Friday, June 17, 2011

Anissa Bluebaum Has Legal Writing Issues


Anissa Bluebaum law firm
 At the link you can look at Anissa Bluebaum's lovely website for the Anissa Bluebaum Blog and law firm in Ozark, Mo.  At this link you can look at Anissa Bluebaum's facebook page where she notes that she is inspired by Donald Trump among other notables.

Anissa doesn't list any literary (apart from the Donald, or) English major heroes, or teachers which may be reflected in her struggles with grammar and notably in her pleadings.  This is Kathryn Wolf's story for the Ozark News:

The same attorney who drew public criticism from a Greene County judge is now facing similar complaints from a local attorney.  Until Tuesday, Anissa Bluebaum represented Alison Peck, a former teacher who faces criminal charges for failing to register as a sex offender. Peck pleaded guilty in 2009 to five charges of statutory rape in three separate counties against a former student.

Bluebaum withdrew from the criminal cases Tuesday. According to online court documents, a public defender will be appointed to represent Peck in those cases.

Bluebaum remains the attorney in the civil case Peck filed in March against her former probation officer, Rebecca Martin.
Richard Crites, Martin's attorney, has responded to the complaint against Martin with an eight-page list of questions about both the accusations in the case and Bluebaum's abilities as an attorney.


"This petition is the worst example of pleading that the defendant's attorney has ever witnessed or read," Crites wrote in a recent motion.

Because of the fact that two people are named in the suit, Martin and her brother, Crites repeatedly asks who Bluebaum is referencing with the terms "defendant's" and "defendants."

"Defendant does not know whether plaintiff is just not familiar with the use of possessives or whether plaintiff was referring to merely one of the two defendants" the motion document said. "...is this merely the poor usage of the English language by plaintiff's attorney? We have no earthly idea which is the case."


Crites' motion asks that Bluebaum clarify the allegations in the civil petition, including where and when referenced incidents oc-curred. He said the case can't move forward until those questions are answered.

"Without answers to these questions and dividing this long-winded allegation into separate paragraphs, there is no way on God's earth that the defendant can reasonably be expected to answer this diatribe," he wrote.
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Ms. Bluebaum is a young attorney flying solo.  She needs help in drafting and legal writing or she'll have to respond to these mean-spirited motions and replies.  She should bear in mind that when she files a lawsuit there better be a good faith basis for the filing or these grammatical glitches will be her undoing in front of an unsympathetic court with the power to impose sanctions. 

As some one who struggles with grammatical cogency, I empathetically urge her to get a copy editor, someone who will catch her worst tendencies as a legal writer. 

26 comments:

  1. This lawyer is a disaster. She has young lawyer disease, she believes every stupid thing that comes into her noggin without any sort of filter. She a menace to commonweal.

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  2. "grammatical cogency" ?

    Do you mean grammatical accuracy or substantive cogency? Cogency is a quality of content, grammar a quality of form.

    BTW - Crites' response to Bluebaum's pleading also is filled with grammatical errors. Maybe grammar is different in Missouri.

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    1. I am a new lawyer. This blog is my worst fear. I have been held back because of this.

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  3. OMG grammer is unbelievable in Missouri..

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  4. Hello Anonymous,

    I am sorry to hear of your troubles. I hope things are going better for you. I do empathize with your issues. Being an attorney is very stressful and sometimes drives us all to our wits end. I am writing this comment because I do not know how else to reach you. I do no even know who you are. My name is Anissa Bluebaum. You wrote a post about me on June 17,2011. I knew about it then. I found it on the internet. I had no idea what a huge thing your blog was until it started to affect me. When anyone puts my name in google now your blog entry the second or third thing that comes up is "BAD LAWYER; ANISSA BLUEBAUM HAS LEGAL WRITING ISSUES." When people see "BAD LAWYER" next to my name it is damaging to my reputation and it hurts my business. I could understand why you did this if I was guilty of some horrible crime or tax evasion or something. What I don't understand is why you used my name in your title when you have never done that to another attorney as far as I can tell going back into your blog titles. I am unsure why you believed I was so deserving of such negative criticism because opposing counsel on a high profile case was trying to make the headlines by criticizing the way I used the word "defendant's." The headline is months gone and I am now left with your blog "BAD LAWYER ANISSA BLUEBAUM" coming up in internet searches. I think this is defamation and I am asking you kindly to remove it. I wish you well as it seems you have fallen on some tough times. Please do not continue to make it rough on me. I haven't done anything to you and I don't even know who you are as you do not post your name to this blog.

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  5. Ms Bluebaum - if the shoe fits .......

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  6. Interesting. I read the ariticle some months ago, with the complaints by Mr. Crites against Ms. Bluebaum's pleadings. I read the pleadings and he has a pretty good reason for his complaint. You mention that she is a "young lawyer flying solo" or something along those lines. How long has she been practicing?

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  7. Oh, and I also read her response to your blog... LOL... It appears she is attempting to threaten you with a suit of some sort for defamation. She is also using horribly lengthy sentences in voicing that complaint. Again, interesting.

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  8. I only wish i would have done my research on this horrible excuse for an attorney. Not only has she failed at representation but she has caused a great financial hardship as well prolonged any closure for my children. I have fired her but now i must start over.
    Be aware of Anissa Bluebaum!!

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  9. why don't you take a flying leap and take a long hike and shut your mouth. .. Get facts from other clients and then decide if she did right or wrong. .... i think she should sue the pants off you!!! i wil be in touch with Ms Bluebaum week for some help/.

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  10. I am a St. Louis, Mo. Special Process Server that was contracted in July, 2013 to serve a simple Records Subpoena on a school in the St. Louis Area.

    There job was completed very quickly and correctly and she still has not paid me for the service. As of today, Oct. 15th, 2013, she still has not paid her bill. I have sent three late charge invoices, called to ask about the payment, and Ashley Bluebaum, her "Secretary", has stated that she simply has just been too busy. I called today, to demand payment and was hung up on. I will be reporting her to the Missouri Bar Association.

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  11. As of today, December 18th, Ms. Bluebaum still has not paid this bill. I DID file a formal complaint with the Missouri Bar Association. Soon I will be filing a Small Claims case against her.

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  12. Richard Crites= worst Attorney to ever practice Law....

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  13. You getting beat up a bit Mr. Nac? I can only imagine. You made the bed...

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  14. On two different occasions, I sent an e-mail to ask what her fee would be for a certain type of case. Both times I received no response.

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  15. I hired this attorney to do a simple uncontested divorce for me. The only reason I hired this person is because of a former attorney working for her. I paid $499 for an uncontested divorce, I was never told upfront that I would have to file my own paperwork with the courts, on 7/7/15 I gave her office cash money of $130 to file the divorce, because her paralegal called me saying the documents are finally in that we been waiting on, so when can I come in and sign a document, and pay the filing fee. I paid it 7/7, over a month later still nothing. I get a message saying my divorce had been closed since April, how is that possible? She told me that if I wanted to pay another $400 for a total of $899 plus $132 filing fee then they would be finalize for me. NONE OF THIS was disclosed to me upfront, because if it would have been, I would have NOT agreed to any of it. I am now forced to file my own divorce, and I have NO CLUE how to do it, and hope that I get it right. When speaking, via email, she had a "rebuttal" for everything, and I had an objection for her rebuttal. It was going NOWWHERE, so I just ended it with, PLEASE MAIL MY DOCUMENTS, so I can file this, and be done with it all/ because I am very frustrated.

    I do not think "Anissa Bluebaum" is a BAD attorney, I just think she's an inexperienced attorney, and to young to run her own firm, I would recommend for her to partner with another firm before tackling her own firm, and gain experience and more teaching.

    I am trying to stay positive and give corrective criticism during my experience. For I do not like to leave real negative remarks on a business, BUT after reading some of the reviews, I would have to say I agree with majority of them. I am sorry. BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE is close your firm, because its tough to run a business, and find a partner to work with, and gain more experience with that firm, then maybe after a few years of knowledge, possibly try and open your own firm back up again.. Just some helpful advice...

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  16. I hired this attorney to do a simple uncontested divorce for me. The only reason I hired this person is because of a former attorney working for her. I paid $499 for an uncontested divorce, I was never told upfront that I would have to file my own paperwork with the courts, on 7/7/15 I gave her office cash money of $130 to file the divorce, because her paralegal called me saying the documents are finally in that we been waiting on, so when can I come in and sign a document, and pay the filing fee. I paid it 7/7, over a month later still nothing. I get a message saying my divorce had been closed since April, how is that possible? She told me that if I wanted to pay another $400 for a total of $899 plus $132 filing fee then they would be finalize for me. NONE OF THIS was disclosed to me upfront, because if it would have been, I would have NOT agreed to any of it. I am now forced to file my own divorce, and I have NO CLUE how to do it, and hope that I get it right. When speaking, via email, she had a "rebuttal" for everything, and I had an objection for her rebuttal. It was going NOWWHERE, so I just ended it with, PLEASE MAIL MY DOCUMENTS, so I can file this, and be done with it all/ because I am very frustrated.

    I do not think "Anissa Bluebaum" is a BAD attorney, I just think she's an inexperienced attorney, and to young to run her own firm, I would recommend for her to partner with another firm before tackling her own firm, and gain experience and more teaching.

    I am trying to stay positive and give corrective criticism during my experience. For I do not like to leave real negative remarks on a business, BUT after reading some of the reviews, I would have to say I agree with majority of them. I am sorry. BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE is close your firm, because its tough to run a business, and find a partner to work with, and gain more experience with that firm, then maybe after a few years of knowledge, possibly try and open your own firm back up again.. Just some helpful advice...

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  18. I had the same problem,with her as well. She won't do anything. Just wants money to keep her business running. Fools her clients or future clients. I wouldn't let her scew me over with my and children's needs. I fired her August 12th 2015. She won't return my money for new attorney. All she said was she's sorry and its important to get new attorney for my needs, but she didn't say anything about the refund at all. That proves you, greedy about it. You're all fake, Ms. Bluebaum.

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    1. Hoe do you fire an attorney?

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  19. I hired Anissa Bluebaum about 6 months ago, and she has done absolutely nothing so far to help get my divorce over with. My wife and I have made a parent plan and agreed to everything, we're just waiting for her to make a court date. I have tried to call her every single day for about 3 months and she has never called back. I don't know what to do... I really need to be divorced but there's not a lot I can do about it because she will not return my phone calls. I WOULD say she is a horrible lawyer and stay far away!

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  20. It is a great website.. The Design looks very good.. Keep working like that!.
    Divorce Lawyers

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