Insurance Claim1

In 2004, I was hired as a Librarian.  At the time, I was informed that I had the option (pay attention to that word "option;" it will come back to haunt you, later) to join the union.  I chose not to join. Three years ago (so, eleven years after I was hired), SEIU came knocking on my employers' door and informed us that we were required to be union members; that we never actually had the option not to join.   You WILL be a union member and you WILL pay union dues.  I don't like being compelled to do things so I really did not want to join. What bothered me most was the heavy handed tactics employed by the union.  As Justice Alito noted in the majority opinion: The plaintiff argues that he is not a free rider on a bus headed for a destination that he wishes to reach but is more like a person shanghaied for an unwanted voyage. ...and that's exactly what it felt like.  Union comes in and starts pushing everyone around.  You will do this; you will do

When people look at me today, they see a 6'5" giant of a man.  Confident, strong, and the life of the party. When I was a kid, that wasn't so much the case.  Heck, when I was a kid, I got beaten up all the time (which was probably why I eventually got into law). I remember this one group.  They thought they were the cock of the walk and would shake kids down for their lunch money. No kid dared to tattle on them because, as we learn from television and government in general, people who tattle end up wearing cement shoes.  So, the rein of terror continued.   One day, I was playing marbles with a friend and this group of thugs came over and started pushing him around. Honestly, I don't know what came over me because I stepped my 60 pound, 4 foot nothing frame between the bully and my friend and told them to push off .   You'd have thought an atomic bomb went off because the entire playground froze.   Kids hundreds of yards away felt a disturbance in the for

Do you people even read my blog?  Looking at how many followers I have (all of 7), you'd think that no one pays any attention to the scripture falling from my fingertips. Actually, I was thinking about my seven faithful followers just the other day when an older, seasoned attorney came into my law library. Seems attorney was dealing with a settlement in a family law case. As he walked up to me, he handed me a dozen copies of various posts from my blog ( Legal Research is Easy ) and said, "I have scoured your blog and not once have you posted anything relating to QDROs." For those not in the know, a QDRO (or " Q ualified D omestic R elations O rder") works as a settlement order in a divorce case dividing retirement or pension plans by recognizing marital ownership by both parties (husband and wife).  So, when the pension is ready to be distributed, both husband and wife get their marital share.  It's a bit more complicated than that but that's ab

In today's news is the story about a woman who got gored (as in killed) by a bison in Yellowstone National Park .  How in blazes did someone get killed by a typically docile animal?   Well, she walked right up next to it.  She got inside its "safe zone," irritating the poor animal to no end and it did the only thing it could do - shake it's head (and, subsequently, tore the woman from crotch to nose). Ouch! You know, if people were a bit more considerate of other animals (humans and otherwise), maybe there wouldn't be so many problems in the world. Take, for instance the couple that came into the library the other day.  Seems couple has a neighbor who has a dog.  Every day for the last 3 years, neighbor walked dog over to couples front lawn, had the dog do its dooty on couple's lawn, doesn't pick-up said dooty, and goes back to her house.   She could have done it on her lawn but being the raging hag (and a bad neighbor) that she was, she chose

Have you ever run into someone who was looking for a lawsuit?  I'm betting you have but just didn't know it. Here's a tip: they are critical of everything and hang on your every word. Heck, they might even write down everything you say (and hold it against you later). Such was the scenario I had the other day. Lady comes in hotter than Arizona asphalt in August. Seems Lady's neighbor has a wiener dog that barks "all the time; day and night."   At wits end, Lady is mad as Hades, isn't going to take it anymore, and is looking to exact some righteous retribution against neighbor.   Right off the bat, I start thinking out loud and she starts writing down what I'm saying and demands I slow down. "Repeat what you just said," she screeched .   While most things that come out of my mouth is pure scripture, I'm not about to repeat anything that can be used against me and so I said I can't remember (which is kinda true; I mean, who