Articles Of Law

posted by Admin on Mar 4

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by poor weight gain and growth (even with a normal appetite), excessive production of mucous, salty tasting skin, frequent chest infections and shortness of breath. Males can also exhibit infertility due to an associated congenital disorder. The symptoms of this disease usually appear in childhood or infancy; however, detection can be made in newborns. As the child develops, there will be physical therapy needed to release excess mucous that is stuck inside the lungs. This occurs because the patient will have a mutated protein that causes the production of mucous instead of the normal resin production needed to keep the alveoli in the lungs from collapsing.

One of the predominant symptoms of CF is poor growth with less gain in height and weight when compared to their peers. In many patients, the diagnosis of CF is not made until there is an investigation initiated, due to a slow growth rate. The slow growth rate has multiple causes which include poor nutrient absorption through the gastrointestinal tract, chronic lung infections and stress on the metabolic system caused by chronic illness.

The CF patient will experience clogged airways which will evolve into lung disease through mucous build-up and the resulting lung inflammation. Lung infection and inflammation will eventually cause damage and structural changes to the lungs which will lead to many negative symptoms. In its earlier stages, there may be fatigue, coughing and excessive phlegm production. Bacteria that inhabit the mucous of an unaffected person will grow out of control and produce pneumonia in a person with CF. In its later stages, breathing is greatly affected and the patient may experience coughing up blood, high blood pressure in the lungs and respiratory failure required a breathing mask to facilitate oxygen flow. In addition to bacterial infections of the lungs, CF patients can also develop other forms of lung disease such as allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. This disease causes breathing difficulties relating to exposure to a common fungus.

Mucous that is found in the sinuses can also thicken and cause facial discomfort, drainage, headaches and fever. Nasal polyps can also form, as a result of thickening mucous, which may cause breathing difficulties.

Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.

For further information regarding Social Security claims involving cystic fibrosis, you may wish to talk to Houston SSD attorney Gerard Lynch, assisting clients throughout, Texas.

posted by Admin on Mar 3

• Delegating thru a Power of Attorney
• What is a POA?

Also referred to as Letter of Attorney in the US Legal System, the Power of Attorney or POA is a legal consent that gives an individual the power to act in behalf of their client both legally and in business transactions. The client or “granter” transfers legal authority to the attorney-in-fact giving them power to act in lieu of the client.

Attorney-in-fact

They are individuals who have been given the authority to act in behalf of a client based on the terms and limitations located in the Power of Attorney. An Attorney at law or lawyer on the other hand is an individual licensed professional who has the authority to practice law in a particular jurisdiction.

These individuals are agents who are required to act in the best interest of their clients. Attorneys-in-fact are expected to act with complete honesty in all their transactions and be able to execute all their principal’s instructions to the letter.

The Contract

The contract is a separate document from the power of attorney. This may be kept private between the grantor and attorney-in fact. Power-of-attorney on the other hand are required to be presented to prove that an agreement has been reached for these individuals to act in behalf of their clients.

Written and Oral Power of Attorney

A Power of attorney may be given in writing or handed orally. Oral Power of Attorney however may not be legally binding as those executed in writing. In order to be effective, oral power of attorney should be witnessed by individuals who could attest to the veracity of the authority given to the individual. These however are discouraged as these could be interpreted as a mere statement which can’t hold up in court.

For legal purposes such as times when the authority given to an individual is contested, the law requires that a power of attorney should be done in writing. A majority of institutions in the United States both private and government require these to be executed in writing. A copy is sometimes kept by the institution as a reference for future transactions with grantor’s agent.

Resources on Probate Law: Lawyer Adrian Philip Thomas, serving clients in the Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

posted by Admin on Mar 2

So, you’ve decided to buy a house, but you are totally clueless on where to begin. Relax. Like most first time home buyers, you may need assistance and guidance in purchasing that perfect house. Here some information that may help you along the buying process and give you a head start.

Steps You Can Take

1. Determine your wants and needs before buying a home. You need to identify what type of house you want and decide on a neighborhood or community that you’re interested to live in.  This will make searching for a house easier.
2. Manage your finances before applying for a mortgage. Credit reports play an important role in the process of mortgage approval and will help determine the loan terms that a lender will give you.
3. Get a realtor.  A real estate agent can give you guidance to many things you might be looking for in a property.
4. See houses. After deciding what kind of house you want and know where you stand financially, you can start your house search.
5. Get pre-approved for a mortgage. Shop around to determine which lender is best for your needs.
6. Make an offer and negotiate and settle on a price. Compare the house to recent sales in the area. If the seller is asking for a price above recent sale prices in the area, you should bid lower than their asking price, citing this difference as your reason.
7. Get a Home Inspection. It’s customary to have a home inspection to evaluate the structural integrity of a house.
8. Closing the Deal. The seller’s agent draws up a contract specifying the terms and a closing date. When you sign this contract, you have officially agreed to purchase the home.

 Added Tips

• Never hesitate to ask questions. This will help you stay informed and understand the entire home buying process.
• Use a checklist and make notes about the homes you visit.
• Relax and enjoy.

If you or someone you know is a first time home buyer and would like to know the legal proceedings on how to purchase a house, you can get legal assistance from an experienced real estate attorney.

Click here to get more information on real estate and buying a home.

This article is not intended to replace legal advice.

posted by Admin on Feb 25

Trucks cause many accidents, injuries, and even deaths. Legislation has tried to prevent accidents by putting more strict regulations on the trucking industry as a whole. Many consistent accidents occur between trucks and other vehicle passengers.

These common causes can assist you and your attorney when it comes to discussing your case. One of the number one causes of trucking accidents is driver fatigue. Driver’s are supposed to follow regulations when it comes to the hours that they drive in a given day and week. Hours must be split between driving time, on-duty time, and off-duty time. When a trucker is not driving during off-duty time, it is to be no less than 10 hours. There should be no more than 11 hours of straight driving time. Overall on-duty time is not to be more than 14 hours after a shift has started. Trucking companies are supposed to keep track of overall on-duty time. A driver is not to spend more than 60 hours on duty in a seven-day period, or 70 in an 8-day period. Although these rules are designed to keep drivers free of fatigue, these regulations are often not followed or enforced to the fullest extent. If an employer does not follow these rules, they can be held responsible if an accident does occur due to driver fatigue. All drivers are supposed to keep a log of their rest time and driving time.

These logbooks will often go under review when a truck accident attorney is putting a case together. It takes a tremendous amount of focus to drive a large truck and remain safe on the road. It is unfortunate that many drivers turn to stimulants and other drugs to stay awake while driving. All truckers are supposed to be given drug tests during the hiring process. These drug tests are to continue throughout the employment of a driver.

Drugs found in a driver’s system after an accident would add to their fault and negligence on the road. Speeding is a very large problem among truckers due to unrealistic delivery times. Trucks are very dangerous to their weight. The faster they go the harder it is for them to stop. Police investigate all aspect of a driver’s actions.

All of this evidence will then be used in court. Maintenance is another issue that causes many accidents. There are regulations that legally bind employers and drivers to prevent hazards through inspection. All maintenance should be routine. All truck drivers should inspect their vehicle for potential hazards at every stop.

Every company and their employee should know the inspection process. Trailers that are poorly loaded pose a big risk to others on the road. Poor loading practices can lead to liability when it comes to accidents. If products are not loaded properly, it can be harder to keep the truck under control.  Everything that is loaded into a truck is considered when it comes to truck accident law.

This is not legal advice. Additional Legal Information: Truck Accident Lawyers in Dallas, TX of Gordon & Elias. Serving clients nationwide including Massachusetts.

posted by Admin on Feb 24

Medical errors may seem like the stuff of movies, but they are far more common than the average patient thinks. And while the consequences aren’t always severe, each patient has the right to know the numbers and know the real risks that he or she faces when getting medical care. This article shows some basic facts and statistics on medical malpractice, and what they say about today’s healthcare industry.

• The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that medical errors cause as many as 225,000 deaths each year. This makes medical malpractice the third most common cause of death in the U.S., just behind cancer and heart disease.
• Of all fatal cases of medical malpractice every year, nearly half take place in emergency rooms. This is believed to be a result of the hectic and high-stress environment, which make practitioners more likely to slip up.
• Every year, about 106,000 malpractice-related deaths—47% of all cases—result from adverse reactions to medication rather than direct error. Surprisingly, separate studies show that these errors are actually among the most preventable.
• Hospital-acquired infections are the second leading form of malpractice detected in the study, accounting for 80,000 deaths a year. Most of these occur in the emergency room, and smaller hospitals tend to have a higher infection rates.
• Around 12,000 patients die every year as a result of unnecessary surgery. Not all the deaths occur from the operation itself; some patients acquire infections later on or have existing conditions aggravated by the surgery.
• Medication errors account for 7,000 deaths a year. Recent research revealed that for every 1,000 prescriptions issued, 3.13 contained errors, of which 1.81 were significant (i.e. they caused or could have caused injury to the patient).
• Dental malpractice cases are also on the rise. In a study involving dental errors over a 9-year period, researchers found that in 8 of the 11 cases studied, the dentists were found to be at fault.
• The annual cost to society attributed to medical errors is estimated to be from $17 billion to $29 billion. Medical liability, on the other hand, costs $6.7 billion a year.

This article is not intended as legal advice.

More information on medical malpractice available at The Barber Law Firm. Serving clients in Dallas, TX.

posted by Admin on Feb 24

In theory, property which is not excluded from an estate (under the Bankruptcy Code) becomes the property of that estate and is no longer the property of the debtor. At the time of bankruptcy filing, a debtor may claim exemption of certain assets and these claims will be reviewed to determine their validity. This will allow a debtor to keep certain items that had belonged to his estate.

Exemption List
A debtor may choose from an established “federal list” of exemption types along with an exemption list provided by state law. Although in some states, there are provisions that will disallow a debtor to choose from the federal list of exemptions – nearly 40 states have enacted this requirement. But in states that still allow the debtor to choose from both the federal and state exemption lists, the debtor will usually take the opportunity to choose those exemptions that will benefit them the most. In some cases, the person filing for bankruptcy may convert certain non-exempt assets into exempted assets. An example of this would be the increased equity in a home that is created by using cash that is applied to a mortgage – prior to filing for bankruptcy.

Property Exemption Laws
Property exemption laws will vary according to different states. In some jurisdictions, exempt property may include a vehicle, home, tools needed to conduct business and certain personal effects. In other states, tools needed for business may not be considered exempt unless they are claimed under the more general exemption category of personal property.

Management of Debt
One of the major purposes of bankruptcy is to ensure an orderly management of debt. Exemptions exist to prevent a punitive seizure of personal items that are considered to be of no real value (such as ordinary clothing and personal care items). Vehicles and tools needed for business are also considered necessary to assist the debtor to move towards being a productive member of society, as quickly as possible.

Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.

You can find further exemption information, by contacting bankruptcy lawyer Gary R. Jodat – located in Sarasota, Florida.

posted by Admin on Dec 17

Car accidents are one of the leading causes of death in the United States.  Thousands of lives are claimed in the United States every year.  There are also numerous injuries that alter people’s lives.  Victims and their families endure a tremendous amount of suffering, emotional trauma, loss of wages, property damage, and medical expenses.

Accidents can occur due to mechanical issues, weather, recklessness, driving under the influence of substances, and more.  Consequences are usually lifelong.  This is if the victim actually survives.  One day a person is fine going about their business, the next minute their life and ability to function have been changed forever.  This can be very hard to take for the victim and their family.  They deserve the law on their side and an attorney to help them make the most of their case.

The driver who caused the accident has to have been negligent when operating a motor vehicle.  This is what will allow a victim to gain compensation.  This has to be proven and can be hard.  The victim’s actions play a role as well.  It does not matter that 90% of accidents are estimated to be out of negligence.

There are varying state laws that make cases more complicated.  Almost half of the states have a set of no fault liability laws.  These laws make everyone involved responsible for their own damages.  This can be challenged.  You will want to obtain an attorney to help you dispute these laws if serious injuries or damages occurred.  Other states have an at fault policy.  The responsible driver is held accountable.  This makes it much easier to recover damages than it does in a no fault state.

Legal Tools: Car Accident Attorney Kristopher Barber. Serving clients nationwide and in Dallas, Texas.

posted by Admin on Sep 29

The court process for a criminal Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) charge consists of more than just a trial. Before a DUI/DWI trial there are a series of other court proceedings including arraignment, preliminary hearings and pre-trial motions.

Arraignment

Arraignment is the first hearing in the DUI/DWI trial process. At arraignment the judge will read the charges against the defendant, and then will ask if the defendant pleads guilty or not guilty. The judge will then decide if the bail amount should be reduced or even if the defendant should be “released on their own recognizance.” If the defendant doesn’t already have an attorney to represent them, the judge will also decide if they are eligible to be appointed a public defender. Everyone has a right to the assistance of counsel in criminal cases where the defendant could be deprived of their liberty.

If the defendant already has an attorney or has already been appointed a public defender and they are present at the arraignment, the prosecutor may give the attorney copies of the documents that will be used in the case against the defendant, for example, police reports and the results of any blood alcohol tests.

Finally the judge will set the date for the preliminary hearing, the pre-trial motions and for the trial.

Preliminary Hearings

Some states only have preliminary hearings for defendants that are charged with a felony. Most DUI/DWI first offenders are charged with a misdemeanor, not a felony. The preliminary hearing is where the judge will go over the evidence against the defendant and determine if there is enough evidence to convince a jury that they were Driving Under the Influence or Driving While Intoxicated.

The prosecution may call witnesses to testify against the defendant and at this point the prosecution will submit evidence that will be used against the defendant. The defendant’s attorney will have an opportunity to cross examine any witnesses called by the prosecutor.

Pre-Trial Motions

The attorney for the defendant will have the opportunity to bring motions to keep damaging evidence out of the trial or to prevent witnesses from testifying at the trial. Some of the evidence that the defense attorney can try to keep out of the trial includes the results of the blood alcohol tests, the results of the field sobriety tests and any incriminating statements made by the defendant.

Trial

The trial is the final stage in a DUI/DWI criminal proceeding. The stages of a trial proceed in the following order:

• Jury selection
• Opening statements
• Witness testimony
• Cross-examination of the witnesses
• Any final motions
• Closing arguments
• Jury deliberations
• The jury verdict

If the jury has determined that the defendant is guilty of DUI/DWI then the judge will determine the sentence following the trial. Each state has its own set of guidelines that the judge will follow for sentencing.

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Please contact an attorney in your local area for more information about DUI/DWI Law.

Related legal pages for more information: Attorney Michael Lowe of Dallas, TX. Serving all of Texas.

posted by Admin on Sep 29

When you are faced with a criminal offence, there are many alternatives to jail.  It is in your best interest to use a Raleigh attorney who specializes in criminal law to have your sentence reduced.  Depending on the severity of the crime, you may be able to reduce your jail sentence to something less severe.  No one wants to go to jail, and many people are happy with their sentence if it means avoiding jail time.

If a crime was for something to do with drugs, you may have the choice of a rehabilitation program.  This is also true of anger management and alcohol related crimes.  Failure to participate in whatever you are ordered to do will be grounds for your placement in jail.

Many judges will offer work release programs.  You will have to perform some type of labor.  You can sleep in a dormitory or go home to sleep depending on the severity of your crime.  Most people have to show up to work everyday and often check in with the probation officer that is over them.  If this is not done, it may lead to jail placement.

You may be placed on house arrest.  This allows you to stay at home and go to any approved activity.  An ankle bracelet is fitted that will reveal where a person is at all times.  Depending on the crime, you may not be able to leave the house.  The perimeter you are allowed to travel depends on the crime committed and any prior record.

Community service is a very common sentence.  This involves working in the community.  This is appropriate for less severe crimes.  These people are people who will not be a threat to the community.  Many times, community service will fit the crime.  If you destroyed property with graffiti, you may be required to clean up similar areas.  Many people completing community service clean up parks and roadways.  Court officers supervise community service.  A person must show up at their scheduled time and perform he service in order to complete the program.  If you fail to do this, you may end up in jail.

Using an attorney can mean the difference between jail time and another alternative.  If you are involved in a crime, make sue to notify a Raleigh criminal attorney right way.  The more time an attorney works on your case, the better chance you have of getting a lesser sentence.  You may have committed a crime, but you can still learn your lesson and change without having to go to jail.

Many alternative sentences are much better for a person than jail.  People have the chance to be rehabilitated, or gain an understanding of what they have actually done.  It is also good to keep a person productive.  It can lead to a more successful person in the end.  Jail can really change a person.  This is not always for the better.  Make sure that you always have an experienced attorney ready to work for you.

This article should not be construed as legal advice.

Additional Legal Pages: Criminal Defense Lawyer Michael Driver. Serving clients throughout all of North Carolina. 

posted by Admin on Sep 29

Your rights as a worker can be hard to understand when it comes to personal injury law in Texas.  Many people have a hard time figuring out whether they need a lawyer, or they are under the assumption that their job is not going to give them benefits when hurt on the job.

Make sure to find a Dallas attorney that specializes in work related injury.  Many areas of these laws can overlap and have many technicalities.  You will need the help of an experienced law firm in order to receive the compensation you are entitled to.  Many people wonder why these laws are so complex.  In the state of Texas, on the job injuries belong to one of two categories.  These are injuries covered by workers compensation and those that are not.

Rights will differ based on your employer’s involvement in the workers’ compensation program.  You will want to base your Dallas lawyer on your individual situation.  You will be facing limits on your compensation, proving employer liability, and many other important factors.

Workers compensation keeps companies from being liable if an employer gets hurt on the job.  Employees gain insurance for injuries right through workers compensation.  Although this is true, employees are often offered less than what they deserve.  This is where a good Dallas injury lawyer comes in.

Many employees run into trouble when they don’t subscribe to workers’ compensation.  If this is your company, they have to compensate you on their own, and can’t limit the amount that you can recover.  This has created a certain type of attorneys who defend these companies who have not subscribed to workers compensation.  They will do what they can to prove that the accident was your fault.  Never represent yourself in a situation like this.  Make sure to get an experienced Dallas injury attorney.

Many companies avoid workers compensation due to insurance premiums.  They risk employee livelihood in order to save money.  Many of these businesses are places where most people wouldn’t get hurt such as office buildings.  These companies can become very deceptive when trying to build a case against you.

If you are a contract worker and not an employee of the company where your injury occurred, a Dallas injury attorney can help you.  Although you technically do not receive benefits in the event of injury, there are still specifics that a company must follow.  This is where your rights as a contract worker come in.  Let a Dallas Attorney help you.

Many employers will try to get away with not paying if an injury occurs.  This is especially true if an injury is due to negligence on the part of the company to keep up to safety standards.  If you are not sure what to do, many injury attorneys will provide you with a free consultation.  Getting the compensation that you deserve is often not an easy task.  This is where you need experienced people behind the law to back you up. You have rights as an injured worker.

This article is not intended for legal advice.

Additional Legal Sources: The Barber Law Firm. Serving clients in Dallas, Texas.