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WHAT
CAN THE ASSOCIATION ATTORNEY EXPECT FROM THE CLIENT?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
March 13, 2015
We
are always hearing from all sides what the association/board
should expect from the attorney, but what can the attorney
expect from the board in return – besides prompt payment of
the bills?
In
my opinion the first thing is honesty. It’s difficult for an
attorney to represent the association in litigation if the
attorney is not fully informed about all the details of the case
– and what really happened. Even if the board messed up and
made serious mistakes, the attorney has to know about it.
Nothing is worse for an attorney, if he/she gets ambushed with
facts and/or documents by the opposing party in the middle of a
trial.
Furthermore,
the association attorney should not be afraid of getting fired
for giving the board correct
legal advice, even if the board members may not like to hear
what the attorney tells them. I have seen many cases of an
attorney getting fired for not saying/writing what the board
members want to hear.
It’s
the job of the association attorney to represent the interests
of the association members, not only the board members who may
have a special private agenda. The legal bills are paid by the
members of the association – not just the board members who
think that it is the attorney’s obligation to defend the board
against “unhappy” members.
When
looking for a medical doctor you want a doctor you feel you can
trust. Trust is as well the foundation for a good working
relationship between attorney and board. With other words: The
attorney should expect the board to give him/her all the facts,
not just what the board members like him/her to know!
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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