Posts

Consulting an attorney can be costly, but you may be able to recoup some of those costs by deducting legal fees from your small-business taxes. The Internal Revenue Service code does not specifically list legal fees as a deductible item. However, the tax code may allow you to deduct legal fees as an ordinary business expense, depending on how you used the legal services that you paid for. Here are five common legal services for which you can generally deduct legal fees as a business expense:...

Republican state legislatures are gearing up to cancel birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants. Another crackdown on illegal immigrants, supporters say that is necessary in order to secure the border with Mexico. “The federal government has absolutely, totally and completely fallen down on its responsibility of protecting our nation’s borders,” Randy Terrill, an Oklahoma Republican, told Reuters. While it would seem very clear that the 14th Amendment gives birthright citizenship to all children born on American soil, conservative American legislators say that they are not trying to change the Constitution....

Ah the joys of blogging – the informal style gives bloggers the ability to comment on virtually anything. But virtually anything still means that the laws of the physical world apply to the cyber world. Case in point: right-wing blogger Hal Turner has recently been convicted of threatening judges based on some inflammatory blog posts he made on his blog. The offensive post was in response to a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld a gun ban in Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois....

You and your workers have the right to bear arms. No boss can bar employees from owning a gun. What the boss can can do is limit Second Amendment rights. This is exactly what the DA at the Nassau County Prosecutor’s office has done with a new policy. Proponents of the Constitutional right to bear arms are riled up this week after the The Washington Post reported on the New York District Attorney’s no-handguns policy....

Complaints about IVC blood filters abound and any number of complications may result from their use. Let’s review device basics and some common complications and claims associated with these controversial blood clot filters. IVC Filters Explained According to the FDA, “IVC filters are small, cage-like devices that are inserted into the inferior vena cava to capture blood clots and prevent them from reaching the lungs.” The filters are frequently placed in patients at risk for pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot in the lungs....

Amidst rising credit card debt and increased bankruptcy filings in the United States during the recession, the AP reports that the House of Representatives appears to be getting close to passing one measured called the “Credit Card Holders’ Bill of Rights”. The legislation certainly sounds impressive and significant (as do most things that have “Bill of Rights” appended to them), but what would the measure actually do for us were it to come into law?...

A California appeals court has found that cyberbullying is not speech protected by the First Amendment, at least not in the case of a group of teens and their parents who were sued by a cyberbullied victim. Refusing to throw out the suit as what’s called a SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), the court found the online statements at issue to fall within the “true threat” exception to First Amendment protection....

Here is a unique angle for a wrongful death lawsuit: Will Evans, the son of a smoker, whose mother died of lung cancer, is suing a tobacco company for deliberately trying to get her to smoke when she was underage. Lorillard Tobacco Co., through the “Cigarette Man,” allegedly sought to entice Marie Evans and other black children to smoke when they handed out free samples to children in the neighborhood, according to the lawsuit....

Emotional abuse may be harder to identify than physical abuse, but that doesn’t make it any less harmful. Whether in the context of marriage, family, or even strangers, emotional abuse can leave lasting psychological and sometimes physical effects. Fortunately, there are laws that can protect victims and prosecute perpetrators of emotional abuse. Here are some of those laws that you can, and sometimes must, use to protect yourself and others....

The housing market has, in the past, helped the U.S. economy pull itself out of recessions. This time, it looks like it just won’t happen quite that way. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales for the month of July were at their lowest levels in more than ten years. Sales fell across the country 27.2% from June numbers. The Realtors Association report found the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales was 3....

It’s less than a week to All Hallows’ Eve, so it’s time for some of FindLaw’s wonderful things. Whether you’re curious about Halloween laws or the best costume yet, we here at FindLaw are your best bet. We know about nunchucks and sobriety tests; also how to get through Halloween without an arrest. So before you dress up and head out to drink, give the following posts a bit of a think....

You’d like to think that a hospital would be one of the most clean, sterile environments around, considering it is where so many people go to get treatment for infections. And you’d also think that, of all the clean, sterile places within a hospital, its bedrooms, complete with clean sheets and linens, would be high on the list. But according to recent lawsuits, that wouldn’t be the case, at least for a few Pittsburgh-area hospitals....

Savvy small business owners aren’t just looking at their bottom line – they’re paying attention to politics as well. And while the Supreme Court is ideally apolitical, the choices a president makes in appointing justices to the court is anything but. Enter Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Antonin Scalia on the Court. Gorsuch’s 10-year tenure on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has given small business owners quite a few indications on how he might rule should he be confirmed, and the majority of his rulings were pro-business....

When it comes to information security, many small businesses think they have nothing to worry about, or may not think they have information worth stealing. Who would even bother to wiretap your small business anyway? However, small to mid size businesses are among the most frequent targets for cyber attacks and corporate espionage. While your data may not be valuable to others, ransomeware attacks may force you to decide how valuable your data is to your own business....

Every parent knows that the best way to curb behavior is to be consistent and immediate with consequences. That leaves many wondering why an Exeter, New Hampshire man could be facing jail time long after the conditions were met to have his suspended sentence reinstated, but immediately after he published disparaging remarks about the local police department on a Facebook page. The action has left many wondering exactly which behavior the police were trying to curb....

It seems like every employer is conducting mandatory drug testing these days. In states like California, where medical pot use has been legal since 1996, this can cause problems for employees legally using marijuana with a doctor’s prescription. The introduction of Sen. Mark Leno’s bill comes on the heels of the November defeat of Proposition 19, which sought to legalize marijuana across the board. Mindful of weary attitudes towards medical pot use, and pot use in general, the bill exempts workers in “safety sensitive jobs,” such as doctors, nurses, bus drivers, and those who operate heavy machinery, details the Associated Press....

Right on the heels of Vermont’s legalization of gay marriage, governor David Paterson reportedly intends to introduce a bill doing the same in New York. Governor Paterson justified the legislation as follows, according to the AP: This actually wouldn’t be the first such effort in New York, as the same bill was killed procedurally in the state Senate in 2007. However, the Senate was controlled by Republicans in 2007, and in the meantime control has since switched (narrowly, 32-30) to Democrats....

An incident this morning, August 17, has served up a jolting reminder about the importance of emergency alert systems and safety on college campuses. Today, a man opened fire at a police station nearby the Collin Community College campus in McKinney, Texas. Just after 9:00 a.m. local time, a series of shots were fired near the station. The shooter, who has yet to be identified, began yelling and spraying the building and nearby cars with bullets before being killed just yards from the station....

Divorcing couples are often surprised by the interplay of alimony and taxes. Though many couples don’t realize it, spousal support carries a number of tax implications. For starters, spousal support can be either taxable or tax deductible, depending on whether you’re receiving support payments or making them. And there may be other considerations as well, depending on your circumstances. Here are three reminders to keep in mind about spousal support and taxes:...

In a victory for broadcasters, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Aereo’s online TV-streaming service violates copyright laws. The ruling, issued Wednesday, could affect not only the availability of television broadcast content online, but also the future of cloud computing, Reuters reports. Here are five things you should know about the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in American Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo: The decision overturns a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in 2013 that found Aereo’s services did not violate copyright laws....