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Maybe you’re expanding and you want more space. Or maybe you found a better deal closer to customers or clients. Or maybe you just got stuck with a deadbeat landlord. Whatever the reason, your small business is looking to change locations. But there’s just one problem – your current lease isn’t up yet. You obviously don’t want to pay rent on space you’re not occupying, so how do you get out of your commercial lease early, without owing the remaining rent?...

Vince DeDario is facing a lawsuit over allegations that his coaching strategy endangered a high school football player two years ago. Keemo Richardson was a freshman at John Adams High School in the fall of 2009 when the team suffered an embarrassing loss to their rival. After the team got back to Adams High, Coach DeDario called an immediate practice because of the team’s poor performance. Team members were allegedly told to break the legs of a tackling dummy, reports Business Insider....

We tend to think of the worst when thinking of injuries related to airplanes. But while a deadly crash is one risk of air travel, what’s far more likely is a mild to serious injury in-flight. Falling bags, forcefully pushed service carts, and even pilot error can lead to injuries like you might experience on solid ground. So how can you recover when you’re injured on an airplane? We all remember that “baggage may have shifted during flight,” but this does not necessarily absolve an airline of responsibility if a falling piece of luggage injures a passenger....

If you owe the IRS money, the April 15th deadline is fast approaching. It’s important to note that even if you get an extension to file your taxes, you still need to pay the taxes owed by the deadline or else you’ll get charged interest on any unpaid amounts. For those unable to pay the IRS in one lump sum, however, there are a few types of installment plans offered. Here’s a general overview:...

Although social networks like Facebook and Twitter are designed to connect people with friends it’s also become a tool for tech-savvy gangsters. They have taken much of their gang activity online. According to the Associated Press, many gang members now use Facebook and Twitter to send messages, boast about crimes and to share intelligence about rival gangs. As a result, law enforcement is hitting the virtual world of online social networking and gaming Web sites to find the bad guys....

Since before Daedalus warned Icarus he’d burn his wings going too close to the sun, humans have been trying to fly. Now Franky Zapata – famous with gizmo fans for his water-powered Flyboards – is trying it again with a hoverboard that seems to do justice to the name. Unlike hoverboards on two wheels, this contraption does allow the user to hover above the earth, quite high. But it doesn’t seem safer than the contraptions we’ve been reading about all year, which have been recalled by consumer safety authorities....

When airlines started charging extra for checked baggage, wallet-conscious travelers started stuffing everything they could into their carry-ons. Anyone whose flown in the past few years can tell you the turf war for territory in overhead compartments is real, and flight attendants, too, can attest to the increased injury risk caused by the “carry-on crunch.” That risk has been borne out by lawsuits against airlines. Most recently, a Colorado man sued Southwest Airlines, claiming flight staff should’ve spotted an “infirm” passenger trying to load a suitcase in an overhead bin and intervened before the suitcase fell on his head....

It’s swimming pool season, which means that it’s the perfect time to brush up on pool safety and, of course, the related topic of swimming pool liability. Before you open up your backyard pool to family and friends this summer, it’s necessary that you take the required steps to protect them as well as yourself. Here’s a quick primer to get you started. The rules of negligence require that you act with the utmost care with respect to your backyard pool – no matter what time of year it is....

Friday is “Take Your Dog to Work Day,” a yearly event that encourages businesses to welcome pets into their offices. But whether you let the dogs in just once a year, or on a regular basis, here are three legal tips to keep in mind when it comes to letting your employees dog it at work: Every day is “Take Your Service Dog to Work Day.” Even if you generally don’t allow employees to bring in their pets, allowing an employee with a disability to bring his or her service dog to work should be a no-brainer....

We all have days when we hate our jobs, but most of us aren’t risking life and limb when we head into the office. And while on-the-job safety is improving (2013 had the second-lowest workplace fatalities since 1992), some jobs remain more dangerous and more deadly than others. Most people might guess police officers, firefighters, or security guards have the deadliest jobs, but law enforcement officers barely crack the top 15....

Ignoring an unpaid parking ticket can have nasty consequences despite how ridiculous or petty you think the parking offense is. Unpaid parking tickets, when left unresolved, can cause double or triple fines to be imposed, your car to be towed, and even your license to be suspended. So don’t just shove that parking ticket into your glove box. Here are a few things that can happen when you ignore unpaid parking tickets:...

Last Sunday, a brawl among biker gangs broke out in front of Texas Twin Peaks restaurant. It started out as quiet Sunday, but police were already on edge. They had prior warning that trouble between bike gangs may occur. So, police were at the Twin Peaks’ parking lot staking out the restaurant. Suddenly, a fight erupted. The fight, between five rival gangs, escalated rapidly from punches and kicks to gunfire....

The current proposals to end birthright citizenship are in the headlines based on the argument that illegal citizens are coming into United States borders in order to give birth, and have their children become automatic U.S. citizens. Putting an end to birthright citizenship would require amending the Constitution, which is no easy task – especially for such a hot button immigration issue. But what exactly is birthright citizenship and how does it operate differently than other modes of gaining citizenship in the U....

You did not go to law school because the law is not your shtick – business is. But now that you have your MBA framed and up on the wall and your startup has gotten financing, you realize that there is no escaping the law. Every time you want to do something, hire someone, or strike a deal, legal issues are implicated. There are some areas of business regulation that you simply can’t ignore, so let’s briefly consider employment, contracts, and taxation....

What is the hottest trend right now? No, not wedges… the hottest legal trend. How about suing for a bad review? Whether it is Yelp, a esoteric academic journal, or even the venerable entertainment trade rag Variety, everyone is up in arms over the fine legal line between defamation and the nasty review. As discussed in another post, some professionals (in that case, doctors) are even going so far as to ask their clients (in that case, patients) to sign a form agreeing not to discuss their experience on sites like angieslist....

The weekly rundown of crime stories that blur the lines between idiot and genius, justified and not so much, freedom and incarceration… you be the judge. Taking the law into your own hands. What happens when a fake cop pulls over a real cop? The fake one gets arrested. What happens when you use big lights attached to your Beamer to make other drivers think you’re a cop and pull out of the way....

President Obama is back from vacation and back on the campaign trail for health care reform. And while he prepares to give a primetime speech to Congress next week, promising to provide firmer details on what he supports in a health care reform, small businesses are already weighing in on the need for reform. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that 61% of 700 businesses surveyed in California said that health care reform is a must to restore the economy....

Generally speaking, creditors in a bankruptcy case are not going to be sentimental about where their payment comes from, and they will gladly take whatever compensation they can get from you, regardless of the source. That said, creditors do not have access to all of your assets – some of your property can be classified as exempt from being used for debt repayment. But does that include an inheritance? If Uncle Joe just passed and left you some money, can a court take that money and pass it on to your creditors?...

In the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting, Hillary Clinton wondered aloud on Twitter: “If the FBI is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn’t be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked.” It’s a fair enough position, given Omar Mateen, the man who massacred 49 people that night, had previously been investigated twice by the FBI for connections to terrorist groups. (Both investigations turned up too little to charge Mateen....

Married couples frequently hold bank accounts jointly. When a couple divorces, the marital property and assets, including joint bank accounts, must be divided. But do you have to maintain that joint account during the divorce process? Many divorcing individuals are often confused about the rules for joint bank accounts once the divorce process gets started. Below, you can find some guidance, but be careful, as the laws governing divorce vary from state to state, so it’ll always be best to check with a local attorney before taking action....