Insurance Claim1

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...

Do you know what Librarians do all day?  Heck, do most Librarians know what they're going to do day by day?   Like most days, I plan to do a whole bunch of things and then actually only get to a couple things.   Like today.  I was going to write a few letters, call a few people, finish up a report, get ready for a presentation - and then the tow truck guy showed up. See, our Library owns the lot next to our law library and it is a private lot for which we sell monthly and daily parking passes.  Each parking spot can be rented for $60 per month (or $8 per day).   That sounds like a lot but in downtown Riverside (where we are located), but that's pretty competitive.   Anyway, if you happen to park in our lot and you don't have a permit hanging on your rear-view mirror (or a daily parking pass on your dash), you can, and will, be towed and I'm probably the guy that's going to have to effectuate that tow.  I really don't like doing it bu...

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 the beginning when the smart people of the world said the world was flat and the earth was the center of the universe, everyone believed them.  When television was new, if someone said it on the TV, everyone knew it had to be true.  Fast forward a few decades and we get Facebook.  Turns out there are people who believe if it's on Facebook, it must be true .   Have you ever heard something and thought, "That can't be true?"  Turns out there are a whole lot of things being said all the time that are, eventually, shown to be true. For example: The NSA is tapping your phone lines There is cancer in your vaccines Asbestos is dangerous The CIA pays for false testimony (as in they encourage it) The FBI poisoned alcohol during prohibition The Gulf of Tonkin incident never really happened  (launching the Viet Nam War) The military is conspiring to instill fear in the populace Cell phones cause cancer County law libraries are open to the public W...

I'm not proud of it but rare is the month that someone doesn't get upset with something that I said or did.  Someone got upset that I'm taller than they were (by about two feet).  Someone got upset that I couldn't answer their question the way they were hoping.  Someone got upset that I wear a suit to work. Someone got upset when I didn't respond fast enough. Someone got upset with how I worded a response. Someone got upset because I was always doing something (and didn't have four hours to just sit and listen to their tales of woe).  Someone got upset that I didn't have an answer (because sometimes the answer is that here is no answer).  Someone got upset that I didn't laugh at their joke (really, it was more sad than funn y).  Someone got up set that I didn't notice they had a new h air do ( for the record, if you're not my wife, I 'm not required to notice the "new" you).  Heck, someone even got upset because I wear bo...

The other day I was reading an article on the 15 skills employers just expect people to have.  Number 8 was the ability to do online research.  The article stated, simply, that any fool can do research - just type a search in Google and you can find what you want. Really?  It's that simple - just google it?  Do you realize how many people have tried to "just google" their legal work and were blown away by the judge or the clerk or opposing counsel?  The thing is that research is not all that easy for someone who doesn't do it all day, every day.  Heck, even though I've been doing legal research for almost 2 decades, I still get stumped.  Take, for example the question an attorney asked me the other day. Seems attorney had done some work on a case but was substituted out (client wanted to hire someone else).  Attorney decided that the work he had done on the case thus far warranted compensation - so he put a lien on the case (so that he c...