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As Euphronius said, contact legal aid (may be called legal services in your area) to ask about pro bono help. Also, call some of the local domestic violence hotlines/centers - they may have support structures set up for her. If there's a local family law clinic run by the state bar or local law school that she can attend between now and then, they may be able to adviser her (but realize this is nowhere near as good as having an actual attorney). Bottom line is, of course, she absolutely has to attend the order to show cause hearing. Her failure to comply with the court visitation order telling her to send letters will likely get her in trouble. How much trouble is up to the judge, and subject to a lot of things that get complicated quickly. To be honest I'd be surprised if she were sent to jail or anything like that. My completely unfounded guess is that, at worst, she'll get yelled at by the judge and told to comply with future orders, even if he's not holding up his end of things, and possibly fined his costs for bringing the order to show cause. In general, his misbehavior doesn't excuse her from doing what the court ordered her to do.
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 16:16 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 19:55 |
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Wickerman posted:My two biggest concerns are: These are not your legal issues. They may be your therapy issues.
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 16:22 |
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Reformed Pessimist posted:This situation is taking place in Chemung County, New York specifically the city of Elmira. Have your sister call the Chemung Co. Public Defender. They have a family law division. If they can't represent her, they may be able to give her an idea of what's in store. However, if the PD can't represent her, your sister needs a to get an attorney on her own; one who does family law work (including contempt defense) in Chemung County. It may be* that after a short consultation, she finds out the way it works is that if she complies with the order, the judge will monitor her compliance for a few months and dismiss the contempt portion. *This is just a non-NY lawyer guessing a possible outcome from 1500 miles away; it's not advice and not something your sister should fantasize will be the result if she walks into court blind. She needs to talk to an attorney; if not the PD, then a private one.
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 16:26 |
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joat mon posted:Have your sister call the Chemung Co. Public Defender. They have a family law division. If they can't represent her, they may be able to give her an idea of what's in store. However, if the PD can't represent her, your sister needs a to get an attorney on her own; one who does family law work (including contempt defense) in Chemung County. It may be* that after a short consultation, she finds out the way it works is that if she complies with the order, the judge will monitor her compliance for a few months and dismiss the contempt portion. She is filling out paperwork today for a public defender. She's also contacting any and all legal aid numbers that seem relevant to this state and county that I could find. I also got her some domestic violence group numbers but as I said I'm worried they won't help her due to the lack of police reports/charges against him for his abuse and the fact that it's been nearly two years now since she's even really seen him physically. (The one year for which he disappeared and the year he's been in jail.) The private lawyer is going to be almost impossible for them to afford. Due to both of them being out of work and just now getting on their feet they have debt they are catching up on and almost no disposable income right now. My brother just had a second interview for a good job but there's no guarantees he'll get it yet. She's only been at the clinic she's working at (nurse) for about four months so they are still working their way back to financial stability so affording a lawyer is just not an option for them. As I said I could possibly hire one for them with a loan but I'd prefer not to if there's any other solution. If it comes down to it though and that's the only recourse I'll do what I have to do to help them. Can anyone answer this question? Does my brother now count as a legal guardian for her children now that they are married? He is not their biological father but he is now their stepfather legally. I'm guessing he probably doesn't. I'm just thinking worst case scenario here if she goes to jail what would happen to the kids. My sister in law's family may or may not be willing to take them in, I'm not really sure on that. The biological father's family is a nightmare as you can probably guess by the way he turned out. So I'd hope they would not go to them. Reformed Pessimist fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Jul 29, 2013 |
# ? Jul 29, 2013 16:31 |
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Most lawyers take credit cards.
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 16:45 |
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I work in a law office where we often see people who need help right now but don't have the cash for it (immigration). It is not unusual for us to handle those cases with an introductory retainer and then an understanding that the remainder will be paid on some sort of installment plan as people can manage. One of the reasons for that though, is that we don't take credit cards. At any rate, it's worth checking. The worst that happens is that you'll be turned away.
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 16:50 |
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Reformed Pessimist posted:Does my brother now count as a legal guardian for her children now that they are married? Generally speaking, no.
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 16:53 |
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Assuming a US lawyer is in a place where prostitution is legal. Could they accept vouchers for free sex at a brothel from its owner as payment for legal services? Would it matter if the owner was also an employee?
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 16:58 |
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Thanks for the help so far everyone we're definitely keeping all of it mind going forward here. One question that my brother actually has and wanted me to ask. As I said this guy's parole hearing is coming up in a few months. If he's granted parole would it be in the county of incarceration which is Franklin county NY, way up in the north country or would it be in the his county of residence which is Chemung county where my sister in law lives?
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 16:59 |
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baquerd posted:Assuming a US lawyer is in a place where prostitution is legal. Could they accept vouchers for free sex at a brothel from its owner as payment for legal services? Would it matter if the owner was also an employee? Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct 1.8(j) posted:A lawyer shall not have sexual relations with a client unless a consensual sexual relationship existed between them when the client-lawyer relationship commenced. This paragraph does not apply when the client is an organization. Reformed Pessimist posted:Thanks for the help so far everyone we're definitely keeping all of it mind going forward here. One question that my brother actually has and wanted me to ask. As I said this guy's parole hearing is coming up in a few months. If he's granted parole would it be in the county of incarceration which is Franklin county NY, way up in the north country or would it be in the his county of residence which is Chemung county where my sister in law lives?
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 17:30 |
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joat mon posted:The bolded portion is specific to Nevada. But how do you have sex with an organization? Is that really a good faith extension of Citizens United? (Punch line about my good faith extension to be added later.)
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 17:46 |
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blarzgh posted:There's an outside chance that you can force her to sell you the vehicle for $1000.00 in small claims court under a breach of contract claim. Like yourself, I am also not a lawyer. As far as I know, small claims can't force anyone to do anything. They can only force someone to pay damages.
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 19:57 |
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Alaemon posted:But how do you have sex with an organization? Is that really a good faith extension of Citizens United? You represent a brothel, they pay you in vouchers redeemable only at their place of business. Everyone wins.
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# ? Jul 29, 2013 21:39 |
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Yes, I get that part. And I was being facetious. However, in the most literal reading of the rule, I would argue it's a meaningless exception. When you represent an organization, the organization is the client, not the CEO or the board or any individual or anything. So if you represent Generic Brothel, LLC, your client is the LLC, not any employee of the organization. So, from that perspective, I see no real problem with 1.8. I'm not saying it's a great idea, mind you. Just that I don't think it's within the ambit of the rule. (I should add that I have done no research on the issue, I'm going wholly off instinct and a desire to make a half-assed corporate personhood joke.) Alaemon fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Jul 29, 2013 |
# ? Jul 29, 2013 22:03 |
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My wife just got into a traffic accident in Colorado. The car is totaled and we are pretty sure the other driver got the citation. This has never happened to us before and we want to know if we should file a first or third party insurance claim. Why would we pick one over the other? I'm sorry if this is a Google question. My wife is shaken up and I don't have a lot of time to spend looking this up right now. Thank you for your help.
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 00:36 |
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How do I find the most reliable, official record possible of how much a house just sold for? This is Los Angeles. The house in question just went through a super sketchy short sale, and several wildly conflicting figures on its sale price exist online that are confusing my potential buyer friend.
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 01:11 |
Most counties have an assessor's site of some sort, many of them have "nice" GIS interfaces, others you can just look up a property by address, parcel number, etc. Depending on the county (I assume) you may be able to find more or less information about a property. I think you can count on being able to find who owns a property and what amount it was sold for, throughout its history. Mind you, it may take a month or so for a property to be updated. I think that's most likely to be as accurate as you can hope for. It's generally tied into the county's database(s), so there's no reason it should be horribly wrong information. Here's the GIS portal for LA County, I believe: http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/Datamaps/Pais.aspx e: Click accept, then enter an address or use the +/-/hand tools to move around the map to find the parcel you want. Once you've located it, click the "i" (info) button and select the parcel in question. All the information you might want should appear on the right. Happy hunting! ee: I've always enjoyed looking up landlords/neighbors/previous owners on these things, it's like the most benign stalking. Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Jul 30, 2013 |
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 01:15 |
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flakeloaf posted:
this. Also, you could possibly try and negotiate a buyout of her half interest in the car as a cash contribution to the marital estate under the assumption that your dad will just give it to you when the dust settles. Or, have your dad make it a priority to take the car as part of the division, and then have him give/sell it to you. Ultimately, whatever is the simplest solution will probably be the best and least stressful.
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 02:54 |
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chemosh6969 posted:Like yourself, I am also not a lawyer. As far as I know, small claims can't force anyone to do anything. They can only force someone to pay damages. Google specific performance in contract claims. Then google what a "judgment" is, and how it forces people to pay money to other people. Then google "eviction orders", and see when small claims courts Force people to vacate residences. Then google "I'm looking for a class of people to troll that arent smarter, more accomplished and more successful than me."
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 03:20 |
Erie County, PA, specifically Harborcreek. Pretty much this whole region you're allowed to shoot, even right in the middle of residential neighborhoods, whatever. The only places you can't shoot are near the couple schools and, ironically, out over the lake where you can actually see what you're shooting at for a few miles down range. But yeah, totally allowed to shoot in your back yard, provided you follow some basic rules (No shooting at game. No shooting at live trees. A couple other rules relating to due care and such.) So hypothetically, say one house in a neighborhood had some residents that liked to go out and shoot once in a while. Not often, but now and then. And one night, they're really going at it, three or four of them shooting rifles. They're at the very back of their yard, shooting into the forest. They don't own the forest, it's privately owned by someone else, and it's about ten acres (although only a few hundred feet across in the direction they were shooting) with the owner living at the far corner, so he probably doesn't even know it's being used like this. Anyhow, say this is making everyone in the neighborhood really uncomfortable, cops actually get called and a couple units come out to check on things, everything checks out as best it can, etc. Of course, the hypothetical neighborhood in general still doesn't want this going on, there are lots of families with small children, etc., so what would be involved in getting this residential area designated as a no-shooting zone? Is it even plausible?
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 03:29 |
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Bad Munki posted:Erie County, PA, specifically Harborcreek. Looks like from http://www.harborcreektownship.org/Press_Release/ordinance/Ord.75-68.pdf quote:"Sec. 4 • No shooting areas may be established by petition of a majority of property owners by acreage in
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 04:11 |
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Dwarf posted:You represent a brothel, they pay you in vouchers redeemable only at their place of business. Everyone wins. Payment accepted on the couch of restitution.
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 04:15 |
Hot Dog Day #38 posted:Looks like from http://www.harborcreektownship.org/Press_Release/ordinance/Ord.75-68.pdf It's sort of a weird position for me, normally I err on the side of less regulation when it comes to guns and the like, but that stance is also based on coming from an area where there's a lot more open, unowned space (Alaska) so this sort of lack of common sense (shooting off your rifles in your <1/2 acre yard in the middle of a residential neighborhood) tends to cause problems less often.
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 04:16 |
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blarzgh posted:Google specific performance in contract claims. Then google what a "judgment" is, and how it forces people to pay money to other people. Then google "eviction orders", and see when small claims courts Force people to vacate residences. Then google "I'm looking for a class of people to troll that arent smarter, more accomplished and more successful than me." Sure, there are places you can get specific performance. But sale of a car sure ain't one of them.
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 04:23 |
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Rusty Kettle posted:My wife just got into a traffic accident in Colorado. The car is totaled and we are pretty sure the other driver got the citation. This has never happened to us before and we want to know if we should file a first or third party insurance claim. Why would we pick one over the other? IANAL but I have had someone total my car. I had full coverage. i called my insurance company, gave them the info the police gave me (it was hit and run kind of, the person fled on foot). Our car was totaled, minus our deductible. mine is $500. So basically insurance said the car was worth 12.5, paid off the loan, cut me a check for the balance -500. After the person had their day in court and lost, the insurance company recovered my deductible at a later time, around 6 months? and I got a check in the mail. I literally made one phone call and everything was taken care of for me. I've never done things the other way, ie contacting the other parties insurance, but I can't imagine it can be simpler than one phone call. My insurance rates did not go up. YMMV.
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 04:34 |
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jassi007 posted:IANAL but I have had someone total my car. I had full coverage. i called my insurance company, gave them the info the police gave me (it was hit and run kind of, the person fled on foot). Our car was totaled, minus our deductible. mine is $500. So basically insurance said the car was worth 12.5, paid off the loan, cut me a check for the balance -500. After the person had their day in court and lost, the insurance company recovered my deductible at a later time, around 6 months? and I got a check in the mail. I literally made one phone call and everything was taken care of for me. I've never done things the other way, ie contacting the other parties insurance, but I can't imagine it can be simpler than one phone call. My insurance rates did not go up. YMMV. This has been my experience with making insurance claims as well. Your company will take care of investigating and harrassing the other person and their insurance company for you, and eventually you'll get the deductible back once the court case or settlement comes through.
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 14:06 |
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Rusty Kettle posted:My wife just got into a traffic accident in Colorado. The car is totaled and we are pretty sure the other driver got the citation. This has never happened to us before and we want to know if we should file a first or third party insurance claim. Why would we pick one over the other? If you have decent insurance then a 1st party claim is far far easier. Sadly, this is how you discover how good your insurance company is. Put in the claim. If you are treated fairly then you have decent insurance. Is your wife hurt? If so, don't delay treatment. Be prepared to make a personal injury claim as well as the property (car) claim. Don't hesitate to engage a lawyer if any insurance company starts jerking you around. You are too close, emotionally involved, and unprepared to deal with their BS.
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# ? Jul 30, 2013 22:04 |
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Update: I basically got a "go ahead and take us to court, we'll gently caress you up the rear end" letter from my previous employer's attorney after sending them the demand letter. The sticking point, which I will admit it is my fault not for noticing, is that my contract specified that any action taken against the employer by the employee or vice versa would be filed solely in State/Superior Court, not magistrate court. I'm not sure if that provision is even legal, but it is in the contract I signed and they have threatened a counterclaim to possibly recover further damages resulting from my resignation without notice in violation of my contract. The loving thing is three pages long...well, lesson learned. Never sign a contract under duress (I did). I don't have the money or the resources to fight it. And now for something completely different! I've heard of this thing called "summary" or "simple" divorce, which is simplified (and I would assume, cheaper) proceedings in the event of a no-fault divorce where certain conditions are satisfied, such as a marriage of less than five years (check), assets under a certain value (check), and no children (check, thank god). I can't seem to figure out if this is available in my state (Georgia), though. Perhaps the terminology is different? Anyone know about this?
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 00:39 |
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Powdered Toast Man posted:Update: I basically got a "go ahead and take us to court, we'll gently caress you up the rear end" letter from my previous employer's attorney after sending them the demand letter. The sticking point, which I will admit it is my fault not for noticing, is that my contract specified that any action taken against the employer by the employee or vice versa would be filed solely in State/Superior Court, not magistrate court. I'm not sure if that provision is even legal, but it is in the contract I signed and they have threatened a counterclaim to possibly recover further damages resulting from my resignation without notice in violation of my contract. The loving thing is three pages long...well, lesson learned. Never sign a contract under duress (I did). I don't have the money or the resources to fight it. Must I go to court to get a divorce? Not necessarily. Spouses may be able to reach an agreement resolving all issues arising from the marriage, including finances, division of property and custody and visitation of children. The agreement is presented to the court as a settlement agreement and, upon approval, made an order of the court. The court's order, called a final judgment and decree, concludes the lawsuit. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, a judge or jury will resolve the issues. However, a judge always decides matters of child custody and parenting time. This, and more from the Georgia State Bar http://www.gabar.org/newsandpublications/consumerpamphlets/divorce.cfm
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 00:44 |
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Powdered Toast Man posted:Update: I basically got a "go ahead and take us to court, we'll gently caress you up the rear end" letter from my previous employer's attorney after sending them the demand letter. The sticking point, which I will admit it is my fault not for noticing, is that my contract specified that any action taken against the employer by the employee or vice versa would be filed solely in State/Superior Court, not magistrate court. I'm not sure if that provision is even legal, but it is in the contract I signed and they have threatened a counterclaim to possibly recover further damages resulting from my resignation without notice in violation of my contract. The loving thing is three pages long...well, lesson learned. Never sign a contract under duress (I did). I don't have the money or the resources to fight it. Maybe you should get a lawyer.
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 00:46 |
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Powdered Toast Man posted:Update: I basically got a "go ahead and take us to court, we'll gently caress you up the rear end" letter from my previous employer's attorney after sending them the demand letter. The sticking point, which I will admit it is my fault not for noticing, is that my contract specified that any action taken against the employer by the employee or vice versa would be filed solely in State/Superior Court, not magistrate court. I'm not sure if that provision is even legal, but it is in the contract I signed and they have threatened a counterclaim to possibly recover further damages resulting from my resignation without notice in violation of my contract. The loving thing is three pages long...well, lesson learned. Never sign a contract under duress (I did). I don't have the money or the resources to fight it. Noooooooo the Angry Hippo school of law never taught me what to do when writing a letter doesn't work!
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 02:12 |
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California My grandfather wants to figure out the simplest, cheapest, easiest way to make sure my father get's all assets when he passes and also has the power to make medical decisions in the case of an extended hospital situation or whatever. My grandfather knows his daughters will try to take a piece of the pie, so it has to be legit -- he's known friends who used a notary or something to set up a will and at the end of a legal battle it turned out to not hold up, so he is kind of sketched out at the whole process already. My dad's gone through a few consultations and has heard that the best method is a standard will, another source said a living trust, etc... To further complicate the situation, my grandfather only speaks Sicilian. So we not only have to figure out which method to go about, but also how a neutral translator would fit into the whole thing. The only solid estimate for the whole shebang, translator and all paperwork done, was ~$3500 which seems kind of high. I don't know anything about law, but surely a man can set up his own will without paying out the rear end right?
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 02:18 |
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Yes, if it's very simple and he speaks english. Complicating things (like writing people out of a will, and setting up authority to make medical decisions, though to be honest, these aren't terribly complicated), and requesting an interpreter make things more expensive. Really your grandfather needs two separate documents. One is a will that leaves everything to your father, and the second is a living will and/or medical power of attorney and/or advanced directive for medical decision. The will shouldn't be that expensive, the second could be. But language is kinda a problem.
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 02:39 |
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Arcturas posted:Yes, if it's very simple and he speaks english. The medical proxy/living will/etc. forms are difficult enough to get enforced when everything is in English; they're frequently ignored by hospitals, especially things like DNR orders. If there's likely to be a fight over poo poo, you need to make sure everything is done absolutely 100% correctly. LegalZoom ain't gonna do it.
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 02:56 |
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Yeah, fair enough. And honestly, $3500 for a will and medical proxy/living will/etc stuff really doesn't sound that bad. It's what, two days of work at $250/hr? :EDIT: I get that $3500 sounds extraordinarily expensive to most people. But as far as legal bills goes that isn't too bad. Legal stuff just costs a lot of money.
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 02:59 |
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CaptainScraps posted:Noooooooo the Angry Hippo school of law never taught me what to do when writing a letter doesn't work! Uh...my point was that I can't fight it because I can't afford a lawyer. Hell, I can't even afford the filing fees in a court higher than magistrate court. So, thanks for being an rear end in a top hat?
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 14:03 |
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Powdered Toast Man posted:Uh...my point was that I can't fight it because I can't afford a lawyer. Hell, I can't even afford the filing fees in a court higher than magistrate court. So, thanks for being an rear end in a top hat? I think you need to go to one of those other finance threads where they talk about budgets and things. If you have or had a job and are married, something is very wrong where you can't afford $150.00 filing fees. I don't know why in the hell you were sending demand letters without the means to back them up, even pro se. Don't get divorced without at least TALKING to a lawyer for fucks sake. If you are really as poor as you claim (every client I have ever met has claimed they are poor and cannot afford anything) then you should qualify for free legal help. You probably need to be under 125% federal poverty. --- $3500.00 sounds about right considering the need to hire a translator. I would refuse to do a will for a non English speaker. Way too much risk. euphronius fucked around with this message at 14:15 on Jul 31, 2013 |
# ? Jul 31, 2013 14:09 |
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Powdered Toast Man posted:Uh...my point was that I can't fight it because I can't afford a lawyer. Hell, I can't even afford the filing fees in a court higher than magistrate court. So, thanks for being an rear end in a top hat? If you can't fight it because you can't afford it then you lose? What other advice are you expecting? Pray to god your foolish idea of demanding something you in now way can't back up with actual legal action doesn't bite you in the rear end. IANAL but I love reading this thread. The reason people are jumping out is because someone in almost the exact same situation as you did the same thing you did and the other party paid him. He then decided to tell all these "uppity lawyers" that he was smarter than them. This obviously irritates them. The advice to get a lawyer is predicated on the idea that when the party could decide not to meet your demand, and or take legal action against you (such as a counterclaim) it is better to have or at least talk to the lawyer first, then send the letter etc. You have to be prepared to fight before you issue a challenge man. You challenged someone and now they may fight back and you are not prepared. Sorry that people gloat about telling you that you did a dumb thing when you did and it backfires but that is life.
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 14:44 |
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I'm in NY and I just found a somewhat disturbing thing out about the way payroll is done in my company. We clock in to work using a fingerprint system, so they have the exact hours we have worked every day. If I show up to work later than 8:30 by any amount, I am given some number of points toward the "yo, you are late too often and now you are fired" number. If I am late by 00:00:01 - 00:14:59 I get .25 points. I thought these points where just a tally system, but it turns out that they also simply do not pay you for that amount of time. This means that on days where I have been literally late to work by less than 60 seconds, I am not being paid for an entire 15 minutes of my time. I am expected to work during this time. Is this in any way legal?
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 16:54 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 19:55 |
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The March Hare posted:I'm in NY and I just found a somewhat disturbing thing out about the way payroll is done in my company. We clock in to work using a fingerprint system, so they have the exact hours we have worked every day. If I show up to work later than 8:30 by any amount, I am given some number of points toward the "yo, you are late too often and now you are fired" number. If I am late by 00:00:01 - 00:14:59 I get .25 points. I thought these points where just a tally system, but it turns out that they also simply do not pay you for that amount of time. This means that on days where I have been literally late to work by less than 60 seconds, I am not being paid for an entire 15 minutes of my time. I am expected to work during this time. Is this in any way legal? Not a New York lawyer but: (1) There's may well be a provision for this in your employment contract in which case, yes it probably is legal. (2) Just don't be late for loving work! You can get angry about how they are 'stealing' your 14 minutes and 59 seconds or you could just acknowledge what time you need to leave to get there on time and make sure you leave by then.
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# ? Jul 31, 2013 17:54 |