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Show Order University. f Drtaent utan City ! SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH VOLUME 17, NUMBER 233 Continuing Education To Get ABA Prod The ABA must act as the catalyst at the national level for quality and innovative continuing legal education programs, President Chesterfield Smith declared at a recent conference on continuing education for lawyers. He said the House of Delegates of the Association has directed that its next great effort will be to coordinate, correlate and ensure a massive proeducation for gram of the profession. In addition, he said, the ABA has appointed a Special Com- for the Study of Legal Educa-- i which is examining all facets of tion, lawyer training. Passing a bar exam one time in your life," Smith said, is not sufficient evidence of current competence when the entire body of the law turns completely over every few years." Lawyers, he said, must continually update their knowledge and enhance their skills in order to provide quality service to as many clients as possible. I know of no better way of accomplishing that goal than quality educational programs." Despite what he termed significant and wonderful work by the ABA and the American Law Institute, Smith characterized past continuing legal education programs as less than adequate. In particular, he said, they are too costly, carry low retentive value and involve considerable duplication of effort. Smith called on legal educators to provide leadership for the ABA and all other segments of the organized bar in a national continuing legal education program and noted the necessity for legal academicians to become more active in the bar at all levels. He explained that the new Special Committee for the Study, of Legal' Education will study all facets of legal education and will consider such questions as why all lawyer training is conducted the same way, when the requirements of future practice are widely different. Omnicompetence of the lawyer is a post-admissio- n Consumer Group Publishes 1st Bank Ratings myth, now altogether an impossible dream; and many states are in the process right now of establishing new and different procedures for determining legal proficiency, Smith said. He expects to see a national bar exam in the not too distant future as one of the significant changes facing lawyer certification. But law schools will continue to be the vital hub of the legal profession," he said. As component parts of the ' e organized bar, lawyers and law d .era must work in our changing professional environment. - The first to shopper's guide banking services ever published was released for distribution by San Francisco SAN FRANCISCO Consumer Action (SFCA) recently. Called "Break the Banks," the guide compares consumer services and their cost charged by banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions and other such institutions. Authored by SFCA board old chairman Neil Gendel, a California and former lawyer deputy attorney general, the guide shows that, contrary to popular teach-mitte- hand-in-han- 34-ye- ar Utah Supreme Court Decisions belief, the costs of banking services differ widely. It also reveals pages of what the guide calls unfair and deceptive practices. . . (whereby) consumers post-admissi- suffer unnecessary and bur- densome costs for simple banking . services. According to Gendel, who explained the new publication to the press at SFCA's downtown Sutter Street headquarters, Break the See details page 4. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1973 Banks" will take the confusion and mystery out of banking for millions of consumers of America. One of the great virtues of the guide, Gendel said, is that it's just as useful to consumers outside of California as to those in this state, since many banking practices and services are almost universal. Available from SFCA at $1.50 a copy, the guide makes cost comparisons between banks for different types of loans and for savings and checking accounts; shows who provides the least expensive services; reveals how financial institutions hide from consumers a veritable vault full of tricky charges and practices; and, finally, provides clear explanations of those practices and how to avoid them. Gendel emphasized that prices will change; however, SFCA's investigation revealed that those banks charging the most will d) so no matter what the price. Also, prices have varied only slightly over the last year, even with the increase in interest rates. Endorsed by Consumers Union, (he publishers oif the widely read national magazine the Reports, Consumer Consumer Federation of California, and by the AFL-CICentral Labor Council in San Francisco, Break the Banks" will be used as the basis for proposed legislative changes and for possible legal action, Gendel said. We're in the process of generating moves in both direche added. One of the tions, purposes of this guide is to make services and prices change on behalf of the public interest, and were going to pursue those changes vigorously now that weve collected the information we need. While the guide uses only information available to consumers, makes no recommendations about which banks to. patronize and concedes that price is not the only factor in choosing a bank, Gendel said that financial institutions were not at all cooperative when asked for price information for the guide. As far as the larger banks are concerned, the reason may be that they all charge more for their consumer services, as revealed by Loti jWineia- - Hockey News AMERICANS MIGHT BUY GOLD NEXT SPRING 7:30 p.m. USSR Villain Behind Wests Oil Shortage - i MOSCOW (UPI) Soviet newspapers have rejected as habitual lies Western suggestions that the Soviet Union has a hand in the Wests energy crisis. They said American panies were over-dramatizin- oil com- g the The latest available official, balance-of-trad- e figures show a 1974 trend that points to a surplus from here on into against the 1972. Commerce of billion deficit $7 Department nearly spokesmen say the improvement appears solidly based. And Treasury Secretary Shultz said last week that he feels the dollar now is correctly valued in relation to the currencies of the United States' major trading partners. And from a Federal Reserve executive this column learned that if all keep going nicely, the Shultz timing for Americans to be permitted to deal in, gold at the appropriate moment and not affect the international market too much might be next spring. situation, plunging the United Slates into for the sake of higher profits. The Tass News Agency asserts (hat the resignation recently of John Love as President Nixons chief adviser on energy matters is further evidence of the serious nature of the energy crisis" and deep-seate- d Whep the central banks of the major industrial nations agreed a few weeks ago to end the 1968 agreement not to buy or sell the money-metgold in the open market, talk turned strong they would be sellers. Factually, fear was the United States would dump gold on the open market which was at the time about $110 an ounce. The price cracked to below $90 an ounce but has since recovered to $105 an ounce. This column hears in informed sources that the U.S. may sell gold and at prevailing market prices but only repeat only to Americans who are presently prevented by law from owning or having any form of possession of gold. Question: When? Also a few weeks ago Treasury Secretary George Shultz did say at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that the presumption is Americans will be permitted to deal in gold "at some appropriate moment. When? When it doesnt affect the international market too much. NEW YORK al Soviet Papers Deny semi-darkne- ss differences -t con- cerning ways of overcoming it." - France is more apt to be a buyer of gold, if not already one, toa maintain her relationship with the Arab countries. And for good reasons. nations Heretofore, all world payments to Arab that are trade advices world Latest in U.S. dollars. were currency U.S. of from here on Arab producers will demand gold instead dollars. d wholesale and retail petroleum France has a system. Thus a Paris good relationship with Arab producers is most profitable. nt Theory of Healing (ACCN) Homeopathy is the branch of medical science which combats disease by using substances which produce effects on the body like those of the disease itself. i with San Francisco Consumer Action. Gendel believes this is because banks just dont want to engage in open price competition or to demystify their practices. were even forced last the Federal Reserve System, a government agency, to obtain their survey information of the prices banks charge consumers for loan services, Gendel added. Consumers who pay the small price for this guide, concluded We October to sue Gendel, may not only end up saving', themselves substantial amounts of money, but can also take heart in the fact they are t, supporting the kind of non-prifi- citizens action fighting for consumer power across the United States." Copies of Break the Banks are available by mailing $1.50 for the guide, tax and handling to San Francisco Consumer Action, 312 Sutter St., Fourth Floor, San grass-root- s, Francisco, CA 94108. O - Golden Eagles vs. the Denver Spurs at the Salt Palace Friday night, at responded to our initial survey, Security National and Redwood," we had to use other he said, methods to get the information without identifying our affiliation state-owne- SFCA's figures. Since only two of banks 15 She Took It Off But Never Got It Back -BOULDER. COLO. (UPI Brenda Thomas took it ail off for Delta Upsilon and never got it back. Police are looking for a purple h gown with a breakaway zipper and a gold sequined bra with about $115. Gowns dont just disappear into thin air. said Miss Thomas, 21. an employe of Kitty's Pleasure Palace in Denver. I'm a little disapI would have expected pointed. them to be a little more mature. The gown vanished after a stag party Miss Thomas and a friend staged for Delta Upsilon members at Colorado University recently. She danced topless and bottomless and when the show was over, her clothes were gone. Miss Thomas said the fraternity paid her $100 for the gown but later stopped payment on the check. floor-lengt- Legal Briefs Dance Lessons Stir Suit WHAT HAPPENED? bacheMelvin, a lonely, middle-agelor, wanted to meet new people on the d night-lif- e circuit. So he took a free sample lesson at an Arthur Murray Dance Studio. You've got rhythm," said the lady instructor who swiveled around the floor in tight toreador pants. Enthused, Melvin signed up for 2,734 hours of lessons at a total price of 824.812.80. A few weeks later Melvin was severely injured in an auto accident. I'll never dance again," moaned Melvin. Then he tried to get a refund of several thousand dollars in dance lesson fees. pre-pai- d "Sorry," said the swivel-hippeinstructor. "Your contract says that d no refunds will be made under any circumstances." Melvin hired a lawyer who sued the dance studio for the refund. "It would be unfair to adhere to the contract," the lawyer argued. WHO WON? The dance studio must refund Melvin's money. "It is impossible for Melvin to enjoy the benefits of the contract, through no fault of his own," said the judge. "Therefore, he will not be bound by the terms of the conduct und is entitled to reimbursement for unused fees." (Based on a recent Illinois appeals ease as nt old by Pmfessor John Hitler and Attorney Paul Levine.) |