Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin notified Duson in a letter dated Tuesday that it is illegal for someone who is not licensed to practice law in Maine to hold themselves out as an attorney. The letter noted that violations of the law were punishable by civil or criminal penalties.
Duson has a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and was once registered to practice law in that state. She said she has never sought a license to practice in Maine, but she commonly calls herself an attorney in public statements on the council and in other forums.
She also uses the term on Web sites that support her bid for re- election to the council on Nov. 6. “I am not engaged in the practice of law, but I am an attorney,” Duson said in an interview. “And I plan to continue to refer to myself as an attorney.” Duson says she will continue to use the description on her Web sites.
She noted that the issue first surfaced on a conservative political blog, As Maine Goes, and said she was the target of a politically timed attack by a person with an axe to grind.
Robbin, who heads the Financial Crimes and Civil Rights Division of the Attorney General’s Office, did not return several phone calls seeking comment.
The complaint against Duson was made on Oct. 9 in an e-mail from Kenneth A. Capron, a Portland resident who told Robbin he was present when Duson called herself an attorney at a Sept. 18 candidates’ debate recorded for broadcast on community cable television, and at an Oct. 1 City Council meeting.
Capron also provided Robbin with links to two Duson campaign Web sites that describe her as an attorney.
“I ask that you investigate this complaint accordingly as I believe this person has used the ‘attorney’ nomenclature for many years to gain political and personal influence and employment,” Capron wrote.
Capron, 56, said in an interview that he is a former vocational rehabilitation client of the Maine Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, where Duson is executive director. He said he became disabled as a result of “cognitive issues” in 2001.
Capron said he initially received services from the bureau but his eligibility was terminated. In response, he filed a discrimination complaint in 2005 with the Maine Human Rights Commission. Agency records show that a staff investigator found no grounds to support Capron’s allegation, and the commission closed the case in May of this year.
Capron also filed a Maine Freedom of Access Act request for records of the bureau’s technology purchases. He said he was hoping to document spending levels to build a case that the state could save money if it hired him or someone else as a “facilitator” to buy computers and related equipment for clients.
Duson and the bureau refused to release the invoices on the grounds that they were confidential, a position that was upheld on appeal by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
Capron insists his complaint to the Attorney General’s Office about Duson’s use of the word “attorney” was not an act of retribution for his personal setbacks in dealings with Duson and the bureau.
“I believe it’s appropriate to be forthright with people, especially when you’re holding public office,” he said. Capron said he simply wants Duson to obey Maine law.
“She’s on notice now to stop using that title, and I’m happy with that,” he said. “I think it’s important. If anybody else was going around claiming to be an attorney, that wouldn’t be right.”
But Duson said Capron has a personal agenda and is trying to exact political revenge.
“He’s a very angry man, and he spews,” she said. “I’ve stood up to him. Now he seeks a back-door way to besmirch me.”
Duson is one of four candidates running for two at-large...
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