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It seems like every other week we hear about a new scandal coming out of Congress. Whether it’s another sordid affair, allegations of sexual harassment, or an abrupt and mysterious resignation, Congressional headlines are reading like trashy, unoriginal bedside novels these days. But there are victims to these stories – usually more than we know given the prevalence of nondisclosure agreements and confidentiality clauses. And although some victims do finally receive some sort of compensation, it begs the question, “Who actually pays for these lawsuit settlements?...

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed last week in Texas state court against Hillary Rodham Clinton for a 2008 accident involving her motorcade in Dallas while a presidential candidate. The family of the motorcycle driver is now suing Secretary of State Clinton, alleging that the motorcycle driver was not properly trained when he took to the road in her motorcade during her 2008 campaign. As reported by the Dallas Morning News, Senior Cpl....

What should have been a routine traffic stop for not having a visible license plate escalated into the shooting deaths of two Tampa Police officers. Authorities are now in search of 24-year-old Dontae Rashawn Morris who is believed to be the gunman, Buzztab.com reports. Morris is the second person of interest in the case, as police believe that Cortnee Brantley was the driver of the vehicle. Officials say that, at the time of the incident, Morris was the passenger who shot the officers....

We often look to our parents as our models for child rearing. When we have children of our own, we look back on our own upbringing and often think, “Well I turned out alright – my parents did a good job.” So we take parenting advice from our parents. The only problem with that is that times change, as do laws. Back in the day, parents often used a little whiskey or rum to quiet their crying babies, car seats for children were optional, and even doctors didn’t seem to mind if pregnant women smoked....

Many companies want to hire contract employees but are worried about the potential theft and leaking of sensitive company data. Even the National Security Agency experienced such a leak from its own former contractor Edward Snowden. Snowden, 29, has identified himself as the primary source of leaked information about NSA surveillance, reports The Washington Post. Your business may not be as critical to national security as the NSA, but your trade secrets still deserve to be safeguarded from contractor theft....

From sparklers to M-80s, it’s important to know your area’s fireworks laws before you partake in this year’s Fourth of July festivities. All 50 states in the good ol’ U.S. of A. have laws in place that regulate the legal purchase and use of fireworks. Here are four types of fireworks laws to keep in mind this Fourth of July: Local laws. Though states regulate the purchase, use, and sale of fireworks, laws will further vary from municipality to municipality....

The family of Audrie Pott – who committed suicide after she was reportedly sexually assaulted and a photo of the act was shared with classmates via text messages – is planning to file a civil action against the three boys arrested. The three teenagers are now expected to face a wrongful death suit on top of the criminal charges. In a wrongful death suit, immediate family members can get financial compensation when a person is killed due to someone’s negligence or misconduct....

When microwaves first came out many people were worried that they would give us cancer. Now many of us carry cell phones and there is concern that injury from radiation is making many sick. Of course, some dismiss these concerns as absurd. But there is something to the worry – and it’s more than just resistance to change. The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) National Cancer Institute addresses cell phone radiation and the cancer connection....

People generally think eminent domain is a bad thing, as they picture property owners being forcibly removed from their long-time homes. But it doesn’t have to be that way, especially for small businesses. Eminent domain is actually a valuable and vital tool for economic development. Under the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, a city may seize private property for public use so long as it pays the owner market value. In Kelo v....

There’s a lot of debate about assisted suicide. Should friends, family or physicians be able to help a terminally ill patient die? Is it wrong to commit suicide, or does it ensure dignity near the end of one’s life? Whatever your moral stance, assisted suicide is ultimately governed by law. When one asks whether they can help someone commit suicide, they’re really asking whether it’s legal under a state’s assisted suicide law....

The California Supreme Court recently faced the recurring challenge of parental drug abuse in juvenile dependency proceedings, which generally involve children who are neglected or abused by their parents or guardians and become “dependents” of the courts. One court in San Diego had come up with a treatment program called the Substance Abuse Recovery Management System (SARMS) aimed at parents suspected of having drug or alcohol abuse issues. Parents in dependency proceedings could be required to complete the SARMS program as part of a family reunification plan....

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. Lawyers can educate their clients, but can’t force their clients to act one way or another. Wise decision-makers consider advice from many sources, and make their own decisions. Weak decision-makers are easily manipulated by their eagerness to do whatever someone tells them to do. However, foolish decision-makers ignore advice, and do whatever they want to do. As a business owner, are you a wise, weak, or foolish decision maker?...

Kentucky Kingdom is countersuing two patrons who claim they were injured at the park, asserting the alleged waterpark injuries were “staged.” Louisville’s WLKY-TV reports that Kentucky Kingdom CEO Ed Hart believes the pair had “some kind of plan to contrive incidents to get money” from the park. In a lawsuit, Felicia Evans and Brandon McClellan accused the park of negligently allowing them to go down a water slide using an incorrect inner tube....

It’s normal to prepay at the drive-thru, but since when do restaurants single out customers and charge in advance of serving food? That’s what happened to a regular customer at Elmer’s in Oregon. When he was suddenly asked to prepay for his meal, he was surprised, then suspicious, and now he is suing for discrimination, according to Uptown Magazine. The Prepay Story Brian Eason, 44, is a sheriff’s deputy and real estate agent in Multinomah County, Oregon....

It’s been said that great accomplishments stand on the shoulders of the ones that came before. Nowhere is that more true than in the area of civil rights, where each new advance is based on the struggles of the past. On October 12, a lawsuit was filed in San Francisco that hopes to stand on the gains made by the legendarily colorful California politician, Jesse Unruh; although this link may take a bit of explanation....

Unless your name is Kim Kardashian, divorce can have a significant impact on your life–both emotionally and financially. Often times it seems as though society focuses on the financial aspect without ever addressing the emotional. But studies have shown that dealing with your feelings will make your post-divorce life easier. What if it could also make your divorce less costly? It can, because it paves the way for a collaborative divorce....

Any lawsuit is a hassle for a small business. But certain lawsuits, like public nuisance claims, can strike at the very thing your small biz does, or where it does it. Beyond a public nuisance lawsuit being a nuisance in and of itself, a successful claim could force you to move your business or shutter it completely. So, before that happens, how can you avoid a public nuisance lawsuit? Public nuisance claims are based on a wide variety of minor offenses that ostensibly threaten the health, safety, welfare, or even morals of a community....

Being an employer is hard. You have to balance sometimes hard or risky business decisions without getting sued for harassment and discrimination. Depending on your business model and company culture, certain features of your employees appearances may be inappropriate for work. Is it Discrimination? There are no laws prohibiting employers from making adverse employment decisions based on an employee’s appearance. So, aggrieved employees must try to link their appearance based claim to some kind of discrimination claim....

How do you enforce a small claims judgment? As good as it may feel to win in small claims court, it’s only part of the battle. The fight over collecting your judgment may be just as contentious. Despite the fact that it’s just small claims court, where claims are limited to a certain dollar amount (typically about $5,000 or less), it’s often still very difficult to collect payment from the defendant....

Daniel Wilson, a man who burned a woman alive after locking her in the trunk of her car, was executed in Ohio today. According to Reuters, the execution involved the use of a new execution procedure or protocol which the headline referred to as the “set-to-die” procedure. That term might be a little confusing, because what the new procedure actually entails is a prison warden checking to make sure an inmate is “set to die” after they have been sedated by calling out the inmate’s name, shaking his or her shoulder, and giving them a pinch to the upper arm....