Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Legal Advice Journal's LiveJournal:

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Saturday, December 12th, 2009
2:10 pm [moondrunk]	Not your usual post...slightly OT? This is somewhat OT, so if you feel it needs to be deleted let me know. I'm hoping someone here will have some input. My husband is a new lawyer, just graduated in may, bar in july, found out he passed in October and started his first job 11/2. For Christmas, I'd like to get him a PDA and load it with legal resources. I think that would be a good, lawyery-tool and he would have fun with it. But I did a really good of being in denial when he was in law school, and have managed to make myself completely clueless about what kind of resources he could need or want on a PDA. Any input would be sincerely appreciated. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
10:23 pm [acdeathsquad]	Hi, first time poster. Recently my cousin (a repo-agent) discovered the location of my father's truck that was stolen 7 years ago. It's a 1999 Chevy flatbed with about 100 thousand miles. There are some unusual circumstances... My dad died 6 months after the vehicle was stolen (when i was 17) and no one filed a stolen vehicle report (at least that I can find) of any kind. The title ws never found after my father died and my family was unsure about how to find the vehicle. However, the vehicle has certainly been located. the VIN number matches the number that I was able to retrieve from county records of my dad's previous ownership of the vehicle. The VIN is still the same as it was when my dad owned it and according to carfax.com, the truck is still being driven and is registered here in my city. It appears that my dad's signature was forged when the truck changed hands 2 years after my dad's death. The police say they can't do anything and they are advising me to get a lawyer and file a civil case. At present I need to find the names of the people who have had their names on the title and I'm wondering what to do to obtain any further information on order to retrieve the truck. My dad was going to insure the truck the day it was stolen, which was 2 days after he purchased it. How do I reclaim this truck? I'm willing to do whatever it takes. (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 5th, 2009
7:11 am [vintagegirlnh]	Hi everyone, I know this isn't your typical "legal advice" post but I was hoping some of you could help me because I realize how knowledgeable you all are. I have worked in special education for 5 years. I am currently pursuing my masters in applied behavior analysis and school psychology so that I can become a Behavior Intervention Case Manager (BICM BCBA). I've always been very passionate about the laws dictating the rights, procedures and protocols for our students and their families. I have also witnessed districts abuse these laws when families were not already aware of their legal rights (ie. not offering ABA services because "the parents don't know what that is"). Needless to say, this really pisses me off. I have always toyed with the idea of becoming a Special Education Attorney. Recent events have confirmed this passion so I'm here asking you guys how one goes about specializing in such a field. I keep googling but I just get results for actual special education attorneys websites (I've emailed a few to ask them what they did to gain entrance into the field but no response yet). Thank you! (Comment on this)
Friday, June 19th, 2009
1:08 pm [ayla_3388]	cancellation of debt I just received a letter in the mail from the IRS.   It says my husband SSN had a cancellation of debt in 2007.   Because of this our taxes that needed to be paid went up for that year.  I understand the semantics behind why it’s considered income.    My misunderstanding lies in the following.   After pulling the history out of my husband I found out the story.  Young, and stupid, he bought a car in 1998 and the car was repossessed in 1998.  His last communication with the company was in 1998 saying: they sold the car on auction and that the dept, which was left, was forgiven.  Unfortunately my husband has lost this paperwork.  He never heard from them again.  In 2006 he and I get married, I make considerable more money than he does.  2007 was the first year we file taxes together.   I find it odd that this company decides to file the cancellation of debt the first year, we filed taxes together.   Since we have been married I pull credit reports on both of us once a year just to know what’s on them.  I have Never seen this dept on his credit report.      Questions:  (1) What is the statue of limitations on something like this? (2) Why did they wait so long? (3) Is this legal for them to wait so long to file this form?   Thank you for any assistance with this matter. (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
2:37 pm [turtletoker]	i need help ( i don't know what to do ) Current Mood: betrayed (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
12:41 pm [thezookeeper8]	Thursday and Friday….Employee has been drinking on the job. Employee has become belligerent, challenging and an all round jerk. Employee is asked to leave. Saturday employee gets into a physical altercation with his son on property,  Police are called and employee goes to jail. Let out next day Sunday employee aggressively challenges a random guest at hotel acquires baseball bat and is seen hanging out in parking lot of hotel. Police are called and employee goes to jail. Let out next day Owner tells employee he must not be on property. Owner allows employee access to other jobs at residential locations. Employee parks car on adjacent hotel lot, clear enough to be seen, but not on hotel property. Owner will rehire employee as soon as he “dries out”.   Zonks!! Can this actually be legal? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 11th, 2009
5:24 am [sergeykemskiy]	Dear community, I want to present you my new web site about attorneys. It would be nice if you tell you propositions how to do this resource more user-friendly. Thank  you   (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
9:22 am [acdeathsquad]	wat? To make a long story short- here it goes- In 2008 I had a kidney transplant. Six weeks later when I was having severe pain in my groin, I went back to the hospital, thinking it was rejection. The pain was coming from an area that seemed like the inguinal canal (where hernias pop out.) The doctor put his hand on me to feel and determined I had a hernia. Without doing any imaging, the doctor operated, but guess what? No HERNIA. They didn't find a hernia after investigating but they patched the inguinal canal anyway. For weeks I was in severe pain because during the operation they had to do some exploration to find said hernia. I have the report that says no hernia was found. -My questions- should I sue? (I feel like I should) However- I am worried that I will jeopardize the quality of the post transplant care I receive. -Would the settlement be worth the return from suing the doctor? I don't know what to do and I have 4 months left. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, March 27th, 2009
11:17 pm [rainbowdustin]	Harassed by Law enforcement... Kentucky State Police So I was harassed by the Kentucky State Police ... nothing but harassed... there is no question about it.  I have contacted several attorneys... here is what I have sent to the attorneys which states what happened.  Please let me know if you think I have a case. To Whom it may concern:   My name is Dustin Sizemore.  On March 26th 2009 on Highway 699 at the Coon Creek Animal Shelter in Smilax Kentucky, at approximately 8:20PM my partner (Kevin Watts) and myself (Dustin E. Sizemore) were traveling on this road going up Cutshin in the direction towards Yeadiss.  I stopped at the roadblock and a county officer (working on getting the name from local authorities will have in next two days) asked to see my driver license and insurance.  I provided both documents, he checked them, looked at my tags on my license plate and directed me to go on through.  I went home unloaded my groceries and realized that I had forgotten plastic cups.  I went back out of the hollow traveling the opposite direction and approached the road block again.  At this time KSP Officer Chris Frasier came to my window.  I advised him that I had already shown the county officer my information and asked him if he needed to see it again.  He did not even look at my information and told me to pull my car behind another car sitting there.  I did so.    I waited around 15 to 20 minutes while the officers talked amongst themselves.  When KSP Officer Chris Frasier approached my vehicle he asked to see my license and I gave them to him.  I asked him if there was a problem and he did not respond.  At this time I was still in my vehicle.  He asked me what I was doing going up the road and coming back so quickly and I explained to him that I came home and unloaded some groceries and realized that I forgot plastic cups and I advised him that I had dropped my boyfriend off at my home and was going to my mothers convenient store at wooton which was around two miles away.  I did not mean to say anything about me having a boyfriend because I have experienced harassment from just people in this area before but never from an official.  At this time in my opinion his demeanor totally changed and he was using his voice in a very loud tone with me and was cursing.  I was obviously scared, the officer could see this because I was shaking and I let him know that I was scared because I just am afraid of cops.  Officer Frasier while I was still in the vehicle performed a stigma eye test on me with my drivers license.  He did not say whether I passed or not.  He then went back to the vehicles that were parked and was laughing and cutting up with the county officers.   Officer Frasier returned to my vehicle and asked me to step outside of my vehicle.  I did so.  Officer Frasier then asked me to walk a straight line one foot in front of the other.  I did this and did not trip or fall or anything.   Officer Frasier returned back to around where his vehicle and the county police vehicles were parked and was talking with the other officers.  When he returned he asked me to take one hand and touch the opposite sides toe bringing my foot up behind me and alternate hands and repeat this 6 times.  I did so.   Officer Frasier then asked me to take my finger and do the 1234, 4321 on my fingers sobriety test I did this.  After doing this Officer Frasier returned to his vehicle and was talking with the other officers laughing.  He again returned and asked me to do 10 jumping jacks and clap.  I did this.   Around this time I said “Officer I swear to you I am not under the influence at all if I was I would have had my boyfriend drive me.”  He didn’t verbally respond, he returned to the other officers and began talking lowly, glaring at me and laughing again.  Officer Frasier asked me to walk over to where the vehicles were parked, I did so.  At this time he said “OK boy if you can do 10 push ups I will let you go home.”  At this point I knew this was no longer a routine sobriety test this had turned into harassment based on my sexual orientation (or that is what I strongly believe.)  At this point he began his humiliating and demeaning tasks for me to do which were watched by oncoming traffic while  the other officers  laughed along with him.   After the pushups he commanded me to point down with my right hand at a random rock and say “rock”  and then point into the sky at any star and say “star”.  To visualize this think of John Travolta doing disco in ‘Saturday Night Fever‘, I can demonstrate this at your request along with any of the other tasks I was forced to do.  He commanded I do this 10 times very quickly saying “Rock Star, Rock Star, Rock Star, Rock Star, Rock Star, Rock Star, Rock Star, Rock Star, Rock Star, Rock Star”.  While I was doing this oncoming traffic witnessed me doing this demeaning task.  Officer Frasier along with the other officers increased their laughter towards me.  At this point I was feeling like a dog, I had nowhere to go because I felt like my rights had been violated by the people who were supposed to be protecting them.   After doing the “Rock Star” ’sobriety test’ Officer Frasier said he was doing another test and demonstrated to me what he wanted me to do.  He walked backwards while keeping his toes on the ground dragging them along while lifting his heels up at a measured pace.  This was an exact replica of the Micheal Jackson “moonwalk”.  He informed me that I had to do this with my right index finger sticking straight up in the air.  Officer Frasier along with the other officers found this very funny while I felt like their side show entertainment.  I felt totally powerless to these people and I was frightened for my own safety, and while I didn’t want to proceed with his ridiculous demands I was scared of the consequences of not doing so because I was taught to obey the law because they are supposed to “protect” the public.   After this Officer Frasier informed me that he wanted me to take my leg and kick upwards while extending my right hand and touch my toe at shoulder level.  Officer Frasier informed me to do this “like a cheerleader” with an evil smirk.  I did as I was told while oncoming traffic gawked and pointed at me.  Officer Frasier continued laughing with the other officers.  By this time my eyes were filling up with tears of fear and desperation as I knew this was no routine tests at all.  I was scared that this torture would never end or if it did end that it would have been a horrible outcome.  My mind was racing with images of the “Matthew Shepherd” mixed with a “Rodney King” type of situation, because if an officer was laughing at you and making you do such ridiculous things for his own entertainment what else might he do? Finally, Officer Frasier informed me that I would have one last task and this was to catch my drivers license as he threw them up in the air.  Officer Frasier said “if you can catch your license in the air you can ‘skip’ on back to your car and go home to your ’friend’. “  He was faking to throw my license in the air while keeping them in his hand like you would do a dog to fetch.  When he threw the license in the air I caught them and he said “get the hell out of here, go on home.”  I returned to my car and drove straight to my home in tears of despair.  I can’t convey how humiliating and discriminated that I felt.  I know that the only reason he done this was because of my sexual orientation because after I said I dropped my boyfriend off at the house his demeanor totally changed to a discriminatory one.    If you or anyone can help me with this issue please let me know because this was a gross misconduct of the Kentucky State Police along with Leslie County Police.   I am not doing this for attention or financial gain, I am trying to get this out in the open or in the courts so that maybe through my suffering no one else will have to go through what I did.  I don’t   expect anyone in this area including police officers to accept my lifestyle, but I do expect to be treated like a human being instead of “side-show entertainment“, I would love to have a public apology or some type of civil justice from the Kentucky State Police in this issue because I feel this was a total violation of my civil rights and rights as a human.   Again, if you or anyone else that you know can help me pursue this matter legally please feel free to contact me.  My contact information is below:  (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 16th, 2009
10:26 pm [daydreaming]	please help In december a police officer found my friend smoking weed with some friends in his car. his sentence wasn't exactly probation, he doesn't have an officer and isn't being monitored but they told him he couldn't get in trouble for 6 months. March 12th we were in Key West and were written notices to appear in court for open containers on the beach. we didn't see the sign that said no drinking on the beach and people all around us were. we're both of age but now we're worried about what will happen to him. the events occurred in different counties, and I wanted to call the courthouse and ask if we can just pay a fine instead of going all the way back down there. we're both full time students with jobs. I don't know what's going to happen, if we should get a lawyer, or what. freaking out please help! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
6:31 pm [katsiss]	Collection agencies/Dept Collections I live in Oregon where, in 2005, residents of a specific county were to pay a county tax for that tax season. I lived in that county for half the year (I didn't even live in the county when the bill was voted on and passed by the residents a year prior). When I filed my taxes at the end of the year I had moved into another county. I forgot to tell my tax man I was living in the taxable county for about six months. (This was the first time a county in Oregon had passed a bill requiring residents to pay a county tax, later the tax was demolished.) I received a call today from a collection agency stating I owed over $900 for neglecting to pay the tax in 2005. I had never received a bill or notice of payment needed, nor were state tax refunds garnished for any tax season in between. Had I paid on time I would have owed around $150. My question is, can I be referred to a collection agency when I have never received a bill? Can that much interest be applied to a beginning balance for 4 years time with out notice? And lastly, my name was on the lease for an apartment in the taxed zone but DMV records and w2 records were listed in a non taxed county. (Comment on this)
Friday, February 6th, 2009
2:27 pm [my_art_space]	What do you think of the AP copyright infringement allegation against Shepard Fairey? A comparison showing Mannie Garcia’s photograph of Obama next to Shepard Fairey’s ‘Progress’ and ‘Hope’ posters. The portrait of Obama by Shepard Fairey is a stencil portrait. Fairey created a stencil over a scanned and enlarged version of the photograph that was slightly tilted according to various articles. Fairey and a gallery that represents him has stated that he did in fact use the Garcia photograph as the base image for his Obama posters according to news articles. The Assosicated Press claims to own the copyright to Garcia's photograph and  desire compensation from Shepard Fairey. Fairey's lawyer states that Fairey did nothing wrong and that is use of the image falls under fair use. Do you think his use of the image falls under fair use? Since the photograph itself is not widely known some lawyers have suggested that Fairey's use does not fall under fair use. In order for it to be fair use there must be a dialogue between the old work and the new work that is obvious to the viewer-- obvious to the majority of the public. Unfortunatey for Shepard the majority of people, including Garcia and the AP, did not make the connection between Garcia's photograph and Fairey's Obama posters. So did Fairey fail at fair use? If so, did he willfully infringe on the photograph? I have posted several articles about Shepard Fairey and fair use that might be of interest to some of you. My thoughts, http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2009/02/art-law-professionals-weigh-in-on.html (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
2:51 pm [tashiri_410]	Help, stupid intern here. I'm a university student in Malaysia, and on my two-month break I decided to do an internship at a certain hotel chain, one of the biggest resort hotel chains in the world. Clearly no assurance of quality? :P Kidding. Anyway, my problem. Mostly my fault, I'm sure. My first day was 2nd Jan (Friday), but I got confused and only turned up on the 5th (Monday). I was all "who the hell makes the first day of work a Friday?!" My monthly allowance is RM600 (RM = Ringgit Malaysia, our local currency). Today I found out that they are cutting RM80 for my one day absence. Is that allowed? I asked and the only answer I got was "labour laws here like that". Apparently missing the 2nd and starting on the 5th is akin to missing an entire week as they count from the 1st to the 1st; and in this case the 1st was New Year's and ergo a public holiday so they count from the 2nd? (Hope this makes sense!) Please help, if there's any way that I haven't massively screwed up and can fix this. Not only is RM80 nearly 1/5 of my salary, I was also sort of relying on most of my salary to help pay my school fees. I just need to know I'm not being screwed around with here. Please and thank you :) (Comment on this)
Monday, January 26th, 2009
12:58 am [fadingmemories]	Possible unemployment insurance fraud? I need help.  In Jan I got laid off, cut backs.  We all know the story.  I was salary, live in California.  From what I understand (and please correct me if I'm wrong) if your salary you're paid by weekly fees.  This has been the case at every other company I worked for.  My issues are these: When I got my final check, I had $300 deducted from it.  When asked, I was told that my pay for new years, when the office was closed, was deducted from my pay.  This doesn't seem legal.  I did countless hours of overtime there, I worked weekends without pay, but a few days of required holiday time and my pay is deducted?!  Every other holiday was paid for.  When discussing with their 1099 guys the lay off I was informed they're also breaking 1099 laws as well.  When presented with solid evidence, they didn't bat an eyelash and continued with what they're doing. I got my UE notice in today and it looks as though they're somehow lying on my earnings.  It's more than half of what I had reported and what I had earned.  This sounds like unemployment insurance fraud to me.  It has taken my UE checks from what I could survive on, to not even being able to pay for weekly groceries. Tomorrow I'm going to be contacting UE about these issues in hopes to get them sorted out.  I have some pay stubs, bank statements and the W2's from this company.  A lot of people are telling me to go to a lawyer as well to see if I have a case.  Would this be a waste of mine and the lawyers time?  What should I do in such a case? I am livid to be quite honest.  People wonder why I've had it with my industry and why I'm ready to move on.  Current Mood: pissed off (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 23rd, 2009
2:54 pm [penneylaw]	Construction Accident Be Careful When Working Construction!   WORKER DIES IN CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT   Vasquez v. Conoco Phillips Company; Central District Federal Court docket #06CV07828                 Vasquez was working at ConocoPhillips’s Los Angeles Refinery.  HMT company contracted with the defendant to install a new concrete and steel bottom floor in a tank on the premises.  The tank was built by defendant Chicago Bridge & Iron in 1966.  The tank had a floating roof that raised or lowered depending upon the amount of product loaded into the tank.  During the maintenance, the floating roof was approximately 8 feet from the floor.              The morning of April 10, 2006 the floating roof collapsed onto several workers, including Mr. Vasquez.  Vasquez was the most severely injured in the accident sustaining an amputation of the right arm among other things.  He died shortly after arriving at the hospital.             The plaintiff (Vasquez’s wife and daughter) contended that the various defendants were negligent for failing to secure the roof.             The defendants argued that plaintiff and his company were responsible for the collapse.  They argued that they did not secure the floating roof while working under it as prescribed in the safety handbook.  Defendants also claimed that the plaintiff and his employer were aggressively jacking up the roof and support legs causing the ultimate rotation and collapse of the roof.  Defendants argued that the support legs were bent at an angle due to the excessive and uneven jacking of the roof.             Just prior to trial all parties settled.  The defendants agreed to pay a total of $6,100,000.00 to plaintiff and various other amounts to the other injured parties.               Attorney’s Penney and Associates handles all types of construction injuries and/or injuries sustained on the job in California.  See www.penneyandassociates.com        (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
4:53 pm [penneylaw]	Product Defect Case California PERSONAL INJURY LANDING ON REFEREE VOLLEYBALL STAND   Ayers v. Sports Imports Inc., Santa Barbara County Superior Court docket #1220316               On May 15, 2005, a 15 year old girl named Alexandra Ayers was participating in club volleyball at UC Santa Barbara’s Event Center when in the course of play jumped and landed on the base area of a portable referee stand, causing an anterior cruciate ligament rupture of the left knee among others.  Plaintiff underwent numerous surgeries.  Plaintiff claimed that she never fully recovered and as such lost a valuable scholarship to a major university.  Plaintiff argued that she was considered one of the top 25 volleyball recruits in the country. In sum, the plaintiff alleged that the sloping leg configuration of the referee stand was defective causing the stand to be in an area where players routinely land after spiking the ball.  Plaintiff contended that UCSB was also negligent in that it replaced its old stands that did not protrude as much as the new referee stands.  Defendant Sports Imports Inc. argued that it had never had any other reported injuries with this stand.  Defendant UCSB argued that plaintiff’s parents had signed a waiver and release of liability and that the said stand was perfectly safe for its intended use. The case settled for $295,000.00.   Penney and Associates handles all types of personal injury cases, including cases were individuals or their families have suffered serious injuries while at school due to the negligence of others.  We cannot guarantee any outcome of your case that may or may not have similar facts to those noted above.   www.penneyandassociates.com   (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
6:29 pm [jamiezola]	alright.   I live in vermont. I am 16. I am in the process of getting emancipated. Am I legally allowed to rent an apartment? Do you know of any other cheaper options of where i can move? all suggestions/all advice/any personal/any experience/anything. is useful. thanks!!! :) xx (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
10:18 pm [circle_in_fire]	for those in the States: can someone who is *not* employable due to immigration issues still be the official translator of a book (i.e., have a contract with a publisher, etc)? I really need some advice here. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
9:57 pm [misenthrope]	Altering a vehicle's emission control system. Is it legal? To all you gearheads, grease monkeys and wrenches who are also lawyers. My question is this; is it legal to install a device on a vehicle that alters the signal from an O2 and MAF/MAP sensor to the PCM? Specifically with a Hydrogen on demand system. The system produces hydrogen and oxygen from distilled water and baking soda (the water for gas system, small electrolosis (sp?) unit) pumping a lot more oxygen into the fuel system than the O2 sensor normally sees. As we know the O2 sensor monitors oxy content and adjusts fuel trim accordingly. Pumping this extra O2 in makes the PCM think that the engine is running lean pumping more fuel into the cylinders (the opposite effect that we want) so a device is needed to make the computer think that it has the appropriate amount of fuel when in effect your pumping 30 to 40% less fuel and making up the difference with hydrogen. Im not looking for legal advice (unless willing), but rather links and a direction to find the applicable laws exct. HELP (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
3:04 pm [former_vixen]	I have been told that it's possible a marriage license supersedes a will in the state of Florida. Does anyone know if a prenup will protect an estate in the event of death? TIA! (Comment on this)