- Your Cheating Heart…
Posted July 18, 2008, 11:32 am by Mary Beth Long
If only it was just a country music song. A Georgia family law blog has a great post with specific clues about cheating spouses. Check it out here.
- The Sale of Common Area
Posted July 17, 2008, 10:29 pm by Greg Montero
QUESTION: I'm a member of the Common Area committee for our homeowners association. Yesterday a resident asked me what the process is for buying common area property, if there's a process and, if not, why not. She's interested in a tiny piece of land next to her home. I told her I'd look into it and while I admit my research skills aren't great, I cant find anything that says she can or she cant, and why. Can you help point me in the right direction? ANSWER: In answering you, I am assuming that...
- Make Sure Your FMLA Policy Defines Eligibility Correctly, Or Else
Posted July 17, 2008, 8:44 pm by admin
An employee takes FMLA leave. The day after the leave starts, he receives a letter from his employer advising him of his FMLA rights. The language of the letter tracks the employer's FMLA policy, which provides that any employee with at least 12 months of service and 1,250 hours of work within the prior 12-month period is eligible for FMLA leave. The letter included a return to work date by which the employee had to return in order to retain his position with the company. The employee returns...
- Other Employment Law Blogs
Posted July 17, 2008, 2:27 pm by admin
In honor of its anniversary, Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer has a list of 47 employment law blogs here. For those who can't read enough on employment law, take a look!
- Five Tips on Getting a Lawyer to Call You Back
Posted July 17, 2008, 12:30 pm by Mary Beth Long
If you want to hire a lawyer, or maybe just talk to one, here are five tips to keep in mind before you pick up the telephone and make that first phone call: 1. Leave a clear, succinct message that include your name (say it clearly and slowly, voice mail can be tricky to understand. When in doubt, spell the last name), the issue (like custody or divorce or spousal support), and your phone number where I can reach you during normal business hours. If you know where the case will be heard (like...
- "No Money, No Treatment" - Hospitals Requiring Upfront Payments
Posted July 17, 2008, 10:46 am
According to the American Cancer Society's National Cancer Information Center, more hospitals are requesting payments upfront before allowing patients to access the care they need. Upfront fees are frequently imposed upon the underinsured and recently uninsured. However, even the privately-insured patient is sometimes asked for upfront payment, typically up to 23% of the bill. In addition, copayments and deductibles continue to increase, along with caps on the total number and cost of certain...
- How to Get a Lawyer to Call You Back
Posted July 16, 2008, 1:02 pm by Mary Beth Long
I get TONS of e-mail and voice mail messages each day and with the exception of spam and telemarketing, I try to respond to each one. Aside from weekends, holidays and the occasional vacation, I try to get back to people within a day. My current clients get first priority. After all, they are paying customers and they deserve the best service. Next I call back opposing counsel. Then former clients who have a quick question or something new they may need help with. Finally, I get to the new...
- Fredericksburg General District Court Website Cannot Be Trusted
Posted July 15, 2008, 2:14 am by Andrew Flusche
Do you have a case pending in the Fredericksburg General District Court? If so, do not trust the online case information system. Hearings and trials frequently appear in the case system with a bizarre time listed, such as 2:59 PM. Any party or attorney who has showed up for an event at such time can tell you that the website time will cause major problems such as getting your case dismissed for failure to show up. The best solution is to double check your hearing time before the scheduled date....
- A Cautionary Tale About Trade Secret Theft
Posted July 14, 2008, 9:03 pm by admin
The Wall Street Journal Law Blog has a cautionary tale today about an executive who has pled guilty to trade secret theft in California. The post is here. Apparently the executive sent an email to two competitors with an attachment containing his employer's trade secrets. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The quote from his attorney suggests that the information was transmitted as part of a job search. I was involved in a trial...
- Better settle this one: What Christie Brinkley teaches us
Posted July 14, 2008, 4:59 pm by Mary Beth Long
The ugly Christie Brinkley/Peter Cook divorce case settled late last week after five gruesome days of trial. As the case unfolded in court, the international media was filled with ugly details about the couple, including that Mr. Cook cried as his teenage paramour testified and that he apparently spent $3,000 a month on internet porn. So what did we learn? No, no. I do not mean that we should all get into the internet porn business. Legally speaking, what did we learn? (more…)
- On the book by Judge Hudson of the E.D. Va.
Posted July 14, 2008, 12:29 pm
Here on the VTLA website is a very interesting book review by Wyatt Durrette of the new book by his good friend, Judge Henry Hudson of the E.D. Va. I have heard Judge Hudson speak only once, at the Judicial Conference.
- Discovery: A Valuable Annoyance
Posted July 14, 2008, 11:48 am by Mary Beth Long
Discovery is a standard part of contested divorce cases but many clients find it confusing or overwhelming. With this post, I will attempt to explain the process and why it is important. "Discovery" is a formal process for sharing information with both sides to a court case. In Virginia, some sort of discovery is generally used in contested divorce cases but NOT in typical juvenile and domestic relations court cases. Usually discovery is done with paperwork called "Requests for Production" and/...
- Bad news
Posted July 12, 2008, 5:20 pm
Colon cancer has taken away Tony Snow, who suffered for years from colitis, which poses the same cancer risk as Crohn's disease according to articles like this one.
- One thing I would do if I had a motorcycle
Posted July 12, 2008, 4:36 pm
I would join up with the first annual "Fire in the Hole" ride and rally, which covers this route: • Highway 19 South to Alternate Route 58 West to Norton, VA. • Highway 23 South to Big Stone Gap. VA. • 1ft STOP: Powell Valley High School, Big Stone Gap. VA. (Rest/Fuel Break) • Can you ride the TUNNEL? Must get through it to Highway 25E into Middlesboro, KY. • 2nd STOP: Lunch break (several restaurants and gas stations). • Route 119 North into Harlan and Whitesburg. KY. • 3'd STOP:...
- EEOC Call Center Generates Rise In Claims
Posted July 11, 2008, 2:45 pm by admin
According to an article in HR Magazine, a call center opened by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March 2008 to field intake calls from individuals - along with placing their intake questionaire online - has resulted in a increase in charge filings. We will have to wait and see whether these new avenues for filing charges of discrimination will dramatically change the 2008 intake figures.
- Residents Awarded $10.9 Million For Discriminatory Denial Of Water
Posted July 11, 2008, 2:29 pm by admin
Although not employment related, the story about black residents in an Ohio neighborhood being awarded $10.9 million for racially discriminatory denial of their public water service is interesting. The story is here and here. What I found most interesting about the two news stories is that there is no discussion about what evidence was presented to suggest that the denial of service to this neighborhood was based on race. The stories do suggest that white residents in the county also lacked...
- The Ripple Effect From the Mortgage Housing Crisis
Posted July 11, 2008, 8:54 am by Multifamily Real Estate Industry Team
As the ripple effect (or should I say tidal wave?) from the mortgage housing crisis continues to reveal its true depth, we all wake this morning to find that the Bush Administration is now considering a takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation's two largest mortgage finance companies. If implemented, this plan conceives that the two mortgage giants would be placed in a conservatorship, where the shares of the companies would be reduced to zero and losses on the mortgages they own or...
- Fighters vs. Technicians, the real story
Posted July 10, 2008, 1:35 pm by Mary Beth Long
A friend called the other day to thank me for recommending a certain lawyer to them. She had just won a tough custody case. My recommendation wasn't her first lawyer. Previous counsel had been unsuccessful. But this time everything went my friend's way and she was very pleased. I was glad she finally hired the lawyer I'd been suggesting. "(The recommended lawyer) did such a great job," my friend said. "He read everything I sent him and always returned my calls promptly. He worked closely with...
- "Employee Free Choice Act"
Posted July 10, 2008, 9:01 am by Multifamily Real Estate Industry Team
As the attached article demonstrates, the Service Employees International Union, a labor organization which has been active in attempts to achieve representation of building maintenance workers employed by large contractors, is now turning its sights to smaller - and, presumably, less-well-defended - employers. This development highlights the significance of the a bill currently pending before Congress, the euphemistically-termed "Employee Free Choice Act." If that legislation passes, "free...
- LA Times review of third novel from Judge Clark
Posted July 9, 2008, 4:29 pm
Here is a review in the LA Times of the latest from Circuit Court Judge Martin Clark, called The Legal Limit.