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Blair and Serena didn’t make it into the Ivy League without first attending a top-notch preschool. Okay, fine. We don’t know where the Gossip Girl characters first attended school, but we do know that to some parents, an Ivy League education is a matter of life and death. And this, of course, is why it’s not surprising to hear that Nicole Imprescia, a Manhatan mother, is suing York Avenue Preschool for ruining her daughter’s chances at the Ivy League....

One might have thought that multimillion dollar bonuses would not be as big of an issue in attempting to help small businesses as it has been in bailing out financial services giants like AIG. However, it looks as if restrictions on hefty executive compensation may pose obstacles to small businesses getting the promised $15 billion in new loans backed by government money. SBA loan broker-dealers are part of the secondary market for many small business loans....

All surgeries have their risks, and when it comes to elective surgeries, the risk versus reward calculation can get far murkier. So murky, in fact, that plastic surgeons may need to inquire about a patient’s mental state before assenting to a procedure. At least that’s what one Chicago lawsuit claims, after a patient underwent several cosmetic surgeries and died due to a pulmonary embolism. The woman’s estate is now suing her doctors, claiming they failed to provide proper medical care by not giving her a psychological assessment prior to the procedures....

Courts have long adhered to a child’s best interests when making custody decisions. Generally, that means parents sharing custody so that the child can maintain positive relationships with each parent. But what if there are more than two parents? In what could be a landmark ruling, a judge in New York granted custody of a 10-year-old child to three parents: a divorced man and woman and the female neighbor with whom they had a threesome....

It’s as natural as the seasons changing – as soon as summer arrives, so do the injuries. Sunburn, heat stroke, animal bites and stings, and swimming pool injuries. And, as the calendar approaches July, fireworks injuries. Police are cracking down on illegal fireworks sales and communities are cancelling legal fireworks shows, for good reason. Fireworks, essentially decorative bombs, are dangerous. So much so that we have a whole trove of fireworks injury blog posts from the past few years....

It can be seen as a sad state of affairs when the best critical commentary of our criminal justice system is coming from a late-night comedy show. But that’s John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” for you. This week, the show tackled criminal prosecutors, the county, state, and federal attorney who decide which crimes, if any, a defendant should be charged with – decisions that impact everything from plea bargaining to trials and sentencing....

When your flight is cancelled due to weather or other issues, you often feel powerless to fix the situation but that doesn’t mean you don’t have any legal rights. To be clear, airlines don’t guarantee flight times and it’s better to be delayed or cancelled than to fly in unsafe conditions. You can’t stop an airline from cancelling your flight and you probably don’t want to. But with all the people stranded by Hurricane Sandy it’s a good time to remember that even if your flight doesn’t take off according to schedule, there are some things you can do....

You wouldn’t go to a questionable part of town and let everyone know that you were carrying wads of cash. Likewise, you shouldn’t post pictures of yourself with a bunch of money on social media. You can’t be sure who will see it or if they have the ability to track you down. In a tragic case out of Illinois, one woman was killed in a home invasion after a man at the residence posted a photo flaunting a recently-acquired sum of money....

Where there is marriage, there is divorce. This is particularly true of Wyoming, where the state Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that, though the state doesn’t generally recognize same-sex marriages, state courts still have the jurisdiction to grant a same-sex divorce. Before you jump for joy or bemoan “activist judges,” keep in mind that this is a very narrow decision that in no way impacts the definition of marriage....

Police finally captured the “Barefoot Bandit” after two years on the run. Colton Harris-Moore, 19, was nabbed after a high-speed boat chase by the Bahamas Police. Over the years, the teen bandit has built a reputation eluding authorities and stealing luxury cars, powerboats and even airplanes, MSNBC reports. The “barefoot bandit” is alleged to have committed over 100 crimes while in eight states and one Canadian province, officials said. Harris-Moore was dubbed the “barefoot bandit” because he was without shoes when he allegedly broke into houses....

Deductions, withholdings, credits, dependents – it’s enough to make a non-CPA’s head spin. The tax filing deadline is fast approaching, meaning you still have time to make, and hopefully fix, some of the worst mistakes when preparing your taxes. So before click “File” online or throw that overstuffed envelope in the mail to the IRS, make sure you didn’t make one of these common tax filing errors: Did you leave out a deduction or tax credit?...

Plastic surgeons, like any other doctor, can be held liable for medical malpractice if their treatment and care for a patient results in injury. But what if their treatment simply results in an unhappy customer? If the nose job, lipo, face lift, or tummy tuck doesn’t result in harm but also doesn’t meet the doctor’s promises or patient’s standards, does a displeased patient have any legal recourse? The terms “breach of contract” and “breach of warranty” are normally limited to the business world of commerce and consumer sales....

If you’ve seen ratings on online sites like Yelp, you may be wondering if any of those 5-star reviews are actually fake reviews. You may also start to wonder if some of your business competitors are actually using money to buy good reviews. Your instinct may be correct. So-called “review factories” are starting to crop up. These companies pay reviewers money to write five-star reviews on websites for anything from products to hotels and services....

CIT Group entered bankruptcy this past Sunday. The group provides lending to a large number of mid sized and small businesses. According to the New York Times: “On Sunday, CIT entered what it called a different kind of bankruptcy, one that will let it reemerge from court protection by the end of the year under the ownership of its creditors, who widely supported the reorganization plan.” CIT argued against bankruptcy this past summer by stating that being forced into Chapter 11 protection would be disastrous to the small business sector....

Few things are more upsetting than when officers or other government officials maliciously use their position of power. Just ask Donald Hamlett, who was pulled over not once, but twice, for DUI charges in Chesapeake, Virginia, during the same year, by the same police officer. Hamlett, a 64-year-old musician, was driving home from an evening gig in January 2015 when Chappell pulled him over. Hamlett’s dashcam recorded the arrest. In this first DUI trial, Hamlett claimed Chappell had misrepresented the events of the arrest....

Every year around July 4th, there are gruesome fireworks injuries. Last year, a man blew off his head. This year, a man blew off a part of his genitals. A northern Michigan man thought he set off a firework last week, but the firework did not explode as expected. As the man went to check on the suspected dud, the firework went off just as the man stood over it, reports MLive....

A Victoria’s Secret customer in Texas was not allowed to breastfeed in a fitting room, Austin’s KTBC-TV reports. But was it legal for the store’s staff to turn her away? Customers and business owners alike are wondering whether employers can legally ban breastfeeding. The answer to that question is generally state-specific. The legal ability to ban breastfeeding at a business depends on state-specific law. Most states grant a mother the right to breastfeed in any location – public or private – in which she is authorized to be....

When Patty Davis was asked whether she would like to be cremated at death, she responded that she was terrified by the idea and said she would like to be buried in the front yard of her home instead. Being a good husband, Jim Davis put his wife’s grave in the front yard when she died in 2009. Jim Davis lives in downtown Stevenson, Alabama. While the city is not big, Davis reportedly lives in the heart of the city, and not some rural area sitting on acres of land....

The NRA is backing two Arizona gun dealers that have sued over the new bulk gun sales reporting requirement that is being instituted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The NRA is asking for an injunction to stop the rule from being enforced, according to The New York Times. The ATF rules would require gun dealers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to report certain gun sales....

Thinking about painting your apartment? You may want to pause before you start purchasing primer and comparing swatches at your local hardware store, or you could end up forfeiting your security deposit. If you own your home, painting any part of it is no problem. But if you’re renting, it may cost you in the end – as in, at the end of your lease. Before you decide to give your room or whole apartment (or any part of it, really) a facelift with from fresh color, be sure to double check a couple of things first....