Robert S. Bennett (Absolutely No Relation)

 Posted on September 05, 2014 in Uncategorized

I've written about Robert S. Bennett from time to time, and I'm not impressed by him. But neither was I impressed with the State Bar's effort to disbar him, which effort succeeded in March. Robert S. Bennett was barred:

from practicing law in Texas, holding himself out as an attorney at law, performing any legal services for others, accepting any fee directly or indirectly for legal services, appearing as counsel or in any representative capacity in any proceeding in any Texas court or before any administrative body or holding himself out to others or using his name, in any manner, in conjunction with the words ‘attorney at law,' ‘attorney,' ‘counselor at law,' or ‘lawyer,'"

So what's Robert S. Bennett doing now? He's "President" of "Bob Bennett Licensing Services." In his LinkedIn page he categorizes the company as "legal services" (which would violate the court's order):

Robert S. Bennett's LinkedIn Header 9/5/14

In the description of "Bob Bennett Licensing Services for Professionals," Bennett writes:

Mr. Bennett is the owner of Bob Bennett Licensing Services for Professionals. The licensing counselors in this licensing service are especially proficient in cases involving, matters before the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, the Texas Medical Board, the State Board of Law Examiners, and other Boards involving professionals and DTPA violations, ethics defense, and white-collar criminal defense involving licensing issues.The Bob Bennett Licensing Services for Professionals concentrates on representing attorneys, doctors, judges, and other professionals who have professional licensing issues and find themselves the subject of federal and state investigations. This includes representation of both law students and medical students who have run afoul of the Texas Board of Law Examiners or Texas Medical Board. Medical students and doctors who have issues with the United States Medical Licensing Examination, the National Board of Medical Examiners, or the Federation of State Medical Boards have retained Bennett Licensing. Whether the matter involves a grievance hearing before the Texas Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel or a privilege hearing before a hospital committee, this Texas Licesning entity is known for aggressive representation and success. See client reviews and peer recommendations: www.avvo.com.Specialties: Representing law students and lawyers with licensing issues before the Board of law Examiners or cases with the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel or before the Texas Board of Medicine or other professional boards that license professionals.

This sounds a lot like practicing law to me (which, as well as being a crime, would violate the court's order). "Representing law students and lawyers with licensing issues before the Board of law Examiners" is certainly "appearing... in any representative capacity in any proceeding... before any administrative body," which is interdicted by the order of disbarment.

Here's what RSB's website for Bob Bennett Licensing Services says in its small-print "DISCLAIMER AND NOTICER [sic] REGARDING MR. BENNETT'S LEGAL BACKGROUND":

While in law school, Mr. Bennett served as an intern in the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the United States Attorney's office. Upon graduation, both law enforcement agencies offered him positions. He was a licensed attorney, former Assistant United States Attorney and was Board Certified. At the present time he is not a licensed attorney. His history of representing and working on licensing issues goes back to 1974 when he was hired by the Interstate Commerce Commission as an enforcement attorney to review licenses and permits in the transportation industry. As you can tell from his avvo.com site, 165 former clients have used his services and over 41 attorneys have provided peer reviews of his licensing work. Since he is presently not a licensed attorney, he cannot provide legal advice but having worked nearly forty years with every imaginable professional license, he can advise you about any business decisions concerning your license issue and if your fact situation is one that you should have an attorney assist you or not. It may be that you license concern or do to the simplicity of the licensing issue, your licensing issue can be handled without hiring an attorney. Every licensing issue does not require the assistance of an attorney, but if you decide it does, Mr. Bennett is extremely well qualified to help you with your business decision ( at a price that is not lawyerly!) and provide recommendations as to the best attorney to handle your case.. An example of this decision process may be helpful. Staff members with the Texas Board of Law Examiners as a matter of course would tell applicants they did not need to hire an attorney. In some instances that was correct and in others it was disastrous. With years of experience with business decisions about your application or license, Mr. Bennett may be able to save you thousands of dollars, and the first phone call is free.

What he describes on LinkedIn as "legal services" here becomes "help[ing] you with your business decision." By calling them "business decisions," I imagine that he thinks he's shielding himself from a) contempt charges; b) an unauthorized-practice-of-law suit; and c) another grievance (should he get his license back) for UPL.

Protip: whether it is practicing law or not does not depend on what you call it. According to Section 81.101(a) of the Texas Government Code,

In this chapter the "practice of law" means... a service rendered out of court, including the giving of advice... requiring the use of legal skill or knowledge....

Advising people on "handling licensing issues" is giving legal advice. "You'd better talk to a lawyer" might not be legal advice, but "you don't need a lawyer" damn sure is. Making "business decisions" of this sort requires legal skill and knowledge.

In fact, the experience that Robert S. Bennett describes to explain his qualifications is all legal experience: law school, prosecutor intern, licensed attorney, AUSA, board certified, enforcement attorney, etc. If you eliminated his legal experience, there would be no experience left:

At the present time he is not a licensed attorney. Since he is presently not a licensed attorney, he cannot provide legal advice but he can advise you about any business decisions concerning your license issue and if your fact situation is one that you should have an attorney assist you or not. It may be that you license concern or do to the simplicity of the licensing issue, your licensing issue can be handled without hiring an attorney. Every licensing issue does not require the assistance of an attorney, but if you decide it does, Mr. Bennett is extremely well qualified to help you with your business decision (at a price that is not lawyerly!) and provide recommendations as to the best attorney to handle your case. An example of this decision process may be helpful. Staff members with the Texas Board of Law Examiners as a matter of course would tell applicants they did not need to hire an attorney. In some instances that was correct and in others it was disastrous. Mr. Bennett may be able to save you thousands of dollars, and the first phone call is free.

There is a sucker for every charlatan, but I have to wonder: if a law student has such horrible judgment that he would pay a disbarred lawyer for advice on how to get licensed, shouldn't that law student be, ipso facto, barred from practicing law?