I always thought Mongello was a former attorney -- in other words, that he no longer practices law.
However, according to the website of Mongello & Scialabba (which is linked to the WDWRadio site), he is still described as "of counsel" to the law firm, whatever this designation means. Furthermore, his bio on the law firm's site also notes that "he is currently the Chief Technical Officer and Vice President of Operations" for Tricat, which ostensibly provides "medical imaging information services."
All of this raises a number of questions.
Is it ethical for a practicing attorney to contemporaneously own and/or operate multiple, other non-legal businesses?
Conversely, is it ethical for a non-practicing attorney to continue to draw an income from a law firm, even if that firm is owned in part by the attorney and/or other members of his family? (I don't know whether Lou in fact derives any income from Mongello & Scialabba, but it would be odd to publicly hold oneself out as professionally affiliated, in a presumably non-volunteer position, with an entity for which one does no paid work whatsoever.) Keep in mind that what is "ethical" from a layperson's point of view (e.g., having a family member paying you for work you didn't really do by characterizing such payment as a gift) may not be ethical from the standpoint of a professional organization that regulates the practice of law.
And how much law can someone really practice if he not only lives hundreds of miles away from his law firm, but also spends seemingly all of his conceivable free time wandering around theme parks and working on material for his podcast, blog, and website? If I were a potential client, would I really want to engage the services of a law firm, one of whose attorneys seems to have little actual commitment to or interest in the practice of law?
I'm no expert on legal ethics, but most of the above questions arise naturally as a matter of common sense, as well as the general understanding that certain professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, operate within strict sets of ethics guidelines that regulate how they must practice their professions.
(As an aside, the website for Tricat has no content of any substance, nor any indication of what exactly the company does, who runs it, or where it is located. No address or phone number is provided, and the only way to contact anybody is to fill out an online inquiry form. You'd think that a company that purportedly provides medical services -- much like one that provides legal services -- would fully document their relevant accreditation, etc. As it stands, the website for Tricat almost makes it seem like an entity that was solely created as a shell for other purposes.)
