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Legally Easy |
Legally Easy is a free source of legal help, news and information from Charley Moore and the legal team at RocketLawyer.com. Rocket Lawyer is the easiest way to make a legal document, find a lawyer and get free legal advice for yourself and your business. |
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Automobile Accidents and Cell Phones
 Automobile accidents cause of millions of lawsuits, injuries, deaths and tragedy. Years ago, an organization called Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) made a big difference in bringing the dangers of driving under the influence (DUI) to national attention. The resulting crack down on DUI has been credited with saving lives nationwide. Now, the New York Times is attempting to bring greater attention to the risks of driving while multi-tasking on cell phones and PDAs. On Sunday, the Times commenced a series titled "Driven to Distraction" that chronicles the dangers of cell phone use on the road. As the article notes: Extensive research shows the dangers of distracted driving. Studies say that drivers using phones are four times as likely to cause a crash as other drivers, and the likelihood that they will crash is equal to that of someone with a .08 percent blood alcohol level, the point at which drivers are generally considered intoxicated. Research also shows that hands-free devices do not eliminate the risks, and may worsen them by suggesting that the behavior is safe.
A 2003 Harvard study estimated that cellphone distractions caused 2,600 traffic deaths every year, and 330,000 accidents that result in moderate or severe injuries. Further, according to Times reporter Matt Richtel, the U.S. government has even "withheld data on (the) risks of distracted driving:" In 2003, researchers at a federal agency proposed a long-term study of 10,000 drivers to assess the safety risk posed by cellphone use behind the wheel. They sought the study based on evidence that such multitasking was a serious and growing threat on America’s roadways. But such an ambitious study never happened. And the researchers’ agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, decided not to make public hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the use of phones by drivers — in part, officials say, because of concerns about angering Congress. On Tuesday, the full body of research is being made public for the first time by two consumer advocacy groups, which filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for the documents. The Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen provided a copy to The New York Times, which is publishing the documents on its Web site. In interviews, the officials who withheld the research offered their fullest explanation to date.
The former head of the highway safety agency said he was urged to withhold the research to avoid antagonizing members of Congress who had warned the agency to stick to its mission of gathering safety data but not to lobby states. Critics say that rationale and the failure of the Transportation Department, which oversees the highway agency, to more vigorously pursue distracted driving has cost lives and allowed to blossom a culture of behind-the-wheel multitasking. “We’re looking at a problem that could be as bad as drunk driving, and the government has covered it up,” said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety. The group petitioned for the information after The Los Angeles Times wrote about the research last year. Mother Jones later published additional details. We are going to continue to follow the Times reporting on cell phones and automobile accidents as well as track automobile accident legal issues. Visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website for more information. If you have a legal matter relating to a car accident, you can find an automobile accident lawyer to help.
Labels: automobile accident, car accident, cell phone, driving, find a lawyer, lawsuit, lawyer, legal, multitasking
Supreme Court Decides New Haven Employment Case
 In a case that will have both practical and political reverberations, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the City of New Haven Connecticut in a reverse discrimination suit. The case, known commonly as "New Haven Firefighters," has political impact as well, due to the fact that Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonya Sotomayor, participated in the appeals court ruling that has now been overturned by the Court. What does the ruling potentially mean for you, your business or organization? Well, the New York Times reports that: The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide, potentially limiting the circumstances in which employers can be held liable for decisions when there is no evidence of intentional discrimination against minorities.
The fact that this was a 5-4 decision indicates that even at the highest level, judges remain split on the application of employment law to the facts raised by the New Haven case. In particular, the case asked whether the city of New Haven Connecticut erred in throwing out the results of a promotion examination because minority test takers were unlikely to receive promotions based on the results of the exam. Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy states: "Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions," Kennedy was joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Alito and Thomas. The dissenting Justices were Ginsburg, Souter, Bryer and Stevens: In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the white firefighters "understandably attract this court's sympathy. But they had no vested right to promotion. Nor have other persons received promotions in preference to them." Undoubtedly, labor and employment lawyers will be busy crafting new rules for employers to follow in employment testing situations. Employers will be wise to review their employment practices for compliance with the New Haven ruling and to consult with an employment lawyer to understand the issues raised by the case in application to their own organization's practices and policies. Labels: civil rights, discrimination, employment, employment law, find a lawyer, free, free legal help, lawyer, legal, legal help, legal information, new haven firefighter, ruling, sotomayor, supreme court
Planning Your Estate - Estate Taxes are Here to Stay
According to the Wall Street Journal and other news reports, the Obama administration and congress are planning "to move soon to block the estate tax from disappearing in 2010, suggesting the levy might outlive the 'Death Tax Repeal' movement that has worked against estate taxes for many years. Approved by President Bush and congress in 2001, elimination of most inheritance taxes has been phased-in over several years, pending full abolition of such levies as of 2010; however, again, according to a Wall Street Journal article, "the Senate Finance Committee will move within weeks" to reverse the Bush law, in order to preserve the estate tax. Based on the WSJ report, there are a couple of likely scenarios:  Under the plan articulated during the campaign, the Obama administration would lock in the estate tax at the most recent roll-back rate and exemption levels (i.e., exempting estates of $3.5 million to $7 million for couples from estate taxes while taxing estates above that level at 45%.
- On the other hand, if congress were to roll-back the estate tax rate to the levels seen during the Clinton administration, then the first $1 million would be exempted from taxation with the remainder of the estate taxed at 55%.
Now is the time to engage in your own estate planning. There are several tactics that you can employ to reduce the exposure of your estate to taxation while providing for your charitable interests and love ones. RocketLawyer.com's Estate Planning Legal Help is a good place to start, along with creating your own trust and finding an estate planning lawyer to help you. Labels: estate plan, find a lawyer, free legal help, government, legal forms, taxes
Credit and Bankruptcy Legal Help
Personal and business credit, including rising bankruptcy filings are in the news almost daily. If you are looking for ways to understand your credit and possible legal solutions, like bankruptcy, RocketLawyer.com can be a good place to start. This article describes a few of the personal and business credit and bankruptcy resources you can find from Rocket Lawyer. Denials of Credit and Credit Repair Help
There are several legal documents to help you if you have been denied credit. They include the following: Challenge to Denial of Credit Form, Request a Positive Report Form and the Credit Report Request Form. Also, in partnership with TrueCredit by TransUnion, every Rocket Lawyer Member can access their credit report by establishing a TrueCredit account directly linked from their Rocket Lawyer MyAccount page. TrueCredit can help you monitor your credit and provides lots of helpful tips about how to improve your credit rating with all three credit information agencies. Bankruptcy Legal HelpThe RocketLawyer.com Bankruptcy Worksheet is a good place to start for anyone considering the legal issues surrounding personal or business bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Worksheet will help you organize and understand your personal financial situation and gather the information that you should have available for your attorney for a pre-bankruptcy consultation. The Bankruptcy Worksheet can also provide the basic information about how to file for bankruptcy, step by step. Find a Lawyer to help with Credit and Bankruptcy MattersThe free Rocket Lawyer legal directory contains profiles of attorneys in every state who can assist with a variety of legal matters, including credit and bankruptcy legal information and filings. Click here to find a lawyer in your state.  Our featured Bankruptcy Lawyer for this issue is Henry Repay, of Belvidere, Illinois. Labels: bankruptcy, bankruptcy attorney, bankruptcy lawyer, business finance, credit, credit repair, credit report, file bankruptcy, find a lawyer, fix credit, law, legal, personal finance, small business
# posted by Charley Moore : 1:35 PM
 
Real Legal Help from Real Lawyers
One of the best kept secrets in a world of televised celebrity lawyers in expensive suits is that there are thousands of affordable real lawyers here to help you with your legal questions and issues. While celebrity attorneys may offer general information on TV and on the radio, real people have real questions that are specific to their lives and business matters that don’t fit into neatly canned answers. Real people also have personal and business legal documents that they need a real lawyer to review, revise and complete at a reasonable price. Until now, these real people with their real legal documents would need to find a lawyer, go to the lawyer’s office (an office that costs money that results in higher legal bills for the client), pay for copies, mail, fax and other expenses, and then wait for the legal document, such as a legal will, a power of attorney, a lease or a business contract, to be finished, often after several weeks. Alternatively, a real person might try a web site that offers do it yourself legal forms. Most of these sites seem to offer nothing more than a downloadable PDF or word processor document, with little legal help and legal information. Other sites might have fill-in worksheets for legal documents and then require the person to wait for the document to be completed offline and mailed to them later. In either scenario, the real person is often left back where they started – needing affordable legal help and not being able to find it. But wait – there is finally a better way, a way to have the best of both worlds – do it yourself legal documents, plus legal help and legal document review by real lawyers online! RocketLawyer.com offers both easy to use interactive free legal documents that real people can complete as well as click-through legal review by real lawyers. Now, a real person can fill in as much or as little of their legal documents as they feel comfortable with and then find a lawyer to help them online – without the need to visit a lawyer’s office or wait for the mail to complete the legal document. All you have to do to try the do it yourself legal document services with Click-through Legal Review™ is visit RocketLawyer.com today. If you are a lawyer, and you would like to join the growing RocketLawyer.com virtual law office network to begin offering your services online, just start here – and, best of all, it’s completely free for join the network and get a free professional profile here! Labels: find a lawyer, free, lawyer website, legal documents, legal forms, legal help, legal information
# posted by Charley Moore : 12:15 PM
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