Law For The Rest Of Us

Legal memoranda, like legal briefs, are usually written in a formulaic fashion, following certain rules that make is easy for a judge or other legal professional to digest the document quickly. Legal memoranda usually provide the underpinnings for most legal briefs. So, whether you need to prepare a memorandum or brief or merely need to decipher one, it may be helpful to know that most memoranda and briefs follow the same format. A very simple legal brief format follows this discussion. The format is called IRAC, which stands for Issue, Rule, Analysis/Argument and Conclusion. The following further explains the format. Issue In a clear and succinct manner, state the issue at hand. The issue can be formulated as a heading such as: “Whether the statute of limitations prohibits the cause of action for negligence by the plaintiff.” This may be how you see the issue stated in a legal brief. This heading is numbered and centered on the page as are all the subsequent headings. ...

wikimedia commons official portrait My household is abuzz over retired Justice John Paul Stevens' book, Six Amendments: How And Why We Should Change the Constitution. (Little, Brown & Co.) Run, don't walk to your nearest bookstore or Amazon, and plunk down the $20 or so it will take to buy it. This is a first. This is the first time a retired Supreme Court Justice has published a manifesto, if you will, on our Constitution. And in my humble opinion, this book, while short, opens a much needed dialogue on the need for Constitutional change by amendment in this county. The book is short and covers a number of topics, campaign finance, gerrymandering and perhaps the most important, and most controversial, the death penalty and the right to bear arms. Stevens would add words to the Second Amendment to read, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed." He writes: Emotional claims t...

Does an employer have the right to see your postings on various social media outlets on the internet?  States are moving to pass laws preventing an employer from asking for your password for Facebook and other social media sites. In 2012 six states passed laws to prohibit this employer practice. In 2013 seven more states followed. Other states are considering legislation. This is basically a privacy issue. And while an employer may have a right to perform a background check on  an employee or prospective employee when relevant to that employee's job performance, an employer may not have the right to invade an employee's private life where the matter is not directly relevant to the workplace. In all, as i=of the date of this writing, 26 states have either passed, introduced or have pending legislation on the matter. Here is a list :

Legal Duty. What is it and why do we care about it? This article will explain. This article will explore the basic concept and role of legal duty.  “Duty” is a term of art within the law. Its use is pervasive and it provides a floor or minimum level of legally acceptable behavior within a given set of circumstances. It is a method of imposing a legal obligation upon a person to behave in some manner. Injury occurs on a regular basis through accident, neglect, and even through intent. Not all injury is compensable under the law. It is only when a legal duty arises and has been breached that a person is entitled to legal reparations for that injury. Duty provides the very basic threshold of inquiry into the question of liability. Thus, the question of when a legal duty is owed has occupied courts for some time. The seminal U.S. case on the matter is Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. [i]  The facts of the case are instructive on the question of duty.  A passe...

Shakespeare said it best. Lawyers get a bad rap for good reasons. They are hugely expensive, they deal in an area of life we either don't want to touch or feel we can't deal with, and sometimes, they are money grubbing scumbags. So why do we need them, or do we. They answer is . .well maybe! I know that isn't what we most want to hear. But law is a complicated business and most of us just don't want to have to go there in our daily lives. Not only that, but legal minutia can drive a person crazy. Have you ever tried looking at a statute? Here is is really good example of statutory construction that is just mind boggling for the non-attorney, California Probate Code Section 13101: 13101. (a) To collect money, receive tangible personal property, or have evidences of a debt, obligation, interest, right, security, or chose in action transferred under this chapter, an affidavit or a declaration under penalty of perjury under the laws of this state shall be furnished to the...