UPDATE Corrupt OC Supervisor didn't disclose family connect

[agnes]

My title. So there's 2 issues recent conflicts of interest issues that have popped up about Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do. 

1. Do didn't disclose his family connection to the mental health center, run by is 22 year old daughter, that received $3.1M. 

laist.com/news/politics/andrew-do-rhiannon-do-investigation-warner-wellness-orange-county-viet-america-society-pham

Fun little nuggets: 
- mental health center is a DBA.  The parent company was created in 2020. Received CARES Act and ARP Act funding.
- the parent company didn't actually become a non-profit until 2023
- the parent company and the DBA are in the same office building as Supervisor Do's private law office 

There's a really good timeline in the article. 

2. Supervisor Do, testified as a witness & failed to disclose he’s married to a high-ranking judge at the court.

"His latest failure to disclose resulted in a mistrial Nov. 16 in an Orange County Superior Court lawsuit the city of Santa Ana originally filed in early 2020 against the nonprofit Mental Health Association of Orange County. The suit seeks to shut down the association’s homeless services drop-in center in the city, which is funded by the county."

laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/orange-county-supervisor-andrew-do-homeless-services-mistrial 

This question is for our lawyers: if you were a young, full-time law student, would you have even been able to run a non-profit? I thought being in law school took up like alllll of your time.  Is my idea law school a bit off? 

Anyways, this dude has been doing sneaky stuff for years, and people just keep voting for him. I'm glad it's getting more coverage lately, but I don't see him resigning.  His term limit is almost up too.

UPDATE: the County is suing the daughter, and co for $13M. Their houses (allegedly bought with the COVID-related funds) and Supervisor Do/Judge Pham’s house were raided by the FBI today.
laist.com/news/politics/orange-county-supervisor-andrew-do-raid-rhiannon-do-house-tustin

[StrawberryBlondie]

I personally wouldn't have been able to run a non-profit while I was in law school, but law school made me feel really dumb so I spent a ton of time studying. 😂

In my third year I was able to put in about 15-20 hrs/week clerking.

[sent]

Not a lawyer. The more I learn, it seems like "non-profit" is just a tax designation. Like an LLC. I have 2 LLCs. One demands enormous amounts of my time to run. The other one exists just because laws and money stuff. I understand the term "non-profit" to be similar. It can be an enormous organization with worldwide supporters like the Red Cross. Or it can be something that exists on paper because reasons.

[Susie]

Dec 4, 2023 14:08:08 GMT -5 agnes said:

 
This question is for our lawyers: if you were a young, full-time law student, would you have even been able to run a non-profit? I thought being in law school took up like alllll of your time.  Is my idea law school a bit off? 

I think it would depend on the services provided by the non-profit, the scale, etc.  A small non-profit with limited services, maybe, but that's a different ballgame entirely than a large non-profit that offers a wide array of services across a significant geographic spread, with lots of employees, large operating budget, etc.

When I was in law school I juggled a bunch of stuff besides FT classes.  One semester, I balanced an externship in a corporate legal department with a clerking job with a solo practitioner in estate practice, plus subediting on a journal.  In other semesters, I worked as a law clerk at the firm where I ultimately stayed after graduation, plus jobs in the law library and the career services office, plus Journal.  I was on the Journal board as a 3L.  I also planned my wedding and got married over 3L spring break.  And then when it was all done, I took 2 completely separate bar exams, because that's what my specialty required.  I multi-tasked my ass off.

I think the ABA says you're supposed to limit work to 10 hours/week, but I blew way way way past that.  Rent spoke louder than the ABA.  I'm pretty sure if I wasn't doing all that, I probably could've run a small non-profit.

[agnes]

UPDATE: the County is suing the daughter, and co for $13M. Their houses (allegedly bought with the COVID-related funds) and Supervisor Do/Judge Pham’s house were raided by the FBI today.

laist.com/news/politics/orange-county-supervisor-andrew-do-raid-rhiannon-do-house-tustin

[agnes]

So, another lawyer question, what does this mean for Rhiannon Do’s law career? Could she even pass the bar after all this?

[starlily]

Aug 23, 2024 23:30:53 GMT -5 agnes said:

So, another lawyer question, what does this mean for Rhiannon Do’s law career? Could she even pass the bar after all this?

In addition to passing the bar exam itself, potential lawyers in CA also have to pass a "determination of moral character" before being admitted to the bar, so it sounds like she might have some issues with that prong.

www.calbar.ca.gov/admissions/moral-character#:~:text=%E2%80%9CGood%20moral%20character%E2%80%9D%20includes%20but,others%20and%20the%20judicial%20process.