The Gazette 1979

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER1979

Tomorrow's world? Shoppers at a New York department store now can purchase everything from toothpaste to a television to a will. Between the postage stamps and the appliance sections in the Times Square Store in Levittown, Long Island, is the law office managed by attorney Richard Reiben, 29, a 1974 graduate of New York University Law School. Reiben, who leases floor space, admitted the location is not "dignified", and explained that the site was chosen "because life today revolves around malls and department stores". The law office, claimed by Reiben as the first inside a department store, created some controversy when it opened last December. Edwin Freedman, president of the Bar Association of Nassau County (N.Y.) said one area of concern expressed by some members was the "very low" prices charged by Reiben's firm. The fees are $45 for a single will, $75 for dual simple wills, $150 for an uncontested divorce, $225 for purchase or sale of a home, $250 for adoptions and $150 for incorporations. Reiben said the fees make his services affordable to working middle class people. Freedman, speaking in general terms and not about Reiben's firm, questioned whether any lawyer charging such low prices could afford to give the client the time necessary to consult with him. The undesirable result may be the client diagnosing his own problem and then telling the lawyer the remedy he needs, Freedman said, "For example, a man may say he wants an uncontested divorce, but how does he know until you have sat down with him and informed him of his rights, about custody and other things. Only then can that man make a knowledgeable decision". Reiben replies: "We spend the amount of time needed with each client, even if it means we lose money", He said referrals the firm was getting from other lawyers and from a governmental agency indicated to him approval of the quality of work being done. He said it was idealism which led to his locating a law firm in a department store. "There are a lot of unrepresented people, and I wanted to try to reach them and give them legal services for a fee they could afford". Also, the hours of the firm are geared toward working people. Besides being open weekdays, it is open evenings and weekends. At the present time the office handles about 10 clients per day. Reiben believes some shoppers stop in the law office on impulse, but mot do not, Many pick up a brochure explaining the types of cases the firm will take and the fees, and come back another time, he said. "A lot of people learn about us through word-of-mouth. We've only run one ad, and that was just before we opened". However, Reiben says that there are plans to change that policy after the firm opens offices in the Times Square Stores in the Long Island communities of Babylon and Oceanside. — condensed from "American Bar Association Journal".

PETER D. FINLAY, one of those recently qualified who received his parchment, is seen here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William D. Finlay. Peter was until recently Executive Editor of the Gazette. He is taking up employ- ment with a law firm in New York: we wish him all the best for the future. Well, Cork; Petty, Marian J., Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare; Quirk, Jacqueline, Mount Richard, Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary; Regan, Ursula, Crofton Airport Hotel, White- hall, Dublin; Rohan, John G., 9 Leinster Lawn, Clon- skeagh, Dublin; Stapleton, Susan, "Vandyke", Leixlip Gate, Leixlip, Co. Kildare; Sweeney, Manus, 88 Marl- borough Road, Donnybrook, Dublin; Tierney, Celine M., 152 Mount Anville Park, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin; White, Kevin J., 10 Thomas Street, Midleton, Cork; Wrafter, Agnes A., New Road, Tullamore, Co. Offaly. INVESTIGATIONS Full Photographic and Surveillance available for all assignments. Contact: CHASE RESEARCH, 70 NORTHUMBERLAND ROAD, BALLSBRIDGE, Equipment

DUBLIN 4. Telephone 762840 24-hour Service;

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