legal advice

In order to understand the thought process in the legal system it is important to understand how the individuals involved interpret things. When it comes to the treatment of statutory rape offenders, for example, this is but one attitude that can be found in such places as the LawEnforcement NetBase(1):
"These offenders [referring to statutory rapists in consensual situations] tend to function fairly well aside of their recent abusive or sexually assaultive behavior. They tend not to present with personality disorders or other mental health disorders, and tend not to have abusive backgrounds or difficulty with employment or in relationships in general."
Maybe it's because consensual sexual relations are normal? In other words, those in the legal system are predisposed to prejudice based on the existence of the law and are, to a good degree, unable to think objectively about it due to their occupational position. Let me show you yet another example of how this occurs everyday by offering a snippet of conversation given to me by a MoralOutrage.Net member:
Police Officer: "What he did to you was horrible."Young Girl: "He didn't do anything to me."Police Officer: "He victimized you and took advantage of you."Young Girl: "He didn't victimize me, I wanted to have sex with him."Police Officer: "That's what he wants you to believe."Young Girl: "I had sex because I wanted it, not because anybody made me think I wanted it."
Can you see the circular reasoning? The law states that minors are unable to legally consent therefore those in the legal system simply dismiss the logic that teens can and do consent. Their logic is based on the law instead of the laws being based on logic. I can find no better example of this legal bigotry than from Georgia's own top Republican senator, Eric Johnson, of Savannah. Every one familiar with the Genarlow Wilson case understands the absurdity of his case. He was 17 when he was convicted of having consensual oral sex with a 15 year old. Many appeals to logic and common sense have gone through the courts but they have been consistently opposed by Rep. Eric Johnson. His opposition to common sense and his stupidity (and I use that word in its fullest force) can be viewed in this CNN transcript excerpt(2):
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EDDIE BARKER, DOUGLASVILLE PROSECUTOR: From what we’ve seen on the videotape and heard from the victim ourself, we do not believe there was any physical force used.
[CNN CORRESPONDENT RICK] SANCHEZ: No physical force? Doesn’t matter. Nor does it matter that it was consensual sex between two teens. Ten years, mandatory, no way around it. The law that ensnared Genarlow is so illogical that if he’d had intercourse with the 15-year-old instead of oral sex, his punishment would only have been a misdemeanor. Back to the Georgia legislature, which recently changed the law but didn’t change Genarlow Wilson’s punishment. Why not?
State Senator Eric Johnson took the floor.ERIC JOHNSON, GEORGIA STATE SENATOR: Mr. Wilson participated in multiple sexual acts with a minor while she was unconscious.SANCHEZ: Wrong. The girl was not unconscious. The senator also said she was raped. That’s not even what the prosecutor thought. So we called the senator and asked for an interview.(on camera) Do you feel bad about the fact that you characterized this as a rape when you were talking yesterday in the Senate?JOHNSON: No.SANCHEZ: You don’t have any problem with that?JOHNSON: No.SANCHEZ: Because it wasn’t a rape.JOHNSON: It’s a rape in my mind.SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here’s what it was in the minds of the jurors. We know; we talked to them.MARIE MANIGAULT, JURY FOREPERSON: When we viewed the tape, there was absolutely nothing in there that showed us that he in any way encouraged this person, even invited the person to come.SANCHEZ: So for now, the Georgia legislature has done nothing, leaving Genarlow Wilson behind these walls, hoping some day for justice.

For every couple, divorce is one of the most traumatic events of a lifetime. Divorce is a result of differences in family; Differences within any family create emotional turmoil and personal stress. When disagreements turn into legal conflict they become confusing, and even frightening. In such circumstances every couple needs someone who can make the separation easy and less traumatic. Are you suffering from such a phase of separation and need someone to make the separation smooth going? The answer is, of course a Divorce Lawyer in California, the best support you can get!
The complex property division, child custody, and spousal support of family law in California are coupled with the emotional distress that goes with separation. It makes the task of crafting property division settlements, child custody agreements, and spousal support agreements more difficult. To avoid these difficulties you need to make a wise decision of choosing the perfect divorce lawyer NYC. One thing you might be looking for is that the attorney should have practiced family law exclusively. With the ever increasing complexity of the law there comes the need for attorneys to specialize in one specific area of the law. The divorce lawyer NYC that you are looking for should have that in depth knowledge of family law so that he/ she may provide highly effective representation with comfort. One of the most important criteria in the selection of a divorce lawyer is whether you feel comfortable with this attorney or not? You should feel comfortable in sharing personal issues with your divorce lawyer as you want a sensible and easy divorce settlement.
Choosing a perfect divorce lawyer in California is somehow an effort towards protecting your long-term financial and emotional health. Some of the hardest parts of your divorce are division of property which is simply a matter of business for which you need to file all your property and debts. If there are kids, a certain procedure will be followed that the law requires you to fulfill before giving child custody. When emotions are high your attorney should work to keep your divorce process on track. A divorce lawyer that you choose in California should work for you and your children’s best interests in every step of the way.
Most of the times when someone represents himself/herself in court, they give up very essential terms of legal separation like proper evaluation. Hiring a practiced and expert divorce lawyer in California can help you in being assured that your rights are legally secured. Do not make such general mistake that typically occur in the California divorce filing process. These kinds of mistakes can affect your emotional and financial health in long term as these mistakes are not correctable.
Finally the bottom line is selecting a divorce lawyer who has expertise in relevant field and can give you a true evaluation of the merits of your divorce case; a person who can be your emotional and legal support when you really need it.

Today, you can be in a better financial position if you rent a house instead of buying a house. Now it is possible to own you dream house at a very low cost and monthly payments.
For example you buy a house for some X $. For getting a loan of that size, you need a down payment up to 20% of that amount. Part from that closing cost, appraisal, survey and originating fees has to be paid. And when you apply for a loan, several other fees have to be paid. So when it is the time of closing, you are generally out of pocket.
Now for example, after three years, suppose the market value of your property does not get increased, then all the money you paid at closing time is equal to equity of the same amount.
Now try to imagine another situation. You buy a house and after a few years the condition of the market becomes good. Then you can easily sell the house in case you get a good buyer.
You sell your house at a higher rate and go to another good house. Then you think you have made enough money and why not always buy a house and sell that when the market condition is good. But, here also we like to mention that all the money that you make during this period will be approximately equal to the money of equity.
And lets have a look at the down side. You buy a house and after some time the market drops by say 10%. So, your house is quite hard to sell now and you do not get the right amount of money for it. Well, if you lease a house, it becomes a winning situation here.

The mission of a non-profit criminal defense lawyer organization is to ensure the right of the people being accused of an offense are maintained. Legal support and education are provided on an ongoing basis focusing on the rights of the citizens. The personnel are available to assist with the legal process and represent the accused as a criminal defense practitioner.
The criminal defense attorneys provided by the non-profit organization are skilled, competent, insured, and knowledgeable on any legal matter. They will be able to answer any of your questions and ensure that the defendant is treated with fairness and equality. Charges ranging from drunk driving, possession of illegal drugs, domestic violence, theft, and more can all be handled by a non-profit criminal defense attorney.
Free consultations are provided even for crimes of driving under the influence, assault, murder, homicide, drug offenses and other serious crimes. So often innocent people are put in jail for crimes they did not commit. This can be a very devastating and life changing event if this occurs. Local criminal defense laywers are responsible for protecting those citizens that are accused of crimes but may not be able to afford the legal fees to defense their position.
The laywers available are excellent at developing defense strategies for very complex cases. Their role is to protect the rights of their client and ensure that they have exceptional courtroom reputation to achieve the best results for every given case. They will handle most of the federal and state crimes, even sexual and drug offenses.

Million of lawsuits are filed in US every year. We have some advices so that you avoid a lawsuit against yourself.
Most people do the business individually. They become the sole proprietor of the firm. This gives them no property protection. If somebody makes up his mind to sue you, your entire property is at stack.
Once you establish a firm, you consult a lawyer and after a few days those legal files are putting some corner of your closet. If you are concerned about your firm truly, you must let an attorney review your documents every year.
Always take care of personal guaranty. Most often your vendors will ask you for a guaranty. In most of the cases you should avoid it as there is always a risk involved in it.
Insurance is a huge factor that protects you in most of the cases. Even if you are stuck in a very trivial case, the insurance company gives you an attorney. It becomes a liability of insurance company to protect you and your assets.
Sexual harassment if another issue you can be sued for. Even if you are not personally involved in it, you can be sued. Make sure that you do not forget to mention in company’s policies that sexual harassment is not tolerated in your company at all.
If you encounter a situation where you could be involved in a lawsuit, you should think before you do anything. You should not write letter filled with anger to other part

Are you noticing more and more people receiving moving violations these days? Have you wondered what's going on. Truckers panic when they see the highway patrol behind them because they can lose their license for having even minor Department of Transportation violations. The solution a lot of communities use to solve their budget problems is increased ticketing.
In many places, since 9/11, there has been an increased police presence in order to detect potential terrorist activity or in some areas to catch illegal aliens. But let's face it, most cities are faced with budget deficits and in these tough economic times traffic tickets are an easy form of taxation to balance the books. The reality is that in many communities when the police see an out of state driver, they can pretty much count on the uncontested fine being paid because the tourist isn't coming back to fight it.
The cost of hiring and training a traffic officer is approximately $75,000 per year but he or she can issue between $150,000 to $200,000 in citations. How many businesses can equal that rate of return? There are many towns like New Rome, Ohio and Waldo, Florida where over 70% of their entire operating budget comes from the fines generated by moving violations.
You may be thinking, "How does this affect me? I am a good driver and I hardly ever get tickets." Just because you haven't done anything wrong doesn't mean you won't see those dreaded blue lights flashing in your rear view mirror. If that does happen you need to know that the true cost of a moving violation has drastically changed in the last few years.
As examples of the effects of receiving tickets let's look at some real world examples. Mary is a busy sales representative who has a company car. She travels extensively and has received four speeding tickets in the last three years. She considers herself a safe driver and in each instance was traveling with the flow of traffic on the freeway. She has 9 out of the 12 points on her driver's license. Mary was shocked when her employer's insurance carrier refused to allow her to drive a company car. The company obtained supplemental insurance but Mary had to pay the extra $1600.
Our next victim is Jeffrey, a CDL truck driver from Ohio who is an independent operator and owns his own truck. He drives 150,000 miles per year and has five tickets on his record, none a serious violation. He can't get affordable insurance so he is in the process of losing his truck to the finance company and doesn't know how he will support his family.
Families with teenagers may face an economic disaster if the teen driver receives a citation. One traffic ticket for rolling through a stop sign could cost as much as $3000 in increased premiums over the three years it remains on their record. The insurance industry defines teenagers as being anyone up to age 23.
Relating Mary and Jeffrey's stories is not about you feeling sorry for them, it is to impress upon you the severe consequences that can come from receiving a traffic ticket. Obviously you need to obey all traffic laws, not just to protect your physical safety but to protect your wallet. But how often are drivers following the laws but are just in the wrong place at the wrong time and are going to be used to help balance the local budget? It is happening more and more often and you or someone in your family could be next.

If you have been dismissed without a proper reason and or you were fired because of issues like discriminations etc that means you can be a victim of unlawful firing case. And if so, you can challenge it.
The bad news about this is that the laws about this vary from state to state. So, ideally you should consult a lawyer about this. An other factor is that this entire process is quite time and money taking.
But in case you win the case, you are likely to get fines and salary and other compensation money etc.
A very important point is to be taken care of and that is what type of employee you are. If you are an at will employee, your chances of winning are very less as your employer will always have the right to fire you without any prior notice and decision.
In case you are a for cause employee, things can work for you. If you are fired, you can challenge your firing decision easily and the chances that you an win are good too.
If you a member of some union, you can file grievance for the review of the things happened.
Those who are government employees, generally have some property inertest in the job. They can not take away without any proper reason mentioned in law.
But if you are not a government employee, you can file a lawsuit. Being an employee, you are entitles to be paid back the wages, reinstatement and inertest etc. So, you should understand what your privileges are as an employee.

The choice of which attorney to hire for your divorce is overwhelming. The sheer number of divorce lawyers in the phone book makes your head spin. You have heard the horror stories from your friends about how horrid and expensive their divorce was and you want to avoid that pain but which way should you turn? This is a very natural response to what you have heard and seen. You have enough sense to know divorce lawyers are not your friends so you need to chose carefully. Your future and that of your children depend on how you proceed.
Having been a divorce lawyer since 1996 I will tell you the dirty inside secrets and warn you what to look out for. In California and maybe in your own state, divorce lawyers are the ONLY kind of lawyers whose fees are protected, by law, by the equity in their client's home. It is important to know how divorce lawyers in your state are paid and find that out before you begin. Do they have the right to run up huge bills and then slap a lien on your home and force a sale at the end of the case? Over the years I have seen many, many lawyers do everything in their power to keep the case going so they could run up a bill because they knew they were going to get paid. People who advertise themselves as being "aggressive" are playing to your worst instincts. Doesn't everyone want the MOST they can get in their settlement? If so, keep away from aggressive lawyers because by the time they are done, there will be little to divide.
Child custody and visitation issues bring out the fighting tiger in a lot of people because they are so angry at their ex it is hard for them to see how much their children need BOTH parents in their lives. It is the rare case where it would be in the child's best interest to have limits on parental contact. Your focus during your divorce as well as your life, needs to be on what is best for the kids. Divorce lawyers who manipulate emotionally vulnerable clients by encouraging them to fight over the children are not doing them any favors. Depending on the age of the children you may have a very long co-parenting relationship ahead of you. Do you really need to start World War III with the father or mother of your child? A more child focused attorney will understand the need to create a peaceful relationship with your ex and not engage in a scorched earth policy.
The battle over property division can be the one that makes the least sense. How often do people spend more money on the fight than what the stuff is worth? People will get more if they cooperate with each other. This may seem counter intuitive to you but it is true. Think of it as dividing a pie. Which way will you get more, if you cut it in half between the two spouses or if you cut it in 4ths so that each spouse and their lawyer gets a share. It seems obvious that the fewer hands in the pie there more there is to divide.
So what is the solution? How can you find the right lawyer who has the intention to serve you rather than themselves? I am going to start by making some statements and then I am going to ask you an important question. It is a fact that our legal system is adversarial. That means there is a fight with winners and losers. The divorce process is so complicated most people just don't want to deal with it on their own. So here is the most important question, does it make sense to avoid the adversarial system for your divorce? If keeping out of court and saving money on legal fees while protecting your assets and co-parenting relationship sounds good to you, then you really ought to explore mediation.
So let's assume you want to proceed with mediation. You want to make sure the mediator you use has a great track record. The most important thing you want to know is how many couples have they worked with and what percentage settled. Once you find that out you can compare price, length of time it takes and other factors like personality and sex of the mediator before you make up your mind. The important thing is to have all the information you need to make an informed decision. Remember you only get one chance to have a "good divorce" so don't go down the wrong road because you won't like the destination.

The marriage of a man and woman should be a sacred union. The marriage is not for those who think that if it does not work out, they can just divorce later, on a whim. Everything possible should take place for working on the marriage before they decide to divorce.
It is also true, if your spouse has been abusing you or has been cheating on you, divorce needs to be considered. The situation is not safe for you to continue to stay in this relationship. It is also not a good idea for any children to be kept in this situation because of the violence.
Divorce attorneys have been viewed in two different ways. The first is to be the ones that take the victim out of a harmful situation. They are a safety net for those who have been abused and are hopelessly down. They are also help for spouses dealing with adultery. Divorce attorneys make the flight of freedom from danger and sadness to happiness at the thought of actually being free to live life again.
The second part of the thoughts about divorce attorneys is the idea that they are always looking for a couple to split. The legal system is blamed for offering a husband and wife an easy way out if they decide they are not happy for any reason. It provides any “easy out” instead of making them try to do everything they can to save the marriage.
We need to have the most respect for the union of marriage. The husband and wife need to be ready to do what they can to fix the problems. Talking about what you think and feel and asking for help from each side of the family. It is also advised to seek marriage counselors or for counseling from your pastor.
When everything is finished and it is still not something the couple wants to continue, it should be the final choice for the husband and wife. A divorce attorney needs to be hired to stop the conflicting relationship. If you find that they spouse is not willing to compromise in the marriage, the best thing to do. It is the right thing if abuse is involved. Divorce lawyers can be of service to you. They will help you to deal with the separation so that each person will come out of the divorce with a lawful amount.

Workplace deaths and injuries may be decreasing according to recent statistics published by the United States Department of Labor and Industries; however, when workplace accidents do occur, the injuries are usually serious and sometimes fatal. Construction workers, especially, are in a high-risk industry, and more work for construction companies means more pressure on construction workers to produce.
Injury rates are high in the building trades, in natural resource extraction and in some manufacturing industries. According to Leonard Smith, a spokesman for the Teamsters union local headquartered in Seattle, Washington, some employers are just not making safety a priority. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is estimated that 1,200 American construction workers die in falls on the job each year. While the construction industry only employs about 7 percent of the nation's workforce, construction sites accounted for 21 percent of workplace deaths.
One of the possible solutions offered to help decrease the number of construction work site injuries is to increase the inspectors-per-worker ratio in the states that do not have enough inspectors for the size of the state. For example, Idaho has just nine accident investigators covering the entire state whereas Washington just hired 11 additional inspectors for the state assigned solely to examine and certify cranes.
If other states would follow Washington's lead and hire more inspectors, the number of work site injuries and deaths may decrease in time. In the meantime, industry workers must continue to be very careful at their work sites and be aware of the hazards that surround them.

Divorce is the end of marital relationship between two people and the unification of their assets. Assets that are acquired before and during the marriage are entitled to a division between the spouses, depending on the Laws of the state. Certain assets are protected by a Prenuptial Agreement. For example, if the husband owns a mansion before the marriage, he is entitled to keep the mansion after divorce under the terms of the prenuptial agreement.
In case in the absence of a Prenuptial Agreement, the proceeds from the sale of the mansion are divided between the couple. Parties generally divide the proceedings equally. However, in some states, the court declares the share, which may or may not be equal. There are a number of factors that determine the share of one spouse like span of the marriage, conduct of marriage, contribution toward acquiring of assets, education of children, health, age, income, etc. Couples filing for a divorce may seek legal assistance from Lawyers or Attorneys. Attorneys guide their clients by identifying and valuing their assets. Hence, accordingly negotiating and litigation take place.
The most important asset owned by a couple is their own home. Whether the property is owned by one of the spouses or jointly, the first priority is to provide children with a home. A sale of the property and a division of the sale proceeds may be necessary to meet their requirements. The ideal solution would be to provide the children with a new home if there are sufficient funds available. In other case where there are no sufficient funds, the first priority is to provide children with a secure shelter, more often than not with their mother. The court feels that it could be unfair to deprive the husband of his capital in the long term and has a wide discretion to make whatever order it thinks to be the best.

Asset protection refers to a set of legal techniques that protect a person's property from creditors and judgments. While there have always been protective measures available to persons to protect their assets, there has never been as great an interest in asset protection until recent years. The litigation explosion of the latter part of the last century prompted overwhelming interest in this area. The statistics are overwhelming: Nearly every American business and every American individual will be sued at some point in their life. An even greater number will be threatened with lawsuits. Despite these dismal statistics, only a slim percentage of Americans bother with any asset protection considerations at all. Asset protection planning ranges from simple devices such as transferring assets to a retirement account, to more complex arrangements such as offshore trusts.
In 1997, a civil judgment entered against celebrity O.J. Simpson in the amount of roughly $33,500,000 in a civil case brought by the family of his former wife and the family of Ron Goldman following their alleged murders by Mr. Simpson. One might think Mr. Simpson's property would have to be relinquished to satisfy this enormous judgment. Yet Mr. Simpson lives in a lavish Florida mansion, and enjoys a steady pension. Sure, some assets have been seized, but the bulk of Mr. Simpson's property remains out of reach of his creditors. In fact, Mr. Simpson has never declared bankruptcy or taken other action to extinguish the liability.
How is this possible? The answer is that Mr. Simpson arranged his financial affairs in a completely legal manner that left his assets out of the reach of creditors. Florida, his new home state, just so happens to be one of the most advantageous states for asset protection. When asked about his choice of domicile, Mr. Simpson responded in an interview that while he intended to move to Florida anyway, 'an added benefit is some of the laws here in Florida.'
Asset protection planning can be effected in essentially three ways. The first is divestiture, by which an individual transfers his property to another, either by outright transfer or by having liens or mortgages placed upon the asset. This method relies on the simple truth that a creditor cannot have what a debtor does not own. The second way is through exemption planning, where an individual transfers assets to a statutorily protected class of property, such as residential homestead, life insurance, or an IRA. These classes of protected property vary widely by state. The third way is through the use of liability shielding entities such as corporations and LLCs. Hiding one's assets is not part of responsible or effective asset protection planning. First, it may be against the law, and second, it doesn't work well.
Themes in Asset Protection
Several general themes apply in asset protection:
●No asset protection plan can ever give anyone 100% protection from creditors; asset protection planning can only shield most of a person's assets from creditors. Some assets will always be exposed.
● The proper goal of an asset protection plan is to frustrate creditors by altering the creditor's economic analysis of a lawsuit (by making it more expensive and uncertain for the creditor). In other words, the plan itself doesn't give the protection; how the creditor perceives the plan gives the protection.
● Timing is important. An asset protection plan must be put in place well before a creditor or plaintiff emerges. Otherwise, the plan will be exposed as a transparent last-minute effort to thwart creditors.
● An effective asset protection plan can be made even more effective by 'layering' applying different legal protections over the same assets.
● Compartmentalization is an effective asset protection planning tool. For example, an owner of rental properties (rental properties generally carry a high risk of liability) can place each separate rental property in a separate LLC or corporation. If one property results in liability, a creditor will be forced to pursue liability against only one entity, and will not reach either the owner and her other properties.
● A simple asset protection plan is generally more effective than a complex plan.
How Plaintiffs Think
The key to asset protection is to step into the mind of the plaintiff. First of all, the plaintiff can't just go around taking a debtor's property until the underlying dispute is heard in court. Only after winning the suit can the plaintiff proceed to the collection phase of his suit. The plaintiff wants a quick, inexpensive trial. After that, the plaintiff wants a quick, inexpensive, and productive collection phase. Lawsuits are economic events and require economic analysis. Only a foolish plaintiff would pursue a case without some certainty of recovery. Asset protection seeks to deter lawsuits by confounding the certainty of a plaintiff's recovery.
Protecting the Family Home: Homestead and Liens
For most Americans, the most valuable asset they own is their personal residence. The home offers some of the simplest and most effective asset protection planning. The first device is the homestead. A Homestead is, quite simply, a legal device that protects a person's residence (or a portion of it) from creditors. A judgment creditor cannot levy on the homestead portion of a person's residence. The amount of homestead protection differs widely by state. Texas and Florida offer unlimited homestead protection (unlimited in value, but limited by acreage), while Alabama offers a meager $5,000 homestead exemption for single persons and $10,000 for a married couple. In practice, a creditor attempting to levy on an Alabama residence can reach all the equity (after mortgages and liens) except for the homestead protected amount. In the event of a forced sale of the residence, the ousted creditors would receive the homestead exemption in cash. Homestead protection is afforded automatically in most states, but it's always a good idea to file appropriate papers to claim the homestead.
In states with low homestead protection, mortgages and liens provide a very effective means of protecting the personal residence. This process is sometimes referred to as 'equity stripping.' A residence with liens on it is essentially owned by the bank. The home's lienholders have priority over subsequent creditors. Any creditors who levy a home with one or more existing liens take a disadvantaged position behind the lienholders. In the event of a sale, the creditor is less likely to get a recovery. A property owner can lien up his or her own property by increasing the size of an existing mortgage, or by getting a home equity line of credit (HELOC). Most HELOC loan do not require the property owner to ever draw money on the loan, drawing on the HELOC is optional but once the HELOC is in place, it discourages later creditors from pursuing the owner.
Placing liens on property works similarly well for other assets, such as cars, art collections, business inventories, securities, and a wide range of other assets.
Asset Protection Through Property Exemptions
Every state protects certain classes of assets through property exemption statutes. The property exemption statutes serve a dual purpose. First, they denote types and amounts of property that are unreachable by creditors. Second, these statutes also denote types and amounts of property that cannot be lost by a debtor in bankruptcy. A bankruptcy court is a de facto creditor, so a bankruptcy court can only reach what a creditor can reach. This principle applies to homestead laws as well, except for some recent erosion built into the 2005 bankruptcy law revisions. So, good asset protection planning is also effective pre-bankruptcy planning.
So, the property exemptions are plainly valuable. Again, property exemptions differ widely by state. Texas places the full amount of all IRAs beyond the reach of creditors, while California exempts retirement accounts 'only to the extent necessary to provide for the support of the judgment debtor when the judgment debtor retires and for the support of the spouse and dependents of the judgment debtor.' California's subjective test for retirement account exemption results in frequent disputes. Florida exempts an automobile of up to only $1,000 in value, while Texas exempts one automobile of unlimited value per spouse. Florida and Texas exempt wages from garnishment, which most states do not.
The property exemptions also contain some historical oddities. Texas' generous property exemptions include 'two horses, mules, or donkeys and a saddle, blanket, and bridle for each; 12 head of cattle; 60 head of other types of livestock; and 120 fowl.'
In order to take advantage of the property exemptions, one must first investigate the property exemption statutes in one's state of residence this state's property exemption statutes will govern. Property exemption planning is simply the process of transferring non-exempt property into exempt property. The simplest and most common example is to arrange and select the most appropriate retirement account. Moving cash into an IRA in most states will shield the asset from creditors. In other states, certain types of retirement accounts are more protected by others. Property exemption planning also means avoiding property transfers that expose protected assets. There have been cases where uniformed debtors cashed out their pensions (pensions are fully asset protected by federal law) and moved the proceeds into non-exempt assets, thereby exposing the asset to creditors.

On January 6, 2006 the President signed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) into law. VAWA is a very powerful piece of legislation that has been successful in protecting abused spouses and children. Moreover, VAWA has very definite provisions to protect immigrants in abusive relationships from loosing their status in the United States or getting deported from the United States. This article is to be limited in scope and covers briefly VAWA as it pertains to immigration law only.
Who can use or benefit from VAWA?
Although VAWA stands for “Violence Against Women Act”, it applies to all spouses including abused men and children. A VAWA petition can be filed in situations where the spouse of the US citizen or Permanent Residence has abused the alien. Abuses do not always have to be physical. Abuse can be mental, psychological, physical, or a combination of all the above. In fact, many abuses are psychological and sometimes leave long lasting scars. For instance, Anita is Married to Ram who is a US citizen. Ram knowing that Anita is alone in the United States and depending on him to obtain a green card takes advantage of Anita. Ram will regularly make insulting comments to Anita. When Anita tries to answer the insult, Ram will be threatening on calling the Immigration Services on her.
Note that Ram never hits Anita or physically abuses Anita. However, Anita is scared and humiliated. She stays in the relationship not only because she fears deportation but also that her family at home will not welcome her back as a divorcee. As time goes by Anita gets bitter and desperate. She feels she has no way out of this relationship especially because she will have to leave the United States if she leaves her husband. Anita gets more and more depressed and feels like committing suicide. This example is quite common in South Asian communities even if it might be an extreme example of psychological abuses. The question is whether Anita can leave her husband, go to a shelter and stay in the US? Well, the short answer is yes provided Anita qualifies for a VAWA self petition.
What are the requirements to qualify for a VAWA petition?
In simple terms there are three requirements to prove that you are eligible for a VAWA petition:
1. You had a bona fide marriage, that is, you entered a marriage in good faith with a United States citizen or permanent resident (“green card” holder) spouse ;2. You were in an abusive relationship; and3. You are a person of good moral character.
You are highly advised to document every of the above and to contact a licensed attorney who practices immigration law and is familiar with such cases. Indeed, preparing a VAWA abused case especially if it does not involve physical abuses can be a daunting task. Note that VAWA petitions can be filed during or before removal proceedings (deportations). Our office has successfully processed many of such cases.
What will happen to a VAWA self petitioner if he/she files such a petition?
Many abused immigrant are afraid to file such petitions because they think that the abusive spouses are going to hurt them by reporting them to the immigration services when they find out. They are wrong because VAWA has very specific provisions to protect the abused spouses and children legally. First VAWA is a highly confidential matter. Any kind of investigation will be done very discreetly. Second, there are special provisions under the Immigration Laws that prevent information from the abusive spouses and their families to be used against the abused immigrant. There are few exceptions to this. In fact, it is an offense punishable by fine if an immigration officer crosses lines drawn by VAWA. Therefore, if you find yourself in a potential VAWA situation you are highly recommended to consult an attorney or an experienced organization which can help you. Remember you do not have stay in abusive relationship!
Removal of Conditional Residence based on abusive relationship
If Anita entered into a marriage obtained a conditional green card and then starts experiencing abuses, she is also eligible to remove this conditional residence based on the abusive relationship. The removal of conditional residence is removed among other ways by filing the form I-751 and selecting that you are removing the conditional residence based on an abusive relationship. In this case, the laws under VAWA will apply.
As we have pointed out earlier this article is limited in scope, there are actually other very important issues involved in a VAWA application. You are recommended to contact an experienced immigration attorney to help you with your application. Should you want more information, feel free to contact our office for a consultation.

Law School Musings (Part 1)
Introduction
As a prospective law student, it is important that you begin to think about what law school is and what you hope to gain from law school. Understanding these principles can help you decide whether to attend law school, which law school to attend, what “success” in law school should mean to you and how you can use law school to your career and life advantage.
Very early in my law school career – perhaps sometime during the first semester of my first year – I began to formulate a theory that law school is entirely unnecessary to develop the legal skills needed to become an excellent attorney. Years later, after completing law school and practicing as an attorney in a variety of settings over the course of almost a decade, I am only more firmly convinced that the legal education you will acquire in law school will do little to prepare you to practice law.
Indeed, it was not so very long ago that many attorneys earned their legal education by acting as an apprentice for a practicing attorney in lieu of attending a law school. Many famous attorneys started their careers in this manner. In fact, some states – most notably California – still provide a mechanism whereby an attorney who has skipped law school may still practice law. If, after reading the balance of this section, you feel that law school does not offer you anything, you may wish to consider such an option.
So, am I advocating some kind of revolutionary movement to do away with law schools? Far from it! Instead, I think law school serves a number of useful purposes. Those purposes are the subject of this article.
What I do have a problem with is the fact that law schools do very little to provide the practical training young lawyers need to actually get through a day of work at their first job, and that many of them try to pretend to the contrary.

LSAT Logic Games
How Can LSAT Logic Games Have Anything to Do With Law School?
Here's a typical LSAT Logic Games question:
Nine housewives - Alice, Barbara, Carol, Delores, Evelyn, Francis, Gertrude, Hillary, and Ingrid - will be shopping at Safeway this week. They may shop on either Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Exactly three housewives will shop on each of these days. The following conditions apply:
1. Barbara will shop on Tuesday.
2. Carol and Francis must shop on the same day.
3. Alice and Evelyn must shop on the same day.
4. Gertrude and Hillary cannot shop on the same day.
5. Barbara and Ingrid cannot shop on the same day.
6. Carol and Ingrid cannot shop on the same day.
If Alice shops on Tuesday, and Carol shops on Monday, which of the following must be true?
A. Gertrude shops on Monday.
B. Gertrude shops on Wednesday.
C. Hillary shops on Monday.
D. Delores shops on Wednesday.
E. Francis shops on Wednesday.
I'm not going to waste all of our time by explaining why, but the correct answer is D (Delores shops on Wednesday). I have neither the patience nor the expertise to teach you how to reach this solution, but if you want to excel on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) you had better be able to answer any question like that within 30-40 seconds.
Is this really possible? Yes, by seeking professional instruction and taking hundreds of LSAT practice tests, you can master the LSAT Logic Games.
Which brings us back to the question posted in the subtitle: How can this have anything to do with law school?
Well, I don't have any inside information, but the LSAT in general is designed to address skills and abilities that are considered vital for success in law school (note, not in the legal profession). The Logic Games section in particular addresses the prospective law student's ability to comprehend complicated factual scenarios, analyze arguments and reach reliable conclusions - largely by elimination weaker positions.
I can attest that these skills are indeed important to your law school success. Obviously, facts like those in the question above have nothing to do with law school or legal practice. The intellectual ability to deal with such situations, however, is absolutely necessary.
The thing about law school, and the LSAT, that is fortunate for those of us who may be less-than-brilliant, is that everything you need to know is in the question. You don't need to know the quadratic equation, the elements in the periodic table or any other background information. You must simply analyze the information you are given and reach the best conclusion.
The practice of law is very similar, but we'll get to that in a few years...
This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Many of the most public and celebrated securities cases have been cases involving insider trading. The public's appetite for such cases is as endless as the cases themselves. Martha Stewart's case is notable only because it is recent--the past forty years have brought forth cases involving not only corporate insiders, but also attorneys, psychiatrists, football coaches, athletes, newspaper columnists, printers, golfing partners, and even professional escorts. The SEC repeatedly announces the elimination of insider trading to be one of its top enforcement priorities. Unfortunately, the law of insider trading is highly interpretive and it is difficult to distill a steadfast rule.
Readers are cautioned that the penalties for insider trading are extremely onerous, and one should rely upon this summary only as an informational starting point, and not as a definitive guideline for making trades.
The Source of the Prohibition
"Insider Trading" violations can be traced to Rule 10b-5, which prohibits any device, scheme, artifice, act, practice or course of business to defraud or to deceive in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.
Under the traditional view of insider trading, Rule 10b-5 is violated when a corporate insider trades in the securities of a corporation on the basis of material, nonpublic information. Trading on such information constitutes a "manipulative and deceptive device" under the Exchange Act because "a relationship of trust and confidence exists between the shareholders of a corporation and those insiders who have obtained confidential information by reason of their position with that corporation." This relationship implies a duty on the insider to either disclose information or refrain from trading on that information so that no unfair advantage is taken of the uninformed stockholders--familiarly called the "disclose or abstain" rule. In practice, disclosure is hardly practical, which leaves the "informed" insider with only one option: to abstain from trading. What Is "Material" Information?
The U.S. Supreme Court has broadly stated that a fact is material if it "would have taken on actual significance in an investor's deliberations." By way of example, the following nonpublic information has been found to be material when in the possession of insiders:
A company that was soon to receive a tender offer to be purchased.
A company that was soon to announce a merger.
A favorable earnings announcement.
A soon to be disclosed valuable mineral find.
A soon to be announced dividend payment.
An upcoming buy recommendation by a financial analyst.
An upcoming appearance in a financial news column. An Expanded Definition of "Insiders"
In general terms, with respect to insider trading, corporate insiders may be defined as persons who, by virtue of their relationships with the issuer, are aware of material information about the entity that is not available to the public at large. Corporate Insiders would include all persons included in the Section 16 definition of "Insiders" (see Volume 5 of our newsletter), but would also include members of the immediate families of directors, officers and controlling persons. Also, underwriters, accountants, lawyers, and consultants "even if outside the Corporation" can be deemed insiders under some circumstances.
The Tipper/Tippee Problem; When Nonpublic Information is Passed
One of the most complex, fluid, and opaque topics in insider trading law is the problem of whether liability attaches to tippees--non-insiders who learn of nonpublic material information from insiders and then trade on that information. Recall that a condition of insider trading liability is the "breach of a duty of trust or confidence that is owed directly, indirectly, or derivatively, to the issuer or the shareholders or to any other person who is the source of the material nonpublic information." So, when is a tippee in a position of derivative trust or confidence? The Supreme Court has offered several pronouncements that help to answer this question.
For subsequent tippees to be liable, the insider (tipper) must breach his or her duty of trust or confidence to the issuer's shareholders.
In order for a tippee to be held liable, there must have been some benefit to the tipper in making the tip. The tipper's benefit need not be tangible, a gift of information to a friend or relative is sufficient.
The tipper need not be a "true" insider such as a director, officer, or lawyer. Liability can be extended to "temporary insiders" such as financial printers.
The tipper need not have a belief that the tippee (or subsequent tippee) will trade, wrongfulness is presumed merely from the divulgence of confidential information.
In most cases, for liability to attach to the tippee, the tippee must know that the information received is tainted in breach of a duty of trust or confidence.
Subsequent tippees can create a "chain" of liability, if the breach of trust and confidence is passed down the line. One example of liability involved the passing of information from husband to wife, then from the wife to a third party.
There is a recent trend in the case law narrowing the breadth of tippee liability. The Timing of Insider Trades
At what point after public disclosure of material information may insiders trade in their company's securities depends on how quickly the information makes its way through newswire services and on the nature of the information. In an important case, a court ruled that an insider should not have placed an order to purchase securities until the information could reasonably have been expected to appear over the news service with the widest circulation. The SEC typically has adopted a sterner position, requiring that in addition to dissemination through recognized channels of distribution, public investors must be afforded a reasonable waiting period to react to the information. The American Exchange recommends that insiders wait from 24 to 48 hours after general publication of information.
The SEC Likes Tattle-Tales
In order to increase the likelihood of discovering insider violations, the Commission is permitted to make bounty awards from the civil penalties that are actually recovered from violators. With minor exceptions, any person who provides information leading to the imposition of a civil penalty upon an insider may be paid a bounty.
The Bad News: Liabilities and Punishment for Insider Trading
The penalties, both civil and criminal, for insider trading are severe. First, there are private civil remedies, as found in Section 20A of the Exchange Act of 1934. Persons who are harmed by insider trading can bring actions in most circumstances to recover the illegal profits (or avoided losses) enjoyed by wrongful traders in contemporaneous trading.
Furthermore, the SEC has the authority to impose criminal penalties, civil penalties, and punitive civil awards against wrongful traders. Congress passed the Insider Trading Sanctions Act in 1984 to toughen penalties for illegal traders. The civil penalty in such a suit can include disgorgement of profits and a penalty of up to three times the ill-gotten profits. The 1984 law also increased the criminal penalty from $10,000 to $100,000.
And, in 1988 Congress went even farther by passing the Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act in 1988. ITSFEA impacts an issuer's controlling persons. ITSFEA made clear that tippers and tippees are both primary violators and are thus jointly and severally liable. Under ITSFEA, a court can impose sanctions equaling up to three times the illegal profits made by inside traders. These recent laws have led the SEC to adopt a very aggressive enforcement posture and have yielded tremendously large settlements.
The Good News: Protecting Legitimate Insider Transactions
The term "insider trading" is a misnomer; not all insider trades are unlawful. Executives may in good faith make purchases of their company's stock. Rule 10b-2 of the Exchange Act outlines a compliance program that can protect insider transactions. 10b-2 dictates that a purchase or sale is deemed not made on the basis of material nonpublic information if the trader adopts a regular, periodic and written plan for the acquisition or sale of securities. The written plan can be a "formula or algorithm, or computer program, for determining the amount of securities to be purchased or sold and the price at which and the date on which the securities were to be purchased or sold." The development (and faithful observance) of such a plan can be a powerful device in defeating a charge of insider trading.