Law For The Rest Of Us

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...

A living will is another term for an advance directive for medical decisions. Living wills or advance directives are legal documents which allow you to speak concerning your wishes and desires in situations where you are unable to.  They tell medical professionals what your treatment desires are during dire medical emergencies and during end of life care. These legal documents come in varying types. A living will contains specific instructions regarding the types of life sustaining treatments that you wish or do not wish. They can cover intubation, feeding tubes, and the like.  You can indicate what types of life sustaining measure you wish to be undertaken and for how long. These directives act as a set of instructions which medical professionals are required to consult and act in accordance with if you have a valid living will on file with your doctor/and/or hospital.  These documents can also contain instructions regarding cremation, burial and the like. ...

wikimedia commons  Corunna Coal Company 1890 Union Contract We live in a society that values orderliness. We like to know whose turn it is to proceed when we reach a four-way stop. We like to know what to expect in a given situation. This is the benefit that law can provide us. We like to know what is expected of us. If A, then B. If A happens before D, C happens. If no A, no B, etc. We enter into contracts all the time. Today, as never before, our lives are lived in an online world. We sign up for a service online. We buy products online. We "agree" to the terms of service without ever reading them.  We sign a document placed before us without reading it. We bind ourselves to unknown terms. We enter into contracts blindly. In California, and in other states. If you have signed it, you are deemed to have read it. That means you cannot plead ignorance to the contents of any document you sign. If you have signed it, if you have agreed to its terms by "click...

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...