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boortz law blast


volume 2 issue 4

may 2014

Happy Summer! I hope each of you have kicked off the season with some of your favorite outdoor activities.  

This month, I am focusing on Georgia's solution to dealing with mental health issues within our state justice system and featuring a professional who has developed a very interesting niche law practice in the area of E-commerce and Internet law.

To your success,
Kathryn Boortz
Criminal Defense Attorney
www.boortzlaw.com

 

Last month, my brother-in-law gave us the insider's tour of the Google Campus in Mountain View--complete with a 5 star employee breakfast (he also gives the best Christmas gifts...!)
 

Georgia's Solution to the Inmate Mental Health Crisis

Across the nation, the number of convicted inmates with mental health problems has been on the incline. In 2005, over half of inmates nationally suffered from some type of mental disability; which is defined by symptoms classified under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), or clinical diagnosis within 12 months of incarceration. In Georgia, 18-20% of the jailed population suffers from mental illness. To combat this epidemic, states across the nation, including Georgia, are implementing mental health courts in order to give the proper treatment to mentally ill inmates and decrease recidivism. Other types of specialized courts that already exist include drug courts, domestic violence courts, and community courts.

In the state of Georgia, mental health courts are currently established across 8 counties: Bibb, Chatham, Clarke, Cobb, DeKalb, Dougherty, Fulton, Hall, and Muscogee. The newest is in Cobb County, under the leadership of Superior Court Judge Mary Staley. Cobb Superior Court administrator Tom Charron is quoted as saying “The goal of a mental health court is to keep non-violent offenders who have committed a felony, and who have a mental illness like bipolar disorder, out of jail and in a treatment program.”  In order to be considered to participate in the mental health court system, one must have an attorney referral, be a resident of the county, be interviewed by county and court staff, and not have committed a violent act. This 2-year program provides treatment options like psychopharmacology and counseling. Treatment plans are established with guidance from the Cobb County Community Services Board, which is the organization that advises felons in the regular state-run prison system. Plans are established on a case-by-case basis.

Funding for courts differs in each occasion. For example, the DeKalb Diversion Treatment Court (established in 2001), received a $1M dollar grant over 3 years from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Whereas Cobb County works directly with the existing Community Services Board to distribute funds for  mentally ill patients between the regular court system and the Mental Health court, in addition to other county  and federal funding.

So far, these types of courts have seen success. For example, DeKalb county reported a 71% retention rate and 8% recidivism rate for those who have gone through the Mental Health Court program.

Professional In the Spotlight: Andrew Jaffe


Attorney Andrew Jaffe is an E-Commerce and Internet Attorney based in Fairlawn, Ohio. Focusing solely on this emerging legal field, he has created a unique practice and is sought after by business owners across the country. He assists clients with the creation of both privacy policies and terms of service for their websites and handles reputation management and social media matters.  Attorney Jaffe is also well equipped as a trial lawyer in the area of anti-spam litigation and provides educational seminars on the intricacies of the Can-Spam Act of 2003. I have had the pleasure of serving as co-counsel with Andrew this past year in a federal matter and have benefitted greatly from his knowledge and expertise in this arena.  For more information on his practice and this growing area of law, check out his website (http://www.netlaws.us/) and blog (http://www.netlaws.us/blog/).

Q:  What type of business are you in?
A:  I have been a licensed attorney since 1977.  In 2003, I found that nobody was calling themselves an Internet Attorney, and I thought I could fill that niche and began to limit my practice to E-Commerce and Internet law.  I was a nerd in high school and nobody would play with me.  However, now I am a geek, and that is respectable.
 
Over the past 12 years as an E-Commerce and Internet lawyer I have helped hundreds of web site owners by writing their Terms of Service and Privacy policies as well as defending over 30 clients charged with bad actions on the web all over the country (using co-counsel when needed.)  Further, I have represented both buyers and sellers of Internet sites with the contracts they need to transfer their E-commerce business.
 
Q:  What is the most rewarding part of your career/job?
A:  In the old days, 10 years ago, clients who were beginning a new business, such as a book store, would go out and find a retail space.  When the landlord handed them a lease they understood it was time to hire a business lawyer.  In today’s E-commerce world, you can buy a domain name and have a web site up in less than a day.  That moment of knowing you need an attorney is not part of this process.
 
It has given me great pleasure to work with new clients who are in the start up phase of creating an E-commerce site.  I love working with these people, taking them by the hand and walking them through all the steps needed to open their new business.  I have even created an introductory special for people who are setting up new E-commerce sites, giving them a special price as well as individual service.  It gladdens my heart to see these people succeed as new entrepreneurs.
 
Q:  Who in your life has influenced you the most? How did they do it?
A:  My most influential character was my father; and he was a character.  Part of that “greatest generation” he went off to fight in WWII right after high school graduation and went straight into business after returning from the war.  He was the classic entrepreneur, who, with no formal advanced education, created and succeeded in many different businesses.  I grew up getting a business education at the dinner table, and in future years, often worked closely with my father.  He was both my mentor and my best friend, and I miss him dearly.
 
Q:  Tell us one thing your colleagues or other professionals don't know about you.
A:  While I graduated from law school in 1977, I did not go directly into the practice of law.  I first worked with my father in the import/export shoe business for 15 years.  After we sold that business, I bought into a biomedical company and rose through the marketing department to become the chief executive officer of a highly successful technical corporation.  We sold that company in 1998, and I, having kept my license to practice law current for 20 years, went on to the practice of law, finally becoming the geek that I am today as an E-Commerce and Internet Lawyer.
 
Q:  Where is the most exotic place you have ever traveled?
A:  When I was the CEO of the biomedical company I opened offices in both Europe and the Far East, traveling extensively in both areas.  I traveled the Pacific Rim and found Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia far more mysterious than anywhere I had traveled in Europe.  As Europeans do not understand the vast distances between destinations in the U.S., I did not understand the vast distances in the Pacific Rim.  And while I can tell you the local time right now in any European city, the International Date Line has always confused me, and when I was calling my Far East office, I never knew what day it was, let alone what time it was.  Finally, Pacific Rim food can seem very unusual to we Americans – Monkey brains anyone?  I stuck to grilled fish and rice my entire trip.

Please contact me if you would like to nominate a professional to be featured in this monthly e-newsletter.

Motivation and Inspiration


"The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time."
---James Taylor

"When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven't."
---Thomas Edison

"The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."
---Socrates

 



Thanks for checking out my newsletter. If I can ever be a resource to you, please let me know. I am a criminal defense trial attorney and handle cases at both the state and federal level.  I also have a thriving juvenile defense practice and enjoy working with families.
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Copyright © 2014 Kathryn Boortz, Attorney at Law, All rights reserved.


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