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...

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 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 ...

You may not know this about me but I teach legal research classes to/for the public.  Really dig it, I do.  What I really like is working with people who are hungry for information. I can work with people like that.  What I can't deal with is whiners who complain that legal research is too hard. Thing is, the first time you do anything it's hard.   Nothing new, there. Take, for example, the Beatnik (a real hip and happening dude) who came into the law library the other day. Beatnik starts with the world is out to get him and how he doesn't know anything about legal research and would someone just do the work for him?! My answer(s) to him: Yes, it is, that's probably true, and no, I won't.   What I will do is help you out along the way.  Turns out Beatnik is fighting with his neighbor.  Seems neighbor has chickens that squawk at all hours of the day and the rooster starts sounding off around 3AM.   No amount of pleading will get neig...

How many out in blogland love to procrastinate?  Well, maybe you don't love to procrastinate but you do it anyway, right?   Like holiday shopping, or buying the wife an anniversary gift, or waiting until 3:00AM to do your homework, or making that dentist/doctor appointment, or updating a will/trust. It was because of that last one (updating a trust) that compelled a couple to come into my library the other day.  Seems once upon a time Dad had prepared a trust.  Spent thousands of dollars on it, he did.  Then one day, Dad died. The way the couple told it, Dad was meticulous.  Dad had planned for everything.  Every piece of property was accounted for, every penny was identified, everything was planned down to the finest detail.   Problem was, while everything was carefully examined, "someone" had failed to fund Dad's trust .  Not a single asset had been transferred to Dad's trust before he died.   Big OOPS! S...

The other day, a young lady came into my law library. Seems she had invented a device that help people breath filtered air.  It was her hope and dream that her invention would be patented and make her lots of money.   The kasus was that her patent claim was rejected and young lady was in our library to find out why. Now, in case you were wondering about the the picture associated with this blog, this is a Hamster shirt. What is a hamster shirt?  What it looks like is a hamster cage that wraps around a person.  Weird, but what do I know?  What I do know is that it is one of millions of patent applications that have been rejected over the years.   Why, you might ask, would a patent application be rejected?  Good question.  There are a number of reasons a patent might be rejected, such as: Invention is Obvious. Basically, this means that the invention’s claimed elements can be found in a number of prior works. Lack of Novelty...

WARNING:   This blog post runs a bit deep and leans towards the dark side of how law stuff works.  So, if you're looking for light and fluffy, check out some of my other blog posts . Anyway, you know what I'm grateful for?  Well, among other things, I'm grateful for the fact that while I've been in the legal business for little over two decades (that's 20 years for you millennials), I've not had to actually litigate anything. Knock on wood but no one has sued me and I haven't had to sue anyone.   That's actually pretty impressive given that I live in the litigation capital of the world (i.e. California). Despite my good luck (so far), I have pity on people who come into my law library with problems.  Take, for example the guy that come in the other day.  He was embroiled in a family law matter and only recently his soon-to-be ex's lawyer filed a complaint for Joinder . Typically, when people seek Joinder in legal matters, it means that ...