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Insurance is an important consideration for any small business. It takes just a quick look at headlines to begin to envision the likely and unlikely circumstances that could put your enterprise in a tenuous financial position. Wild fires, robbery, earthquakes, freak accidents, flooding, and lawsuits could threaten the daily functioning of your business as well as tie up your resources and time in jumping through legal hoops. Getting small business insurance is a first step....

When the White House issued a revised executive order on immigration from Muslim-majority countries, we wondered whether President Trump’s new travel ban would suffer the same fate as his old one, which was blocked by a unanimous federal appeals court. Now we have our answer, mere hours before the ban was set to go into effect. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii issued a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the travel ban and pulled no punches in his opinion, saying, “Any reasonable, objective observer would conclude … that the stated secular purpose of the Executive Order is, at the very least, ‘secondary to a religious objective’ of temporarily suspending the entry of Muslims....

You are getting divorced, trying to prepare mentally for what your life will look like when everything is divided, including time with your children. What is a typical visitation schedule and who decides what’s right for your family? Depending on your ability to agree and communicate with your spouse at this point, you may be happy to hear that a lot is up to you two. Let’s consider the principles applied to child visitation in divorce cases....

After a divorce becomes final, a spouse who is unhappy with the result may be able to challenge the outcome of the divorce proceedings by filing an appeal or requesting the court modify the terms of the divorce decree. Which of these options may be best in your particular situation? The answer may depend not only on the details of your divorce and the specific issue you are unhappy with, but also may depend on the divorce laws in your state....

Unemployment discrimination is on the rise, and several cities and states have taken measures to make this type of discrimination illegal. New York City lawmakers on Wednesday approved the nation’s toughest law against jobless discrimination. The law, set to take effect in June, makes it illegal for employers to consider an applicant’s employment status in hiring decisions, or to state in job advertisements that only currently employed persons need apply....

When children are injured, how long can they wait before they file a lawsuit? The answer depends on the type of injury, the age of the child, and where the child lives. States have different laws about personal-injury lawsuits brought by children. But some general principles and concerns apply for child injury lawsuits across the board. Here are three legal issues to think about when considering a child injury lawsuit:...

Warning: the video embedded below may pull at your proverbial heartstrings. When 11-year-old Landon Ryan Rice opened one of his Christmas gifts this year, despite his superhero pajamas, and despite the gift being a framed certificate, he couldn’t stop the tears of joy. The gift was a framed certificate stating that Landon would be adopted by his stepfather. When Landon was an infant, his mother met (and later married) Landon’s stepfather, who always regarded Landon as his own....

White-collar crimes earned their nickname because they were crimes committed by business executives and people of high social status in the workplace who wore white collared shirts to the office. But high crimes are no longer just a playground for the rich. Here’s a list of three white-collar crimes that are no longer limited to white collars. Tax Evasion By definition, the greatest tax evaders should be some of the world’s wealthiest executives....

The sale of a home is a complex business transaction, in and of itself. Doing business with family members can be fraught with complications. Naturally then, selling a home to a family member is both complex and complicated. In addition to the potential emotional baggage and turmoil that can get wrapped up in a business deal or transaction between family members, there may be legal issues as well. Here are five legal tips on how to avoid the complications that come with selling a home to a family member....

A grand jury issued a subpoena to Twitter, seeking the identities of two Twitter users. The ACLU is helping to fight to keep their accounts, and the blogs they apparently maintain, anonymous. ACLU attorney Vic Walczak says his organization will request that a judge throw out the subpoena seeking to unmask @bfbarbie and @casablancaPA. Walczak argues that the subpoena by the grand jury violates First Amendment free-speech rights. It is all part of a complicated and twisted legal controversy, dubbed “Bonusgate,” involving Attorney General Tom Corbett, Brett Cott and Rep....

Doing business in the food service industry comes with certain risks. Along with the normal profit-loss and customer satisfaction worries that all small businesses face, restaurant owners also need to be concerned with their customers’ safety – and not just from food poisoning or slip-and-falls. With eating comes the risk of choking, along with the subsequent risk of lawsuits if someone is inured or killed choking on food at your restaurant....

When you need to resolve a legal problem, should you go for an attorney, arbitration, or mediation? If a contract is involved, you may not have a choice. Otherwise, there are many options when it comes to resolving legal disputes for your business. Hiring an attorney is certainly the most visible option, and it’s a good one if you have the right problem. But in some cases having a drawn-out court battle won’t help your situation....

There are two ways a bankruptcy case can end: through discharge or dismissal. So, what’s the difference between a bankruptcy dismissal and a discharge? A debtor does not want to hear the word “dismissal” because, generally speaking, it means you lose, your creditors win, and your debt obligations remain intact. When a bankruptcy case is dismissed, it means the case is going to end prematurely – without a discharge – and the creditors may immediately initiate (or continue) their legal action to collect the debts that you owe....

Californians are celebrating the arrest of suspected serial killer and rapist, Joseph James DeAngelo. DeAngelo is alleged to have killed 12 people and raped more than 50 women in the 1970s and 1980s throughout the state, terrorizing California communities. But what makes this cold case even more intriguing is the fact that it was solved using DNA and a genealogy website. And while that tactic may have furthered the cause of justice in this case, it leaves many people wondering if the cops can access their DNA from these types of genealogy websites....

President Obama announced Wednesday that the United States will resume “full diplomatic relations” with Cuba for the first time in more than 50 years. This historic agreement means that Cuba will now host a U.S. embassy in Havana, and Americans might get a chance at legally purchasing those sought-after Cuban goods (read: cigars). But it might not mean that you can go to Cuba on vacation. So can U.S. passport holders travel to Cuba now?...

Today, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the provocative question of whether an undocumented immigrant in California can become a licensed lawyer. Emotions are running high on both sides of the increasingly pressing immigration issue. The State Bar of California and the California attorney general are on aspiring attorney Sergio Garcia’s side. The U.S. Justice Department, among others, opposes his admission to the bar. Garcia’s parents brought him to the U....

From the right to free speech and the right to vote to the right to a fair trial, our civil liberties are protected under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. And beyond the enumerated rights in those documents, courts have protected other civil liberties like the right to privacy. We often think of civil rights and civil liberties as interchangeable, but there can be distinctions between the two groups. Here’s a look at civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and how they differ from civil rights....

Ignorance is such bliss. Perhaps bliss is what Juneau County, Wisconsin, District Attorney Scott Southworth is looking to spread around his jurisdiction. That, and fear of criminal prosecution. In a letter sent to Juneau County school districts, DA Southworth warns teachers they could face criminal prosecution if during their state sanctioned sex education classes, they teach students how to use contraception in the proper manner. According to reporting by AOL News, Wisconsin passed what most would find to be a fairly reasonable, rational law named the Healthy Youth Act, which took effect this March....

For victims of domestic violence, a trial can be a daunting experience, causing fresh memories of abuse to rush back and cause emotional trauma to the victim all over again. To ease the painful and emotionally exhausting process of coming face-to-face with your abuser, here are five domestic violence trial tips you should keep in mind: After the hearing concludes, if you think the abuser is following you when you leave, do not hesitate to call for help....

Lawsuits can be one way of holding companies responsible for making defective products. But settlements of those lawsuits have a way of hiding the true extent of injuries caused by a poorly designed or malfunctioning device. Take, for example, Savage Arms’ stainless steel 10 ML-II muzzleloader rifle. The company is facing another lawsuit over the rifle’s tendency to explode, and while it has settled a few previous lawsuits, the actual number of hunters injured by the rifle ranges from a few dozen to possibly hundreds of victims....