Lawyer of the Day: Gerald Hamelburg
Like so many ATL Lawyers of the Day that have been honored before him, Gerald Hamelburg falls into the camp of attorneys who practice the law but don't respect it. Hamelburg has gotten caught up in a "disabled placard abuser" sting.
A similar scam was run in this episode of Desperate Housewives. Gaby Solis (Eva Longoria) takes advantage of her husband Carlos's blindness to get a disabled parking sticker and score sweet parking spots.
But Hamelburg had it even better -- he got to park for free, too. From the Boston Globe:
He lives in one of Wellesley's most exclusive neighborhoods, owns a $1.8 million Nantucket vacation home, and has a small fleet of luxury cars at his disposal. But when Gerald Hamelburg drives downtown, he doesn't like to pay his way, according to investigators with the state inspector general's office.The Boston lawyer, they say, uses his deceased mother's handicapped placard to park his Mercedes convertible, free of charge, at meters near the High Street firm that bears his name...
According to an investigator's report, Hamelburg seemed unclear about what he had done wrong.
"He denied that he was 'displaying' the placard," wrote the investigator, who videotaped this week's exchange, "and stated that it was merely 'hanging there.' He questioned why he was being sanctioned for the use this time, saying that he had used it 'half a dozen times' before that and 'no one' had ever had an issue with his use of the placard before. [The trooper] asked him why he believed that was an appropriate defense to his having committed a serious violation by using the placard illegally. Hamelburg had no response to his question."
Not the most impressive defense skills there. We assume that this is his law firm: Greenbaum, Nagel, Fisher and Hamelburg, though he gets no love (or bio write-up) on their website. The Massachusetts crackdown turned up hundred of placard abusers, and Hamelburg wasn't the only attorney among them: "Among the worst violators were a state lawyer and his wife."
This may sound cold-hearted, but we can't help wondering: We understand the disabled getting premium parking spots close to building entrances, but why do they score free parking, too?
Disabled placard abusers targeted [Boston Globe]
(40) Comments
Not in every case, but frequently there is no charge for disabled parking because there it is difficult for the person with a disability to physically access the meter.
many cities have begun installing accessible meters in disabled spots.
Charging handicaps for parking is a violation of the 5th Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause. God already punished them, therefore it is improper for the state to do so.
Sincerely,
Timmmaaay.
Couldn't you just make the meter lower?
Did he at least have the decency to limp from his car and pretend to be handicapped?
Because many cities are going with those electronic print out meters instead of the traditional meters, there are substantially more steps now to pay for parking. From the car, to the meter, which may be at the end of the block, back to the car, then to your destination. Not all disabled people are in wheel chairs. many can walk short distances, but as the distances become longer, they struggle. Adding that many steps is a problem.
This has become a big issue recently here in Charleston, SC. Tons of employees at the Medical University are taking up all of the available parking within blocks of the hospital by using bogus handicap placards. To answer the question about why free parking (at least in SC): a state law from the '70s that was implemented upon the return of many wounded Vietnam vets allowed for the use of free parking in metered spots and city-owned parking garages. Once it had been effect for awhile, everyone forgot about it until the exposure of those abusing the system.
2:27: He should have at least limped a little bit. Bad form.
Also, people with disablities may have no other choice but to drive places whereas those more able-bodied could walk places or take mass-transit.
Even worse because on-street parking in Boston is the Hobbesian Nightmare!
Why should the disabled get sweet parking spots when they drive huge-ass vehicles. If you are able-bodied enough to operate a GMC Yukon or a freaking Hummer, you are able-bodied to walk as the rest of us.
The disabled parking laws are a complete farce - where is the concomitant limitation that goes along with this privilege - why for example are these handicapped drivers allowed to drive on the left side of highways? Such BS.
I know someone who does EXACTLY THIS. She uses her dead mother's handicapped placard to park in mall shopping areas. When I said something to her about how rude it was, she said, "Well just consider me handicapped." I said, without a smile, "How are you handicapped? By extreme laziness?" She just laughed. I literally wanted to kill her.
If Massachusetss were subject to Sahari'a, an appropropriate punishment would be to cut off his hands. Then he could get a placard... what a dick.
post at 3:17--are you f-ing serious? get a life and cross your fingers you're never disabled.
I disagree with 3:18. These people should have a leg broken and NOT get placards. Let them see what's it's like to slog in from Siberia of the parking lot with an actual disability (other than complete self-absorption).
YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!!
Isn't everyone in Boston handicapped anyway? I thought everyone knew this. Why is this news?
I have a bogus handicap tag that I use at the grocery store to get a good spot. To allay suspicion, I use sunglasses and a white cane to walk from the car to the store.
nice, 4:28.
4:17, go F yourself. Now.
4:17, I disagree. Everyone in Boston is butt ugly, but not all retarded.
Everyone in Boston is butt ugly and retarded.
Maybe the guy was just a stutterer or had some other non-visible handicap?
I learned that stuttering is an eligible disability from Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Any jackass can pretend to be handicapped, but it takes real fortitude for a dude to park in the expectant mothers' spot. Bonus points for cutting off an actual pregnant lady.
I agree. There's no justification for giving free parking (or reduced fare metrocards, as is the case in NYC) to the disabled. I can understand having spots closer to the store entrance, but since employers have to legally pay them the same as everyone else, why shouldn't they pay like everyone else?
They should pay more to offset the burden they impose on society.
ATL is the last bastion of Social Darwinism.
"This may sound cold-hearted, but we can't help wondering: We understand the disabled getting premium parking spots close to building entrances, but why do they score free parking, too?"
It's not cold hearted at all to question anything and everything about disabled parking. Disabled parking is the biggest scam going. Very few people are genuinely disbaled to the extent that they cannot walk more than a few feet to a store. You often see "disbaled people" bounding outof their SUVs at supermarket.
The disabled parking program is like any other state or government run program to help the "less fortunate."
What starts off as an honest attempt to help those that are genuinely in difficulty turns into a farce, as low lifes and scam artists figure out the system's weak points and exploit and abuse the system.
As a lawyer in Mass, I can tell you that the DMV, disability and Disbabled parking are rife with abuse. For the right price you can get licenses reinistated, a doctor to write you a note that you are disabled or unable to work.
One has to wonder why, when life expectancy has gone up every decade, that there are more "disabled" people than there have been at any time in this country!
"One has to wonder why, when life expectancy has gone up every decade, that there are more "disabled" people than there have been at any time in this country!"
Two reasons come to mind:
1. It may appear that there are more disabled people now than previously because disability is no longer as stigmatized as it once was, and various accommodations make it easier for them to get around. We see more disabled people because they get out of their homes, go to work, go to the movies, go to restaurants, etc.
2. Medical advances mean that more people survive, with a disability, things that would have killed them previously. Specifically, I have read this with regard to the Iraq war - a lot of soldiers are surviving injuries that they would not have survived in previous wars, but have disabilities. Better disabled than deceased.
But yes, I don't doubt that there is also rampant abuse of the disability tags, which is a real shame.
Dear Gerald Hamelburg,
You are scum, and I would like to kick you in the vagomach.
"This may sound cold-hearted, but we can't help wondering: We understand the disabled getting premium parking spots close to building entrances, but why do they score free parking, too?"
Indeed -- according to the theories I learned in law school, this should create a perverse incentive and cause an inefficiently high number of people to become disabled.
10:57, You do realize that giving perks to the disabled creates an incentive for people to *claim* they are disabled, right?
3:18, my term for such behavior is "morally handicapped" (more PC to say "morally disabled" now). Solution: an acquaintance in high school was bragging about how she had her mother's placard while we were on our way to the mall. I grabbed it and tossed it out the window while on the freeway. Littering, yes, but it seemed like the lesser evil. And it made me happy!
11:38,
Littering, and possibly theft.
Are all the morbidly obese people walking around "disabled?"
"Doctor, I like to eat and I never want to stop, let me park close to the McDonald's entrance, give me a placard"
My grandfather lost his legs at age 30. He had a non-motorized while chair. He drove with hand pedals. When I was a child he would take me the store and restaurants. He never complained once in front of me of anything in his life. If all the handicapped spaces were taken at the local mega-mart. He would just smile, park at the end of the lot, and wheel himself to the store.
If you can walk you should not have a disabled parking pass.
This lawyer should be charged with FRAUD by the ethics committee.
I'm a MA attorney who lives in a full-service building in Boston, in an OK but not super-awesome part of the city (ie. not Back Bay, Beacon Hill, or North or South Ends). The building is packed with obscenely wealthy students (despite it being a no-students building). There is a kid - I'd peg him at about 19 or 20, who drives a V12 AMG Merecedes Coupe (list price: $187,000) and parks in the handicapped spots in the parking garage all the time. The kid is decidedly not handicapped. Oh, and he's from the NYC area, natch.
11:38. What did disabled mom do when she needed the tag you threw out the window?
she got fat
I am an attorney who is a quadriplegic and have one of these permits in New York City where I practice. Those who abuse the permits deserve this sort of public humiliation. The same is true for some of those who posted (10:17, 7:36, 3:17, etc.) On Street parking (not the type in shopping malls) is usually available to those with actual, noticable and well documented disabilities. It is not a convienence, charity device or other form of handout. It is issued because so many other methods of transportation are not accessible. Subways and trains (at least in NY) anre not accessible, and to the extent there are elevators, they are not at every stop. In addition, gapping issues (threshold of subway car and station platform not level) make using a subway next to impossible. Busses are not equipped with wheelchair securement devices. Inclimate weather is also a factor (try using a motorized wheelchair in snow). Therefore, due to the inaccessability of public transportation, permits are issued. If not for my permit, I would have to pay over $30 a day for parking. That is in addition to a specially equipped $120,000 van, $4.5 a gallon for gas, insurance, tolls, etc. Everyone else in my firm pays $4 a day for a metrocard. A parking permit does not even come close to giving me a freebie. By the way, Go Yankees.