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When the only thing that you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse agree on is your love for your furry four-legged companion, deciding who gets to keep your fluffy friend can be impossible. As a result of these emotionally charged situations, people going through divorces are increasingly choosing to enter into shared custody agreements for their pets. Under the law, pets are viewed as personal property, the same way a car, painting, or rug would be viewed....

Colman Chadam looks like a healthy kid and he is in almost every way; except that he carries the gene for cystic fibrosis. That was enough to get him kicked out of school at Palo Alto’s Jordan Middle School because officials believed he would be a health hazard to other students. Seven weeks into the school year they forced him to transfer to a different middle school a few miles away....

Everyone knows that texting while driving is dangerous. In many states, it’s not only illegal, but it can also get you sued. But how about people who text drivers, can they be held responsible, too? A New Jersey court will soon decide this very issue. David and Linda Kuber both lost their legs in a 2009 car accident. The other driver was Kyle Best, 19. He allegedly sideswiped the Kubers’ car while texting and driving, MSNBC reports....

Guantanamo Bay detainees now officially have limited rights in court. A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently held that presidential war powers to detain suspected terrorists trump the international law of war. As reported by the New York Times, this decision effectively limits the rights of those held in Guantanamo, and perhaps others suspected terrorists and war fighters taken into U....

Listing your home for rent on Airbnb sounds like a great way to make extra cash – until you get slapped with an enormous fine for breaking the law. Nigel Warren wanted to take advantage of Airbnb’s easy rental system when he went out of town last September. So he listed his New York City apartment on the website and made $300 on a three-night rental. Then he came home to a $30,000 fine from the city for violating state laws....

Hello humans. We are at the start of a new millennium, a complex and tense time in which speech matters a great deal. How do you communicate correctly with so many types of people and tools for exchange and evolving notions of what’s okay? The answer is, you should communicate consciously, acknowledging that we all make mistakes. The sages all say that the wise only know how little they know, so – accepting that – let’s consider communication in the postmodern workplace from a human and legal perspective....

Patrons of Chicago’s Fraiche Bakery Cafe are hoping for the best at a court hearing to be held later this week. The bakery has sued a former chef, accusing him of stealing two binders that housed the business’ secret recipes. When owner Susan Davis Friedman asked for the recipes back, the chef allegedly demanded that she sue. He also reportedly told another employee that she should have made copies. Unless the judge orders their return, the bakery cannot make its acclaimed Cinnamon Bomb muffin....

We all know the retail checkout tango: They ask if you found everything alright; you reply “yes”; then they ask for payment and for your ZIP code; you provide the string of digits and off you go with your shiny new merchandise. But is it legal to ask for customer ZIP codes? The Massachusetts Supreme Court, for one, is cutting the dance short. Last month, the court ruled that a ZIP code cannot be required to complete a credit card transaction because it violates a state consumer-protection law....

Brenda McMullen filed a negligence claim against Lowe’s for injuries she suffered after stacked pavers fell on top of her. The case was filed in a Madison County courthouse in Indiana, but has since been moved to a federal court in Indianapolis based on interstate commerce, and the belief that damages, though currently unspecified, could reach over $75,000. Suing for negligence, McMullen claims that Lowe’s improperly stacked and stored pavers, which fell and struck her....

If you are involved in a domestic dispute, you may find yourself served with a temporary restraining order. A temporary restraining order (TRO) is a court order directing an individual to do or not do specific acts for a specific time period, generally until a court hearing regarding issuing a permanent order. TROs are typically used to prohibit someone from making contact or coming near a specific person, although they can also include a range of other directives, such as continuing to pay certain bills or to refrain from possessing a firearm....

A gun-safety class in Virginia backfired when a student accidentally shot himself and his wife, sheriff’s deputies said. The instructor may soon be the target of a possible lawsuit. Michael Deel, 54, of Roanoke, Va., shot himself in the hand with a .45-caliber handgun, The Roanoke Times reports. The bullet also struck his wife Michelle, 49, in the leg. The shooting was a “stupid accident,” Michael Deel told the Associated Press....

Millions of feet of composite decking material is being recalled by manufacturer Louisiana-Pacific Corporation. A defect in the material can cause the decking to deteriorate prematurely and break, and the problem has already caused a number of falls and injuries. The composite deck material was sold under the “Veranda” brand name at Home Depot stores nationwide between January 2005 and August 2008, at a price of $1.50 to $2.25 per foot, according to the U....

This is another in our series on car accident claims. So many of us experience an accident, but do we really know what do to, how to get help, or what our rights are? This series can help. Most insurance companies only make money when they can take payments on customer policies and don’t have to make payments on customer claims. And the less scrupulous insurance companies will find any reason not to pay claims....

By participating in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, North Carolina lawmakers are trying to address the root causes of crime in order to cut costs and keep the public safe. Lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties agree that the state must get smart on crime and begin to implement more data-driven solutions through the new Justice Reinvestment program, according to the News & Observer. The state will work with the U....

A New York jury awarded $3 million in damages to a teen who suffered serious injuries during childbirth 18 years ago. Dr. Stephen Serlin, a Glen Falls doctor, was ordered to pay damages to Marlayna Kineke for medical malpractice committed in the course of his work as an obstetrician-gynecologist. Medical malpractice is a specific form of negligence committed by a health care provider. In order to provide medical malpractice, the plaintiff must establish that the treatment they received departs from a standard of care met by those with similar training and experience, resulting in harm....

More than 50 people were hurt in a New York City ferry crash that happened during Wednesday morning’s rush-hour commute. The Seastreak Wall Street ferry, which brings workers from New Jersey to Lower Manhattan every day, didn’t make a smooth mooring. Instead, it slammed into the dock, hurling passengers onto the deck. Coast Guard members immediately began investigating potential causes of the crash. But hours after the accident, they were no closer to finding an answer....

School sports waivers. They’re required at countless middle and high schools across the country. Your kid can’t participate in football or softball, tennis or track without one. And like most parents, you’ve probably just signed on the dotted line without a second thought. Was this the right move? Fortunately, they do not. School sports waivers only preclude you from suing your child’s school for a physical injury arising out of the sporting activity....

In a move critics are calling politically-motivated, or just plain “cruel”, West Virginia legislator Craig Blair has introduced a bill requiring random drug testing of individuals filing for unemployment benefits. According to CNN, Blair and his supporters (who have a website at notwithmytaxdollars.com) say they are motivated not only by the “rampant” use of drugs in the country, but also by their desire for proper use of taxpayer funds. CNN noted that the bill would “require random drug testing for any government assistance” and someone who failed their drug test “would get the benefits and 60 days to clean up....

Texting while walking is illegal! Or at least the news media recently implied it was in the town of Fort Lee, New Jersey. But that isn’t so, according to Police Chief Thomas Ripoli. Chief Ripoli and Fort Lee made the news earlier this month when word got out that his officers had issued 117 tickets for texting while walking. But the story actually goes a little bit deeper. Fort Lee residents have been ignoring crosswalks and red lights in favor of texting and playing with their phones, Chief Ripoli told ABC News....

Remember that viral news story about a Russian fisherman attacked by a bear but saved by a Justin Bieber ringtone? Or the college student who set his school on fire with a fireworks marriage proposal? Or how about the lonely Chinese teenagers taking cabbages for walks? Well, BuzzFeed had to get those stories from somewhere. Those three and more came from Central European News (CEN), an agency that BuzzFeed also called “The King of Bullsh*t News....