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AreYouIn
Aug 31, 2001


You've to be shitting me.
This thread is for your questions that involve legal advice of some sort. This thread is very helpful for explaining general legal concepts that might apply to your circumstances. For example, if you are confused about how to file a lawsuit, and you want to know the general steps, we can explain how that process works in our jurisdiction. If you want to know how to get divorced, we can explain the general process.

This thread is not very helpful for evaluating whether you have a legal claim or not, although the law goons have done some of this in the past. This thread is also not useful for telling you what papers to file in court, or how to respond to a lawsuit, or anything like that. For example, if you want to sue someone, we can point you in the right direction but we can’t tell you what to write on your complaint. If you want to get divorced, we aren’t going to help you figure out all of the paperwork that you will need to file. This information is too specific. This thread should not take the place of an attorney in your decision-making process! You should take everything with a handful of salt, and you should still contact a lawyer!

If you have a question about law school or being a lawyer, try the Law School Megathread over here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3203215

If you have a question about taxes, try the Income Tax Megathread over here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2649574

If you have a question that you want to ask in this thread, you should probably ask a lawyer too, so here is a link to a website that has contact information for the lawyer referral services of all fifty states: http://www.statebarassociations.org/lrs.htm Check that website, find your state, call the phone number and tell the person who answers that you want a referral for an attorney.

If you must post your question here, please follow these guidelines:

1. Tell us what jurisdiction you are in! Generally, this means that you should tell us what state you are in. Most of the questions that are asked in this thread involve areas of law such as landlord/tenant, personal injury, criminal law, family law, employment law, and contracts. These areas of law are very state-specific, so please please please tell us your jurisdiction! A Florida attorney isn’t going to know the answer to a question involving Minnesota law. Make sure your post includes your state at least. You don’t need to include your city or county, in general, and you probably shouldn’t reveal that much information on the internet anyway.

2. Are you involved in an active lawsuit? Have you been sued? Are you suing someone? Do not talk about your case here. It is possible, although it is not likely, that your comments here will be discovered by the opposing side. It would be very bad for you to say things that could be construed as defamation, or for you to reveal information that you do not want the other side to know. If you are involved in a lawsuit and you do not have an attorney, GO GET ONE. Do not bother asking us about your problem because you shouldn’t be talking about it here, and unless one of us law goons is in your jurisdiction we can’t really help you anyway.

3. Are you a criminal defendant? Get a lawyer, and do not talk about your case here. This is a public space, and you do not want to admit to anything that you wouldn’t have told the cops already.

For both rules #2 and #3, if you feel that you absolutely must talk about your ongoing lawsuit, check with your attorney to make sure that they at least know about it. It is probable that they will tell you not to talk about it here.

4. Do you disagree with your lawyer’s advice? Don’t come into this thread looking for us to take your side. Generally speaking, your attorney will know more about the local judges, prosecutors, and other attorneys. Your attorney will be much better informed about the facts of your case and the proper strategies to employ. We can give you a general sense of legal doctrines, but we cannot competently critique your attorney’s performance. If you do not like your lawyer, or you think your lawyer is not competent, that’s perfectly OK. The proper response is for you to find another lawyer! See the above link if you need a referral.

5. Did you suffer some relatively minor injury, and you want to know how much you can sue for? There have been a couple of these posts in the last year, where a goon says “Hey I slipped and fell and I’m not really hurt, but I feel like I could get some sort of compensation.” Or, to use a more recent example, one goon stated that their box of candy contained bad product. General rule of thumb: if something bad happens to you, but you aren’t really injured and generally you are going to be just fine, do not sue anyone just because you want money. If you ask about this sort of thing here, we law goons will mock you and generally treat you like scum.

6. And lastly, if you are not a lawyer please don’t argue with those of us who are attorneys. If we tell you that The Law means X, and you don’t like that response, please do not argue that The Law REALLY means Y. We aren’t trying to fight with you or make you feel bad, so don’t act like we are your enemies just because you didn’t get the answer you wanted. It’s a disincentive for law goons to participate in this thread when people argue with us as those they understand the law better than we do.

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Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

AreYouIn posted:

RULES OF GOON PROCEDURE

Just as a point for landlord/tenant issues, some cities and counties have specific ordinances regarding landlord/tenant relationships, dealing with return of security deposit and such. So for those issues, it might not be too bad to include a county or even a city (if it's reasonable that your identity wouldn't be revealed by doing so) when asking about a situation.

Dotcom Jillionaire
Jul 19, 2006

Social distortion
I don't have a JD and never went to law school, but I'm very interested in the particular field of media law. Atleast I went to school for Journalism, so I've got some media law and ethics backing, but I've had a nagging question that's bothered me for some time.

We all have First Amendment rights in this country, the same standards apply to corporations, who are people according to the law. In the media industry we have, or used to have in any case, a good deal of ethical dilemmas when it came to reporting the news. The job of a journalist is to disseminate truth to the public for the greater good, but in a news world where scandal and hype and controversy guide the decisions of what editors should be running, I wonder if there is any legal precedent that deals with news organizations being charged with something along the lines of "harm to the public" or "malfeasance" or something similar to what a consumer might accuse a company of if their physical product was operating in a harmful and unintended way.

Mainly I'd want to apply something like that to News Corp and FOX News in particular. You can't condemn FOX outright for running with the stories they run with, you can't even condemn Glenn Beck for saying what he says because we all have the right to say such things. What about the aftermath of what's being said though? Does FOX bear any responsibility to the public to work in an ethical context? What if some nut were to pick up a gun and shoot another person and claim that their crimes were motivated because of some anti-immigration screed he heard on the Glenn Beck show?

Is news considered to be a product produced by a company? Would it stand up to the same consumer protections as a physical product? By FOX's own admission, it is not a news organization but instead is an entertainment/commentary channel motivated to get high ratings. Can FOX News even legally use the word "news" in their slogans and network moniker if this is the case?

Dotcom Jillionaire fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Feb 12, 2010

I LOVE YOU
Aug 25, 2009

tehschulman posted:

You can't condemn FOX outright for running with the stories they run with, you can't even condemn Glenn Beck for saying what he says because we all have the right to say such things.

Have the legal right to say retarded poo poo != can't be condemned for saying retarded poo poo

King of the Cows
Jun 1, 2007
If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?

tehschulman posted:

I don't have a JD and never went to law school, but I'm very interested in the particular field of media law. Atleast I went to school for Journalism, so I've got some media law and ethics backing, but I've had a nagging question that's bothered me for some time.

We all have First Amendment rights in this country, the same standards apply to corporations, who are people according to the law. In the media industry we have, or used to have in any case, a good deal of ethical dilemmas when it came to reporting the news. The job of a journalist is to disseminate truth to the public for the greater good, but in a news world where scandal and hype and controversy guide the decisions of what editors should be running, I wonder if there is any legal precedent that deals with news organizations being charged with something along the lines of "harm to the public" or "malfeasance" or something similar to what a consumer might accuse a company of if their physical product was operating in a harmful and unintended way.

Mainly I'd want to apply something like that to News Corp and FOX News in particular. You can't condemn FOX outright for running with the stories they run with, you can't even condemn Glenn Beck for saying what he says because we all have the right to say such things. What about the aftermath of what's being said though? Does FOX bear any responsibility to the public to work in an ethical context? What if some nut were to pick up a gun and shoot another person and claim that their crimes were motivated because of some anti-immigration screed he heard on the Glenn Beck show?

Is news considered to be a product produced by a company? Would it stand up to the same consumer protections as a physical product? By FOX's own admission, it is not a news organization but instead is an entertainment/commentary channel motivated to get high ratings. Can FOX News even legally use the word "news" in their slogans and network moniker if this is the case?

I think you're asking a few different questions there.

First, you're asking if a commentator can be liable for inciting someone to commit a crime. The answer is (as are most things in the law): "it depends." For example, if Glenn Beck (or whomever) told his listeners to go out and kill a particular person, then he could be found to be both criminally and civilly responsible if someone actually did it.

Generally getting people whipped up into a frenzy over an issue, however, is probably not actionable. So if Glenn Beck railed all day about, say, illegal immigration, and then one of his listeners went out and killed an illegal immigrant, he'd face no consequences. And for good reason - you don't want to chill speech (particularly political speech) merely because some nut case takes your argument to extremes. There are exceptions, however - as you may be aware, Nancy Grace is being sued right now because she badgered a murder suspect the night before the suspect committed suicide. Also, you might remember that the Jenny Jones show was found liable for the death of a guy who appeared on the show and professed that he had a crush on his friend, whereafter the friend murdered him. That case was later reversed on appeal, but it still got to the jury.

Second, you are asking if commentators owe some kind of ethical duty to the general public. That's outside the purview of law-talking folks and you'd be in a better position to answer it, what with your journalism training. Generally speaking, "ethical" duties usually don't carry a criminal or civil sanction, unless they violate some prescribed duty of care.

Third, you're asking if "news" is a product that falls under truth-in-advertising law or is otherwise subject to some kind of consumer protection. I don't have any particular knowledge in this field, but my gut says, "no." As you pointed out, "news" isn't a physical product. It can't be "defective," even if it's untrue. If it goes bad, it can't cause you physical injury. Sure, you can be defamed by a news organization, but you have a specific cause of action for that. Furthermore, every "news" outlet, be it TV, radio, newspaper or internet, makes editorial decisions on what and how something is reported, and sometimes those decisions at least appear to reflect a bias.

WhiskeyJuvenile
Feb 15, 2002

by Nyc_Tattoo

tehschulman posted:

I don't have a JD and never went to law school, but I'm very interested in the particular field of media law. Atleast I went to school for Journalism, so I've got some media law and ethics backing, but I've had a nagging question that's bothered me for some time.

We all have First Amendment rights in this country, the same standards apply to corporations, who are people according to the law. In the media industry we have, or used to have in any case, a good deal of ethical dilemmas when it came to reporting the news. The job of a journalist is to disseminate truth to the public for the greater good, but in a news world where scandal and hype and controversy guide the decisions of what editors should be running, I wonder if there is any legal precedent that deals with news organizations being charged with something along the lines of "harm to the public" or "malfeasance" or something similar to what a consumer might accuse a company of if their physical product was operating in a harmful and unintended way.

Mainly I'd want to apply something like that to News Corp and FOX News in particular. You can't condemn FOX outright for running with the stories they run with, you can't even condemn Glenn Beck for saying what he says because we all have the right to say such things. What about the aftermath of what's being said though? Does FOX bear any responsibility to the public to work in an ethical context? What if some nut were to pick up a gun and shoot another person and claim that their crimes were motivated because of some anti-immigration screed he heard on the Glenn Beck show?

Is news considered to be a product produced by a company? Would it stand up to the same consumer protections as a physical product? By FOX's own admission, it is not a news organization but instead is an entertainment/commentary channel motivated to get high ratings. Can FOX News even legally use the word "news" in their slogans and network moniker if this is the case?

I've been tempted to bring a Lanham Act false advertising claim against Fox given some of their news coverage as damages statutorily could go up to daily profits, which has got to be a good paycheck.

MyStereoHasMono
Feb 23, 2006

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space
All right reposting this because it was at the very end of the last thread. Many thanks to the two who replied so far.

As far as documentation for the money I put into the company, I'm sure I do if Paypal keeps records for that long. If not, possibly my bank.

As far as the forbearance of commission goes, I'm not sure how much proof I have. I mean I'm sure my bank has records of deposits from the company with the "note" being "Sales commission." Much of our ad space was brokered to another company in a deal I arranged, so I'm sure they'd have the records of the ads we displayed for them if the site I worked for was claiming they didn't have any records.

Anyway, the post:

quote:

Back in 2003 a new website started, and I was the #2 guy of the operation. We started as a hobby site but knew we had the potential to eventually make money, which we did through ad sales. I was in charge of the ad sales (in addition to many other things). Because we had no budget or loan to start this business, I only made commission based on the sales I made.

Now our community was very large and it was common knowledge that I was the #2 guy in charge of the site, but despite this, I had my name attached to basically none of the official paperwork (no hosting bills, for example).

Eventually the company began to change and I hated the new people brought in to take control. I was slowly pushed to a less active role in the community and more into a business/ad sales side of things. Eventually the company was bought out (for approximately half a million) and several of the people brought in after me got about 10% of that due to stock. I was never given stock because my relationship with the owner had partially turned sour, because I was often outspoken in the community about my disagreements with him on the direction of the company - bad mistake but I was young). Despite this sourness I was still involved in the company with ad sales and general consultation. I was also still providing many great ideas for new features - some of which have since been implemented.

I figured the dude would offer me some type of compensation for the years of service I did for him that didnt fall under the commission umbrella. I didnt feel he could make the claim "Well it was a business you didnt get stock sorry buddy" because so much of the dynamic was NOT strictly business. I donated personal money to the site at the early stages. I didnt take any commission on months where we didnt earn enough to cover the bills. So much of what I did was outside of the ad sales/commission.

I've tried to talk to him about this subject but he has completely ignored me. He is a very nice/intelligent/fair person so only thing I could think of is that he's ignoring me out of legal advice. All I want is a small amount of money for my services. Do I have any legal leg to stand on without any official acknowledgment like stock?

Richard M Nixon
Apr 26, 2009

"The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker."
I'm interested to know how a court would handle a case that is really technical in nature. For example, if someone were caught producing malicious code and preforming exploits on a company, how would the judge handle hearing about proof that connections were made between IP x and Y, or a deep packet inspection proved that this bit string was being sent there? How would the jury (if there was one) be taught WTF a packet was and why people were taking a server in the back door? Would a civil suit (e.g. punitive damages from piracy) be different than a criminal suit (felony hacking)?

:science::iamafag:

JudicialRestraints
Oct 26, 2007

Are you a LAWYER? Because I'll have you know I got GOOD GRADES in LAW SCHOOL last semester. Don't even try to argue THE LAW with me.

Richard M Nixon posted:

I'm interested to know how a court would handle a case that is really technical in nature. For example, if someone were caught producing malicious code and preforming exploits on a company, how would the judge handle hearing about proof that connections were made between IP x and Y, or a deep packet inspection proved that this bit string was being sent there? How would the jury (if there was one) be taught WTF a packet was and why people were taking a server in the back door? Would a civil suit (e.g. punitive damages from piracy) be different than a criminal suit (felony hacking)?

:science::iamafag:

Expert witnesses, a couple computer science professors would get paid an obscene amount of money to explain what happened to the jury. Yes civil and criminal suits are different (at least for standards of proof).

Alaemon
Jan 4, 2009

Proctors are guardians of the sanctity and integrity of legal education, therefore they are responsible for the nourishment of the soul.

Richard M Nixon posted:

I'm interested to know how a court would handle a case that is really technical in nature. For example, if someone were caught producing malicious code and preforming exploits on a company, how would the judge handle hearing about proof that connections were made between IP x and Y, or a deep packet inspection proved that this bit string was being sent there? How would the jury (if there was one) be taught WTF a packet was and why people were taking a server in the back door? Would a civil suit (e.g. punitive damages from piracy) be different than a criminal suit (felony hacking)?

:science::iamafag:

Expert witnesses.

Richard M Nixon
Apr 26, 2009

"The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker."

JudicialRestraints posted:

Expert witnesses, a couple computer science professors would get paid an obscene amount of money to explain what happened to the jury. Yes civil and criminal suits are different (at least for standards of proof).

So the entire case could basically rest on how well some CS guy paid to come in can speed teach a judge everything he needs to know to understand if there is enough evidence to prove it?

JudicialRestraints
Oct 26, 2007

Are you a LAWYER? Because I'll have you know I got GOOD GRADES in LAW SCHOOL last semester. Don't even try to argue THE LAW with me.

Richard M Nixon posted:

So the entire case could basically rest on how well some CS guy paid to come in can speed teach a judge everything he needs to know to understand if there is enough evidence to prove it?

yes, the defense will probably hire someone to explain why what the defendant did was actually legal too.

Richard M Nixon
Apr 26, 2009

"The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker."

JudicialRestraints posted:

yes, the defense will probably hire someone to explain why what the defendant did was actually legal too.

Wow...that is scary :psyduck: I wonder why we don't have judges and lawyers who have CS degrees (we rock the LSATs) seeing as technical law has emerged so much in the past decades.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Richard M Nixon posted:

Wow...that is scary :psyduck: I wonder why we don't have judges and lawyers who have CS degrees (we rock the LSATs) seeing as technical law has emerged so much in the past decades.

Because they get paid more money being patent lawyers or coders than they would if they did the kind of law you're talking about

JudicialRestraints
Oct 26, 2007

Are you a LAWYER? Because I'll have you know I got GOOD GRADES in LAW SCHOOL last semester. Don't even try to argue THE LAW with me.

Richard M Nixon posted:

Wow...that is scary :psyduck: I wonder why we don't have judges and lawyers who have CS degrees (we rock the LSATs) seeing as technical law has emerged so much in the past decades.
We do for patent infringement and stuff like that. That said, the liberal arts degrees of most lawyers translate pretty effectively into being able to quickly pick up enough knowledge through research to try that sort of thing.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

JudicialRestraints posted:

We do for patent infringement and stuff like that. That said, the liberal arts degrees of most lawyers translate pretty effectively into being able to quickly pick up enough knowledge through research to try that sort of thing.

Well, and from a policy standpoint, the burden is on the parties to present facts to the trier of fact, rather than the trier of fact having personal knowledge of a non-legal field and weighing it into their decision making.

Leif.
Mar 27, 2005

Son of the Defender
Formerly Diplomaticus/SWATJester
In cases with extremely complex evidentiary issues, in addition to expert witnesses the court will sometimes appoint "special masters" as well.

Moruitelda
Aug 7, 2005

I'll shut you up with my cock, you son of a bitch!

Richard M Nixon posted:

So the entire case could basically rest on how well some CS guy paid to come in can speed teach a judge everything he needs to know to understand if there is enough evidence to prove it?

Let me answer your question with another question. Is OJ Simpson a free man?

dogbox
Mar 19, 2007

Give me back my stick.

Richard M Nixon posted:

I'm interested to know how a court would handle a case that is really technical in nature. For example, if someone were caught producing malicious code and preforming exploits on a company, how would the judge handle hearing about proof that connections were made between IP x and Y, or a deep packet inspection proved that this bit string was being sent there? How would the jury (if there was one) be taught WTF a packet was and why people were taking a server in the back door? Would a civil suit (e.g. punitive damages from piracy) be different than a criminal suit (felony hacking)?

:science::iamafag:

In the UK there is a whole division of the courts system devoted to really, really hard, technical cases (the Chancery Division), as well as a specialist Technology and Construction Court for good measure. They will have specialist judges and slightly specialised procedures. (Of course, in the UK almost all civil cases are tried without a jury)

By analogy, I wouldn't be surprised if the US has something similar.

Controversially, in the UK there is a big debate about whether very, very technical criminal cases should also be heard without a jury (IIRC the first non-jury criminal trial since Ireland in the '80s is going on at the moment).

dvgrhl
Sep 30, 2004

Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can give some walnuts and chocolates and get gold from him?
Soiled Meat

Moruitelda posted:

Let me answer your question with another question. Is OJ Simpson a free man?

Nope.

nm
Jan 28, 2008

"I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

Richard M Nixon posted:

Wow...that is scary :psyduck: I wonder why we don't have judges and lawyers who have CS degrees (we rock the LSATs) seeing as technical law has emerged so much in the past decades.
Because in a trail, even a technical trial having a good trial attorney is far more important than having an attorney that understands every single technical detail without an expert.
In any event, an expert currently in the field is a far better expert than someone with a BS but hasn't done anything but law in 15 years, even if it is science law.
Further, there are so many different areas of science covered under complex litigation that it would be impossible to have an attorney or judge or understood every subject involved.
Finally, in extremely complex areas a judge may appoint his own neutral expert to make sure that the judge isn't being hoodwinked by biased experts on the other side (like in State v. Chun).

Brut
Aug 21, 2007

I live on the second floor of a duplex, we have a big garage shared with our neighbours (two seperate doors but combined on the inside) and in front of that is our driveway which fits 2 cars behind eachother per door, our neighbours have the left side where they keep a car that hasn't worked in months closer to the garage and a big pile of snow on the far side, tonight he decided to park his car behind one of our cars, in our spot, which is a problem because A. he's blocking our car from getting out, B. he's blocking our other car from getting in.

Here's my question, if I call a tow truck and explain the situation and they agree to tow it, would I be possibly liable for...well, anything?

We're in Philadelphia, PA.

Loopyface
Mar 22, 2003
Is there assigned parking? Why not just ask your neighbor to move his car?

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

Brut posted:

Here's my question, if I call a tow truck and explain the situation and they agree to tow it, would I be possibly liable for...well, anything?

We're in Philadelphia, PA.

Have you asked him to move it? I agree you shouldn't have to ask, but...

You may also want to include such information as "Who is the property owner?" and whether you have a formal agreement on the driveway.

Brut
Aug 21, 2007

wormil posted:

Have you asked him to move it? I agree you shouldn't have to ask, but...

You may also want to include such information as "Who is the property owner?" and whether you have a formal agreement on the driveway.

I tried asking him to move the car and he literally laughed in my face.

Sorry I didn't realise I didn't mention it but we rent, so the property owner is our landlord and as for the parking I don't believe it's in the contract but the parking was part of the deal when we moved in and it's been fairly clear to both parties until this happened that the right side of the garage and driveway is ours and the left side is his.

On a side note, the neighbour is a giant dick that would randomly yell at my wife over stupid things when I'm at work(such as us having a bit of snow left on our driveway, when his isn't cleaned at all :psyduck: ), reasoning with him doesn't seem too realistic and even if I could get him to move it eventually, I'd at this point rather show him that there's consequences for doing things like this, but I don't wanna go through with it if it'll end up getting me in to legal trouble down the line, as that's simply not worth it.

Loopyface
Mar 22, 2003
Wait, you asked him to move his car so you could get yours out, and he said no? We had a guy park on the street and block my driveway enough so that I couldn't move my car, so we called the non-emergency number for the police, they came out wrote the guy a ticket and had it towed. Try calling the cops first.

Brut
Aug 21, 2007

Alright well looks like it's fine for now because after a screaming match with his wife who is (just barely) more sane than he is, he finally moved his truck somewhere else, I'm still interested in the answer though in case this happens again, as far as whether or not I'd be liable for anything if I get his car towed.

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Brut posted:

Alright well looks like it's fine for now because after a screaming match with his wife who is (just barely) more sane than he is, he finally moved his truck somewhere else, I'm still interested in the answer though in case this happens again, as far as whether or not I'd be liable for anything if I get his car towed.

Seems like calling the cops when they're blocking your cars in is the best bet. There are no posted parking signs, you don't have a written parking agreement, and you're not the property owner.

The Waffler
Apr 15, 2006
Real Pirates Play Frisbee
A collection agency just sent me a notice of a debt that I owe because of a surgery in 2007. Due to some mistake with my father's insurance being switched three weeks earlier than it should have, my operation was not covered when the bill was sent out. We tried to work with the insurance company but they have done nothing. I do not have near the amount of money they say I owe. I live in Wisconsin. I was over 18 when I had the surgery.

What kind of options do I have in this situation?
Does this debt disappear after seven years?
Are debt collectors going to show up and rough me about?
Is a 4,000 dollar debt going to ruin my credit score?

nm
Jan 28, 2008

"I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

The Waffler posted:

A collection agency just sent me a notice of a debt that I owe because of a surgery in 2007. Due to some mistake with my father's insurance being switched three weeks earlier than it should have, my operation was not covered when the bill was sent out. We tried to work with the insurance company but they have done nothing. I do not have near the amount of money they say I owe. I live in Wisconsin. I was over 18 when I had the surgery.

What kind of options do I have in this situation?
Does this debt disappear after seven years?
Are debt collectors going to show up and rough me about?
Is a 4,000 dollar debt going to ruin my credit score?
his is too little to late, but for anyone else, if this happens to you, talk to the hospital before it gets to this point.
Hospitals do not expect to get the full bill back, they mark them up for several reasons, but they will settle for a fraction of the bill and agree to a payment plan.

Solomon Grundy
Feb 10, 2007

Born on a Monday

Richard M Nixon posted:

Wow...that is scary :psyduck: I wonder why we don't have judges and lawyers who have CS degrees (we rock the LSATs) seeing as technical law has emerged so much in the past decades.

Believe it or not, around 1/4 of my practice is handling tech cases and hooking up other lawyers who are handling tech cases with appropriate experts.

entris
Oct 22, 2008

by Y Kant Ozma Post

The Waffler posted:

A collection agency just sent me a notice of a debt that I owe because of a surgery in 2007. Due to some mistake with my father's insurance being switched three weeks earlier than it should have, my operation was not covered when the bill was sent out. We tried to work with the insurance company but they have done nothing. I do not have near the amount of money they say I owe. I live in Wisconsin. I was over 18 when I had the surgery.

What kind of options do I have in this situation?
Does this debt disappear after seven years?
Are debt collectors going to show up and rough me about?
Is a 4,000 dollar debt going to ruin my credit score?

I second nm's comments: the hospital will most likely accept less than the full amount, or at least agree to a payment plan.

The collection agency will certainly not rough you about, but yes if they sue you in court that will hurt your credit score.

Richard M Nixon
Apr 26, 2009

"The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker."

Solomon Grundy posted:

Believe it or not, around 1/4 of my practice is handling tech cases and hooking up other lawyers who are handling tech cases with appropriate experts.

I'm a CS student and I'll be going on to grad school before I am 'done'. I'm interested in forensics and cryptology (not for a living, but for fun, and I've done the DOD's forensics challenge); is there any sort of professional organization for people like me who do expert witnessing? I'd assume all you would need is a good enough degree and experience, but the other replies lead me to believe that professors get a lot of the gigs. Do big law firms (X & Y & associates or whatever the gently caress law firms call themselves) employ techies full time or contract with people to do that poo poo?

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Richard M Nixon posted:

I'm a CS student and I'll be going on to grad school before I am 'done'. I'm interested in forensics and cryptology (not for a living, but for fun, and I've done the DOD's forensics challenge); is there any sort of professional organization for people like me who do expert witnessing? I'd assume all you would need is a good enough degree and experience, but the other replies lead me to believe that professors get a lot of the gigs. Do big law firms (X & Y & associates or whatever the gently caress law firms call themselves) employ techies full time or contract with people to do that poo poo?

Publish a lot. That'll help

E: And usually there are expert witness associations for certain fields.

Richard M Nixon
Apr 26, 2009

"The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker."

The Waffler posted:

A collection agency just sent me a notice of a debt that I owe because of a surgery in 2007. Due to some mistake with my father's insurance being switched three weeks earlier than it should have, my operation was not covered when the bill was sent out. We tried to work with the insurance company but they have done nothing. I do not have near the amount of money they say I owe. I live in Wisconsin. I was over 18 when I had the surgery.

What kind of options do I have in this situation?
Does this debt disappear after seven years?
Are debt collectors going to show up and rough me about?
Is a 4,000 dollar debt going to ruin my credit score?

A 4k debt won't completely gently caress up your score, but it'll stay there for seven years from (I believe) the last date of your activity, but IDK. If it is truly with a collection agency and not just a collection department of the hospital, they will usually both settle your debt and totally expunge it from your report if you hassle them and explicitly tell them to purge it. You could also send them a letter requesting all correspondence be done in writing to end the phone calls, as well as to verify your debt. If they can't verify it, it goes away, but seeing as it is both recent and from a hospital, YMMV. You could try making a thread in BFC (or reply to the credit thread) to find out options.

Richard M Nixon
Apr 26, 2009

"The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker."

Incredulous Red posted:

Publish a lot. That'll help

E: And usually there are expert witness associations for certain fields.

I realize this will be a silly question, but I've read a few peer reviewed CS journals, and I can't imagine anyone who doesn't :awesome: to source code to actually read it, much less keep track of who writes on what. Do lawyers or other legal people get subscriptions to journals in different fields to keep a list of current experts, or is it more word of mouth?

Actual E: Why did you put an E when you didn't E? Huh?

JudicialRestraints
Oct 26, 2007

Are you a LAWYER? Because I'll have you know I got GOOD GRADES in LAW SCHOOL last semester. Don't even try to argue THE LAW with me.

Richard M Nixon posted:

I realize this will be a silly question, but I've read a few peer reviewed CS journals, and I can't imagine anyone who doesn't :awesome: to source code to actually read it, much less keep track of who writes on what. Do lawyers or other legal people get subscriptions to journals in different fields to keep a list of current experts, or is it more word of mouth?

Actual E: Why did you put an E when you didn't E? Huh?

Usually you go for clarity + lay prestige + experience. I.e. being a professor helps a lot.

WhiskeyJuvenile
Feb 15, 2002

by Nyc_Tattoo

Richard M Nixon posted:

I realize this will be a silly question, but I've read a few peer reviewed CS journals, and I can't imagine anyone who doesn't :awesome: to source code to actually read it, much less keep track of who writes on what. Do lawyers or other legal people get subscriptions to journals in different fields to keep a list of current experts, or is it more word of mouth?

Actual E: Why did you put an E when you didn't E? Huh?

You get to list it on your CV, regardless of who reads it.

zharmad
Feb 9, 2010

Here's a question for someone a little more familiar with real estate law than I am.

Background
My parents owned two parcels of land that they had a mortgage balance of about $20,000 on in 1997, and they had fallen on somewhat hard times to the point where they were no longer able to make the payments. I had the money set aside to pay off the mortgage, and after discussing it with my parents I agreed to pay it off the mortgage on the condition that I be given ownership of the parcels with my parents, using joint tenancy with full rights to survivorship. One of the parcels has a house on it that I was living in and still do, and I didn't want to create an issue with my siblings having any claim to my house when my parents passed away. My parents quit claim to myself and themselves. In late 2008 my father quit claim to me and in November 2009 my mother quit claim to me on both parcels. In December 2009 my parents were audited on their tax returns for 2006 and 2007 and the IRS disallowed all deductions and credits (Its in tax court right now so I'm not going to get into any more details). This resulted in a federal tax lien for around $400,000 being filed against my parents.

The current situation
I applied for a farm operating loan with the USDA in November 2009 and was set to close around the end of December, when the title company did the title search the underwriting felt that the quit claim deeds my parents executed were not valid because, even though they both quit claim on the properties the underwriter felt that the title on the property was tenancy in entirety, which to my understanding would have been true if they were the sole owners, however, since I had ownership since 2007 as well I felt the title was joint tenancy. I looked for some case law but wasn't able to find anything that related specifically to my situation. I'm really just looking for case law or something I can show the underwriter that shows the lien does not attach to the property.

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Solomon Grundy
Feb 10, 2007

Born on a Monday

Richard M Nixon posted:

I'm a CS student and I'll be going on to grad school before I am 'done'. I'm interested in forensics and cryptology (not for a living, but for fun, and I've done the DOD's forensics challenge); is there any sort of professional organization for people like me who do expert witnessing? I'd assume all you would need is a good enough degree and experience, but the other replies lead me to believe that professors get a lot of the gigs. Do big law firms (X & Y & associates or whatever the gently caress law firms call themselves) employ techies full time or contract with people to do that poo poo?

If you are going to do forensics and therefore are processing evidence, you need to have a basic understanding of the rules of evidence and chain of custody procedures. There are bootcamps for computer forensics and there are organizations which offer certifications in the field - http://www.isfce.com/.

Most big firms now have a few lawyers with a tech background. Back when I took an interest in this subject, that was not the case. I was a bit ahead of the curve, made some money as a lawyer helping other lawyers understand their tech cases. Now, most big firms have someone with similar skills inhouse, often "staff lawyers" as opposed to traditional associates. Therefore, most of my tech work is helping smaller firms or solos, as biglaw has caught up.

Richard M Nixon posted:

I realize this will be a silly question, but I've read a few peer reviewed CS journals, and I can't imagine anyone who doesn't :awesome: to source code to actually read it, much less keep track of who writes on what. Do lawyers or other legal people get subscriptions to journals in different fields to keep a list of current experts, or is it more word of mouth?

Actual E: Why did you put an E when you didn't E? Huh?

Lawyers almost always find expert witnesses from either word of mouth or researching what other lawyers have done. We have listservs, and we look up the expert witnesses used in other similar cases using research tools like Westlaw and PACER.

I have never read a CS journal and I never intend to.

The experts I have hired, or located for other lawyers, have come in four ways - 1) through knowledgeable posting in computer forensics listservs, 2) from meeting at forensics conferences and/or seminars, 3) knowledgeable blog writing on advanced tech topics, or 4) research into similar cases, as above.

In the years prior to the internet, expert locating services would keep paper directories of experts and their areas of expertise. Those services are dying with the explosion of the internet - I don't know any lawyers who still use those services.

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