Insurance Claim1

Do you remember your first real job.  I'm not talking babysitting or mowing the neighbor's lawn or even selling lemonade at the corner.   Nope, I'm talking about doing the 9-5 grind, having to deal with  onerous co-workers and/or bosses, endless meetings, and all those hours of sweet overtime. Yeah, I remember the days when I used to get overtime back when I drove a stake-bed truck for  Goodyear.  I remember driving all around Los Angeles and Orange Counties 15 hours a day, six days a week.   While my hourly wasn't all that great, I made an absolute killing on overtime.  Those were the days.  I suspect though, what with all the stories of employers stealing wages from their employees , there are a whole lot of people who don't benefit all that much from overtime. Take, for instance the young lady who came in the other day.  Seems a iron-worker by trade, young lady claimed that her employer had stiffed her for h...

Have you ever had one of those days that you are just happy?  I mean, uncontrollable, dancing like no one is watching happy? So picture it.  This guy comes into the library with a smile from ear to ear.  Seems he's been paying child support for like forever.  I mean, it's been killing him.  Ex is a hag and she has kept nagging him and demanding a raise every year for the last 5 years.  While the ex wear furs, he wears Kohls. Guy is feeling down in the dumps....until....guy finds out that his 16 year old kid had file for and was granted emancipation from his mom (Guy's ex).   Guy is SOOOOOOO happy.  Why, might you ask?  Well, it's seems that when a kid is emancipated, the parent doesn't have to pay child support, anymore.  At least, that's what Guy is hoping is going to happen.  Ex-wife, on the other hand, is sweating bullets. So, standing in front of me, Guy is looking for anything that can help him break free of his...

Have you ever considered the consequences of what you are doing now and how they may affect your life years from now? Enjoy chain smoking?  According to the CDC , life expectancy for smokers is at least 10 years shorter than for nonsmokers. Quitting smoking before the age of 40 reduces the risk of dying from smoking-related disease by about 90%.  So, for all those teenagers who smoked like stacks in high school, you might be wanting to crank out a will some time soon. How about alcohol consumption?  In a study involving 599,592 drinkers , the study found that persons who consume 100 grams to 200 grams of alcohol weekly have an estimated life expectancy at age 40 that’s about six months shorter. One more?  How about persons who are addicted to something worth being addicted to?  According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse , Drug use can have a wide range of short- and long-term, direct and indirect effects. Short-term effects can range from cha...

Ah, spring.  A time of renewal.  A time to think about new possibilities and resolve old conflicts and that, as it turns out, is why a number of people come to our law library - to resolve conflicts (real or imagined). Take, for example the couple that came in the other day.  Seems they were parents of a resourceful child of 12 years of age.  Seems Child had designed, developed, marketed, and was now selling a device to businesses in the area.   No joke.  The device (parents would not elaborate on what it was or what it did - other than the fact that Child was making a killing) was very profitable and was making Child (and, by extension, Child's parents) very wealthy. The duduk perkara was that Child realized that he did not need parents anymore and was seeking to be classified as an Emancipated Minor.  What is an Emancipated Minor , you ask?  Well, according to Black's Law Dictionary , an Emancipated Minor is: A minor who is self-...

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  I'll bet that nosey neighbor across the street does.  Dang but don't you hate nosey neighbors?  They've got that holier than thou attitude; that I'm going to tattle on you and spoil your fun arrogance that roils everyone. I know just the type.  A buddy of mine lived in a neighborhood with a spinster of a nosey neighbor.  She recorded when people came and went; what car they drove; what they wore; who they talked to.  Really, over the top.  Everyone hated her.  At least, everyone did hate her until that one time her nosy-ness actually paid off for everyone. So, as the story goes, a new couple moved into the neighborhood.  Guy was in his mid-30's and lady was about the same age.  Nice looking couple.  People you'd want living next to you.  Because they never talked to nosey neightbor, she immediately got suspicious and started recording everything the did.   See, I kn...

I know you're out there. Those who walk into law libraries with a huge chip on your shoulder complaining that no one will help you and that the whole world is out to get you.   So mad as hornets, you come up to the reference law librarian after being rejected by the court clerk, every administrative agency, the DA and PD , the Family Law Facilitator , the self-help coordinator and then, when you're standing in front of the the law librarian, who is trying to help you and is spewing forth words of wisdom, you stand there with mouth open and brain closed. Such was the case the other day.   Guy comes in all flustered and flummoxed claiming that no one will help him.  Seems that he had been renting a stall for his horse.  Seems, he sub-leased the stall to someone who had been paying the rent on the stall.  Seems, suddenly, that landowner decided he wanted the stall back and prevented Guy from stepping onto the land (on which the stall was located).  ...

I am horrible at math.  Just really suck at it.  And word problems?  Forget about it.  Yeah, I can do simple math but division and fractions have me stumped.  My dad was Mr. Awesome at all things math and he could never figure out why I sucked at it.  Heck, it took me three years just to get through high school algebra with something better than a "D." Is it any wonder, then, that I picked a profession that does not require math?  While I may see applications for algebra and calculus all around me, I do what I can to avoid having to do it because, well, I suck at math. I suspect it's that way for many people when it comes to legal research.  Yeah, there are some out there who think Librarians are outmoded dinosaurs who just push big, dusty books around (yeah, I'm looking at you Mr. know-more-than-a-Librarian). Fact is, when I started teaching people the how of legal research, I had to do some major soul searching to derive how I learned...

You know what's funny?  People.  Specifically, people who think they're one step ahead of the game and that they are sooooooo clever that they'll never get caught - except when they are and then they get all indignant and angry and demand to see the manager. So, picture it - Guy lives in Arizona.  He buys a car in California.  Guy drives the car to Arizona and there he stays.  Oh, I forgot to mention that Guy never pays for the car.  Dealership is a bit peeved and tries to retrieve the car, but guy is clever.  Guy moves the car around so dealer can't find the car. Dealer decides to file suit for breach of contract.  Guy is clever.  Guy thinks that all he as to do is stay in Arizona and he's safe from a California lawsuit. Guy is sooooo clever - until that one day when he makes a trip to Blythe, California (just over the Arizona border).  Little does Guy realize but, apparently, Dealership went the extra mile and paid someone to ...

Have you ever met someone who claims it's someone else's fault?   I hear it at least once every day. Bad judge.  Bad lawyer. Bad opposing counsel.  Bad "legal" system.  Bad, bad, bad - it's everyone else's fault they they keep losing. Take, for instance, the couple who came in the other day.  Seems they had had a business selling tchotchkes online.  Seems their supplier had shorted them a couple hundred items on an order (they're looking at maybe $200 in damages) and so filed suit for breach of contract. Simple small claims action.  But no.  Couple was out for blood - so they sued for $150,000 and costs of suit.  Standard prayer for damages IF your damages were significant enough to sue in Superior Court (which, in couple's case, they weren't). So, couple hunts around on Google for a sample complaint, files it and......the court grants a demurrer with leave to amend their complaint.   Couple is angry but they hunt arou...

Have you ever bought a new car and just fell in love with it?  I mean, LOVE it, you do.  You name it, baptize it, send out notices to all your friends that you're in a new relationship, take Christmas card photos with your car. LOVE IT, you do. We had this guy come into the library the other day that just LOOOOOOOVED his car.  I mean, just...wow...he was nuts about his car; couldn't say enough good things about it.  Turns out, he had driven it off the lot a couple months before. He and the dealer had done up the paperwork and the dealer said they'd take care of the financing - and off he drove with his new love. Fast forward a couple months and guy is standing in front of me telling me that the dealer called him today and told him that if he didn't return the car immediately, that they would file grand theft charges against him. Really?  Grand theft?  Dang, but I thought that only the District Attorney could do that!? After a little discus...

You ever feel like you have no clue what to do next?  You've worked hard all your life, planned, schemed, and plotted and are still at a point where you're stuck?  Happens all the time at my LAW library. Yesterday, in fact, I had a newly minted lawyer come into our LAW library. Seems new lawyer had recently passed the kafe but try as he might, he could not get a job at a law firm and so decided to put out his own shingle.   Problem was, while law school taught theory to help with passing the kafe exam, what he needed now was practice (or tools of a practical nature).   I suspected he was kicking himself for not paying more attention in his Legal Research and Writing class.  Yeah, that would have really helped him out now (in the real world). Anyway, I could see the fear in his eyes as he roamed our halls. Heck, I could smell it and he was really freaking out since he had just accepted a new client in a personal injury case and he didn't know where ...

Have you ever had the experience where you are talking to a group of people and someone doesn't believe you and they say "prove it?"  I mean, the gall of some people. What is helpful, in those situations is if someone is standing there and they've got your back saying, "no, she speaks the truth" (thereby shutting down the naysayers). Yep, always nice to have someone watching your back.  Of course, this all brings us to our word of the month: CORROBORATION .  According to Black's Law Dictionary , CORROBORATION means: 1. Confirmation or support by additional evidence or authority (corroboration of the witness's testimony).  2. Formal confirmation or ratification.  3. Confirmation or support by additional evidence of the date of invention or of a trademarks first use. So, a funny thing.  The other day I was looking at this definition and while I was thus looking, a young lady came up to me asking an intellectual property issue. Seems Young ...

So, barreling down the road on my way to work this morning, I happened to glance to my right and I see this young woman tugging on a very,  very  short skirt whilst attempted to put money in a parking meter.  I'm thinking...if you're embarrassed that you don't have enough material to hide your bare legs (and near-bare bottom), you might want to consider wearing a longer dress.   I'm just sayin. Of course, this brought to mind an embarrassing situation involving a young attorney who came in our library a while back.  Seems Young Attorney was preparing to file a complaint in Superior Court.   Simple enough.  Prepare the complaint , the civil case cover sheet , proof of service , that sort of thing. Of course, I tried to tell Young Attorney about the three things he needed but being young AND an attorney, he kinda didn't have any patience to listen to an omnipotent law Librarian. So, the FIRST time Young Attorney went to t...

Like any career, being a law Librarian means that we are often called upon to do things that we really don't like doing. One of those things is having to listen to people who don't have a lawsuit, knowing that they don't have a lawsuit, and not being able to say to them, "YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE LAWSUIT!" This brings us to the guy who got mad because someone tried to kick him out of his local social club. Guy got miffed because a fellow member tried to kick guy out of the club over an event that occurred outside of a club meeting. OK, never a good thing to bag on someone, but what is done is done, right?   Well, maybe not so much done since guy went and filed a defamation action against the other guy. Years drag on and on and finally the case is ready to go to trial.  Guy insists that that he has a case and chews on my ear for hours and hours until I've had my fill and say, "ENOUGH! Hurt feelings do not (or should not) a lawsuit make.  Just be...