Kill all the lawyers

When thoughts turn to financial chapters

2008-12-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

If you live in someplace like Las Vegas you might be thinking in terms of bankruptcy chapters.

Total bankruptcy
Concentrating on debt relief
Bankruptcy blogs

Chicago (Cook County) Divorce

2008-12-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

Some Chicago area divorce lawyers with blogs

Chicago divorce blog
Chicago bankruptcy blog
Chicago family law blog
Just divorce blog

Low paid public defenders

2008-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

At least in Kansas public defenders are clearly underpaid.

Prosecutors working for District Attorney Nola Foulston make a median salary of $64,000 a year, according to the most recent numbers available. Foulston makes nearly $136,000.

Public defenders, meanwhile, make a median salary of little more than $44,000 a year.

That salary is so low that one Wichita public defender, German-born Klaus Dieter Mueller,nearly had his visa revoked because U.S. immigration officials considered him "underemployed" because of his pay.01

Don't waive a hearing in Kansas DUI

2008-11-30T16:32:00.000-08:00

If you get a ticket for DUI in Kansas you can keep the right to drive for at least a little while if you insist on a driver's license revocation hearing.

Each year across Kansas, police make roughly 19,000 to 20,000 arrests for driving under the influence.

State law basically says those people's licenses will be suspended 30 days after their arrest -- unless they seek a hearing with the state.

But because of the way the hearing process works, thousands of suspected DUI drivers can legally keep driving for three to 10 months after their arrests -- sometimes longer.

Some lawmakers, looking for ways to close gaps in the state's DUI laws, say the process takes too long and endangers public safety. One way to solve it is to hire more hearing officers and support staff to conduct the hearings, they say.

Now, the state employs four attorneys to hold thousands of DUI hearings statewide.

The driver's license appeals process plays out in stages. In roughly half of the state's total DUI cases -- 9,500 to 10,000 -- the motorists appeal by requesting a hearing. While waiting on the hearing, they get to keep driving -- with a temporary license -- for typically three to four months after their arrest, said Jim Keller, the deputy general counsel for the Kansas Department of Revenue. The department's division of vehicles administers driver's licenses.

At the hearing, where they often are represented by a lawyer, most lose their case to keep driving privileges. If they lose, their license gets suspended 30 days later.

But about 400 of them a year -- a growing number -- file a second appeal to district courts, Keller said. It allows them to legally keep driving nine or 10 months or longer after their arrest.

The system tries to balance a motorist's right to a fair hearing with the public's safety.

Still, it shouldn't take so long to suspend the license of someone suspected of DUI, said state Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, who as a defense lawyer has defended DUI suspects and as a legislator has tried to toughen DUI laws.

The time between the arrest and the initial hearing should be 30 to 45 days instead of 90 to 120 days, Journey said.

The Department of Revenue employs three full-time attorneys to conduct driver's license hearings around the state and a fourth, part-time attorney to hold most of the hearings for the Wichita area.

Don't get arrested in Texas

2008-11-29T16:26:00.000-08:00

Texas is the nations leader in locking people up.

Long known for its tough-on-crime image, Texas on Thursday was hailed nationally for a package of reforms designed to curb its wildly growing prison population. But even as lawmakers were lauded for innovative programs for drug and alcohol abusers, Texas pushed past California to become the nation's leader in putting people behind bars.

Texas, said the new Pew Center on the States report, had 171,790 prisoners on Jan. 1 - down 326 inmates from Dec. 31, 2006. California, which long had led the nation in inmates, reduced its prison rolls by 4,068 during that period.

Nationwide, the study found one in every 100 adults is locked up in state and federal prisons or local jails. Of the states with the largest prison systems - those with 50,000 or more inmates - Texas, California, New York and Michigan reduced their offender populations in the past year.

Between 1985 and 2005, the study said, Texas' prison population quadrupled. Even after spending $2.3 billion to add 108,000 prison beds, crowding continued. As many as 17,000 more prisoners were expected to be incarcerated within five years.

Faced with the prospect of spending an additional $523 million for new prisons, Texas legislators last year virtually remade the corrections system, the study said. Key changes included dramatic expansion of drug treatment programs and so-called "diversion" beds, broad changes in parole practices and increased use of drug courts.

The reforms could save the state $210 million over two years. With the new measures in place, authorities anticipate no prison population growth in the next five years.

2 lawmakers credited

Acknowledging "it's going to take hard work to get it all to work," study director Adam Gelb credited state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, corrections committee chairmen of their respective houses, for crafting the legislation and getting it passed.

"Government effectiveness and efficiency are better targeted at high-risk dangerous offenders and incarcerating them for long periods of time," Gelb said. "People want violent and career criminals behind bars. But they don't want to spend $24,000 a year on a cell for minor violators any more than they want to pay for a bridge to nowhere."

`Tough but smart'

"There is no compromise on public safety," Whitmire said of the new programs. "They're tough but smart on fighting crime."

The legislation will create 500 single-occupancy cells for inmates incarcerated for substance abuse offenses. "Right now we've got 5,500 inmates incarcerated for DWI - three or more offenses," Whitmire said. "They're in the general population, sharing a cell with a murderer or a rapist. ... Rather than putting them in a hard two-man cell, we've gotten smart and are putting them in a treatment program."

Additionally, he said, 6,000 new beds will be created at intermediate sanction facilities. "We're sending literally thousands of probationers to prison on technicalities - failure to appear, failure to pay probation fees," Whitmire said. "We take all these requirements seriously, but we need to be smart on how to use prison space."

The intermediate lockups would hold lapsed probationers up to 60 days to contemplate their transgressions. "It's not a feel-good soft-on-crime place," Whitmire said.

The Pew report lauded the state's efforts at creating drug courts, legal proceedings that direct non-violent substance abusers to treatment programs rather than prison.

Laura Flynn, director of Harris County's five-year-old drug court program, said 155 offenders are currently enrolled in treatment programs; 58 others are completing probation after treatment; and 60 have met their probation requirements.

Only 7.8 percent - about half the national average - returned to court within a year of leaving the program.

In September, the number of criminal court judges hearing such cases doubled to four.

Don't be fooled by the rhetoric. In Texas a treatment program is just another prison but with a nicer name.

Age discrimination

2008-03-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, by a 7-2 vote, that a worker claiming age bias in the workplace may start a case before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission only if he or she spells out more than a bare allegation of discrimination and the name of the employer. A “charge” necessary to open a case, the Court concluded, must include enough substance so that it be “reasonably construed” as a request for EEOC to take action to protect the workers’ rights or to settle a dispute over those rights. Largely deferring to EEOC’s views of what might constitute a “charge,” and thus start legal time lines to running, the Court said the proper test is whether an objective observer examining what the complaining worker has filed is enough to ask the agency “to activate its machinery and remedial processes.”

When do you need a lawyer?

2008-02-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

You need a lawyer for sure if you get arrested. You're probably going to need one if you get sued. If you think you're going to get arrested or you think you're going to get sued then you probably don't want to wait -- shopping for an attorney is much easier before you get arrested than it is if you're already in jail.

Other than those times, when do you actually need an attorney?

Lawyers.com has some guidelines.

Workplace discrimination

2008-02-26T10:34:00.001-08:00

If you're sueing for workplace discrimination by a supervisor can you offer as evidence testimony that other's have been discriminated against by other supervisors in that company?

The US Supreme Court has come down with a ruling on that question. It depends, is there expert response.

Federal rules, the Court said, “do not make such evidence per se admissible or per se inadmissible.” It is up to District Courts, in trying job bias cases (here, an Age Discrimination in Employment Act case), to sort out the fact-intensive nature of such evidence. “Whether evidence of discrimination by other supervisors is relevant in an individual ADEA case is fact based and depends on many factors, including how closely related the evidence is to the plaintiff’s cirfcumstances and theory of the case,” the opinion said.

It's completely up to the trial judge, they rule, and it's wrong for appeals courts to overrule his finding because it's a matter of interpretation of facts not a matter of law whether such testimony should be heard.

Good luck with that.

Tenants rights

2008-02-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

New Mexico legal aid publishes a free guide to renting for prospective tenants. It's specific to New Mexico legal protections but it's a good start to get yourself a basic education in the legal issues surrounding a decision to rent. Find out the detials of your rights as a tenant in your own state by researching local tenats rights organizations.

Protecting yourself after an auto accident

2008-02-19T08:10:00.000-08:00

If you're in an automobile accident notify your insurance agent immediately. Cooperate with the police but don't volunteer information. Here's a good set of guidelines for what to do after an accident.

Always keep in mind that your insurance company has lawyers that represent them, not you. It may be that your interests and the interests of your insurance company are the same. But don't count on it. Consult your own lawyer if you're in a serious accident.

Temporary Legislative Sanity in the State of Washington

2008-02-15T23:14:00.000-08:00

DUIBlog reports on a couple of recent bills in the Washington state congress that died a quick and appropriate death. Let's hope it becomes a national trend.

First is a bill to restore DUI roadblocks after the state Supreme Court outlawed them as contrary to the state constitution. The US Supreme Court had given a pass on "minor" violations of your constitutional protections.

As many of you know, the United States Supreme Court in Michigan v. Sitz found that although sobriety checkpoints were apparent violations of the Fourth Amendment, they were only ”minor” violations. Permitting police to stop citizens without reason to believe they had done anything wrong, Chief Justice Rehnquist said, was permissible in view of the government’s ongoing “War on Drunk Driving”.

It's minor becuase members of the US Supreme Court have drivers.

Gov. Christine Gregoire suffered her first major defeat of the 2008 Legislature on Thursday when her push for drunken-driving checkpoints died without enough support from lawmakers

Good for them.

The second was an insane proposal to require those who've been convicted of DUI to use fluorescent-yellow license plates. That's the year after they've served any jail time and after their license suspension is over. That's after all the criminal penalties are finished they'd be required to wear a ~~Star of David~~ fluorescent-yellow license plates.

For some reason the Washington lege decided that was just a really bad idea.

California DUI blog

2008-02-14T23:19:00.000-08:00

What rights? We don't need no stinking rights.

2008-02-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

If you're charged with DWI you're going to need a lawyer. It might not do you much good, but you're still going to need one. Because DWI is a serious charge?

But is it. The law really is nonsense, it has nothing to do with rational thought. You see, the constitution promises you a jury trial. But the Supreme Court decided that they only need to stand up that promise if the charge is "serious". What does that mean? Well, whatever it means they've decided that DWI isn't really serious.

I mean it's a serious crime that the legislature has to take seriously and judges and prosecutors and cops have to take seriously. But it's not serious enough to require the government to actually follow the law themselves.

Isn't legal analysis great?

Bad mouthing your employer on the internet?

2008-02-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

Above the Law had asked a hypothetical about a lawyer who posted complaints about working conditions on an internet message boatrd and got fired as a result. Can he sue? A labor lawyer gave him an answer.

It seems that it would hinge primarily on whether he could claim that the complaints where made on behalf of other employees. Even if you're not in a union you'll be protetected by union laws if you're acting "in concert" with other employees.

So, the lesson is that if you complain on the behalf of all your brethern and get fired you should hire a lawyer.

Look nice for the camera

2008-02-09T00:05:00.000-08:00

A Texas defense attorney suggests that looking good on a police video can pay off at trial.

A breath test case with a good video is a battle worth fighting. There the State's evidence is internally inconsistent with itself.

Flagstaff, Arizona

2008-02-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

If you're going to need an Arizona DUI lawyer, it's a good chance that Flagstaff is the place you'll need one. It claims to

have one of the highest per capita DUI arrests in the country.

The appear to just be completely insane in Arizona, going after drinkers of all kinds, not just drunk drivers. When the cops get together with MADD you can be pretty sure that you're the one that's going to pay.

The idea is to make someone who has had more than one drink think twice or three times before getting behind the wheel of a car.

Police and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers support the law as a needed deterrent to one of the more dangerous criminal misdemeanors out there.

Georgia DUI Blog

2008-02-07T06:38:00.000-08:00

2008-02-06T05:17:00.000-08:00

2008-02-06T04:55:00.000-08:00

2008-02-06T04:51:00.001-08:00

2008-02-06T04:44:00.000-08:00

Alka-Seltzer, stroke, and lawyers

2007-10-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

Here's what the FDA says

Phenylpropanolamine has been linked to increased
hemorrhage stroke (bleeding in brain)
among women ages 18-49 in the three
days after starting use of medication.
Problems were not found in men,
but the FDA recommended that everyone
(even children) seek alternative medicine.

The following medications contain
Phenylpropanolamine:

Alka-Seltzer Plus Children's Cold Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold medicine (cherry or orange)
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine Original
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Flu Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Sinus Effervescent
Alka Seltzer Plus Night-Time cold Medicine Effervescent
BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder
BC Sinus Cold Powder
Comtrex Deep Chest Cold & Congestion Relief
Comtrex Flu Therapy & Fever Relief Day & Night
Contac 12-Hour Cold Capsules
Contac 12 Hour Caplets
Coricidin D Cold, Flu & Sinus
Dimetapp Cold & Allergy Chewable Tablets
Dimetapp Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels
Dimetapp DM cold & Cough Elixir
Dimetapp Elixir
Dimetapp 4 Hour Liqui Gels
Dimetapp 4 Hour Tablets>
Dimetapp 12 Hour Extentabs Tablets
Naldecon DX Pediatric Drops
Permathene Mega-16
Robitussin CF
Tavist-D 12 Hour Relief of Sinus & Nasal Congestion
Triaminic DM Cough Relief
Triaminic Expectorant Chest & Head Congestion
Triaminic Syrup Cold & Allergy
Triaminic Triaminicol Cold & Cough
Acutrim Diet Gum Appetite Suppressant Plus Diary Supplements
Acutrim Maximum Strength Appetite Control
Dexatrim Caffeine Free
Dexatrim Extended Duration
Dexatrim Gelcaps
Dexatrim Vitamin C/Caffeine Free

Then the lawyers go on TV.

And at least one lawyer hits the jackpot.

DUI blogs

2007-07-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

I can't find a DUI blog that covers Oklahoma DUI as a specialty. Looks like an available niche market waiting to be filled.

Divorce lawyers

2007-07-14T19:02:00.001-07:00

Oklahoma Family Law Blog covers legal issues related to divorce in Oklahoma.

A divorced mother recently emailed me regarding whether or not a parent can be required to pay child support for a child's college education.

The following states have specific statutes or case law that give courts the authority to order college support, also called post-secondary or post-minority support, in some form: Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Washington.

In these states, college support may be in addition to child support, a part of child support, or a separate payment after regular child support ends. It can be used to pay for an education at a college, university, vocational school, or other type of post-secondary educational institution.

In Oklahoma, a parent's obligation to pay child support normally ends when the child turns eighteen. However, if the child is enrolled in high school, the child support continues until either the child graduates or turns twenty, whichever occurs first.

He goes into much more detail, see the link above for the rest of the post.

Legal specialties

2007-07-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

A list of legal specialties and related blogs.

An adwords ranking of legal speciaties

Keywords Search Volume Avg. CPC Clicks / Day Estimated Cost / Day
Child advocacy
0 no data no data no data
Indignant law
0 no data no data no data
lower lower lower
Divorce
4 $2.92 2,086 $6,090.00

This didn't come out all that easy to read but basically it means it costs the most to advertise Divorce law with adwords, each hit is relatively cheap, but it will get a lot of traffic.

So, I think I'll see if I can find a bunch of divorce lawyer blogs

Personal Injury
3 $15.29 285 $4,360.00
Medical Malpractice 3 $9.28 114 $1,060.00
Family Law 3 $4.12 227 $940.00
Wills 3 $2.05 438 $900.00
Labor Law 3 $4.25 137 $590.00
criminal Law 3 $5.59 92 $520.00
Tax Law 2 $7.04 49 $350.00
Bankruptcy Law 2 $5.71 58 $340.00
Intellectual Property 3 $2.87 85 $250.00
Estate law 3 $2.79 81 $230.00
Immigration Law 3 $2.08 107 $230.00
Mediation 3 $1.72 122 $220.00
Business Law 3 $1.90 73 $140.00
Insurance Law 2 $2.86 48 $140.00
Real Estate Law 2 $2.67 52 $140.00
Arbitration 3 $1.83 70 $130.00
Elder Law 2 $2.84 41 $120.00
Property Law 2 $1.48 70 $110.00
Landlord Tenant 3 $0.80 113 $100.00
International Law 2 $1.44 59 $90.00
Maritime Law 2 $10.51 8 $90.00
Education Law 2 $2.82 23 $70.00
Internet Law 2 $3.90 16 $70.00
Corporate Law 2 $2.12 26 $60.00
Health Law 2 $1.74 25 $50.00
Admiralty Law 1 $12.57 3 $40.00
Environmental Law 2 $1.69 19 $40.00
Banking Law 2 $1.45 19 $30.00
Boating Safety 2 $0.98 30 $30.00
Construction Law 2 $1.59 17 $30.00
Disability Law 2 $2.29 12 $30.00
Dispute Resolution 2 $2.19 12 $30.00
Contracts Law 2 $1.24 9 $20.00
Media Law 2 $1.55 6 $10.00
Trust law 2 $1.10 8 $9.00
Bank Law 2 $1.46 5 $8.00
Building Law 2 $1.41 5 $8.00
Constitutional Law 2 $0.56 13 $8.00
Securities Law 1 $2.65 3 $8.00
Legal Ethics 1 $1.39 3 $4.00
poverty law 2 $0.78 4 $4.00
Energy Law 1 $0.60 5 $3.00
Antitrust Law 2 $1.18 2 $2.00
Boating Law 1 $0.98 1 $2.00
Election Law 1 $0.51 2 $1.00

Another list of law related keywords can be found here. Keywords relaed to Austin DWI seems to be top of the heap in that list.

Hotel law blog

2007-07-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hotel law blog.

Standardizing DWI laws

2007-06-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

State laws are becoming more and more standard across the board. The US uses things like threats to withdraw highway funds to force states to pass laws that the feds want passed. That's who we got the idiotic .08 intoxication levels in every state.

Findlaw has a side-by-side comparison of some of the details of state DWI laws.

DWI/DUI

2007-05-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

By far the biggest area of criminal law practice in is DWI/DUI defense.

Washington University school of law has a web page devoted to resources about DWI/DUI law.

The asbestos lawyers

2007-05-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

Mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer; only 2000 to 3000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year. Even so, many people have heard of mesothelioma. This is because of its suspected relation to asbestos. If someone develops mesothelioma, it is usually 20 to 40 years after asbestos exposure.

It's that exposure to asbestos causation that attracts the mesothelioma specialties among attorneys. Mesothelioma lawyers are pay through the nose for internet referalls. Why? Because much of the litigation linking asbestos and mesothelioma has been done already and large settlements are available. It can be easy money for a lawyer who specializes in this particular form of lung cancer.
Plaintiff's attorneys can go after the original source of the asbestos exposure and might have a cause of action against early medical suppliers who failed to diagnose it early.

Exposure to asbestos is the key to diagnosis because the symptoms are fairly generic and the mesothelioma is very, very rare among those without a history of heavy asbestos exposure.

* shortness of breath (dyspnea)
* difficulty taking a breath or painful breathing
* cough
* pain in the chest or upper back

Update:
A roundup of research on mesothelioma