Ask MetaFilter questions in the law & government category

Car insurance and the marriage discount

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:05:35 -0800

My ex-husband is still listed as my spouse on my car insurance policy and I just recently found that it's been giving me a discount on my premium for the last two years that we've been divorced. If I send the insurance company my divorce decree, it will remove him from my policy and increase my premium by $100. I'd like to keep him on the policy and continue to get the discount. What penalties (if any) would occur if I did this? I'm in Washington state. An agent at my insurance company knows that I'm divorced because I asked about taking him off my policy, but I have not sent them my divorce decree to make it official.

If I do make it official, he will be removed from the policy and I will be listed as single. Because we divorced two years ago and I've been fraudulently (yet unknowingly) getting the special marriage discount, would there be a penalty fee or back pay? If there is, I need to make this change immediately so I don't pay any more than I have to.

If I did not send them the paperwork and continued to receive the discount, would there be any future repercussions? Especially since I've spoken with an agent about my divorce already? Would it affect my ex at all if I kept him on my policy (like if I were to get in an accident or something)?

Ethically, I'm fine with keeping him on the policy so I can get my discount. He is not insured through this company for his own car and is only listed as a spouse and occasional driver of my car. Our lives are otherwise completely seperate. I just want to make sure that doing this will not negatively affect me (or possibly him, too?) down the road.

Also, would these questions be ok to ask my insurance company or would it tip them off?

What do I plea, and how do I plea it?

brisquette — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:00:41 -0800

I got a $260 ticket in Portland for not turning into the closest lane. Lamest ticket ever, right? So what do I plea at my court date, and how do I plea it? I was on a one-way street and turning onto another one-way street, through a yellow light. The officer wasn't happy about my speed, or the yellow light, or the turn. I haven't gotten pulled over in yeaaars and was really overwhelmed by talking to him. He only wrote me up for the turn, though, and it wasn't until afterward that I realized that I've always believed it was okay to (safely) turn into the non-closest lane when you're dealing with one way streets. It turns out that's true...in California. Not in Oregon, where I learned to drive (I even checked out the Oregon Drivers Manual from 10 years ago, just to make sure the law hadn't changed recently.).

I've read a lot of the previous posts about this sort of thing, and most people are saying to never plead guilty, but...I mean...I was totally ignorant of the law, and that's not really a reason to plead not guilty, right? Plus, I won't have the money to pay any fines for a couple weeks, and my court date is tomorrow. Here are the plea options for Multnomah County, what is my best option here?

The more details you can tell me about what I should do tomorrow, the better. I'll be sure to wear nice clothes.

What should I tell the customs agent about the $$ value of my car?

picklebird — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:18:10 -0800

We will be importing a 2004 Honda Accord into Canada this weekend, I hope. We must pay taxes (16% of value of the car!) when we bring it in. It is up to us to put a value on the the car and hope the customs agent accepts our assessment. If they don't accept it, they will put their own value on the car and we must accept that and pay taxes accordingly. Two questions: how would you assess the value? And how would you try to pay the least amount possible? Car in question is a 2004 Honda Accord EX manual drive with approximately 70,000 miles on it. Usually, the border agents assess the value of a car based on the "Canadian Red Book" but this car is too old for that. The car has a few dings and scratches and most importantly was in a head-on collision in 2009. We think that this decreases its value considerably from what's for sale online. How would you estimate the value? What documentation would you have on hand to prove it? We don't want to take the time or money to have it officially appraised.

At the border, the agent will look at our declaration form and either accept our assessment or can use his/her "own discretion" to propose another value. I am not sure if there's negotiation at this point, or if we have to accept the new appraisal. The amounts listed online vary by many thousands of dollars and, of course, we want to minimize the taxes we pay on a pretty beat-up old car that runs well but that we will drive into the ground for the next few years.

What would you do?

[CA]: unable to show proof of correction before fix-it ticket due date

chloe.gelsomino — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:18:09 -0800

Asking for a friend, this is regarding CA traffic law: From what she has said, the due date of the fine/court appearance is coming up in two days and seeing as her car is still in the shop, what options does she have? Plead not guilty in hopes of buying some time, and showing up with proof of correction? She's not sure if her car will be fixed and properly smogged in time on or before the due date. She was pulled over for having expired tags and the reason for her registration not being completed was due to a lack of smog check. She received a fix it ticket requiring her to either pay $25 and show proof, or appear in court and show proof. Her car is currently in the shop and has failed the smog check twice as the result of non-emission related car troubles.

Thanks, all.

What is it like to meet on the sidelines of G8

Unified Theory — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:13:30 -0800

I have heard on the news that Obama and Putin are planning to meet "on the sidelines" of the G8 conference next week, and I'm curious what, exactly, this is like. I'm just curious about how this works:
--would it be a very structured meeting?
--is it a ritualized exchange of talking points prepared by aides, or might it be a genuinely frank and candid exchange?
--when these meetings take place amid tensions between the participants, is it likely that these tensions will be acknowledged and discussed?
--who else might be present at such a meeting?
--how much preparation would Obama and Putin, personally, be expected to put in before the meeting? Is it a "review a memo fifteen minutes before it starts," or a "cramming with briefing books for days" scenario?
--what else can be known, from a human/practical perspective about one on one meetings of this nature between world leaders?

Questions about prison visiting facilities...

dobbs — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:49:35 -0800

Writing a story with a tangential character to be executed in California. I have multiple questions about the visiting facilities for such a prison. Anyone with knowledge able to help? My preference for the story's dynamics is that the visiting room be one with a see-through divider but that does not use the telephone system of talking to the person on the other side. (Because I need the prisoner to be able to say something to the visitor as they're near the exit door.) Or, if a person yelled loud enough in one of those phone visiting rooms, would they be heard or are they otherwise soundproof?

Does such a prison exist? Of course, it would have to be somewhere that someone would be awaiting execution.

If it does not exist, is there such a place in California where the two would meet in an open space with no divider?

If neither of these exists, is there a prison that fits these requirements outside of California?

In case it's important, the person is on death row for a brutal murder of his wife and the visitor is a family member (son).

Thanks.

Question re Obamacare & upcoming Calif Health Ins Exchange

buggzzee23 — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:27:23 -0800

Is my income too low to qualify for Obamacare health insurance subsidies? I own my home and other real estate free and clear and am retired with my only income (until I'm eligible for Social Security) is $1200/month in rental income. I'm 59 years old and pay $364/month for Kaiser Permanente health insurance. It's a squeeze for me but it's the insurance I want so I pay it. Everything I've read says Kaiser premiums will increase substantially next year and I won't be able to pay the expected increase. From what I've read, I don't earn enough to qualify for the insurance subsidies under Obamacare and will have to sign up for Medi-Cal/Medicaid.

Is it true I won't be eligible for subsidy?

If I get seriously ill with Medi-Cal/Medicaid, will the governent go after my estate to recover their outlay?

Hit by a fence

zackola — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 08:28:11 -0800

So I was biking home from work last night and was hit by a fence. It was very windy and a portion of the fence at Grand St. and Center St. in Manhattan blew over onto me. I'm mostly fine, a little bruised but annoyed because it tore my fancy rain jacket. I know I'm going to get a lot of IANAL responses but I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions of things I could do to possibly be remunerated for the jacket by the city. Here's a picture of the bloodthirsty fence after I extricated myself and my bike from it. Any advice much appreciated.

Mentally-ill son soon to turn 18; seeking advice about guardianship

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:18:49 -0800

My son is 17 years old, turning 18 at the end of July. In mid-May, he was hospitalized for two weeks when he became floridly psychotic -- his first episode. As he recovers post-hospitalization, I want to get some sort of guardianship in place so that I can step in and manage his healthcare and finances if he's unable to. I don't know, however, what kinds of options there are; I've heard the terms "healthcare proxy" and "power of attorney", but I haven't wrapped my brain around what those encompass, or what it would entail to apply for these things. One person says I need a good lawyer; another says I just need to get a boilerplate form from Staples and get it notarized. I'm in Massachusetts -- Boston/Cambridge/MetroWest. Hope me please! My son, upon release, was given a sort of placeholder diagnosis: "schizoaffective disorder", manifesting as bipolar on the manic side of the bipolar scale. The meds he's been on for the past month (risperidone & divalproex) are slowly gaining traction. I have plenty of support structures in place to help transition him into his new life: he has a therapist and a psychiatrist; he's enrolled in a day program for the next couple of weeks; I'm also going to be assigned an Intensive Care Coordinator (ICC) in a few days to help me pull together a team of people that can provide him with other services, connect him back with the community-at-large, help me navigate the insurance labyrinth, provide me with a "family mentor" type (a parent who has had a kid go through the same stuff as I am), and so on. These are good, helpful things.

Special snowflake issues:

• Single parent. I gained physical custody of him about ten months ago, and I share legal custody with his mother, who lives 66 miles away. In a nutshell, the mother's not very reliable, and has mental health issues of her own, but is on board with the kid's treatments and has been working with and not against the flow. She is aware that I intend to file for sole guardianship, and in all probability won't block me from doing so. We are civil to one another, but I am trying to maintain firm social boundaries, as interacting with her stresses me out.

• I'm currently renewing his MassHealth benefits under his own name -- right now he's covered in conjunction with his mom, who is on MassHealth for her various illnesses; MassHealth sent him a renewal notice independently of her; I am handling the renewal. He's also covered under my Blue Cross & Blue Shield insurance, so MassHealth is/will be the safety net for anything my BCBS won't cover. (MassHealth, via Network Health, is what's responsible for covering the day program, the ICC, the hospitalization, the psychiatrist & therapist, etc.)

I know I have a lot to deal with, but I'm handling it well, psychologically. My workplace is understanding of my needs, and luckily this all is happening during a slow time of the year. (I work in academia; summertime is when everyone flees the campus.) My son's school is giving him plenty of room to recover, and has eliminated any deadlines by which he'll need to submit work in order to graduate. My friends and family have been supportive and encouraging, and I have found and attended a NAMI-affiliated support group so that I can gain perspective and insight.

But as far as the guardianship, since I have about six weeks before he turns eighteen, I want to get this squared away toot sweet. How important is this to take care of, and why? How can I frame this to my son so that he understands the need for me to file for guardianship, and gives me his consent? (Is this necessary, given his day-to-day status of being connected to reality?) Can the ICC help me with this? Can something like this be fast-tracked? Do I need a lawyer? Can you recommend one to me? (If you would like to recommend a lawyer, or convey other information to me off-thread, one of the mods said they'd relay it to me.) Thanks in advance for your help!

Where are Ho Chi Minh's message to America?

history is a weapon — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:45:32 -0800

Where can I find ALL of the writings of Ho Chi Minh intended for an American audience? For example, messages to the American people as well as letters and telegrams to elected officials.

yanal or yanml but how do I get a lawyer??

cacao — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:27:34 -0800

I am starting up a small business and need some legal work done. I want to optimize the following two variables: quality of work, affordability of work. So I need a lawyer to help with with business contract review and any other issues that might come up. Contract review is probably the majority of the work involved- specifically sales distribution, consulting agreements, and finder fee agreements. I need your suggestions for how to get some affordable help that will still be good quality.

1) how to find a lawyer (I tried submitting a request through Nolo which didn't work out so well)? any particular web-sites you've found handy?

2) strategies for minimizing costs with a lawyer generally (currently considering: asking for a flat rate for page of contract review, asking for a junior instead of a senior lawyer, seeking a 'lawyer coach' that can help me fine-tune documents that I have already drafted, using something like rocketlawyer (any one have experience with this or a similar product, what did you think??)

3) What is the minimum range that I should expect to pay?

Thank you for your kind input! I know that a lot of these questions seem fairly general, and that there is a lot on the web addressing these questions, but J need the kind of insight that only AskMe can provide :)

Need help fighting sleazy collection lawyers

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:31:00 -0800

I know I need a lawyer to deal with this, but I'm hoping that knowledgeable MeFi-ites can help me find the language needed to correctly describe the problem and my desired outcome, and perhaps give some advice as to how to find the right sort of lawyer. Warning, this is long... Here's the background: In 2004, I was sued for an unpaid debt from the late 1990s. I hired a lawyer, and in early 2005 settled the suit by agreeing to pay $6,000 of the $10,000 it was alleged I owed. (The original debt was about $3500; it was determined for purposes of the lawsuit to be $10K due to interest, penalties, fees, etc.) Payment was to be in four monthly installments of $1,500. I made the four payments, and that was the last I thought of it, until...

In February of this year (2013), I received a notice from my local sheriff's office that an account at a local bank was being garnished in connection with a lawsuit against me. I was puzzled, as 1) it was not my bank, 2) I've not been sued by anyone since then, and 3) I didn't immediately recognize any of the other names on the form.

After some digging in my files, I figured out that the bank account belonged to a business for which I had done some free-lance work in the past, but am not currently working with. And the law firm filing the garnishment turned out to be the same bunch that sued me back in 2004.

At that point, my original lawyer in the matter having moved out of state, I went to an acquaintance who's a lawyer (though not a specialist in collections) to get his help.

He called the lawyers who filed the garnishment, and they told him that because they received the fourth and final payment of the settlement a week late back in 2005, they considered the entire settlement invalid. (The payment was indeed sent late, because it took me that long to get the money. I do have certified mail receipts showing that someone at the lawyer's office received and signed for all four payments.)

The upshot of this is that they filed the garnishment because they now claim I owe them an additional $12,000 (!), representing that $4,000 that was negotiated away during the 2005 settlement, plus interest, penalties, etc. accumulated since then.

Let me re-emphasize that the garnishment order is, as mentioned above, the only thing I've heard about the case in more than eight years. The opposing attorneys never contacted me at any time since 2005 to say they considered the judgment unsatisfied, or to demand payment.

While I don't feel that I should have to pay them another cent, in an attempt to put this behind me, I asked my acquaintance/attorney to offer a token payment to settle. He offered the other attorneys $500 to remove the garnishment and close the books on the case, which was refused. We then offered $1,000, which was refused, with a counter-offer saying that if I gave them $10,000 right away, they'd settle.

At this point, my acquaintance/attorney bailed on me. For reasons that I can't determine, he's unwilling to help me pursue legal action to get the garnishment quashed and the debt declared settled.

His parting advice was to either declare bankruptcy, or to try to take my entire financial life off the grid to avoid further garnishments - move my banking out of town, demand that all future clients and employers pay in cash, that sort of thing. Option #2 simply is not viable for me, and I don't want to declare bankruptcy over this unless there's no other option.

Right now, the garnishment isn't hurting me, as I'm no longer doing any work for that particular company. But as things stand, it apparently now is a never-ending open season on anything else this law firm can find to attach, garnish, or put a lien on.

That's simply intolerable for me as well. So my question is this: What is it, exactly, that I need to ask an attorney to do for me next? I know I want the garnishment "quashed," but what is the legal term for getting a judge to look at this and say that, "look, you had your chance, eight years is too long, the debt is settled"?

In my conversations with my acquaintance/attorney, he spoke of an legal principal called "laches," which he said relates to the obligation of both parties in a legal dispute to act in a timely manner, especially when a delay would be of disproportionate benefit to one party over the other.

This would seem to be applicable, as the time scales here are very disproportionate - i.e. the plaintiffs are simultaneously claiming that the final payment being a week late invalidated the entire previous settlement, but that they also can take what is effectively an unlimited amount of time to pursue action against me, all with interest accumulating to their benefit. If anyone can tell more about "laches" and how it might apply here, please do. I'm in Missouri, if that makes a difference.

Lastly, what sort of attorney should I be looking for? Most of the ones who say they specialize in collection matters seem to be basically just filers of bankruptcy papers; I need someone who can take the fight back to these sleazebags who are trying to bleed me. Thanks for reading all this!

State Statutes for Estate Planning?

jimmysmits — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:16:32 -0800

How do I find authoritative but digestible (to a lay person) information regarding state statutes for specific legal issues? I'm interested in learning about testamentary capacity and finding lots of info on federal guidelines pretty easily, but they all recommend consulting state law as it can supposedly vary somewhat significantly. However, I'm not having much luck turning up anything state-specific that is both 1) comprehensible (i.e., google searches are turning up some case law stuff, but I can't make heads or tails of it) and 2) authoratative-ish (i.e., I'm getting some hits on legal blogs and so forth, but nothing really solid).

Ideally, what I'm looking for is a resource that will say: in state X, state law varies from federal in that yyy (e.g., testamentary capacity is not presumed unless zzz), based on A vs. B, 1992. Or something to that effect.

Would love to avoid paying a lawyer for now if possible (at this point this is a conceptual rather than actual legal issue for me) and would appreciate any advice on resources. IL if that makes a difference.

Thanks in advance

Separation of Powers

CollectiveMind — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 08:56:00 -0800

The subsection of the Colorado Constitution, “General Consideration” under Article III, Distribution of Powers, gives more than thirty-five examples of why and how separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government must be. They all seem to say the same thing, but they all are justified by different dictums, references and notations. Why, at least in Colorado and I suspect, in other states, is there the need for so much specificity as it relates to the republican tripartite system?

How do I most effectively work for political change on global warming?

goingonit — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:53:34 -0800

So I'm a Canadian citizen living in the US, which means I can't vote anywhere. But I still want to work for political change, on global warming in particular. I'm not trying to make myself feel good, I want to make a difference if possible through whatever legal and non-deceptive means are available to me (donations, volunteering, whatever). Help me find a way to do that. In particular I am looking for organizations that actually care about climate change (e.g. they don't focus on preventing hydrofracking, ideally they'd be in favor of or at least neutral about nuclear power) and are actually looking for results -- I don't want to raise awareness or write letters to the editor of the Times unless these things have been shown to actually influence the political process, which I frankly doubt. Also, as a noncitizen, I don't think it is honest of me to call or write legislators telling them that I'm a constituent, since I'm not really. But I am happy to try and influence citizens, finance campaigns, work on lobbying efforts, etc.

So far it looks like my best bet is giving money to the EDF. Should I just give money and call it a day, or is there some way that I can spend my time effectively too? Are there other organizations along similar lines that could use more funding and/or manpower? Would love some suggestions!

What is the legality for a web site to make credit transactions?

isopropyl — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 01:01:14 -0800

In order for any web site to charge one for services or goods, in this case services, what are they legally required to record and produce? I'm having a little trouble wording my exact question so maybe this will help. The web site in question provides phone service for inmates in correctional facilities and in order for one to receive calls from a loved one in the correctional facility you have to set up an account and attach a phone number to it while loading money for the overpriced service... $5 for 15mins. The company charged me a fee of $5 every time I was to load money on the account which did not show the rate for a call per min and also charged me numerous unknown fees. I could not tell why or how much I was charged which was made worse by their not being a way to track credits and charges to the account. When I contacted customer support they also could not account for the charges and would not refund them, refused to refund my visa purchase, and claims to have no way of producing charges and credits to my account. Their customer service is no help and I'm not sure how to handle the situation. I want to know if a web site is allowed to make such charges and if they are required in anyway to record them and/or produce some type of receipt to me. Last transaction that occurred which include the seconded fee was the final closing of the account which after 2 weeks refunded $13.33 back onto my visa. This transaction is critical because it was erroneous to start. My last credit to the web site was on accident but started as $28 being taking of my VISA and $19 showing up on my account (a fee of $5 was stated prior to crediting but only $5) and then after requesting a full receipt and closing my account I received no receipt and only a portion of my credit.

What can I do to get my money back/ a list of credits and charges(receipt)/ report the site to authorities for the misuse of my credit/identity info?

yanml landlording quetion

hollyanderbody — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 08:50:48 -0800

Is it possible recover damages caused a former tenant who cost me 10s of thousands of dollars in damages in 2008? I know I was an amateur, not diligent landlord, and I am still paying of the loan had had to take to pay to clean/repair the damages. (she didn't pay the heat so the pipes in the walls burst, she stopped living there and left the back door open to her dogs, which destroyed other walls and the carpet throughout the house. The kitchen cabinetry had to be replaced because it was infested with mice. We did all the repair ourselves, which took nine months). I'm in Arizona. Also, I have never sued anyone/had a lawyer....How much would something like this cost me? Thank you.

What are the best of the poor substitutes for a security deposit?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:11:36 -0800

What recourse do I have regarding a tenant refusing to pay the last month's rent and possibly damaging the apartment? My tenant's lease is up at the end of this month. They have stated that they are not paying the last month's rent and that I should instead take their security deposit as the last month's rent. The problem with that is that the security deposit is a security deposit – it's there to cover damages to the apartment.

(The reason they give for not paying the rent is that they can't afford it because they have to pay movers. I think this is likely a lie, as they've talked about how they make a lot of money. Also, I verified the tenant's income when they applied for the place.

However, I didn't see any value in calling them out on that.

I also think this tenant understands the limitations of a landlord's leverage at the end of the lease. A previous landlord call me after the tenant moved in to my apartment because they were owed money. By then, I felt it was too late to pick a different tenant.)

While I think it's quite possible that the apartment will be in OK shape after they move out, but I can't be 100% certain. If it is, then great.

If it isn't, what can I do to collect money for the damages? I am guessing that all I can do is refer her to a collection agency. Or possibly a lawyer?

I have asked the tenant to give me their next address, but I'm not certain that they will. I have the tenant's SSN and phone number. Is that enough for a collection agency to be successful?

And can anyone recommend a collection agency if that is the best way to go?

This is in Cook County, IL. Some Googling indicates the tenant is taking a job in England, which is something they had said was a possibility months earlier. So, remedies may have to involve reaching England.

Is there anything else I should be doing? I don't think there are a ton of options, but maybe I'm missing some hooks I have available here.

Why is it a good idea for pedestrians to have the right-of-way?

RandlePatrickMcMurphy — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:52:41 -0800

I'm looking for research comparing different regimes of pedestrian vs. car right-of-way and the impact of those laws on pedestrian injury and mortality rates (and possibly also the impact on urban quality of life.) Background: In the ongoing and possibly endless neighborhood forum debate on cars vs peds/bikes, the pro-car side is saying that its stupid that pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks, that it should be the responsibility of the pedestrians to only cross the street when there are no cars that might hit them. Pedestrians are the ones who are going to get hurt, they should be the ones who should watch for cars, not the other way around.

I've seen studies on crosswalk or not-crosswalk, traffic slowing, ped vs. driver accident responsibility, etc. and the normative discussions about why drivers should yield to pedestrians. I'm looking forex-post quantitative research that provides the policy justification and harm-reduction evidence for the underlying premise that (in most cases) pedestrians should have the right of way and drivers should yield to pedestrians.

How to legally protect myself from filial support laws?

Sloop John B — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:20:22 -0800

After reading posts like this I've become concerned that my estranged, abusive family will some day drive me into debt. Please advise me on how to legally protect myself from filial support laws. The specific details of my family situation are sad and probably not too relevant here. Suffice it to say, my mother abused me emotionally and physically, as did my father, although to a lesser degree. I put myself through college and cut contact with my entire family shortly after graduating. My mother died in 2006 and nobody bothered to tell me -- I found out two years after the fact, from a family friend. I've spoken with my father three times in the last ten years. Although he would like a closer relationship, I refuse to let that happen.

The meat of the issue : my father, throughout his life, has been hideously irresponsible with money, despite having a fairly successful career as a corporate lawyer. He's declared bankruptcy at least once, had his house foreclosed a few years back, and doesn't have any real assets or savings. He lives with his second wife who supports him to some degree. He also gets health care and some sort of under-the-table pension from one of his previous employers. And I guess he gets social security, as well. He's had a heart attack, for which he had a triple (or quadruple, I can't remember) bypass. He's a mess.

I want to take every possible legal precaution to make sure his problems never become my problems. The state that I live in (California) has filial support laws, however, the state he lives in (Missouri) does not. At first glance, it would seem that I'm safe. However, I want to make absolutely sure this never becomes an issue. For example, he could move to California. Or perhaps Missouri might pass filial support laws. What then? These are the kinds of things I'm worried about.

So my question is threefold :

1) Do I need to worry?
2) Is there some kind of document I could sign (like the kind hinted at in this comment) that would absolve me of responsibility?
3) Yes, I know, lawyer up. What kind of lawyer should I talk to? When I call their office and need to leave a message, how do I boil down my concerns to a 15-second voicemail? Do you know of any lawyers in the SF Bay area who could help me with this?

Also, bonus question : my older brother, who has loathed me since the moment I was born, is just as financially irresponsible as my father. To make matters worse, he's got serious long-term health issues. Fortunately, he lives in Florida, which has no filial support laws. However, I'm concerned that some day he may drive me into debt as well. Is there a way that I can legally protect myself from this possibility? Or do filial support laws only concern themselves with parents?

Thank you for your help.

Threatening App Store seller behaviour - credible?

falcon — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:25:18 -0800

I wrote a polite email to an App seller advising him I would be posting a 1-star review of his app on Apple's App Store. He replied, "Electronic postings of defamation, libel and slander are now well covered under English and European law. My litigation solicitors are [redacted] of London, who have looked after my interests for over twenty years now, nor have ever lost me a case, from individuals to a nation-state. Put up any post and it'll cost you several thousand pounds for each day it stays up; I do hope I make clear..." Can he do this, can I reliably protect myself, and has he violated any Terms and Conditions as a seller on the App Store? Specific reference to English and European Law and Apple App Store Terms and Conditions would be very helpful. Thank you.

Why not bust large domestic scams?

jackbishop — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:01:51 -0800

So I got one of those "US Airlines" free ticket doodads in the mail. Yes, I know it's a scam. But it led me to wonder: why aren't these large-scale, domestically run scams actually busted? I assume the intent to deceive makes this particular one at the very least intentional infringement on US Airways's trademarks, and quite possibly mail fraud. As I understand it, this scam works with an upsell for some sort of useless membership or timeshares or somesuch. So it's not as if the perpetrators of this one are mysterious Nigerians on the other end of an untraceable wire transfer — the money exchange is done in a traceable manner with a domestically-operating entity, and it seems that scams of this sort would be really easy to mount a sting operation against, and that they're large enough to make it worthwhile. Is it just not a priority for any enforcement agency?

On a similar note: how about those various scamsters robocalling cellphones? Why aren't they brought down with sting operations?

Which country's law apply?

3dd — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 05:15:16 -0800

Friend working overseas for an USA company. This friend has been working for many years overseas for an USA company. He gets paid in US$ and his contract reads that in case of termination of employment he will receive severance package contemplated on that overseas country laws (very large settlement is standard on that country, regardless of the reason for termination). The contract doesn't indicate what country courts/ laws will apply in case of dispute.
The company just decided to end my friend's contract and the severance package is not what it suppose to be according to the contract/ the country laws. I know that reading the contract would be the best way to answer this questions but as a general rule, if my friend wants to fight this, should he hire an attorney in the USA or in the country where he has been rendering his services? When the contract doesn't indicating anything, which country's legal regulation applies?

Post-car accident etiquette 101 - PA edition

never nice — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:58:07 -0800

Rear ended a car on a slick road today. Called police to get a report filed. Now what? Both me and the other driver were calm about it and agreed to call the police to have the accident on record. She mentioned her neck hurting a little so I'm worried about a personal injury claim. I'm also worried about insurance rate going up.

Another thing I realized in the aftermath is that while I have her insurance info (we took pics on our phones), I don't have a phone number to call her and ask if she wants to make an insurance claim. What can I do? Is there anything I should know about car accidents in my state?

Non-partisan, non-profit. How non-partisan do I need to be personally?

foggy out there now — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:39:55 -0800

While running a non-partisan non-profit, how non-partisan do I need to be personally? What would you say is expected of me? I'm starting a non-profit that will aggregate public data in one particularly underserved U.S. state. We will also contribute to open source projects, distribute the software created by the non-profit, and organize crowd-sourcing efforts to create structured data from source documents.

I'm getting a crash course from a lawyer about what the organization itself can and can't do with regards to maintaining 501(c)(3) status. I feel that's well covered ground.

I'm asking more of what is expected of me as the leader of the organization. I'd like to be active in local progressive politics, and I'd hate to have to choose between the non-profit and my personal activities. For example, I'm a registered Democrat and contributed only to progressive candidates in 2012.

Do you have experience in this arena? How have you seen this situation navigated? Any thoughts? Obvious pitfalls?