of Extraordinary Writers.

_________________________

Enter to Win!

Now that you?ve read Gennifer?s story, enter to win a set of books from her publisher, Macmillan. They are giving one of my lucky readers the following:

CREWEL/Gennifer Albin
BEAR HAS A STORY TO TELL/Erin & Phil Stead
A IS FOR MUSK OX/Erin Cabatingan
ABE LINCOLN?S DREAM/Lane Smith
HELLO BABY/Roger Priddy

All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment on today?s post. Respond to Gennifer?s story, or tell me one way that attachment parenting has helped you and/or your children make a transition.

Enter by commenting no later than 11:59p.m. on Monday, October 15, 2012.

(Psst . . . Crewel comes out the next day!)

photo credit: Chiot?s Run via photopin cc

Disclosure: I was provided with an advance copy of Crewel. All Amazon links are affiliate links.

Source: http://codenamemama.com/2012/10/12/revisionary-parenting/

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Egypt's Islamists play to anti-Israel sentiment

FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 file photo, Mohammed Badie speaks during a press conference at the group's parliamentary office in Cairo, Egypt. A leading Jewish organization is calling Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012 on the White House to cut contacts with Egypt's most powerful political movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, over anti-Semitic remarks attributed to its spiritual guide. Mohammed Badie said that Jews were spreading "corruption," had slaughtered Muslims and profaned holy sites, according to comments published on the group's website and emailed to reporters. He further called on Muslims to fight Israel, saying Zionists only understood force. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 file photo, Mohammed Badie speaks during a press conference at the group's parliamentary office in Cairo, Egypt. A leading Jewish organization is calling Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012 on the White House to cut contacts with Egypt's most powerful political movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, over anti-Semitic remarks attributed to its spiritual guide. Mohammed Badie said that Jews were spreading "corruption," had slaughtered Muslims and profaned holy sites, according to comments published on the group's website and emailed to reporters. He further called on Muslims to fight Israel, saying Zionists only understood force. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010 file photo, Muslim Brotherhood General Guide Mohammed Badie talks during an interview with the Associated Press at his office in Cairo Egypt. A leading Jewish organization is calling Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012 on the White House to cut contacts with Egypt's most powerful political movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, over anti-Semitic remarks attributed to its spiritual guide. Mohammed Badie said that Jews were spreading "corruption," had slaughtered Muslims and profaned holy sites, according to comments published on the group's website and emailed to reporters. He further called on Muslims to fight Israel, saying Zionists only understood force.(AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

CAIRO (AP) ? A fiery tirade against Jews by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's leader highlights one of the foremost diplomatic challenges facing the country's new Islamist President Mohammed Morsi as he balances popular sentiment with the need for security relations with Israel.

The Brotherhood's supreme leader Mohammed Badie called on Muslims worldwide this week to defend Jerusalem, saying "Zionists only know the way of force." He said that Jews were spreading "corruption," had slaughtered Muslims and desecrated holy sites.

Badie's condemnation went well beyond the harsh criticism of Israel and its policies that is common in Egypt, opening even greater friction between the country's most powerful political group and its Jewish neighbor. And it will likely put more pressure on Morsi, who ran for president as a Brotherhood candidate, to take a more assertive role than his predecessor had in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Morsi made no public comments about Badie's remarks, the strongest criticism against Israel since Morsi took office in June. His spokesman, Yasser Ali, did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Eli Shaked, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, said the Brotherhood's statement was aimed at deflecting attention from Morsi's troubles in his first 100 days in office, from fuel shortages to mounting piles of garbage on the streets.

"Every time there is domestic tension in the new Egypt, Israel and the Jews will be targeted and every time the Egyptian street is tense or protests the Muslim Brotherhood will bring the anti-Semitic genie out of the bottle," he said Saturday.

Israel has increasingly become worried about the ascendance of the formerly repressed Brotherhood to power after last year's ouster of Hosni Mubarak, who was often pictured warmly greeting Israeli officials in Cairo.

The two nations share security concerns about their volatile border area, and both control entry and exit points for the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Islamic militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula have carried out attacks this past year against security forces from both countries.

Tensions were stoked last year when the Israeli embassy was ransacked by Egyptian protesters after a cross-border shootout that killed six Egyptian policemen. This summer, 16 Egyptian soldiers were gunned down in Sinai by suspected Islamic militants during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Israeli officials grumbled that Egypt had increased the number of troops there to battle the militants without coordinating the move first with Israeli officials, as the nations' 1979 peace accord stipulates.

Morsi has avoided speaking of Israel in public, only making pledges to respect Egypt's international agreements and the peace accord. The treaty, the first between Israel and an Arab country, has been a foundation for regional stability for more than three decades.

This summer, new tensions arose when Israel said Morsi wrote back to Israeli President Shimon Peres, who had sent the Egyptian president a letter wishing him well on the start of Ramadan. Morsi's office denied sending the message.

The 69-year-old Badie, who served 15 years in prison in his 20s for his Islamist views and was elected to his post in 2010, is the Brotherhood's eighth supreme leader since its founding in 1928. His statement reflects the group's overall position toward Palestinian aspirations for statehood and control of East Jerusalem, a holy site for both Muslims and Jews. He does not have sole authority over group decisions, but presides over the group's top council that vets major issues.

Badie's statement was published on the group's website and emailed to reporters on Thursday, coinciding with the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage. Muslims used to pray toward al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem before praying toward Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

"It is time for the Muslim ... to unite for the sake of Jerusalem and Palestine after the Jews have increased the corruption in the world, and shed the blood of (Muslims)," Badie said. The comments were denounced as hate speech by organizations that track anti-Semitism.

Peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians have stalled over Israel's refusal to stop Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which Palestinians claim as their future state.

Gamal Soltan, a political science professor at the American university in Cairo, said the Brotherhood may be playing to a regional audience in evoking the Palestinian crisis.

"Morsi as president, trying to act as a statesman, is responsible for running the country. Badie has more freedom to express views," Soltan said.

Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon called on the United States and the European Union to take action, adding that such "incitement and anti-Semitism in Egypt" must stop before Washington sends more financial aid to Cairo.

"The direction of the new Egyptian government is very worrying and we are following with great concern what is being said and done and what is not being done there against extremists," he said in a telephone interview Saturday.

Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan said Israel's suspected possession of nuclear weapons coupled with wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and "the slaughter of Palestinians and expansion of settlements" means that relations with Egypt cannot be "normal."

Ghozlan insisted the Egyptians would adhere to the terms of the 1979 treaty, "but we are dealing with Israel at the limits of the treaty.

"Improved relations were with the former regime ... against the will of the people, the will of Arab people and the will of Palestinians. Now relations are different."

Beyond religious links to Jerusalem, the Brotherhood inspired the formation of Islamic militant groups around the Middle East, including the Palestinian Hamas. Badie, who was once part of a group of radical members charged with seeking to overthrow Egypt's government, has since renounced violence, but supports Hamas in its "resistance" against Israel and met with Hamas premier Ismail Haniyeh last year in Cairo.

Soltan, the political science professor, warned that the Brotherhood and Morsi cannot continue this "duality" for long.

"They continue to be torn apart between ideology on the one hand and politics on the other," he said. "To survive as a president for Egypt he has to pursue a moderate policy vis-a-vis Israel and there will definitely be people in the Brotherhood who don't like that."

___

Associated Press correspondents Sarah El Deeb in Cairo and Diaa Hadid in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-13-ML-Israel-Egypt/id-b5514e1eec7f41318963a80e42665d20

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Scott DesJarlais Admits Romance With Patient, Denies She Had Abortion

WASHINGTON -- Scott DesJarlais, a freshman GOP congressman from Tennessee and doctor, admitted a romance with a patient, but he denied it was out of bounds for his rocky marriage or that the woman got pregnant and had an abortion.

In an email to backers Friday evening, DesJarlais -- an anti-abortion, "family values" congressman -- acknowledged they had reason to think poorly of him. But he pleaded for understanding, claiming his fling with the patient occurred while he was legally separated from his then-wife.

"You have probably seen the recent media coverage regarding details of my divorce from over a decade ago. I had genuinely hoped this election would be about my record in Congress -? not a 12 year old divorce," DesJarlais wrote. He charged that his opponent in next month's election, Democratic state Sen. Eric Stewart, was using dirty tricks against him.

"I know that many of you were disappointed to hear the news regarding allegations of a relationship I had while separated during my divorce proceedings," DesJarlais said. "I am deeply sorry for that."

The Huffington Post on Wednesday revealed a transcript of DesJarlais and the woman discussing her purported pregnancy, and urging her to get an abortion. Sources familiar with the tape had said DesJarlais recorded the call himself, and played it for his wife, Susan, in a failed bid to save their faltering relationship.

In Friday's email, DesJarlais said details reported about the affair are wrong.

"First, there was never any pregnancy and there was no abortion," he said. "Second, my ex-wife and I had been separated for quite some time before this incident. There was an agreement in our separation that both she and I could see other people while finalizing the divorce. To say that I had a mistress or that I had an affair is inaccurate."

According to court records, the couple had a "written" agreement at some point regarding "dating" others. But the court records make clear that the pair had been trying to reconcile for a year when the call was recorded in September 2000, and that both had ceased making charges in court. It's unclear why the reconciliation collapsed, but it happened shortly after the call was recorded.

DesJarlais admitted to at least four affairs, according to the court filings. The judge on the case said DesJarlais' indiscretions caused the marital problems.

DesJarlais said in his email that there was no real attempt at reconciliation and that he was essentially free to be with any woman he wanted.

"Here is what is true," the email said. "While legally separated from my wife, I was involved with a woman who I had briefly treated for a foot injury. The relationship was completely mutual."

Tennessee and American Medical Association guidelines say any intimate relationship between a patient and doctor constitutes sexual misconduct, which may lead to sanctions against the doctor's medical license.

DesJarlais cast the dalliance as brief. He said it ended before he heard from the woman later, making what he said was a dubious claim of pregnancy.

"After approximately four months after we had last seen each other, she told me she was pregnant," DesJarlais said. "I won?t go into details out of respect for those involved, but I had several reliable reasons to believe this was false."

On the transcript of his conversation with the woman, DesJarlais seems to have been consumed with their relationship.

"Well, I've been going crazy. I mean, if Susan could talk to you, she'd tell you that I've been psychotic for months over this," DesJarlais told the woman. "I don't sleep at night. I mean, it's like I'm trying to build my family back together just waiting for it to fall apart, and it's been eating me apart."

DesJarlais said in the email that he didn't record the call. And he said that what appear to be his attempts to force the woman to have an abortion were just poorly chosen strategems to make the woman admit the truth.

"During this conversation I was incredibly frustrated," he wrote in the email. "As such, I used rather strong rhetoric in hopes that it would lead to her admitting the truth ?- that there was no pregnancy. I appreciate that this was an imprudent approach to this situation and I?m not proud of it. In retrospect I should have dealt with these matters in a more diplomatic fashion.

"There is no question that I had a very long and very difficult divorce," he continued. "In fact, it seems almost as if I?ve never run against another candidate -? only a 12 year old divorce.

He goes on to say, "Through grace and redemption, God has truly given me a second chance."

"I have a strong pro-life record in Congress and history of fighting for values important to Tennesseans," he added. "I hope you will judge me on these facts because that is who I am."

DesJarlais said the allegations surfaced because Stewart and his "political mentor," former Rep. Lincoln Davis, were trying to exploit his personal pain for political gain.

"I am not trying to justify my actions or say that I am without fault," DesJarlais said. "But I am not the hypocrite my opponents and some liberal media outlets are portraying me as."

So far, many Republicans have stood by the congressman. House Speaker John Boehner tapped him to gavel in the House on Friday for a brief pro-forma session. But Tennessee officials, including Gov. Bill Naslam and Sen. Lamar Alexander, have kept their distance. The presidential campaign of Mitt Romney also has expunged DesJarlais' endorsement from its website.

Michael McAuliff covers Congress and politics for The Huffington Post. Talk to him on Facebook.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/12/scott-desjarlais-admits-romance-patient_n_1962952.html

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