- PTSD - Genetic Link
Posted May 15, 2008, 5:00 pm
Post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD has a genetic code that makes certain individuals more susceptible than others to stress related disorders. Scientists have identified a gene with the genetic code that makes people more susceptible to PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave...
- Iowa Workers' Comp - What kinds of death benefits can you get?
Posted May 14, 2008, 5:00 pm
Under Iowa law what benefits are dependent persons, (a wife or husband or child, entitled to following a work related death? Death benefits are covered under Iowa's workers compensation laws. Specifically they are covered under 85.28, 85.29 and 85.31. While death benefits are not limited to just those statutory sections those sections are a starting point. Case law further defines this area of the law. Rules and Tables apply in some instances and all of this is the law of workers compensation....
- What if looting your retirement accounts weren't a crime?
Posted May 14, 2008, 8:52 am
Would you be mad if looting your retirement accounts weren't a crime? We can all agree there are too many crimes being committed. The past several years the numbers of Wall Street scams that essentially rob your retirement savings have increased. Well, what if those on Wall Street said, "There are too many lawsuits and criminal charges being filed against stock analysts, CEO's and it's not good for the country. We want to do away with the crimes having to do with stealing your retirement...
- The Postville debacle
Posted May 13, 2008, 5:50 pm by Charles Kenville
I've postponed posting about the Postville raid until I had some more time to assess the situation. For those of you outside Iowa, the Feds (I.C.E.) swooped in at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa on Monday for the largest single site immigration raid in the nation's history. The plant there is the largest Kosher meat processing plant in the world, so the story is chock full of world records. I say we have the detainees make the largest kosher taco in the world...someone call...
- Motorcycle Deaths - Iowa has less than 5 per 10,000 registered bikes
Posted May 13, 2008, 5:00 pm
After 26 years of practicing law in the personal injury area I feel comfortable saying that motorcycle wrecks and accidents that cause traumatic brain injury leave broken homes and ruined marriages in the wake. Be mindful of the risks and insure your family's standard of living just to be safe. Know the risks before you ride a motorcycle and protect your minor children. USA Today ran a story showing that as helmet laws are eliminated the number of deaths per registered motorcycles increases....
- Iowa Enacts Final Disposition Directives Act
Posted May 13, 2008, 2:12 pm by Matthew Gardner
Following a controversial decision by the Iowa Supreme Court and after some wrangling in the Iowa legislature, Governor Chet Culver signed SF 473 into law on April 11, 2008. Effective July 1, 2008, this new chapter to the Iowa Code (chapter 144C) authorizes an individual to designate an individual to make decisions over the disposition of their bodily remains following their death. The designation does not indicate how a person wants their body remains to be handled, only who has the authority...
- Writing the Better Contract from Anita Campbell- Part II
Posted May 12, 2008, 7:16 pm
Former general counsel and small business owner, Anita Campbell, offers sage advice in her post on the Build a Solo Practice Blog about how to write a better contract . What is the better contract in Anita's view? First and foremost, the better contract protects the client. The better contract is written in plain English. (A novel concept indeed!) The better contract is written for a 12th grade education or lower. The better contract incorporates standardization. A word of caution concerning...
- Taser Reports - Dudley Do-Right Doing it Wrong
Posted May 12, 2008, 5:00 pm
/**/ Dudley Do-Right would be so ashamed of his Canadian brothers and sisters that make up the Canadian police force. From current reports the force is redacting detail from their reporting about the use of Taser weapons. One has to wonder if the same end run is being made in American. As any good lawyer knows the smallest of details can make an enormous difference in the conclusion reached. The police should do their job, leave detail in the reporting and allow those voted into office to do...
- Backing up your hard drive - Red Tape Chronicles
Posted May 11, 2008, 5:00 pm
Raelyn Campbell's lawsuit against Best Buy demonstrates another problem with Apple's iTunes back-up system. Just like Best Buy's extended warranty, the iTunes back-up system is designed to fail and they know it so they hit you with that warning to back up on CD's because when it fails they intend to blame the consumer. Interesting situation reported on the Red Tape Chronicles website. In 2006 Raelyn Campbell of Washington, D.C. buys her computer at Best Buy for $1,100.00. At the time of the...
- Carbon Credit / Offset Primer
Posted May 11, 2008, 11:35 am by Jeffrey Andersen
Carbon credits and offsets have been in the news a lot lately and have been a speaking point for many of the presidential candidates. In the not too distant future, your bank may encounter a customer seeking to partially finance a project through carbon offsets. Furthermore, as markets develop, carbon credits may become a more prevalent investment. Following is a very brief, very basic primer on carbon credits and carbon offsets. Carbon Credits: carbon credits are tradeable permits to emit...
- Car Impounded - How long can they keep it before it goes up for auction?
Posted May 10, 2008, 5:00 pm
How long can they keep my car in impound before sending it to auction? Question: How long can a car be in impound before it is auctioned off? Well this is a tough question to answer because it's too unspecific. Depending upon the situation and who impounded the car, the rules can be very different. Was it a private property owner, the police, the State Patrol, a local government or some other entity that took control of it? Where was the car when it was taken to impound? What rules apply, can...
- SBA and FranNet Team Up to Offer Online Training for Franchising
Posted May 10, 2008, 1:21 pm
The Small Business Administration (SBA) and FranNet have teamed up to offer an online training course for those interested in franchising. The free online course on franchise basics provides three key sections that examine more than 10 essential areas relating to franchising, including Whether Franchising Right for You and How to Choose the Right Franchise. The course also covers franchising options, strategies for growth, and pitfalls to avoid. Course participants will be able to better...
- Iowa Supreme Court reverses sex offender's release from prison
Posted May 10, 2008, 6:58 am by Charles Kenville
In an opinion issued Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed an Iowa District Court judge's decision that had released him from prison. The opinion significantly strengthens the Iowa law that allows the State to keep defendant's in prison indefinitely by designating them "Sexually Violent Predators". The State of Iowa had filed a petition to designate Bryan Pierce a "Sexually Violent Predator" (SVP) in an attempt to keep him in prison past the expiration of his criminal sentence. In a trial in...
- Farm related work deaths analyzed
Posted May 9, 2008, 5:00 pm
Seventy-nine workers suffered a traumatic death while working in Iowa during 2007 according to the Iowa Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program, called IA FACE, based at the University of Iowa College of Public Health in Iowa City. That figure is close to the average number of worker deaths for the past 10 years. "Of the fatalities, 22 farmers lost their lives, 23 truckers died in fatal crashes, and over a dozen workers died at their industrial or commercial place of employment,"...
- Testamentary Trusts in Iowa
Posted May 9, 2008, 4:03 pm by Matthew Gardner
Joel Schoenmeyer has a good post on testamentary trusts on his Death & Taxes blog. Many clients think of estate planning in terms of either having a trust or a will. In fact, a testamentary trust plan involves both concepts. For those individuals that are not comfortable with the revocable trust plan which involves transferring all of one's assets to their trust and the cost of setting up such a plan, a testamentary trust is an alternative which gives you control from the grave over how...
- Fantastic Article on How to Pick a Law School
Posted May 9, 2008, 9:12 am by Howard Zimmerle
I've seen many articles in my time about how to pick a law school, but this one is the best. From the article: 3. Determine if students play intramural sports. Drinking games count. Some law schools have such an intense vibe that no one will take the time to play in any leagues. Or, worse, the [...]
- How to Write Contracts for Business People
Posted May 9, 2008, 6:52 am
Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends shares her thoughts about how to avoid the contract from hell on the Build a Solo Practice site. As a former general counsel and now a small business owner, Anita has been on both sides of the fence when it comes to contracts. According to Anita, here are some things to avoid in your next contract: Too much legalese. Using adverbs like "whereas" and "heretofore". It's kind of like using "COMES NOW" for pleadings. Does anyone really talk like that? More...
- knologies did you scrape this post off of InjuryBoard.com and Steve Lombardi's Des Moines Post?
Posted May 9, 2008, 5:11 am
This post is about knologies and whether knologies actually writes original content or is scraping it from my own. What do you think? You be the judge. I'm writing this post at 10:55 A.M. Iowa time on May 9, 2008. Is the LegalMatch business name under this post title referring you to them for business? Normally when the knologies posts one of my writings, without permission, it or he or she changes the date to the day before my post was published. Probably to help it with Google rankings so...
- Iowa Work. Comp. - Ganging up on an injured worker is a safety issue for management.
Posted May 9, 2008, 3:59 am
/**/ In a post today out of Chicago, Nick Avgerinos discusses worker safety incentive programs and how they can clash, by pitting worker vs. co-worker. I've seen this first hand in a workers' compensation case in Iowa. The employer had a profit sharing plan in the Ottumwa Plant. When a worker was seriously injured requiring spine surgery he was not only discouraged from reporting the injury but ostracized after he reported it and sought necessary medical care. Management held a special meeting...
- Eight Circuit Confirms Blanket Bankers Bond Does Not Cover Bank's Losses
Posted May 8, 2008, 11:26 pm by Jeffrey Andersen
In a recent case, Ohio Savings Bank ("OSB") sought indemnity for losses under a bankers blanket bond issued by Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. ("Progressive"). OSB incurred losses after buying loans which went into default as the result of the actions of the party who had sold the loans to OSB. The Eighth Circuit confirmed this month that the blanket bond did not cover the losses. The bond did not cover losses resulting from normal lending activities, but there were two exceptions to the...