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It happened to Target. It happened to Home Depot. It just happened to the federal government. Can it happen to your small business? We’re talking about hackers and data breaches. While most data breaches covered in the news affect large companies with millions of customers, your small business is just as vulnerable. According to Internet security firm Symantec, 60 percent of cyber-attacks in 2014 targeted small and midsize businesses. With two thirds of adults refusing to return to a business where their personal information was stolen, can your small business afford a data breach?...

Landlords faced with less-than-stellar tenants may be wondering how to legally evict troublesome tenants. It’s a question that’s often raised in our FindLaw Answers Landlord and Tenant forum. There are several reasons why a landlord would want to evict a tenant: for example, non-payment of rent, significant property damage, and violating the terms of the lease. In those situations, landlords may be able to evict a tenant, but must follow certain steps before they can lawfully kick the renter out....

Undertaking: a word that is both a prime example of legalese, the unique language used by those who work in the legal field, and an apt description of our continuing series, Legalese From A to Z. Like many legal terms, undertaking has a common meaning – “a promise or a pledge” – as well as a more specific legal meaning. In this case, an undertaking is a cash or written promise given as security or surety bond by a party in a property action, such as an attachment....

The first rule of fight club is that it can land you in the clink. 31 Memphis area students are due to be charged for crimes relating to planned fights which were recorded and shown online. Another 5 teenagers in Monterey, California were arrested this week for planned fights (and unplanned fights that surrounded the planned fights). These cases answer again a question that has cropped up since the movie Fight Club came out 10 years ago: Yes, participating in fight clubs is generally illegal....

Many people who used to have jobs also have non-competition agreements in place with their former employer. The agreements themselves vary, as do the state laws determining their enforceability. For small businesses putting new non-competes into place and for those wondering whether they are bound by an old non-compete, here are the basics on when non-competes can be enforced. Non-competition agreements have direct impact on three groups of people: employers wishing to enforce them, workers who want work in the same area as their old boss, and new employers who can face liability for hiring someone in violation of the new-hire’s old non-compete....

A nurse in California refused to perform CPR on a patient in a 911 call that’s gone viral. Was the nurse wrong? Tough question. An 87-year-old woman was dying at Glenwood Gardens, an independent living facility in Bakersfield. During a 911 call, a dispatcher is heard urging the nurse to give the dying woman CPR. Glenwood Gardens and even the woman’s daughter have stood by the nurse, saying that she followed the facility’s policy....

If you have a job, chances are you have workers’ compensation insurance. While state workers’ comp laws can vary concerning who is covered, those distinctions are normally based on the kind of job you have, not your immigration status. But a couple states have passed laws saying undocumented immigrants are not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The Ohio House recently passed a bill barring workers’ comp benefits for “illegal aliens,” though the bill has a long way to go before becoming law....

Allegations that he engaged in unwanted sexual conduct with the 18-year-old daughter of a longtime family friend and campaign donor have caused Oregon Representative David Wu to resign today despite no plans by the woman to file charges. Referred to the House Ethics Committee, Wu had already announced that he had no plans to seek reelection. However, he has changed his tune and has decided to step down “upon the resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis....

You’re in business so you find investment opportunities interesting and are curious about this thing called litigation finance. What exactly is it and how risky is this investment? Litigation finance is investing in lawsuits and, depending on the outcome, collecting a portion of judgments or settlements. Like any investment opportunity, it comes with risks and the better you understand litigation finance the better equipped you’ll be to determine if it’s for you....

The U.S. Supreme Court has been as busy as nine incredibly well educated beavers this year, and November should prove to be an interesting month for the High Court. There are issues of gun control, homeland security, and even home loans to contend with. So here are 10 Supreme Court cases you should really pay attention to in November: Zivotofsky v. Kerry – Jerusalem Passports (November 3): Jerusalem exists in a strange limbo when it comes to U....

Okay, this probably falls under the category of “it can happen to anyone” but is also intended as a cautionary tale. A court ruled today that the CEO of the Swiss banking titan Credit Suisse, Brady Dougan, has to pay his former wife, Tomoko Hamada Dougan, almost $1 million for being a few days late (12) on a payment required by their divorce agreement. A million bucks for a few days!...

You’ve got questions… we’ve got answers. If you have not yet asked or answered a question in FindLaw’s Answers community, what are you waiting for? This amazing free resource supports a dynamic community of legal consumers and attorneys helping each other out. Simple as that. We see a lot of great questions in our Answers community every day. Here’s a look at two recent questions from our accident and injury boards:...

It was a busy first week for President Trump. In its first seven days, the new administration issued 17 executive orders, memoranda, and proclamations, taking action on issues from public schools and pipelines to immigration and national security. So what do all these presidential actions actually do, and how to they differ? Executive Orders An executive order is an official, legally binding mandate from the president to federal agencies under the executive branch, advising them on how to interpret and enforce federal law....

Buying a house is a big deal for most people. It is a dream come true but it can turn into a nightmare, too, if you don’t get help. Although state requirements vary widely and in many places you are not obligated to have an attorney for closing, you should consider hiring one anyway. It’s best to have a professional look over your mortgage agreement before you sign. Even if you trust the people you are dealing with, closing on a home is complicated....

Uber has made huge advances in the peer-to-peer driving industry. Between ridesharing, food delivery, and their progress with regard to autonomous cars, the company is worth billions. But despite all that, Uber has recently been caught up in a hearty slate of lawsuits and scandals. In a recent lawsuit, a woman is suing her Uber driver and the company after she sustained serious injuries in a crash. T-Boned by a 16-Year-Old Jimena Martinez requested an Uber and was on her way home on the night of June 29 when her driver, Ricardo Melendez II, allegedly ran a red light....

Allison Scollar won an important battle for lesbian parents everywhere, but for now she’s probably just happy to have won custody of her 6-year-old daughter. Scollar and her ex-partner had the child together but Scollar was not the one who gave birth. Her ex, Brook Altman, is the biological mother. Still, a New York Family Court judge gave Scollar full custody of her daughter. This is the first such custody case in New York, according to the New York Post....

Unemployment benefits are ending sooner than expected for nearly half a million Americans, a result of actions by Congress and by state lawmakers across the country. Congress in February renewed an extension of federal unemployment benefits, which supplement state funds for the unemployed, until the end of 2012. But the renewal also cut back the duration of federal aid, and made it more difficult for states to get the maximum amount of aid, The New York Times reports....

Employers can force many things upon employees – meetings or events where attendance is mandatory or a specific start time each day, just to name a couple. But, you may wonder how far can an employer’s control reach? Well, under most circumstances, an employer can force its employees to get a flu shot. Forcing a Flu Shot on Employees May Constitute Religious Discrimination In fall 2016, Barnell Williams, a certified nursing assistant, was told by her employer, Lasata Care Center, that she would need to get a flu shot....

You may assume that if you were speeding before a car accident, you have no chance of winning. But that’s not necessarily true. Negligence Per Se The main reason why many people think that speeding may bar recovery in a car accident case is the legal concept of negligence per se. In order for either party to prevail in a car accident case, it’s necessary to prove that one driver’s negligence or recklessness was the cause of the injuries and property damage....

For more than 50 years, Doris Payne operated as one of the smoothest jewel thieves we’ll ever know. Any smoother and we’d likely never have known of her work. Yesterday, in a Palo Alto, California court, however, she pleaded guilty to the theft of a $30,000 diamond ring from a local Nieman Marcus. Her plans after she gets out? Get together with Halle Berry, who is slated to play Miss Payne in a movie about her life....