If you associate live television only with the likes of Sid
Caesar or Uncle Miltie, or you think the “live” in television
died out in the late 1950s, think again. Legal Help Live has taken
the drama and spontaneity of talk radio, added the thoughtfulness
and some of the humor of a Steve Allen project and put it on
television – on Santa Monica’s CityTV, channel 16 (and channel
36 in Los Angeles) to be exact.
The show features the lawyers of Solomon,
Saltsman & Jamieson, a Westside firm that practices in a
variety of legal fields (including even Indian gaming law; details
below). Last week, this reporter had an opportunity to sit in
“the studio” (also known as the Santa Monica City Council
chambers) for an hour of on-air legal questions and answers, and
to talk off-camera with the lawyers.
Legal Help Live is a one-hour show – airing Wednesdays at 4:00
p.m. – in which two partners from the firm field questions from
telephone callers on everything from serious traffic accident
injuries to identity theft to elder abuse. Last Wednesday,
February 7, Brian from Santa Monica asked about a DUI, Joe from
Sun Valley wanted an update on medical marijuana dispensaries and
Amos inquired as to what could be done about potholes in the San
Fernando Valley, among other calls.
The show began in 2000 as a radio
program on KRLA in which firm lawyers presented a
moderated debate on various legal subjects from week to
week, explained partner Ralph Saltsman. The station
began to get calls from listeners wanting to put
questions to the lawyers, and so the show evolved into
the call-in format in response to audience demand. That
required less preparation time than the debates, the
lawyers said, but it also required a lot of
thinking-on-your-feet (or in-your-seat) in front of an
open microphone.
Article referred to on
broadcast
The call-in format on live television also
provides an impromptu atmosphere and the opportunity for the
lawyers to engage in entertaining riposte and repartee, whether it
is on the subject of a caller’s question or current topics in
the law which the lawyers themselves raise from time to time.
Stephen Solomon, for example, tends to more conservative views
(from favoring the death penalty to eating meat) while Ralph
Saltsman leans more to the left. (And, lawyers being lawyers, this
reporter imagines that they can create friendly disagreement on
the spot.)
After the show had been on radio for about five years, CityTV
manager Robin Gee and a colleague from LA’s cable channel 36
came to a studio session and later asked the firm to bring the
show to television, where it has been for about two years now.
Senior partner Stephen Solomon has been practicing law since the
1960s, when he started in Santa Monica and officed in Ernie
White’s insurance building at Arizona Avenue and Lincoln
Boulevard. An early client who operated a local nightclub caused
Solomon to develop some expertise in what lawyers call “ABC
law” (as in, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control), and when years later an American Indian tribe had a
liquor license problem, he wound up developing expertise in Indian
gaming law, and now represents several tribes.
The lawyers say that although they get “a lot of follow-up
calls” from TV callers letting them know how the on-air advice
worked out, the show has not really resulted in paying business to
the law firm. Nevertheless, they keep the call-in telephone number
live to their offices between shows, and younger associate lawyers
in the firm offer advice and guidance to 25 or 30 callers a week.
“We look upon it as a public service,” says partner Stephen
Jamieson. (Terence Lyons, Santa
Monica Mirror, 2/ 15/ 2007 )
Stephen Solomon, Ralph Saltsman and Stephen Jamieson, attorneys
from the Law Offices of Solomon, Saltsman and Jamieson, P.C. host
the viewer call-in show, Legal Help Live on Wednesdays from 4 -5
PM PST. The program provides practical suggestions to callers as
well as provides commentary and updates on current pending
litigation of interest to the public. Viewers may call 1.800.405.4222
to speak to a lawyer or submit legal questions using the form
below.
LAW OFFICES OF SOLOMON, SALTSMAN & JAMIESON A
Partnership Including Professional Corporations
426 CULVER BOULEVARD, PLAYA DEL REY, CA 90293
Toll Free: 800.405.4222 | FAX: 310.822.3512
Los Angeles: 310.822.9848 | ssolomon@ssjlaw.com
