When summer hits, public pools can be a great place to cool off and enjoy some time in the sun. But what happens if you or your child are injured at a publicly owned swimming pool? How do you go about seeking compensation for your pain, medical bills and other injuries? Whom can you hold responsible? Here are three tips for filing a claim or lawsuit if you’re injured at a public pool:...
Three middle school students are suspended and faced expulsion after seeing pictures of their teacher topless on an iPad. The students were using school-issued iPads during class while playing a game called Flow. One of the students reportedly pressed a button, and a topless photo of their teacher popped up, reports CNN. You would assume that the teacher would be the one at fault and blamed for the incident. But instead, the students were the ones to get in the most serious trouble....
If anyone knows that labels hurt it would be Mark Wicklund, who is suing the state of Idaho. The 56-year-old Boise man was labeled a violent sexual predator in 2001. Now, Wicklund has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the state, while the Idaho Department of Correction Sex Offender Classification Board remains barred from issuing this label to others going forward, the Associated Press reports. He filed his lawsuit in the wake of an Idaho Supreme Court ruling that such designations were made with a lack of due process for offenders....
When Kiva created a system to encourage lending to entrepreneurs, small businesses worldwide took notice. However, until last year, U.S. entrepreneurs were unable to participate. Now after a successful pilot program which began in June 2009, Kiva.org now offers small business loans, or “microloans” to U.S. entrepreneurs. FindLaw’s Free Enterprise blog noted at the time that other microlenders were under investigation by the SEC, as their loans could be classified as securities....
If you have kids and are divorcing an alcoholic or considering it, prepare for some additional difficulties. An alcoholic parent who is still drinking but is in denial may want to have custody of your children. But you know that the person can be a danger to the kids. If it is difficult to trust them and they are prone to drinking, then you must find a way to protect your children....
A recycling truck crash in Seattle was a scene of fiery chaos on Tuesday, with a total of five vehicles damaged in the mayhem. According to The Seattle Times, two vehicles caught fire when the recycling truck slammed into them near Seattle’s Pioneer Square. Luckily, there were no serious injuries or fatalities. As the dust clears on this multi-car wreck, who might be held responsible for the damage? The only injury in the crash was, according to the Times, the driver’s shoulder injury....
It seems as though laws banning handheld devices and texting while driving are not producing expected results, according to a latest study released. Findings from the Highway Loss Data Institute show that crash/accident rates did not go down before and after distracted driving laws were enacted in California, New York, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. In fact, the study also found no change in patterns compared with nearby states without such bans....
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. It’s not just good social advice from mom; it can also be good legal advice from an attorney. While the First Amendment protects free speech, it doesn’t protect all speech. And certain negative speech can get you sued. Here are some of the biggest questions regarding defamation law, and where you can turn for answers. Maybe the defamatory comments weren’t that serious, or you’d rather not go through a full-blown trial....
It seems like there’s not a corner of our daily lives that some kind of insurance policy doesn’t creep into. When we wake up in the morning, our homeowner’s insurance covers fire and (possibly) flood damage. On our commute to work we might be protected by our auto insurance or a municipality’s policy if we’re on public transit. Most often, we get our health insurance from our jobs, and if we’re hurt on the job, workers’ compensation might cover medical bills or lost wages....
As you deal with your hangover and watch football on New Year’s Day, you should also be prepared for a slew of new state laws. In fact, about 400 new laws are set to take effect as the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, 2013, reports USA Today. Some laws make sense, like one in Illinois that allows motorcyclists to proceed through a red light if the light doesn’t change (because motorcycles often fail to trigger underground sensors)....
As wintry conditions persist across the country, we’ve all heard the warnings about trying to avoid slip-and-fall injuries in our stores. But nobody’s perfect. So what happens if someone does slip and fall on your business’ premises? While we might know what to do to prevent slip-and-fall injuries from happening, we may not be up to speed on what to do after a slip-and-fall happens – and especially what not to do after a slip and fall at your place of business....
It takes a lot to shut down a major interstate for almost 12 hours, but a 60-car pileup will certainly do the trick. Even after the road is clear, the issue of liability remains. In an accident involving two or three cars, it’s easier to see who’s at fault. But just outside Yreka, California, near the Oregon border, a two-car crash on Interstate 5 quickly escalated when other drivers couldn’t stop in “extremely icy conditions” on Tuesday, according to news reports....
The National Transportation Safety Board held a hearing Wednesday as part of its probe into the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crash-landing at San Francisco International Airport in July, leaving three people dead and about 200 injured. What exactly did the NTSB hearing process entail? Whether it’s a train, plane, or automobile, the NTSB may hold an investigative hearing as part of its investigation into a major transportation accident. The purpose of such hearings is two-fold; first, to gather sworn testimony from subpoenaed witnesses on issues identified by the Board during the course of the investigation, and second, to allow the public to observe the progress of the investigation, according to the NTSB’s website....
Many say existing California sex offender laws don’t go far enough and need to be under review. Among those people are the parents of Chelsea King who said they will fight for changes in sex offender laws. Convicted sex offender John Gardner has been charged with murdering and raping their San Diego County teenager. The question is whether federal law (Megan’s Law) should have prevented 17-year-old Chelsea King’s murder? And why California’s own version, known as Jessica’s Law, isn’t working to better govern convicted sex offenders?...
It might be the scariest part about getting in trouble in high school: it could end up on your permanent record, and keep you from going to college. No one wants to jeopardize their future with some juvenile shenanigans. But with employers relaxing their standards when it comes to hiring ex-cons, could colleges follow suit and leave questions about criminal convictions off their applications? One premiere university might be leading the way....
When a doctor makes a mistake, the ramifications aren’t always physical. A misdiagnosis can emotionally traumatic, and mistreatment can be psychologically damaging. Injurious acts by doctors, whether negligent or intentional can cause patients mental stress and anguish, but do patients have any legal recourse? Here’s a look: Emotional distress claims can be tricky. Lawsuits based on emotional distress are generally split into two different types: Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress: Where someone suffers some mental or emotional harm such as shock or trauma because of another’s negligence; and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: Where someone’s extreme or outrageous conduct intentionally or recklessly causes someone else severe emotional distress....
This month, San Francisco authorities passed a law requiring employers of a certain size to contribute to paid parental leave for the first six weeks of a newborn’s life or upon adoption of a child. It is the first American city do so. The law starts off gradually, applying to employers of 50 or more and is for parents who have worked 180 days at a job. But it will require businesses with 20 or more employees to supplement state funds for parents by January 2018....
A former Playboy Playmate has won $1.2 million in a lawsuit that claimed New York City police used excessive force when responding to a false 911 call. A jury found that police roughed up Stephanie Adams, now 41, when they responded to a cab driver’s bizarre 911 call in 2006, the New York Daily News reports. The cabbie falsely told police that Adams “flashed vampire teeth” at him, and threatened to shoot him....
For many California criminal defendants going before a jury, they aren’t too concerned about making a fashion statement. Instead, they simply want to make a good first impression. That is why California courts in an effort to ensure a fair trial generally allow law enforcement agencies to unshackle, remove handcuffs or unsecure criminal defendants in court when a jury is present. Weusi McGowan, 38, also was worried about what not to wear in the courtroom during his robbery trial....
You may have heard about General Electric’s plan to hire 5,000 veterans in the next five years. While the move may be motivated by moral responsibility, the company has a financial incentive, too. There are new tax credits for hiring veterans. The VOW to Hire Heroes Act, signed into law in November, extended up to $9,600 in tax credits to employers who hire unemployed veterans. The rates are per-employee and apply to qualified veterans who begin work before January 1, 2013....
