Guide to Getting a Divorce in Florida
If your marriage has reached a point of no return, then it’s important to know what your rights and responsibilities are as you go through your separation.
Real Estate and Property Law
News and analysis on legal issues affecting the real estate industry and property owners.
What is Psychology-Law?
Guide to understanding psychology law and the role it plays in the legal system.
7 Steps To Understanding the Legal Process of Starting a Non-Profit Organization
In our guide we’ll walk you through the basic starting point and how to legally go about starting a non profit organization.
Amanda’s Law and the National Spotlight on Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Amanda’s law is a piece of New York State legislation dedicated to providing education and support in terms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Why Would Someone Use a Life Estate?
There are many tools in the estate planning toolkit, and as a layperson, you may hear bits and pieces about some of them. Incomplete information can lead to mistakes that yield negative consequences later on, so knowledge is power in this regard. With this in mind, we will look at the estate planning device called … Continued
The 4th Circuit makes trademark use more contextual
Combe Inc. v. Dr. August Wolff Gmbh & Co. Kg Arzneimittel, No. 19-1674 (4th Cir. Apr. 13, 2021) Not only is this case a good demonstration that courts are willing to give broad rights to marks based on similarities in descriptive elements (here the VAGI- formative in VAGISIL for preparations for use in the vagina), … Continued
You Need These Estate Planning Documents
It can be difficult to know where to begin when you are thinking about the estate planning process. There are variations depending on the circumstances, but there is an underlying framework that applies to everyone, and we will break it down in this post. Asset Transfer Vehicle An asset transfer vehicle will be at the … Continued
Trusts and the Probate Process: What You Should Know
If you’re confused, or unfamiliar with trusts as part of an estate plan, you’re not alone! Some people need to have a trust, others do not. Then there’s the probate process. Does having a trust impact the probate process? Should you have a trust to avoid the probate process? To answer your questions about trusts … Continued
California State Healthcare Worker Accesses COVID-19 Data on More Than 2,000 Patients and Employees
As we noted in late January 2020, the spread of infectious disease raises particular concerns for healthcare workers who want to do their jobs and care for their patients, while also protect themselves and their families. Perhaps the desire to protect one’s self and family is what motivated a California state healthcare worker to access … Continued
Lawyers and Judge Handle Zoom CATastrophe PURRfectly
A cat may have nine lives…but a video of a lawyer appearing as a cat at a virtual court hearing is trending towards nine million views. If you’re not already fur-miliar with what happened, here’s a quick hiss-tory of the Zoom Cat-astrophe. Rod Ponton, a county attorney in Texas logged into a Zoom hearing on … Continued
The Remote Versus Physical Office Debate Revisited, Post-Pandemic
Once upon a time, the biggest question that a starting solo confronted was whether to work remotely from a home office or from a physical office. Indeed, I devoted long blog posts here and here about making a decision between the two, and assuring lawyers that there was really no right answer. Fast forward to … Continued
Fidelity Cuts Credit Card Benefits
If you have a Fidelity Investments credit card (most pay 2% cash back), you may have recently received an email with good news. They are adding a new benefit to your card — a free version of NortonLifeLock protection. However, if you didn’t read the fine print, you may have missed an even more important … Continued
Handful of Google v. Oracle thoughts: categories, microworks, and market circularity
A couple of small Google v. Oracle thoughts: The majority clearly says that, as with other categories of protected works, distinctions can be made within the categories, drawing lines “among” computer programs, books, and films. Not all literary works are the same; Infinite Jest gets a different kind of copyright protection than my emails do. Likewise, while … Continued
Utah is the 2nd State to Create a Safe Harbor for Companies Facing Data Breach Litigation
In mid-March, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed into law the Cybersecurity Affirmative Defense Act (HB80) (“the Act”), an amendment to Utah’s data breach notification law, creating several affirmative defenses for persons (defined below) facing a cause of action arising out of a breach of system security, and establishing the requirements for asserting such a defense. … Continued
Recent Legislation Expands Consumer Data Protection in Virginia
On March 2, 2021, the governor of Virginia signed the Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) into law. This new law applies to people who conduct business in Virginia or produce products or services targeted at Virginians. Specifically, the law applies to businesses that collect and control or process personal data of 100,000 or more consumers … Continued
Bill For Better Civil Asset Forfeiture Reporting in North Dakota Moves to Governor
North Dakota recently scored an F for its civil asset forfeiture laws, according to the libertarian-leaning nonprofit Institute for Justice’s “Policing for Profit” survey. And it looks like lawmakers noticed. Seizing assets using forfeiture is a legal prerogative of law enforcement agencies that was rationalized by the war on drugs. It allows authorities to take […]
Changing Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws Should Be a Bipartisan Effort, Activists Argue
Since the inception of the United States of America, the founding fathers strived to create laws that protect the freedom of the people. They authored the Bill of Rights to institutionalize the well-being of American citizens. The Declaration of Independence even provides the people with the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” […]
NFTs: Investment Boom or Bust?
In the span of the last two months, a digital piece of art sold for nearly $70 million, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, sold his first tweet for $2.8 million, and a digital Lebron James basketball card went for $208,000. What do these three massive sales have in common? Each transaction was for a non-fungible … Continued
Amazon Agrees to Savings Claims Disclosures to Settle DAs’ Lawsuit
In March, a group of pro-consumer California district attorneys sued Amazon about misleading savings claims, and settled the case just one week later. Amazon agreed to pay a $2-million penalty. For decades, Amazon has advertised fictitious savings from bogus reference prices like “list prices” or “was” prices, making shoppers believe they were saving a bundle … Continued
Travel 2.0: Vaccine Passports and Visas—What’s Next on the Horizon
One of the industries perhaps hardest hit by the coronavirus, the travel industry, received welcomed news late last week in the form of CDC guidance stating that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can resume domestic travel and do not need to get tested for COVID-19 before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel. According to … Continued