Posts

Working with contractor can often be frustrating, especially if disputes occur in the middle of a project. For example, what happens if the contractor leaves his or her work unfinished? Well, the easiest option is to talk to the contractor to see what’s going on. But, if that doesn’t resolve the issue, then it may be time to pursue a legal action against the contractor. Read Before You Act Generally speaking, when a contractor signs an agreement for a certain job, it includes finishing the work....

Cell phones are causing otherwise prudent drivers to become distracted while they are driving. One particular concern among Americans has been texting while driving. As recently discussed in Findlaw’s Common Law, about 97 percent of Americans support a ban on texting while driving, according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll. This seems to fall right into line with a new law that has been put to the test in England recently....

If you run a business, you know insurance is important. Especially if part of your company’s services requires putting employees behind the wheel. But what should you look for when it comes to choosing a car insurance plan? This is one choice you don’t want to speed through. While commercial auto insurance premiums can often be more expensive, they can save you money in the long run. Here are some questions you should consider when shopping for a policy for your business....

You may recall the story discussed in a prior post on FindLaw’s Legally Weird about the woman whose house was wrongfully foreclosed on and how the lender in question padlocked her house and took her pet parrot. Unfortunately, this was not the only incident of this type. Several other stories have surfaced over the last year, one worse than the next. What do they all have in common? A “foreclosure” by a lender who destroyed property, caused emotional and other kinds of harm to the rightful homeowners and to their homes....

The Department of Justice estimates that one in ten elderly people are abused each year. The abuse takes many forms – financial, sexual, mental, and physical. If you have a parent or loved one in elder care, you need to be aware of ways they may be in danger. We do not want to believe that people we trust to care for our aged would harm them. But the elderly are very vulnerable when they are in nursing homes and visitors should be vigilant....

Summer is coming! Here are three things students should do before renting summer housing: 1. Make Sure They Are Allowed To Rent To You Are the people promising to sublet their apartment to you even allowed to do so? No Subletting Sometimes landlords don’t allow their tenants to sublet. You do not want to get into the middle of that fight. Save yourself the headache. Ask the person renting the apartment if they’re a tenant or the actual owner....

On March 17, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals handed down an anticipated decision in a teen “sexting” case. The only question decided by the court was, however, whether the DA of Wyoming County unconstitutionally retaliated against the Pennsylvania teens involved for refusing to attend his “education” class when threatened with criminal prosecution for sexting. “Sexting,” as you may or may not know is (and defined by the court here as) “the practice of sending or posting sexually suggestive text messages and images, including nude or semi-nude photographs, via cellular telephones or over the Internet....

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, bicyclists face a higher risk of crash-related injury and deaths than occupants of motor vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that over 700 bicyclists were killed in crashes with cars in 2013. With the risk of accidents so high, you can expect to get into an accident at least once during your bicycling career. Here are seven steps to take immediately after a bicycling accident:...

Would you like to place a “godless” bus ad on the side of your bus? The United Coalition of Reason (UnitedCoR) really wants to, and has filed an atheist bus ad lawsuit against the Central Arkansas Transit Authority so they can place their ads, reports Reuters. UnitedCoR’s ads read, “Are you without God? Millions are,” and is set against a backdrop of blue sky and clouds. The coalition had wanted to put about $5,000 worth of ads across 18 buses....

Spectators at a baseball game consider themselves lucky if they can catch a foul ball. The really lucky people catch a rare bat soaring into the seats. Last week, one lady definitely was not lucky when she was hit in the head by a bat. The injured woman, Tonya Carpenter, was sitting in the first few rows at Boston’s Fenway Park watching the game between the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics....

It’s pretty much the last thing you’d want to hear: you have herpes. But how? What happened? When? And, most importantly, who gave it to you? According to the Centers for Disease Control, around one in six people between the ages of 14 and 49 have genital herpes, most of whom have no outwards symptoms of the disease. So did the person you contracted herpes from even know they were infected?...

Little Oaks Elementary became a Christian school in 2009 when it was purchased by Godspeak Church. Then last year, the new management handed out “proof of faith” questionnaires for all staff to fill out about their religious habits and beliefs. Two teachers refused to fill them out and weren’t rehired the next school year. Then they threatened to sue the school. But in a surprising turn, now the school is suing the teachers....

Due to the general animosity toward paying taxes, people sometimes try to hide, lie about, or simply not report all of their income and/or property to the IRS. But, those who thought they could keep their cryptocurrency information from the IRS may be out of luck. A popular cryptocurrency wallet called Coinbase has agreed to provide the IRS with account information on 13,000 users. What Led to the IRS Request? The IRS considers cryptocurrencies to be property subject to taxation, and believes that millions of Americans are not reporting their cryptocurrency in their tax returns....

Toy manufacturer Mega Brands America has agreed to pay a $1.1 million fine to settle charges that the company failed to follow federal guidelines for reporting the known safety risks posed by its “Magnetix” magnetic building sets. A U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Press Release details the chronology of the missteps by Mega Brands America Inc. (formerly known as Rose Art Industries Inc.). In December 2005, a 22-month-old Washington child died after ingesting magnets from a Magnetix play set, and Mega Brands America filed only an “initial report” with CPSC, providing no specific (and required) product and incident information....

For those in the construction industry in New York, worrying about serious on-site work injuries has always been a real part of the job, but recent reports are cause for real concern. Based on the recent report issued by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, construction fatalities, as well as construction injuries, are on the rise in New York, and have been over the last half decade....

The corruption trial of former IL Governor Rod Blagojevich is underway in a federal courtroom in Chicago, Illinois. The trial marks the beginning of what is expected to be an 18-month ordeal for Rod Blagojevich. Two senior members of President Barack Obama’s administration have also been subpoenaed as witnesses in the trial, CNN reports. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett have been subpoenaed, officials said....

Don’t you wish you were paid overtime on Valentine’s Day? Or given the day off? Wallowing is much easier when not stuck in a sea of cubicles. Even if Valentine’s Day was a federal holiday, you wouldn’t be entitled to that well-deserved overtime pay or that impending three-day weekend. In fact, the law doesn’t require that you be paid overtime on any federal holiday–not even Christmas. So President’s Day certainly doesn’t count....

Advanced directives are legal documents allowing you to express your wishes regarding your medical treatment in the event that you are incapacitated and unable to make decisions yourself. But along with living wills and durable powers of attorney, there’s another form of advanced directive that may be useful for long-term planning: the psychiatric advance directive. What can a psychiatric advance directive do? Here’s a general overview: A psychiatric advance directive (also known as a PAD) is an advance directive that specifically directs your mental health treatment in the event that you are ruled incapacitated or unable to make your own mental health treatment decisions....

How an accident happens will largely determine who is ultimately held liable. If the at fault driver was found to have caused the accident while talking or texting, they will likely have more difficulty defending their case, and they may potentially face additional penalties. Nearly every state has laws on distracted driving, and most include some limitations on the use of cell phones by drivers. Regardless of whether you have an ear piece, integrated Bluetooth, or speakerphone system, if you are talking or texting on a cell phone while driving, an officer or other party can claim that you were driving while distracted....

Measuring and ensuring employee wellness is a great way to ground a holistic approach to getting the most out of your workforce. But like any employer initiative, business owners should be careful that their good intentions don’t become oppressive or illegal. Honeywell International may have to confront this issue in court. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently sued Honeywell for penalizing employees who refuse to “undergo testing under its corporate wellness program,” reports Reuters....