Author Archive
Josh Jones
April 8, 2011
U.S. Senator Al Franken (D. Minnesota), along with 28 cosponsors, has once again submitted a bill to Congress that would provide protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students from bullying. Representative Jared Polis (D. Colorado) has submitted a similar bill to the U.S. House of Representatives, supported by 87 cosponsors. Meanwhile, Senators Robert Casey (D. Pennsylvania) and Mark Kirk (R. Illinois) submitted a nearly identical, bi-partisan bill. U.S. Representative Linda Sanchez says she will introduce a House version of the Casey-Kirk bill. The Casey-Kirk bill is known as the Safe Schools Improvement Act, and the Franken bill is named for gay teen suicide victim Seth Walsh.
All of the bills focus on implementation of policies and procedures to prevent, detect, and resolve bullying on campuses and include sexual orientation as a protected category of student. The Safe Schools Improvement Act is unique in that it also includes provisions to protect students from cyber-bullying.
Several states have adopted general anti-bullying statutes. However, many of those laws do not specifically include protections based on… Keep reading
Josh Jones
April 1, 2011
As graduation approaches, those 3L law students not already committed to a bar review service should start shopping around. The typical BarBri and PMBR combination are hardly the only options, and graduates should not feel trapped by the peer pressure and marketing of these traditional review courses. Just because these, and maybe Kaplan or MicroMash, are the only companies that show up on campus does not mean they are the only bar review systems.
In the last ten years, the variety of bar review companies has exploded. The internet has changed the bar review market in significant ways. Courses like MicroMash and Themis offer home-study programs for almost every state. A student can study at his own pace and submit writing assignments online, getting feedback via email. Lectures are available via online video, ready for rewind, fastforward and replay. Outlines and flow charts can be downloaded in pdf or even Word format, allowing edits. Such features come in handy as the bar approaches and problem areas are pinpointed for further review. However, like the traditional classroom systems, these are also very expensive.
There are also… Keep reading
Josh Jones
February 16, 2011
For July bar examinees, application deadlines are fast approaching. Those deadlines include the application for a determination of the examinees’ moral and character fitness to practice law. Some states require that it be submitted simultaneously with the exam application, while others, such as California, allow submission at any time. Though it can be a daunting form, it is extremely important that applicants take it seriously and answer every question with complete honesty.
Gather Information
First time bar applicants are usually surprised that the moral character and fitness process is such an extensive background screening. Considering that questions, such as employment history, may require responses going back to the applicant’s 18th birthday, some of the information may be distant memory. How many of us remember our supervisor’s name from a part-time job at the GAP freshman year of college? It is important that applicants read the entire application before answering any of the questions. The applicant should gather all of the requested information so that everything is available for references as the application is completed. Some of the same information may be called for in different questions.
Complete and Honest Disclosure
You cannot get… Keep reading
Josh Jones
February 12, 2011
In this third and final installment of The Law Inisder’s series, Understanding the Landlord Tenant Relationship, we will take a look at the eviction process. Though eviction sounds frightening to a tenant, a better understanding of the process and its limitations can help a renter rest easier.
Eviction is the legal process by which a landlord ousts a tenant from the leasehold and regains possession. It is the landlord’s typical remedy for breach of the lease by the tenant. The specific details of the process vary from state-to-state, as defined by state statutes and case law. However, generally the states are uniform. A tenant facing eviction should consult an attorney in his own jurisdiction to determine his options. Find a Lawyer Here.
Probably the most common scenario that prompts an eviction is the failure to pay rent. Each state has its own timeframe by which a tenant must pay rent before the landlord can start the eviction process. A lease may further extend that timeframe as well. In some states, such as Florida, a landlord can start the eviction process if a tenant is late in paying rent… Keep reading
Josh Jones
February 1, 2011
A British Officer of the Home Office of Border and Immigration Agency was dismissed last week after it was discovered that he had maliciously placed his own wife’s name on the UK’s no-fly list to prevent her from coming home. She had been visiting family in Pakistan, and when she attempted to return, she was denied a flight—for three years. His fraudulent act was discovered only recently during a review of the list.
The No-Fly List in the United States is maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is not the same as the Terrorist Watch List, which focuses on individuals known or thought to be tied to terrorist organizations. By comparison, the No-Fly List contains approximately 8500 names while the Terrorist Watch List contains more than one million names. The No-Fly List has been highly criticized for false positives and racial and ethnic profiling.
Several failures of the No-Fly List have been noted as evidence of a system which offers only a false sense of security. For example, several children have appeared on the No-Fly List and been denied passage, such as Keep reading
Josh Jones
February 1, 2011
Continuing with our three part series, Understanding the Landlord Tenant Relationship, The Law Insider takes a look at the issue of habitability. Habitability concerns the physical conditions of a leased property. Though there may be some issues concerning ability to use the property in commercial leases, generally, habitability concerns residential property. If the landlord fails to maintain habitable premises, the tenant has some options.
Habitability is one of the implied warranties in a lease agreement. That is, the oral or written agreement creating the lease need not specifically address the issue. Habitability is guaranteed by the nature of the relationship and subject of the contract—real property. An endless array of problems could arise that limit the habitability of a property, in whole or partially. An extreme example may be that part of the dwelling burns, leaving only part or none of the home safe for use. More common examples are lack of heat, vermin infestation, mold, and security problems such as drug dealing neighbors. The exact standards for habitability are set forth in state statutes and case law. However, in all jurisdictions the general rule can be… Keep reading
Josh Jones
January 23, 2011
This week, the world was amused by the misfortune of Reading, Pennsylvania resident Cathy Marrero. Mrs. Marrero took a tumble into a fountain at the shopping mall where she works. Was there an obstacle over which she stumbled? Did someone push her? No. She was too busy texting to realize she was walking right into the water fountain. Thank goodness she wasn’t driving. MORE AFTER THE JUMP.
The security video surveillance captured everything. It was only a matter of time before the video leaked to the world wide web and became viral. Now Mrs. Marrero is angry. She is considering a law suit against the mall. She has hired attorney James Polyack to handle her claim. Mr. Polyack and his client have been making the rounds on the news circuit. She’s angry that mall personnel never offered assistance nor did they check to see if she was ok. Does she have a case? Not likely.
She will never succeed in a lawsuit because Pennsylvania has adopted a contributory negligence rule. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Code prohibits recovery by a plaintiff whose own negligence is greater than that of the defendant in
… Keep reading
Josh Jones
January 22, 2011
Traditionally in the United States, we think of government as having three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Through a system of checks and balances, each of the three branches can override the actions of another branch, all in the hope of preventing tyrannical rule. However, citizens should be aware that they are also a branch of government. The right to vote is the primary source of power for the people, but jury nullification is another power.
Jury nullification occurs when the jury, a cross-section of the community, makes a decision contrary to the weight of the evidence and black letter of the law. Essentially, the jury refuses to enforce the law against the particular defendant. As a measure of checks and balances against the official three branches of government, it is not highly effective. Yet, over time, consistent jury nullification of a law erodes the power of that law until eventually, government resources are diverted from enforcing that law. Jury nullification can be traced back to the United States Revolution when juries refused to rule guilty in the cases of patriots prosecuted under English law. Perhaps the power’s most common use was during Prohibition
… Keep reading
Josh Jones
January 17, 2011
Perhaps the most common of all business relationship is that of the landlord and tenant. The rights and obligations of landlords and tenants to each other and the properties can vary significantly between residential and commercial properties and from state-to-state. Understanding landlord tenant law requires a careful look at leases, state statutes, and case law. In this three part series, The Law Insider demystifies this very common, but often misunderstood, real estate contract. In part one, we look at leases—the contracts of landlord tenant law.
Thanks to an old legal doctrine known as the statute of frauds, real estate contracts should be in writing. Leasehold tenancies (a.k.a., a renting relationship with a property owner) are real estate transactions, and thus, rental agreements or leases should be in writing. However, there are many exceptions to the rule that could make an oral lease agreement binding, such has possession of the property or ongoing receipt (and cashing) of rent checks. For example, most everyone has been a party to or known someone who has been party to a month-to-month lease without a written contract. Another example arises when the parties… Keep reading
Josh Jones
January 3, 2011
An attorney is a lawyer, but a lawyer may not necessarily be an attorney.
FIND A LAWYER IN YOUR AREA NOW EMAIL US HERE
On television, in advertisements, and from our friends, we often hear reference to “lawyers” and “attorneys.” Despite the ease of categorizing these two words as synonyms, they do in fact mean different things. The difference is only slight, but it matters a great deal to state bar associations, particularly in the investigation and prosecution of unauthorized practice of law cases. However, practically speaking, the terms have become interchangeable in the United States.
A lawyer is simply one who is trained in the law. They may or may not provide legal guidance to another. Thus, anyone who has attended law school in the United States can consider themselves a lawyer. However, until they pass the bar exam in the jurisdiction in which they intend to work, the method by which they use their lawyering skills is limited. For example, a policy advisor or consultant to the government, who attended law school, is technically a lawyer and may offer his skills in the course of his work, but he… Keep reading
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