Monthly Archives: March 2014

When a Collector Threatens You With Jail

03 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by in In Custodia Legis

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dowlinglawoffice's avatarBankruptcy Law Updates

There are two scenarios that I have seen where purported debt collectors have threatened people with jail.  One of them is an out and out scam.  The other is just illegal.  The scam is the most common so let’s start there.

  • Collector calls and tells you that if you don’t pay a certain bill immediately, the Sheriff is going to come to your house and arrest you.  You have to pay this today.  You are going to be arrested tomorrow.  The only way you can pay this is by electronic funds transfer from your checking account over the phone RIGHT NOW.  You cannot mail in a check — even a certified check sent next day delivery.  Nope.  It must be over the phone, straight from your checking account RIGHT NOW.

When was the last time a legitimate debt collector wouldn’t take a cashier’s check by mail?  They are so interested…

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Canada’s Justice Laws Website.

03 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by in Canada

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Justice Laws Website

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/

If you are looking for Canadian law, this is a good place to start. This online source of Canada’s consolidated Acts and regulations is updated weekly. The site’s search engine provides basic and advanced search features. -CCE

Medicare Study of Injuries and Fatalities in Skilled Nursing Facilities.

03 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by in Health Law, Skilled Nursing Facilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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One Third of Skilled Nursing Patients Harmed in Treatment, by Marshall Allen, ProPublica

http://tinyurl.com/kdrmeaz

A study by Medicare’s inspector general of skilled nursing facilities says nearly 22,000 patients were injured and more than 1,500 died in a single month — a higher rate of medical errors than hospitals. . . .

Skype For Video Depositions?

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Court Rules, Depositions, Discovery, Employment Law, Federal District Court Rules, Federal Rules of Discovery, Video Deposition

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“Stop and Think” About Skype for Depositions, by Joshua Gilliland, Bow Tie Law’s Blog

http://bowtielaw.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/another-skyping-judge/

Judge G.R. Smith issued a great reminder that lawyers must ‘stop and think’ when dealing with discovery disputes. This duty is imposed by Rule 26(g) and is ‘an affirmative duty to engage in pretrial discovery in a responsible manner that is consistent with the spirit and purposes of Rules 26 through Rule 37, and obligates each attorney to stop and think about the legitimacy of a discovery request, a response thereto, or an objection.’ Hernandez v. Hendrix Produce, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4837 (S.D. Ga. Jan. 9, 2014) citing Bottoms v. Liberty Life Assur. Co. of Boston, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143251, 2011 WL 6181423 at * 4 (D. Colo. Dec. 13, 2011). 

The case at issue requiring lawyers to ‘stop and think’ involved the plaintiffs in a farmworker rights lawsuit. Three of the plaintiffs were in Mexico and unable to return to Georgia for their depositions. The Defendants wanted the depositions to be held in Georgia. . . .

From The Michigan Bar Journal, The True Meaning of “SS” And More.

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Affidavits, Appellate Judges, Appellate Law, Disaster Preparedness, Document Retention, Family Law, Law Office Management, Legal Writing, Notary Jurat, Paternity

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Michigan Bar Journal, 93 Mich. B. J. 2 (February 2014)

http://www.michbar.org/journal/home.cfm

In this post, I had planned to focus on only one article from the Michigan Bar Journal’s Plain Language Committee — “After Seven Centuries, the True Meaning of SS,” by Thomas Selden Edgerton. But, after seeing the quality of the other articles, I could not choose just one. So, here you will also find:

The 2012 Revocation of Paternity Act, by Audra McClure;

A Sound Record Retention Policy: A Matter of Self-Preservation, by Michael J. Sullivan and JoAnn L. Hathaway;

A Spiritual Focus Can Strengthen Wellness, by Molly Dean; and

Book Review: Appellate Practice Compendium, reviewed by Phillip J. DeRosier.

-CCE

Review of Paralegal Regulation in Ontario, Canada.

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Canada, Canada Licensing, International Law, Paralegals/Legal Assistants

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Reports » Report of Appointee’s Five-Year Review of Paralegal Regulation in Ontario, Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General

http://tinyurl.com/mrw4olq

Paralegal regulation began in Ontario, Canada, on May 1, 2007 under the 2006 Access to Justice Act. The Act requires that all paralegals in Ontario shall be licensed by the Law Society of Upper Canada.

To verify that paralegal regulation under the Act was successful, the Act required two reviews after five years. This link will take you to both progress reports, submitted June 28, 2012 and November 1, 2012, respectively.

While visiting this link, I encourage you to poke around and learn more about the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario and Canadian law. -CCE

Oklahoma’s 2014 Official Citation Change – What Does it Mean?

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Citations, Legal Writing, Oklahoma Civil Appellate Procedure, Oklahoma Supreme Court, Public Domain Citations, Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act

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Oklahoma Makes It Official (But What Does That Signify?), by Peter Martin, Citing Legally Blog

http://citeblog.access-to-law.com/?p=107

For over 16 years Oklahoma appellate courts have attached non-proprietary, print-independent citation data to their decisions at the time of release, placed those decisions online at a public site, and required lawyers to cite state precedent using this contemporary system. Moreover, setting Oklahoma apart from other neutral citation pioneers, the judiciary staff applied neutral citations retrospectively to all prior decisions rendered during the print era, placed copies of them online as well, and encouraged but did not require that they also be cited by the new system.  Until this year, however, the print reports of the National Reporter System remained the “official” version of Oklahoma decisions.  As of January 1, 2014, sixty years after the Oklahoma Supreme Court designated the West Publishing Company as the ‘official publisher’ of its decisions, it revoked that designation. 

Attorney Who Introduces Drug Evidence May Face Criminal Charges.

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Criminal Law, Drug Possession

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Attorney May Face Charges After Introducing Drug Evidence, by Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://tinyurl.com/pdcyn6c

A Pittsburgh defense attorney could be facing criminal charges after she introduced potential drug evidence — a box containing a straw with suspected heroin residue — at a court hearing on Thursday.

Wendy L. Williams was instructed by Common Pleas Judge Donald E. Machen to get an attorney as Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies are now investigating the incident.

Lawyers — First Impressions Stick!

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Closing Argument, Cross-Examination, Direct Examination, Exhibits, Experts, Jury Persuasion, Jury Selection, Litigation, Making Objections, Mock Trials, Opening Argument, Plaintiff's Counsel, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire, Witnesses

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Expect First Impressions to be Carved in Stone, by Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Persuasive Litigator Blog

http://tinyurl.com/org7why

Please note additional links on first impressions, overcoming bad impressions, and using visual images to create a first impression at the bottom of this post at the Persuasive Litigator website. -CCE

We’ve all heard the old saying: You never get a second chance to make a first impression. It is true that when meeting someone new, our brain is quickly putting them into a number of categories. Their background, intelligence, friendliness, attitudes, trustworthiness, and a myriad of other aspects of character are all on their way to being locked into some pretty durable assumptions. In a legal setting, where a juror is reacting to a witness on the stand for example, we might want those credibility determinations to be made over time, informed by the full scope of the testimony. But don’t count on it. . . . 

Google Mistrials – A Continuing Problem.

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Internet, Juror Impeachment, Jury Instructions, Mistrials, Research, Rule 606, Trial Tips and Techniques, Verdict

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Stealing the Verdict: Eastern District of North Carolina Allows Jury Impeachment Regarding Internet Research, by Colin Miller, EvidenceProg Blog

http://tinyurl.com/mkk48a8

“Google mistrials” have been a problem for some time. Here are two examples – one in 2014 and another in 2011 — in which a juror used Internet legal research during the trial and discussed it with fellow jurors, causing a mistrial. -CCE

An emerging problem in the American justice system is jurors conducting internet research about a case, leading to the Google mistrial. And, when such research is not discovered until after trial, as in United States v. LaRoque, 2014 WL 683729 (E.D.N.C. 2012), it leads to jury impeachment.

 Mistrial by Internet A Growing Concern, By Bob Kalinowski (Staff Writer), citizensvoice.com

 http://tinyurl.com/mge3nqk

Legal experts have coined them ‘Google mistrials.’

Curious jurors seeking to conduct their own research surf the Internet about facts presented in court, bringing a halt to important court cases and tainting the outcome.

Sometimes it’s done unwittingly. Other times it’s done against a judge’s specific directions.

Can A Prisoner Get An Expert Witness Under Federal Rule 706 For His Medical Condition?

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Appellate Law, Criminal Law, Evidence, Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 706, Summary judgment

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Is There a Doctor in the House?: 11th Circuit Remands After Lower Court’s Erroneous Rule 706 Ruling, posted by Colin Miller, EvidenceProf Blog

http://tinyurl.com/n57dzzo

This post discusses an Alabama District Court’s and 11th Circuit Court of Appeal’s interpretation of Rule 706(a) of the Federal Rule of Evidence in a prisoner’s lawsuit in which he claims that he has Hepatitis C, his illness is not being treated and, without treatment, he will become sicker and die. -CCE

Federal Rule of Evidence 706(a) provides that:

On a party’s motion or on its own, the court may order the parties to show cause why expert witnesses should not be appointed and may ask the parties to submit nominations. The court may appoint any expert that the parties agree on and any of its own choosing. But the court may only appoint someone who consents to act.

As you can see from the language of Rule 706(a), there is nothing in the Rule’s text limiting expert appointment to either criminal or civil cases. So where did that leave the plaintiff in Gillentine v. Correctional Medical Services, 2014 WL 701575 (11th Cir. 2014)?

 

Updated Foreign Law Research Primer.

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Australia, Brazil, Case Law, China, Citations, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Hong Kong, India, International Law, International Law, Israel, Law Journals, Law Libraries, Lebanon, Legal Directories, Legal Encyclopedia, Mandatory Law, Primary Law, References, Regulations, Research, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom

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Foreign and International Legal Research Guides – Pic of the Week, by Donna Sokol, In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress

http://tinyurl.com/opqzrpr

Don’t let the title “Pic of the Week” fool you. This is an updated legal research guide for fourteen foreign jurisdictions:  Australia; Brazil; United Kingdom; China; Egypt; Eritrea; France; Hong Kong; India; Israel; Japan; Lebanon; Russia; and Sweden.  It links to these countries’ reference sources, compilations, citations guides, periodicals (indexes and databases), dictionaries, web resources, free public web sites, subscription-based services, subject-specific web sites, and country overviews. -CCE