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James Bain spent more time in prison than any of the 245 inmates previously exonerated by DNA evidence nationwide. But today, Bain, 54, is a free man after 35 years behind bars on a wrongful conviction. According to CNN, DNA evidence showed that Bain did not kidnap and rape a 9-year-old boy in 1974. Lawyers from the Florida Innocence Project also helped Bain win freedom. A national and public policy organization, the project works to exonerate prisoners with wrongful conviction cases through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent further injustice....

Today the U.S. House Committee on Small Business is considering a bill that would expand the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) entrepreneurial development programs. The bill aims to support entrepreneurship nationwide, within specific regions and within specific demographic groups. As reported by the Central Valley Business Times, the “Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act of 2009” would be the first major revision of the SBA’s entrepreneurship programs in more than 10 years. Along with changes to specific programs, the bill would call on the SBA to create and present a plan to Congress for how it will create jobs through entrepreneurial development programs (both nationally and within specific regions)....

Like. Share. Discuss. All these features are encouraged on the newly designed FindLaw for Consumers page. FindLaw.com is excited for the chance to reach out to the Facebook community and share all the interesting legal knowledge FindLaw has to offer. Whether you are looking for the answer to a specific legal question, hoping to engage with a dynamic law-based community, or enjoy reading about the latest legal stories, FindLaw on Facebook has it all!...

The jury may still be out on the big questions, but one judge and his opinion came in on October 14. A federal judge in Florida ruled he will allow that state’s healthcare lawsuit taking on the Obama reform law to proceed. Judge Roger Vinson of the Federal District Court ruled the case challenging the constitutionality of the healthcare reform law may continue and even hinted as to his possible opinion on the end result....

Rev. Michael Massaro of the Holy Cross Catholic Church in Florida still had forgiveness to dole out after a violent day at his confessional last Saturday, which was when 57-year-old Josephine Gatchell allegedly decided to take a “big knife” (in her words) and stab Rev. Massaro twice in the back. CNN passed on Reverend Michael Massaro’s description of his horrific experience at confessional: Attacker Josephine Gatchell perhaps thought she was the one doing holy work, considering that she told police she believed that Massaro is the Antichrist (Massaro assures the world that he is not)....

On your first day in London, you’re crossing the street to see Buckingham Palace. Bam! You’re hit by a car. Not only are you in incredible pain, now you have a huge medical bill, and you’re going to miss out on the rest of your trip. What can you do about it? If you’re injured abroad, can you sue? Generally, if the other party is at fault you can sue. The hard question is where....

The latest executive position trending among hip corporations is the “Chief Happiness Officer” or “CHO.” The New Republic described the title flatteringly as “the latest, creepiest job in corporate America,” but it might be worth a second look. From what we’ve gathered, CHOs are responsible for the well-being of a company’s employees in ways that surpass that of a typical HR department. But many CHO critics warn that tracking employee happiness can lead employers down an invasion-of-privacy rabbit hole – one your business may not wish to fall into....

If you drive with any regularity, the odds are good that at some point, you’ll be involved in some form of automobile accident. And while accidents that result in serious injury or death frequently lead to accident injury lawsuits, what about an accident that may just be considered a fender bender? Although any instance in which another person’s negligence or recklessness has caused you property damage or injury may be grounds for a lawsuit, you may want to think twice before bringing a lawsuit for a relatively minor car accident....

The downturn continues to claim jobs, even at dominant behemoths like Google and IBM. This week Google announced it would layoff of around 200 sales and marketing employees, while IBM announced plans to axe 5,000 US workers. Businesses of all sizes are experiencing the unenviable task of letting employees go. When doing so, they often face common questions about last paychecks, severance packages and references for ex-employees. This is Google’s third and largest round of job cuts in 2009....

How do you change your court date? The answer can vary by jurisdiction and even by court. It can also depend on the type of case you’re involved in – for example, rules for criminal court, probate court, and small claims court are all different. If you’re represented by a lawyer, then changing your court date can potentially be as simple as asking your attorney to do it for you. Your attorney will likely need to confer with the court and with the opposing party in order to secure a new court date....

If you feel clueless about how to respond to a DMCA takedown notice, don’t worry, you’re not alone. If your online content is removed because of a takedown notice you think is without merit, you can fight back with a counter-notice asking that the material be put back up. Here’s how to respond to a DMCA takedown notice and file a counter-notice: Filing a counter-notice is a great option if:...

LinkedIn is no longer a friend to prostitutes and escorts, after a change in the social networking site’s policies Monday barred legal sex workers from promoting their services on their LinkedIn profiles. The social media site’s director clarified that LinkedIn has never allowed prostitution on its pages, and that this change in policy was an opportunity to make clear “what [the site] will or won’t allow,” reports NBC News. LinkedIn may be able to exert some control over the content of its site, but users and those in the legal sex industry are not happy....

Home health-care nurses abused an elderly stroke victim in an incident caught on tape, and the suspects may face criminal and civil charges. The family of the unidentified 98-year-old patient hired private nurses to care for the elderly woman at her home, at a pay rate of $1,300 a day, reports the New York Daily News. But when the family hired the nurses, they also installed a security camera so that they could monitor her care....

The two pilots on Northwest Flight 188 who flew past their destination more than 100 miles are fighting the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) decision to revoke their licenses. The incident occurred on October 21. The pilots claimed that they were so engrossed with their laptops looking at Northwest Airline’s new scheduling policy, that they lost track of time. We outlined their behavior as well as other instances of pilot negligence in our previous post in Injured here....

Just days after opening arguments, the families of two tourists killed in the 2010 Philadelphia Ride the Ducks boat crash have agreed to settle their wrongful death suit for $15 million. The Ride the Ducks settlement also includes $2 million to be split between 18 other people who were injured. The monies will be paid by Ride the Ducks and K-Sea Transportation Partners, which is responsible for the barge that struck the tourist boat....

Considering news that the unemployment rate went up in almost every state during May, or to be more specific, in 48 states plus D.C., there may be no better time to review some tax considerations in the context of losing a job. Bob D. Scharin, Senior Tax Analyst for the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters has some great tax tips for couples and families where one of the wage-earning spouses has lost their job....

Who has the right to bring a lawsuit in federal court? One might think this is a universal American right, like the right to free speech. But, like the limits on the First Amendment that prevent citizens from feeling privileged to shout “‘fire’ in a crowded theater,” the right to bring your suit in a federal court of law is likewise limited. It is limited by the legal concept of “standing....

After passing with overwhelming support in both houses of the Texas State Legislature, Governor Rick Perry signed Texas’ “loser pays” bill into law earlier this week. An extension of tort reform bills passed in the last 10 years, the “loser pays” law is being championed as the antidote to an overcrowded court system and frivolous lawsuits. But is “loser pays” good for small businesses? The intended purpose of Texas’ “loser pays” law is to dissuade residents from filing low-merit lawsuits; arguably, fewer people will risk paying the defendant’s legal fees if there is little chance of winning....

If you think Americans are lucky, kind of like lottery winners, you are right. This year, nearly a quarter million highly skilled foreign workers applied for H -1B visas to remain in the US but only 85,000 visas were available, so the government chose the recipients by lottery. Last week, reports The Wall Street Journal, demand for foreign skilled-worker visas surpassed the entire year’s mandated supply within five days. When that happens, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) awards the visas randomly among applicants....

Rescuers continue to search for survivors in the wake of a deadly Italian cruise ship disaster. But injured passengers and crew likely won’t be able to pursue cruise-related lawsuits in the United States. The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia – one of the largest ever to be wrecked – is owned by a company called Costa Crociere, Agence France Presse reports. Already, more than 70 passengers have joined a lawsuit seeking compensation from Costa Crociere in an Italian court, AFP reports....