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For many people, handling money is a breeze. They work, earn money, live within their means, and die a humble death. For others, money is the eternal, literally existential, problem. When people go so far into debt that the light at the end of the tunnel is actually a freight train barreling towards them, threatening financial ruin, bankruptcy might be a viable alternative to financial destitution. Bankruptcy is the process by which a person throws up their hands and says: “Court, please save me from these creditors....

With conservatorships in the news, you might be wondering: What exactly is a conservatorship? And why should you care? Whether used to make health-care decisions for an aging parent or to take over the finances of an incapacitated relative, conservatorships can be a powerful legal tool. 1. What Is the Difference Between a Conservatorship and a Guardianship? Depending on which state you live in, a conservatorship and guardianship may be two names for essentially the same thing....

Cold feet by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and complaints from residents who say the 9/11 trials should be moved out of Manhattan has prompted the Obama administration to consider a backup plan. According to the Wall Street Journal, White House officials seem to be open to moving the 9/11 trials away from downtown Manhattan. Currently, they are discussing a contingency plan amid the growing number of objections to hosting terror trials in NYC....

Workers’ compensation is a state-mandated program for workers who are injured while on the job. However, a recent study conducted by the National Employment Law Project found that low-wage earners are not likely to file for workers’ compensation even when seriously injured. Many workers were required to report to work after an injury, the study said. The study, titled “Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers” involved interviewing nearly 4400 low-wage employees in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City....

Summer heat waves may be a boon if you’re running a lemonade stand, but small business owners might be more burdened than blessed by oppressive temperatures. That’s especially true if your business involves working in the great outdoors, which can be not-so-great – and downright dangerous – during a heat wave. For those business owners who aren’t working on a device that changes the weather, here are three tips to help your employees stay cool – and to help you avoid potential liability:...

If you listen closely you might hear Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” while reading this next story. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous wife, Maria Shriver, has issued an official and public apology. So what has the Golden State’s First Lady throwing up a white flag? It is California’s cell phone law that became effective on July 1, 2008. As you might recall, the law requires drivers to use a hand-free device if they want to gab on their mobile device while on the road....

There are an estimated 100 billion nerve cells throughout the human body. And with so many nerves, the potential for nerve damage is present in just about any surgical procedure, including plastic surgery. While plastic surgery can create numbness and/or tingling afterwards and most patients experience some difference in sensitivity following surgery, what about more serious cases where pain or numbness seems never ending? If you suffered permanent nerve damage following plastic surgery, can you sue?...

With the prevalence of medical marijuana in the U.S. (23 states and counting), and with the variance of workers’ compensation coverage from state-to-state, it’s only natural to wonder whether your workers’ comp covers medical marijuana. With the nation’s pot laws seemingly changing by the day, it may be hard to keep track of what’s legal and what’s not. We know we can’t go to work stoned, but can we treat a work injury with legal weed?...

Last month, an 18-year-old manager of a Texas Chipotle was arrested for placing a spy camera in the women’s bathroom. Joanny Castillo was charged with invasive visual recording, but that wasn’t the end for him or for the company. A new lawsuit claims the location’s general manager, along with Chipotle upper management, attempted to cover up the spying scandal, going so far as to direct another manager to get off the phone with police when she called to report the incident....

Automaker General Motors continues to deal with a major recall of more than two million vehicles that may be equipped with a defective ignition switch. Nine months after the recall was issued, almost half of the recalled vehicles have yet to be repaired, reports The New York Times. Most recently, GM began offering $25 gift cards to vehicle owners who bring their cars in for recall repairs. But in the meantime, the death toll from accidents caused by the defective switches continues to rise....

There may be no such thing as a tax-free lunch. Even when one of the best perks of working at high-tech companies like Google and Facebook may be that employees literally get a free lunch. However, that perk may lose some of its luster as the tax man may come after the workers. Some tax experts say that these free lunches should be counted as taxable fringe benefits, reports the Huffington Post....

Need to hire new workers? A staffing agency may be able to help get the job done – but there are a few legal issues you’ll want to consider first. Some staffing agencies can place the right candidate at your firm without you having to sift through a high volume of job applications. Others will allow you to select and interview candidates, but will handle the hiring and other HR tasks so your small business doesn’t have to....

Recent years have seen an explosion of identity theft, but the crime is by no means new. An Oregon man who had his identity stolen 35 years ago can finally rest easy. The thief has finally been arrested. It’s never required hacker skills or mail theft to steal identities. As reported by the AP, 35 years ago, Tom Lesh of Coos Bay had his identity stolen the old fashioned way....

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed the state’s marriage equality bill into law on Wednesday, making Illinois the 16th state to legalize gay marriage. Quinn signed the bill before a packed crowd at the University of Illinois at Chicago Forum, signing the historic legislation on the very same desk Abraham Lincoln used to write his first inaugural address, Chicago’s WMAQ-TV reports. How does Illinois’ passage of same-sex marriage affect the national picture of marriage equality?...

Recently, producer and actor Michael Douglas announced he has stage IV throat cancer and is currently undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. According to interviews, Douglas said he sought treatment for a very sore throat earlier in the summer. He saw many doctors who could not find the cause of the problem until very recently. According to the London Telegraph, it was not until a biopsy in early August that the cancer was revealed....

If you purchased a car that’s defective, you may sue under product liability law. There are two types of product liability claims used for motor vehicle defects. Suits are usually based on the fact that the vehicle or parts were defectively made (manufactured), or based on an unreasonably dangerous design. Depending on the details of your case, you may file against anyone in the chain of creation or distribution, not just the company that sells the car under its name....

On FindLaw Answers, the interactive message boards where users can pose questions which are then answered by the greater FindLaw community, we see trends on topics that are important to the question-asking public. A recurring Family Law topic that comes up is about grandparents’ rights to custody or visitation of their grandchildren. So, you may be wondering too, do grandparents have legal rights to see their grandchildren? The short answer is … it depends!...

It’s not that shocking that parents who leave meth within reach of their two-year-old child are charged with child endangerment. But it can be a surprise when a mother of a two-year-old who goes missing – who claims she only left the child in a stroller in a park among friends and family for a moment while she went to grab a bottle – is arrested and charged with the same crime....

When can you sue for “pain and suffering” damages? But along with damages for economic losses such as medical bills, damages to property, or lost wages, personal injury suits can also sometimes include damages for “pain and suffering,” which place a monetary value on both past and future physical and mental pain suffered by a plaintiff. Here’s a general overview as to how this works: The most common type of injury that leads to an award of pain and suffering damages is a severe physical injury that causes physical or mental anguish for a period of time following an accident....

Parents, do you know who can give insulin shots at school? A recent California Supreme Court case discussed this exact question. The issue of insulin shots being administered at school may be on the minds of parents as the new school year gets underway. Consider that 8.3 percent of Americans, including many children, have diabetes. While parents and physicians may administer insulin shots at home or at the doctor’s office, who can give insulin shots for a diabetic child at school?...