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The U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship this week held a roundtable discussion addressing the issue of how the federal government can expand the number of federal government contracts that are awarded to small businesses. The roundtable was hosted by Lousiana Senator Mary Landrieu, who also chairs the committee. Landrieu has become a leading voice for small business on Capitol Hill. She helped secure funding for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans for businesses affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita– to the tune of $25 million....

In one of the many, many tweets attempted to address outrage at his administration’s policy of separating and detaining children and families of immigrants at the border, President Donald Trump yelled, “CHANGE THE LAWS!” Trump didn’t specify which laws, specifically, he wanted changed, adding to confusion and speculation about immigration laws and policies when it comes to children and families. In an effort to hopefully clarify which laws apply to those attempting to immigrate and those seeking asylum, and the policies put in place by the Trump administration that separate immigrant children from their parents, here is a roundup of our posts on the topic....

Camping with family and friends can be great, unless you end up with food-borne illnessdue to a recalled food. Sure, you’re a Viking when it comes to eating weird and possibly spoiled food (you even ate that tin of expired plankton), but these scary tales of food recalls may have you running for the restroom. So Long to Sausage Weenie-roasting around a roaring bonfire is a pretty iconic camping picture, no?...

Are you eligible for DACA? Do you know how to apply? Are you afraid to study abroad because you’re undocumented? Undocumented students of the University of California system can now get their legal immigration questions answered for free. UC Undocumented Legal Services Center The University of California has taken an unprecedented step. The network of universities opened the UC Undocumented Legal Services Center in November of last year to provide free legal aid to undocumented students and their families....

It seems like just yesterday Google was parting ways with an engineer who felt the need to explain to colleagues, in excruciatingly sophomoric detail, why the “distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and … these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership.” But that was over a month ago, just four months after the U....

When a child is born to a married couple, the husband is generally presumed to have paternity rights as the child’s father. But what about a child born to unmarried parents? Establishing a child’s maternity is generally fairly straightforward (for hopefully obvious reasons). Paternity, on the other hand, may in some circumstances require legal action. Why is paternity important, and how do unmarried fathers go about establishing it? Establishing legal paternity gives a father a number of important legal rights in decisions involving his child....

The Illinois State Senate approved tough new gun control legislation in order to protect children and combat the recent outbreak of neighborhood violence. The bill, backed by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, now awaits a signature from Governor Pat Quinn. It increases the punishment for offenders carrying a loaded weapon without a state permit card, the Chicago Tribune reports. Specifically, the new bill would change the current state law from the lesser sentence of probation and mandate at least one year in prison for a person convicted of unlawful use of a weapon by carrying a loaded gun without a firearm owner’s identification card....

The family of John Crawford III is suing Walmart and the Beavercreek, Ohio, police department for wrongful death after the 22-year-old father was shot and killed in August. Crawford was shot by a Beavercreek police officer responding to a 911 call about a man with a gun at Walmart; Crawford was holding a BB gun that he’d found unattended in the store. A grand jury in September declined to indict the officer or his partner for the fatal shooting....

A federal bankruptcy judge has upheld a payback formula to calculate the victims’ losses in Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme. Judge Burton R. Lifland sided with Irving Picard, a trustee overseeing the liquidation of Madoff’s assets and rejected the legal challenge of hundreds of defrauded investors. According to the New York Times, the judge endorsed Picard’s formula for the liquidation of Madoff’s assets in his 53-page ruling. Investors said they are owed $64....

Community property, the sequel. Diandra Douglas, ex-wife of Wall Street star Michael Douglas, is back in court for a repeat performance. The first Mrs. Douglas is asking the judge for her 50% share of Michael’s profits from his repeat performance in Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, the sequel to the iconic Oliver Stone film, Wall Street. According to a report by E!Online, the settlement from the pair’s divorce entitled the ex-Mrs....

The good: Risperidone, an antipsychotic marketed as Risperdal, can treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and reduce irritability and aggressive behavior in autistic children. The bad: studies of autistic boys prescribed Risperdal showed they can suffer from breast enlargement and diminished sexual functioning because of the drug. The ugly: Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals may have known about the risk and failed to warn doctors and patients. A slew of recent lawsuits have been filed regarding the side effects of Risperdal – here’s what you need to know....

Perhaps your parents decided to be creative when they named you. Maybe they were a little too creative. Now that you’re an adult, you might wonder how you can legally change your name. And if there are any laws that govern changing your name. There are. But, it’s not a particularly taxing process. That’s why so many Americans opt to change their names – including celebrities. After all, Los Angeles Lakers player Ron Artest changed his name to “Metta World Peace”....

A Sonoma Valley winery called Paradise Ridge Winery has agreed to pay $3 million dollars in order to settle a lawsuit over a teen DUI car accident back in 2006. The Press Democrat reports that Mr. Joshua Apodaca sustained serious brain injuries in the car accident. Mr Joshua was a passenger of a car driven by Mr. Sean Bradley who was served beer at a wedding held at the Sonoma Valley winery....

It’s been one year since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor. So what’s the state of gay marriage in America today? Since the Court’s ruling last summer (on June 26, 2013), dozens of states have had their same-sex marriage bans challenged and even defeated in federal and state courts, with many state governments choosing not to defend their own laws. Many courts that have struck down state gay marriage bans in the past year have cited Windsor as powerful precedent....

Ensuring you have a safe workplace benefits everyone, whether you run a construction site or a cubicle farm. It can save your employees and visitors from injury and it can save you money in the long run. And improving workplace safety doesn’t have to break the bank or cripple productivity. Checkout the tips below for ideas on improving safety on a budget. Safety as a Priority Among Leadership Safety experts put a lot of emphasis on the power of a trickle-down culture....

As more and more veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan, the need for a veterans’ court consistently increased. Most Americans know that veterans tackle mental health issues such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, homelessness and substance abuse after returning from war. All of these mental health issues obviously hinder veterans transitioning back to a civilian life. The Rock County Courthouse in Janesville just graduated its first graduate of its own veterans’ program....

Unlike other lawsuits, wrongful death claims are inevitably made on behalf of another. As the name indicates, the suit is based on a claim that the deceased died due to the defendant’s negligence, or worse. There are two general categories of damages awarded in such lawsuits, pecuniary and punitive. Pecuniary, or financial, damages attempt to calculate the financial value of a particular life while punitive damages serve as a punishment to the defendant....

Use of certain Zicam Cold Remedy products may cause permanent loss of the sense of smell, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers. The following over-the-counter, zinc-containing nasal cold remedy products (marketed by Matrixx Initiatives) should not be used by consumers: The loss of the ability to smell may not only lessen the quality of life (enjoying food, stopping to smell the roses, etc.), it can also make it difficult or impossible to smell smoke or gas leaks, as the FDA points out....

A wrongful termination claim can encompass a wide variety of different actions. Discrimination, retaliation for reporting discrimination, whistleblowing, refusing to comply with an illegal order, and even violating an employment contract’s discipline or grievance procedures, can all give rise to wrongful termination claims. What’s more is that the general legal claim of wrongful termination in violation of public policy can encompass nearly any wrongful conduct on the part of an employer, so long as there is a compelling public policy reason....

Guest post by Jennifer K. Halford, Esq. A lawsuit can destroy your business. Even if you “win” the lawsuit, you still lose. Litigation is costly. Time is taken away from your business. And there are the emotional costs of a lawsuit. That is if you “win” the lawsuit. But what if you don’t “win” in court? What if your business does not have enough capital to pay the judgment? Your personal assets can be taken to pay the judgment unless you have taken steps to protect yourself....