Divorce is one of the hardest legal events anyone will ever face. When you divorce, you face losses that are not just emotional, but financial and legal as well. This blog series will help answer some basic questions you might have about divorce. It’s not a great place to be – knowing your marriage is probably coming to an end, but just not sure how it will happen. Do you go ahead and file for divorce?...
There is always talk of budget cuts to social programs, but the fate of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is especially threatened this year, according to reports. The program provides workers who have paid in with coverage benefits to support them during disability, but how long it will continue to do so is unclear. Last year, it was revealed by program trustees that Disability Insurance, which so many rely on, is at risk....
Marc Smirnoff, founder of The Oxford American magazine, has been ousted from his company after allegations of sexual harassment. The founder of the company was not even immune from the effects of sexual harassment allegations (which were not even proven) serving as a reminder to small business owners that they should be especially careful to look out for inappropriate behavior. Smirnoff founded the literary magazine in 1992 and it is alleged that he had engaged in a culture of sexual harassment for quite some time at the magazine, reports The New York Times....
If you are in business, then you definitely enter contracts regularly. Sometimes you’re buying and sometimes you’re selling, but most likely you’re dealing quite a lot. In light of that, you should create standard contracts for your business, or form agreements that are both general enough to work for different kinds of deals but specific enough that they address your priorities. If you don’t do this, chances are good that you’ll be continually getting into agreements that are on others’ terms....
This week, Alameda County paid $8.3 million to the family of a man who died while in the county’s Santa Rita Jail. The settlement was the largest of its kind, and included Corizon Health, the largest supplier of private health care services to prisons in the country. In the past, we’ve noted how difficult it can be for inmates to bring injury lawsuits, and wondered whether an inmate can sue for injuries at all....
Divorce is never easy, but having your small business straddling your marital assets can bring legal separation to a whole new level of frustration. Regardless if your business began before or during your marriage, here are three ways to potentially protect your business’ assets from being torn apart in a divorce: A prenuptial agreement doesn’t sound like the most romantic way to start your married life, but it can be of practical help by setting financial expectations and responsibilities for each spouse....
With summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time for business owners to refresh themselves on the legal issues surrounding summer hiring. Before business heats up in the summer, consider these legal tips when hiring seasonal employees: Follow FindLaw for Consumers on Google+ by clicking here. Related Resources: How Not to Get Sued Over Unpaid Interns (FindLaw’s Free Enterprise) Are Seasonal Employees Entitled to Overtime? (FindLaw’s Free Enterprise) Can Seasonal Holiday Employees Get Unemployment?...
When protesters take to the streets to have their voices heard, drivers that get stuck in traffic often suffer the consequences. While most drivers are simply made late getting to and from where they need to be, drivers that get caught in the thick of a march or protest face a much scarier situation. In most states, even when protestors are illegally marching in the street, if a driver hits a protester, they could face both civil and potentially criminal legal liability....
Families are complicated. And so is the prospect of legally extricating yourself from your family. There is no technical definition of “disown” in the law, and whether you can sever your rights and responsibilities to your relatives depends on your relation to them. For instance, it may seem odd but it might be easier for kids to walk out on their parents than the other way around, legally speaking. So if you’ve had enough of your folks, or think junior has overstayed his welcome, here’s what you need to know about legally renouncing your family ties....
Your attorney can testify against you in extremely limited circumstances. If it happens, it either means you are now adversaries, on opposite sides of a case, or that the lawyer has been subpoenaed and is obligated to testify. Regardless, a lawyer has an ethical obligation to maintain client confidences to the extent possible, which means that testimony does not equate with spilling secrets. This is true even in the criminal context when a client files a motion to reopen a case and reverse a conviction based on ineffective assistance of counsel....
The National Heart Forum estimates that 37 percent of Americans are obese. This number could rise to 50 percent by 2030. Obesity doesn’t just affect our size. It can cause other health problems, such as high blood pressure or heart attacks, or exacerbate the effects of other injuries, such as a back or knee injury. With the sedentary lifestyle of office work and all these drastic numbers in mind, can you get workers’ compensation for obesity?...
One of the sad side effects of chemotherapy to treat cancer is hair loss. And it’s become so ubiquitous that there are now charities where you can donate hair for wigs for cancer patients. For the most part, though, patients know that if they survive the chemotherapy and the cancer, their hair will someday grow back. But what if that doesn’t happen? Dozens of new lawsuits are claiming that the chemotherapy drug Taxotere is causing permanent hair loss in female patients, especially those being treated for breast cancer....
Many media and tech companies are requiring disclaimers on their employees’ Twitter accounts, possibly in the hope that it will shield the company from future lawsuits. The benefits of requiring such disclaimers may seem obvious. After all, if your employee goes on a politically incorrect Twitter rant that gets retweeted around the world, you probably don’t want it associated with your company. But will requiring a disclaimer for your employees’ tweets really protect your business?...
As more and more small businesses are growing, so are the number of small businesses using computers and workplace emails. If you are one of the small businesses that are providing their employees with computers and work emails, be aware that you should have an explicit email internet policy with your employees available. There are several important reasons for this. The first is that employees may claim an expectation of privacy with their emails if you don’t explicitly say that you may be monitoring their emails from work issued computers....
The strenuous internal debate within the FDA regarding the risks posed by CT scans to test for cancer in otherwise healthy patients has gone public. The average lifetime dose to a medical patient of radiation has increased seven times since 1980, mostly due to the increase in CT scans. Scientists concerned about the effects of such an increase are taking their opinions to the public this week at a meeting called by the FDA....
Illinois resident Guadalupe Mendez says that a Ford’s cruise control started the fire that burned her house down in 2006. Mendez’s neighbor’s truck, a Ford-F-150 pickup, is alleged to have sparked the blaze. Mendez has now filed a lawsuit against Ford. Surprisingly, this lawsuit won’t be the first legal action against Ford for its cruise control. Several other suits have been filed against the automaker. Ford’s cruise control is designed such that there is an electrical current running through it at all times - even when the car is turned off....
Reports have been on-going regarding home buyers concerned that they won’t be able to close in time to take advantage of the tax credit for new home buyers slated to expire today, June 30. Help may be on the way for the stressed and financially strapped home buyer. Last night, the House of Representatives voted 409-5 on the home buyer tax credit extension 2010, slated to last until September 30....
LightSpeed and other tablet point-of-sale software does more than provide small businesses an alternative to the cash register. It provides a new way to compete with online retailers. Cash registers are a way to hold money and make change. To track inventory, compare sales, and know the specifics of every product in the store, business owners had to do something else. But POS software provides a way to handle those other things so small businesses can focus on keeping customers....
Five-year-old Charles Miller was sitting in his father’s lap on the Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm in California when the ride came to a screeching halt after the last drop. According to a lawsuit filed against the theme park by his father, Miller flew forward, forcing his head to be “sandwiched between his father and the back of the seat causing an orbital blowout.” Miller suffered a fractured eye socket, and the lawsuit claims Knott’s Farm negligently maintained the ride....
To date, investigators have yet to determine the cause of a series of fires that destroyed over 5,000 structures and killed over 40 people in northern California’s wine country. But one Santa Rosa couple thinks they know the culprit: Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Wayne and Jennifer Harvell are suing PG&E, claiming the company failed to properly maintain the areas around some of its power lines, allowing vegetation to come into contact with electrical equipment and sparking fires that the state insurance commissioner estimates caused over $1 billion in damage....
