Susan Jordan was a movement attorney who had handled many of the marijuana defenses in Humboldt and Mendo counties. She practiced in Ukiah and Oakland, representing clients all over the state. She was on her way to a yoga event of some sort when her small plane crashed.
I first met her at a National Lawyers Guild event in Oakland in 1996 where she was recognized as their attorney of the year. So many movement lawyers like Dennis Cunningham (who apologized at the event for the sexism she faced when they were partners in a firm during the 1970s, an apology which almost brought her to tears) and Beverly Axelrod (long time friend of Jordan’s who represented Eldridge Cleaver and helped write Soul on Ice) paid tribute to her. My partner Les Scher introduced me at the event and I had the pleasure and good fortune of working with her on cases when civil law elements encroached on her criminal cases. She was brilliant, compassionate, and dedicated.
Jordan was famous for groundbreaking “battered woman defense” to violent crime charges, but also worked marijuana defense, discrimination cases, and civil liberties cases. She successfully defended Mendocino County against a challenge to Measure H. She was also recently made the Hopland Pomo Indian Tribe’s first judge. She also negotiated the plea bargain for Sarah Jane Olson, an SLA member who had been arrested after 23 years underground.
A huge loss.
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May 30, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Kim
This is very sad news. Susan loved to fly.
One should always be doing what they love when they leave this world behind.
Susan made a difference for many people. She was greatly respected and will be greatly missed.
“The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.” Jonathon Livinston Seagull
May 30, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Kym
I didn’t know her but I read some words of hers that touched me.
IT was in the Ukiah Community blog.
May 30, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Kym
Trying again.
May 30, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Nick
According to first news reports Susan was a passenger in the two-seater homebuilt plane piloted by her friend when it struck power lines and crashed, killing them both. Susan was a skilled pilot herself. Early reports can be found by Googling “Susan D. Jordan” because authorities got her middle initial wrong. (It’s Susan B. Jordan)
May 31, 2009 at 5:31 pm
ED Denson
Last contact I had with Susan was when I refered some people to her for mediation. She said she wanted more mediations if I could find them because she prefered working things out to the adversarial system in the courts.
She was one of the lawyers who encouraged me to study law in the 1990s, support which I very much appreciated.
I haven’t found words yet to express my feelings about her death.
May 31, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Ernie's Place
Wasn’t she Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney’s Lawyer after the bombing in Oakland?
May 31, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Kym
She was Judi’s first Lawyer after the bombing.
June 1, 2009 at 6:45 am
longwind
She was an EPIC lawyer as well, involved in the landmark victory at Owl Creek.
June 1, 2009 at 3:39 pm
olmanriver
I heard some stories today from another client of hers that made me want to acknowledge what an amazing principled powerful person and lawyer she was. It seems like she commanded a lot of respect from many who had association with her. Condolences to you Ed, and to her family and to those whose lives and hearts she touched.
June 3, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Anonymous
SUPREME COURT MINUTES
TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
It is ordered that SUSAN JORDAN, State Bar No. 186676, be suspended from the practice of law for three years and until: (a) she complies with the requirements of standard 1.4(c)(ii) as set forth below; and (b) she provides satisfactory proof to the Office of Probation that she has made the restitution set forth below, including interest; that execution of the suspension be stayed; and that she be placed on probation for five years on condition that she be actually suspended for the first one year of the period of probation and until she provides satisfactory proof to the Office of Probation that she has made restitution to (a) Christopher King in the amount of $800, plus 10 percent interest per annum from January 1, 1999; (b) Mireya Niedderberger in the amount of $250, plus 10 percent interest per annum from January 1, 1999; and (c) Joseph Staples in the amount of $260, plus 10 percent interest per annum from November 1, 2000. If the Client Security Fund reimburses any of the above-named individuals for all or any portion of the specified amounts, Susan Jordan must make restitution to the Client Security Fund to the extent of any payment from the fund to any of the above-named individuals, plus interest and costs, in accordance with Business and Professions Code section 6140.5 and furnish satisfactory proof thereof to the State Bar’s Office of Probation. Any restitution to the Client Security Fund is enforceable as provided in Business and Professions Code section 6140.5, subdivision (c) and (d). If Susan Jordan is actually suspended for two years or more, she must remain actually suspended until she provides proof satisfactory to the State Bar Court of her rehabilitation, present fitness to practice law and present learning and ability in the general law pursuant to standard 1.4(c)(ii) of the Standards for Attorney Sanctions for Professional Misconduct. Susan Jordan is further ordered to comply with the other conditions of probation recommended by the Hearing Department of the State Bar Court in its Decision and Order Filing and Sealing Certain Documents filed on January 24, 2007, as amended by its order filed March 16, 2007. It is also ordered that Susan Jordan take and pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination during the period of her actual suspension and provide satisfactory proof of passage of the examination to the Office of Probation within that period of time. (See Segretti v. State Bar (1976) 15 Cal.3d 878, 891, fn.8.) Susan Jordan is further ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court, and perform the acts specified in subdivisions (a) and (c) of that rule within 30 and 40 calendar days, respectively, after the effective date of this order.* Costs are awarded to the State Bar in accordance with Business and Professions Code section 6086.10 and are enforceable both as provided in Business and Professions Code section 6140.7 and as a money judgment.
June 3, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Anonymous
June 28, 2007
SUSAN JORDAN [#186676], 57, of Los Angeles was suspended for three years, stayed, placed on five years of probation with a one-year actual suspension and until she makes restitution to three clients, and was ordered to take the MPRE and comply with rule 9.20. If the actual suspension exceeds two years, she must prove her rehabilitation. The order took effect June 28, 2007.
Jordan stipulated in 2003 to 13 acts of misconduct in seven matters; the following year, she was accepted into the State Bar’s Alternative Discipline Program (ADP) for attorneys with mental health issues. However, she was terminated from the program last December for violating the contract and, as a result, this discipline was imposed.
She allowed a non-lawyer to identify himself as an attorney in her law office and to represent three clients. Neither Jordan nor the purported lawyer filed a complaint on behalf of one of the clients prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, and he sued them for legal malpractice and fraud. He won a judgment of $24,011 in damages for malpractice and $250,000 in damages for fraud.
She filed a medical malpractice case for another client but later informed him she could no longer represent him without a $20,000 advanced fee. However, Jordan never formally withdrew from the case, did not appear at an order to show cause hearing for failure to prosecute the case, and did not tell her client the case was dismissed.
Jordan did not formally withdraw from another case, which also was dismissed when she did not appear at a case review hearing. She did not notify the client. In other cases, she did not respond to clients’ requests for information and improperly withdrew as attorney of record. One client won a small claims default judgment for $550 against Jordan.
Jordan also was disciplined by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for failing to disgorge fees and pay sanctions and costs. Among other things, the court’s disciplinary panel found that she did not retain advance fees until earned, but rather spent the entire amount upon receipt, a violation of California’s ethical rules. She admitted that her acts were the equivalent of failing to properly maintain client funds in trust and violating court orders.
Jordan stipulated that she failed to perform legal services competently, take reasonable steps to protect her clients’ interests or keep clients informed of developments in their cases. She also failed to report a judgment against her to the State Bar and aided another person in the unauthorized practice of law.
In mitigation, Jordan was candid and cooperative with the State Bar during its investigation of her conduct. Although the court acknowledged a connection between her actions and her mental health issues, Jordan’s failure to complete the ADP means the court did not consider those issues as mitigating circumstances.
June 28, 2007
SUSAN JORDAN [#186676], 57, of Los Angeles was suspended for three years, stayed, placed on five years of probation with a one-year actual suspension and until she makes restitution to three clients, and was ordered to take the MPRE and comply with rule 9.20. If the actual suspension exceeds two years, she must prove her rehabilitation. The order took effect June 28, 2007.
Jordan stipulated in 2003 to 13 acts of misconduct in seven matters; the following year, she was accepted into the State Bar’s Alternative Discipline Program (ADP) for attorneys with mental health issues. However, she was terminated from the program last December for violating the contract and, as a result, this discipline was imposed.
She allowed a non-lawyer to identify himself as an attorney in her law office and to represent three clients. Neither Jordan nor the purported lawyer filed a complaint on behalf of one of the clients prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, and he sued them for legal malpractice and fraud. He won a judgment of $24,011 in damages for malpractice and $250,000 in damages for fraud.
She filed a medical malpractice case for another client but later informed him she could no longer represent him without a $20,000 advanced fee. However, Jordan never formally withdrew from the case, did not appear at an order to show cause hearing for failure to prosecute the case, and did not tell her client the case was dismissed.
Jordan did not formally withdraw from another case, which also was dismissed when she did not appear at a case review hearing. She did not notify the client. In other cases, she did not respond to clients’ requests for information and improperly withdrew as attorney of record. One client won a small claims default judgment for $550 against Jordan.
Jordan also was disciplined by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for failing to disgorge fees and pay sanctions and costs. Among other things, the court’s disciplinary panel found that she did not retain advance fees until earned, but rather spent the entire amount upon receipt, a violation of California’s ethical rules. She admitted that her acts were the equivalent of failing to properly maintain client funds in trust and violating court orders.
Jordan stipulated that she failed to perform legal services competently, take reasonable steps to protect her clients’ interests or keep clients informed of developments in their cases. She also failed to report a judgment against her to the State Bar and aided another person in the unauthorized practice of law.
In mitigation, Jordan was candid and cooperative with the State Bar during its investigation of her conduct. Although the court acknowledged a connection between her actions and her mental health issues, Jordan’s failure to complete the ADP means the court did not consider those issues as mitigating circumstances.
June 3, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Eric Kirk
I don’t understand your need to post this at a time like this. If your point is that she wasn’t perfect and had some problems, okay, fine. So do we all. It doesn’t even begin to outweigh the justice she brought to situations over a long career.
June 3, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Anonymous
Guess we will just have to agree to disagree on that one. I’ll side with the state bar and supreme court.
June 4, 2009 at 8:26 am
bob
So, any time a member of this community dies, whether in a car accident, plane accident, disease, murder, you’ll probably be the one to remind us, immediately, of the litany of imperfections of that person’s life. Better start updating your database, cuz you’ll need to track all dui’s, reckless driving tickets, fights they got into, neighbors they had property disputes with, pot allegations and charges, arrests, convictions, etc for political protests. After all, they are all law-breaking actions which the public has a right to know about.
It is not to say that bad business practices by an attorney should not be sanctioned by the courts–all too often, attorneys are allowed to skate. The state bar and the courts, imho, should be even more vigilant in their oversight than they are now. But how and why does that diminish the positive achievements of a person’s life? Why does that make it okay to run them down upon their passing, before people even have a chance to mourn and/or celebrate the passage of that life?
Lawyering is a tough profession and its members may even deserve all those lawyer jokes–they’re in a position which focuses a lot of power, and they often hold the fate of others in their hands. Attorneys should be held to a high standard of conduct, as it appears that Susan Jordan was.
Please furnish us with your name, address and other identifying info so that we can all be sure to dig up a list of crap you did to remind people of when you die. Better yet, just give us a list of your peccadilloes now. Don’t forget the times you got drunk and yelled at your wife or kids, or the times you recklessly endangered the lives of others when you got behind the wheel in an altered state.
Let he, or she, who is without sin(???), cast the first stone. Shouldn’t your readers be able to judge your life even as you judge susan? But no-one knows who you are, or what your agenda might be.
June 4, 2009 at 5:59 pm
milt
Shakespeare had something to say about this with Marc Antony’s funeral oration in Julius Caesar.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him;
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones,
So let it be with Caesar … The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answered it …
We now have a clue to the identity of anon12:29 and 2:18 – the noble Brutus.
June 4, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Eric Kirk
Well, there are differing perspectives of grief. Some only want to focus on the positive elements of the deceased’s life. Another perspective includes some of the imperfections in the memorialization to avoid sanitizing and dehumanizing, so that you remember the whole person and not just a bronze statue. But that can be accomplished with a few sentences, not by dropping the state bar discipline record into fresh wounds. It would have been enough to say that she had struggled with mental health issues along with her brilliance and that some clients were not the better for it.
The practice of law is extremely stressful. Believe me when I tell you that you take on a huge burden with every client you take. It’s not like a retail business where you can replace a product or give a refund if you miss a deadline, or file or produce the wrong document. It can have a major impact on someone’s life. Most of the time it can be fixed, but it’s usually not easy. Sometimes it can’t be fixed. And no matter how careful you are, no matter how many safeguards you have in your systems, if you’re good you have a lot of clients. Shit happens. And even if it doesn’t, sometimes you think it has happened. On one occasion I woke up at 4 in the morning thinking I’d missed something and had to drive all the way to the office to make sure it’d happened. It’s hard to describe the feeling you have when you’ve messed up, knowing that however bad you feel your client is going to be much worse off.
Fortunately those moments are far and few for most of us who practice. But our profession is known for substance abuse and, yes, mental health issues. Even the giants. Especially the giants.
June 25, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Anonymous
The LA Times obit.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-susan-jordan31-2009may31,0,7204479.story
June 28, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Eric Kirk
Just found this page with a download for Susan Jordan’s talk on “Feelings and the Adversary Process.”
June 30, 2009 at 10:58 am
sandraraven
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
July 12, 2009 at 5:12 am
Barry Winograd
The posting is for a different Susan Jordan, NOT the person who died this unfortunate death. You can check the website of the State Bar of California to verify this if you wish.
BW
July 12, 2009 at 11:10 am
Eric Kirk
Thank you for that!