Otherwise Occupied - CCLP

Return of the cult: Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals makes an appearance at USF

gregh — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 09:46:30 -0500

See my previous coverage here. The comments on this post show the pattern to watch out for. See this for more information the parent group, NATLFED.

On Sunday, I noticed a poster in the lounge for one of their legal info sessions on "Civil Rights" (in big letters.) Monday afternoon, the poster was gone; it may be that the event was just this past weekend. I almost wish I had been in the lounge when it was posted. Almost.

Recent searches

gregh — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 16:53:38 -0500

From the web logs:

http://www.google.com/search (diet coke nectar of the gods)

Clearly someone thinking the right way.

http://www.google.com/search (coalition of concerned legal professionals)

I'm pleased to see some folks able to find something out about this group before getting involved. There have been as many as 4 or 5 hits on this search a day, just in what comes in with referer's (a dying feature, unfortunately.)

http://www.google.com/search (peter jennings desperate housewives cancer)
http://www.blingo.com/search (peter jennings interrupt)

Apparently, I wasn't the only one irritated.

And then there are the random people hitting my class notes from last year:

http://www.google.co.in/search (indian contract act,carlill vs carbolic smoke ball co.)

Like this person, who appears to be looking for two different things related to contracts. For those unaware, the Carbolic Smoke Ball case is a class contracts mainstay. So classic, people have built a business around its name. Likely, few people other than law students and lawyers are going to ever find it.

There's also the confused, like this person, who can't quite remember the name:

http://www.google.co.in/search (carlill vs carbolic gas company)

Lots and lots more cases. I won't go through all of them.

The CCLP calls back

gregh — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 19:24:17 -0500

If you've been following my story, you might be surprised that Hope from the Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals just called to tell me about the "exciting" events they've got coming up. If you've missed this, I talked about it here, here, and here.

I had thought I was done with them. Clearly I was wrong. However, I was so taken aback, I didn't have time to gather my thoughts as planned so I could tell Hope about the sort of organization she's working with. I just told her, "I'm no longer interested in being involved with the CCLP." I'm so disappointed with myself.

CCLP cont'd.

gregh — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 01:46:18 -0500

This has been a fascinating exploration. I just keep digging up more and more stuff. I am so glad I had that hinky feeling Monday night, so that I could buy time to work before committing to do more work for this group.

Waiting for Dorothy:

i am currently recovering from a brush with a political cult operating out of roxbury. remember that great volunteer experience i was so excited about? it turned out to be a front for a 30-year-old marxist political cult. i know i should have known something was up when they said they refused to have an internet presence. anyway, i'm deep in the middle of research on the history of this group. needless to say, this has left me more than a little shaken. more details will follow. i'd also like to hear about the experiences of anyone who is a former member of the National Labor Federation, aka NATLFED, or any of its front organizations. email me at natlfed.project@gmail.com.

And finally, Lots of good stuff on NATLFED from the Wayback Machine.

More on CCLP

gregh — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 22:58:20 -0500

Where the CCLP is the Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals.

I hadn't heard of them until I bumped into them in front of the grocery store back in May after finishing up a study session during finals. They made a good pitch. Access to legal services is becoming more and more difficult, especially for the poor. I was told about their advising sessions and stuff, was showed a very glossy publication, etc. Having been thinking that volunteering somewhere might help me get some real-world experience, I signed up. They called me once in the middle of finals, at which point they got a curt "Leave me alone!" They called me again a week ago, let me know about what was going on, and I agreed to volunteer at a "legal advice" session on Saturday.

The legal advice session was fine. The group struck me as weird, but fine. Absolutely no government money, etc. I was a bit taken aback by the operations director (a full-time volunteer) when I was there. She started talking about eminent domain and the like, but she hadn't heard about Kelo v. New London. That struck me as odd. Anyhow, I found it strange that in the middle of this session, Michelle got very adamant about me coming by their office to figure out what I'll do to help out. I thought that was pretty presumptuous, but I agreed to come by Monday night. I did so.

Earlier, I wrote up my feelings after the Monday meeting, including:

After volunteering last weekend, I went in today to discuss what I might be able to do to help. Things were normal enough on Saturday, in spite of some comments that made them come off a bit radical in many ways for my tastes. Today, I got what amounted to a sales pitch, followed by what struck me as some strong-arm, almost cultish tactics. Not, “Hey, come help us at our literature table Saturday.” Not, “How about you send out these daily letters?” I was asked which part of their strategies I wanted to run. This is my second day with them.

My early searches for a website were not fruitful, so I gave up. However, throughout the day today, I kept thinking that there's got to be more about this group that I was missing. There was just too much craziness, and it seemed way to strange. Plus, somehow, they had to maintain these offices. I decided to do some more digging tonight. This time, I found stuff on the anti-cult activist Rick Ross's site.

Then I found this. Michelle, the "operations director", told me how she used to work for the "Western Service Workers Association" in Oakland. Some of the descriptions, down to the talk of the "cadre" in those postings are right in line with the education session I had on Monday night.

I guess I should have worked harder to know more before I got involved. Tomorrow, I am expecting a call from Michelle to find out what I've decided I want to take on management of. That should be fun. I haven't decided whether to bring this stuff up, or just to say I've decided I'm not interested.

Update: The fun never ends.

Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals

gregh — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 23:55:19 -0500

UPDATE: I quickly learned how goofy this group is. And the information kept coming.

I volunteered for these folks last weekend. I'd point you to their website, but they don't have one. They don't want one. Something about not wanting a web presence makes me questions a group's motives.

After volunteering last weekend, I went in today to discuss what I might be able to do to help. Things were normal enough on Saturday, in spite of some comments that made them come off a bit radical in many ways for my tastes. Today, I got what amounted to a sales pitch, followed by what struck me as some strong-arm, almost cultish tactics. Not, "Hey, come help us at our literature table Saturday." Not, "How about you send out these daily letters?" I was asked which part of their strategies I wanted to run. This is my second day with them.

I don't know. ~~They do strike me as being legitimate.~~ I do think they're sincere in what they believe in, which is that most Americans have lost significant access to the legal system. But there's just something that strikes me as "off" about the organization. I can't put my finger on it. I just know that I felt uncomfortable tonight.

There was one thing in particular that irritated me. I mentioned I was busy; I've got work, with lots of stuff to get out of the way before school starts. I've got school in less than a month. I've got a few random things planned for the next month. And I felt like I was being guilted, like if I didn't drop the things interfering, I simply wasn't committed enough to solving any perceived problems.

I pushed off to Wednesday giving an answer. I felt that the one event Saturday (a legal advice session in Bayview) followed by a meeting and a presumption that I was ready to take charge of something was just too fast, as if they felt they had to lock people in at first contact. It was all just too much for me. I think I'll be calling tomorrow to say they can count me out.