This email is being sent ONLY to the Directors, Vice
Directors, and President and is likely the most sensitive information that that
you will ever deal with in your tenure on the Board. This email is not to be
forwarded or otherwise revealed to ANYONE outside the aforementioned
recipients.
What follows is information that is my fiduciary duty to
disclose to the members of the Board. But for my fiduciary duty to disclose this
information, due to its extreme sensitivity, I would not disclose
it.
Having discovered that ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay is
not licensed to practice law in the State of Connecticut, I contacted the
Connecticut Bar Association and obtained their opinion that the acts that Mr.
Imlay has committed in the State of Connecticut constitute the unauthorized
practice of law and would also constitute a criminal violation of Connecticut
State Statutes.
I have filed complaints reflecting the foregoing information
with both the appropriate licensing authorities and the appropriate
prosecutors.
The State of Connecticut Judicial Branch “Attorney Firm
Look-up” is located at: <http://www.jud.ct.gov/AttorneyFirmInquiry/AttorneyFirmInquiry.aspx>
What follows is intended in neither a threatening manner or
as legal advice. Should you need legal advice, you need to contact an attorney
licensed to practice in the appropriate jurisdiction and that has
knowledge/training/experience in the specific area of the law the advice is
needed in.
The foregoing contains information concerning what appears to
be a criminal violation in the State of Connecticut. From my layman’s reading of
the Connecticut criminal statutes (“Criminal liability for acts of another”
taken in context with the statute governing the unauthorized practice of law),
it appears that the act of soliciting legal advice from a person known to be
engaged in the unauthorized practice of law creates the same criminal liability
for the person soliciting as for the person engaged in the unauthorized practice
of law. It appears that from this point forward, any of us asking Mr. Imlay for
legal advice may be in violation of Connecticut criminal
statutes.
I believe extreme caution is warranted in predicating ANY
decision, in ANY matter, upon ANY legal advice heretofore given by Mr. Imlay. My
layman’s understanding of the Connecticut Nonstock Corporation laws is that
Directors are immune from liability for decisions predicated upon advice given
by persons that are deemed to be reliable and competent in those matters. Now
that we are aware that Mr. Imlay appears to be engaged in the unauthorized
practice of law in Connecticut, that protection may likely no longer apply to
any future acts.
For the protection of the League, Mr. Imlay needs to be
removed immediately from both the OD and the ODV reflectors, as well as any
committee reflectors that he is subscribed to.
Any release of this pre-adjudicated information by any of its
original recipients, could subject that individual, and possibly the Board, to
civil liability.
Doug
K4AC