The role of a criminal defense lawyer is to safeguard the rights of the accused and to assure that their legal rights are protected as they navigate their way through the U.S. criminal justice system. Though not every approach taken by a criminal defense lawyer on behalf of their client may be identical, their goal should be the same: resolve the case in such a way that is most beneficial to the accused. If you have been charged with a crime or believe you are currently under investigation, we encourage you to contact a law firm for information on how their legal services may be of benefit to you.

What is the difference between a criminal defense lawyer and a public defender?

Both are criminal defense lawyers but a public defender is one who is appointed by the Court to represent a defendant who does not have the financial resources to hire a criminal defense lawyer. This is true for federal, state, and local court cases.

·         When a public defender represents a client, they are paid by the public defender’s office.

·         Public defenders usually earn less than a criminal defense lawyer.

·         Public defenders typically have a very large case load which makes it challenging for them to focus a large amount of time on any individual client.

·         A criminal defense lawyer works for themselves or is employed at a law firm.

·         A criminal defense lawyer typically has more resources available to them than a public defender in terms of support staff, an extended professional network of experts who can testify on their clients’ behalf, and senior partners who can provide invaluable insight.

After I hire a criminal defense lawyer, what is the first step?

Once you have engaged the legal services of a criminal defense lawyer, they will need to know everything about your case. This may include a period of time before you charged, the arrest, and any contact you have had with law enforcement since that time. There are several reasons for why your criminal defense lawyer will need to know all relevant information about your case:

·         If your legal rights were infringed in any way, this may be cause for having the charges against you dropped. For example, if the arresting officer carried out an unlawful search and seizure, this is a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights. As such, any evidence seized during that event is inadmissible in a court of law. Therefore, the circumstances may dictate that the case against you is null and void if there is not any additional incriminating evidence against you.

·         In order to develop the strongest possible defense case on your behalf, the details of your circumstances must be known and considered. This is your chance to be heard.

To discuss your case with a seasoned criminal lawyer in Civic Center San Francisco, CA, contact a law firm today.

Thanks to Hallinan Law Firm for their insight into criminal defense and what a lawyer can do for you.

Personal Injury Lawyer

There are more than 189 million Americans with credit cards. Then, when you factor in that most Americans have about four credit cards, it is no surprise that many people are in more debt than they can handle. Financial struggles can take a toll on every aspect of your life and your health.

For those in debt, one of the most stressful calls is from creditors. If you feel as though you are being harassed by creditors, is there anything that you can do? Do you have to accept the harassment?

You Can Say No to Creditor Harassment

Creditors are legally not allowed to harass you. This means that they cannot call you at odd hours of the night or morning. They cannot threaten you with jail time or imprisonment. If you tell a creditor that you have an attorney and that you do not want them to call back, they are not supposed to continue their harassment. While you will still owe the creditor money, you do not have to accept harassment. If you feel as though the calls have become less like reminders and more like harassment, you can take steps against the creditor. You could potentially file a lawsuit against creditors who unfairly try to collect the debt.

You Can Hire an Attorney

When it comes to debt collection, you may wonder what an attorney can do for you. Debt attorneys can help you negotiate your debts. While some may suggest bankruptcy as an option if you are in too much debt to pay back, you can also negotiate payment plans with your creditor and maybe even decrease how much you owe. When you hire an attorney, you can rely on him or her to contact the creditors and to help you with the negotiations process.

A lot of Americans feel like they have to put up with a creditor’s harassing calls. After all, if you owe the creditor money, they have every right to require you to pay them back. This does not give them the right to harass you, however. When you are in unmanageable debt, it is time to do something about it. If you are worried about your debts, then you may want to consult with a bankruptcy lawyer, like a bankruptcy lawyer in Memphis, TN.

 as soon as possible. Set up a consultation and find out what he or she can do for you when it comes to your creditors.

Thank you to the experts at Darrell Castle & Associates for their input into bankruptcy law. 

You spend weeks finding the right person for the job, then weeks, months, or even years training them on the ins-and-outs of your business to better develop their skills. Then one day they tell you they are “going out on their own.” Maybe they aren’t setting up shop just across the street in direct competition with you, but you fear that you have now created the ultimate competitor. 

This is a fear of many small business owners. Even large corporations fear this of their top salespeople, tech developers, or engineers. There are steps managers can take to protect the valuable asset of a well-trained, highly knowledgeable employee, though, and minimize the risk of them using your investment against you. 

Get a Non-Compete and Confidentiality Agreement

These agreements are just that — a signed piece of paper with an agreement on it and a couple of signatures. It will not physically stop a former employee from doing what they agreed not to do, but it does provide you with a form of recourse should they violate the agreement. 

Non-compete  and confidentiality agreements can be created at the start of employment, included in an offer letter or a statement of pay and benefits. They are commonly used when someone is leaving the company and a release from liability is requested from the employee and severance is paid. 

Generally speaking, when an employer is asking a former employee to not-compete with them when they leave their employ, they pay for that. After all, you are asking someone not to work in their most recent field of work, for which they are highly trained. For this reason, they are most common at higher levels of an organization, where you stand to lose the most if a high level manager takes clients, client lists, or proprietary information with them and uses that material for their own gain. 

When the Agreement Is Signed Is Important 

Some states take the position that if the agreement is requested at the start of employment, agreeing to the job and level of pay offered at the start is part of the job, consideration has been paid. It is generally accepted that if a non-compete and confidentiality agreement is asked for mid-employment or upon termination, some sort of consideration must be paid, and there must be some sort of additional compensation for that agreement, as this wasn’t part of the original bargained-for exchange at the beginning of employment. 

Creating an Agreement

These agreements should not be too broad. They should not be for an indefinite period of time, and they cannot encompass the whole world. For example, any related work in any part of the entire country will likely not be in the agreement. They certainly can cover specific company assets such as client lists and other proprietary information. They can cover development work the employee did during the employment such as specific programs and techniques. After all, the company already paid for that. It is tough to cover what is in someone’s head. So again, the confidentiality piece should not be too broad. 

Non-compete and confidentiality agreements or clauses embedded in other agreements, such as separation agreements, can offer valuable peace of mind for both parties. They should be crafted in such a way that makes sense for the circumstances and unlikely to be construed as unreasonable and thus unenforceable. 

If you need to create a document like this, or want help interpreting one before signing it, call a business attorney, like a business attorney in Montana, for more information today.

Thanks to Silverman Law Office, PLLC for their insight into non-compete and confidentiality agreements. 

Personal injury can be defined as the legal representation used to cover all kinds of injuries, including psychological and physical injury, illness, or disease.

Personal injuries also include road accidents, gender harassment, injury caused by tripping or slipping, damage of limb or bone structure, injury caused by machinery, psychological injury, injury due to medical oversight, etc.

A car accident is one of the significant components in road accidents that a lot of people suffer at one time or another. The regularity of the population is rising all over the world at an alarming rate hence, road accidents are also increasing. Recent statistics show us that thousands of accidents happen daily and in those incidents, a lot of people encounter personal injuries.

Explanations for Increase in Injury Claims.
There is a diverse explanation behind the increasing number of an injury claim. Most times, the people travelling on the road are hit with another vehicle, tree, pedestrian, pothole, animal, or anything movable or fixed.

 In cases like that, they will encounter personal injury in a mode of whiplash and any other injury, or any damages related to the vehicle in question. Under these conditions, and to meet up with the expenses associated with it, the person requests for an injury claim reimbursement to the insurance company. The same applies to people who encounter personal injury at work or injury caused by medical oversight. The aim of compensation claims for injury is to receive a certain amount of money for proceeding with medical care, reconstruction of life, or surgery.

How to Decide For The Perfect Injury Claim Lawyers
Personal injury claim lawyers are people who provide legal advice to government agencies, an organization, or a person experiencing any form of physical or psychological injury by some wrongdoing of another person.

Hence, while looking for a perfect personal injury claim lawyer, the person or the organization in question must get full information considering specialization, experience, and if the lawyer has passed the written bar exam and other ethics examination.

Proven Strategies to Win Your Injury Claims.
There are distinct strategies that can help you attain success in the injury claims. Below are some of the strategies.

1. Carry out good research on the insurance company’s claim process.

2. Since the claim lawyer can take their time in receiving all needed information, the person must be patient enough and must be polite with letters and phone calls.

3. Typically, lawyers have a reduced amount of flexibility when they bargain with the amount, so they try their possible best to negotiate on a satisfactory amount.

4. To hire a personal injury lawyer, it would be advisable to ask from your associates and friends to get a good recommendation. 

5. For hiring personal injury lawyers, it would be better if you ask this from your friends and associates.

6. Get in touch with as many lawyers you can get for a preliminary discussion.

7. Distinguish the experiences and fees of the lawyer you get.

8. Try settling your claim outside the courtroom. If your claim cannot be resolved outside the court, then you should go for trial.

9. Let go of the guilty party after getting the amount agreed even though you feel it is small.

If you or someone you know has been involved in an accident, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer, like a personal injury lawyer in Kansas City, MO, to help build your case today. 

Thanks to Royce Injury Attorneys for their insight into some of the ways to win your personal injury claim. 

Personal Injury Lawyer

Comparative negligence is defined as a tort rule that is used for allocating damages when both parties are proven to share some of the fault that contributed to an accident or injury. When it is proven that the plaintiff and defendant were both negligent, a jury will decide how much at fault each party was (usually using a percentage). Once each party’s percentage of fault is determined, the plaintiff’s damages are reduced by their percentage of fault. 

For example, driver A is looking to make a left turn out of a parking lot. Driver A looks in both directions to ensure that it is clear for him to make the turn. He sees driver B but determines that there is enough time for him to make his turn and doesn’t account for driver B’s speeding. Driver A makes his left turn and is hit by Driver B. The accident is the fault of both drivers because driver A should have waited for driver B to pass before making his turn and driver B shouldn’t have been speeding. Driver A then decides to sue driver B for his injuries. A jury finds that driver B was responsible for 70% of the accident and driver A was 30% responsible. The damages awarded to driver A were $30,000 but he will only be able to collect $21,000 due to his 30% fault. 

Comparative negligence principles vary by the state in which the accident occurs. Examples of comparative negligence rules recognized by states are: 

Pure comparative negligence: allows plaintiffs to pursue compensation from the at-fault party even if the plaintiff is 99 percent at fault. It is important to note that a plaintiff’s damages will be reduced by their determined degree of fault. 13 states recognize the pure comparative negligence rule, these states include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Washington. 

Pure contributory negligence: this principle completely bars plaintiffs from any recovery of damages if they are found to be even one percent liable for their injuries. Only four states apply this rule: Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. Washington D.C. also applies the pure contributory negligence model but allows an exception for motor vehicle accidents that involve pedestrians or bicycles.

Modified comparative negligence: the other 33 states follow the modified comparative negligence principle. If this principle is used, a plaintiff is barred from obtaining compensation if they are found to be 50 or 51 percent liable for their injury.  The 11 states that follow the 50% fault rule are Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia. 

The 22 states that follow the 51% fault rule are Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 

If you’ve been injured due to the negligence of another, a catastrophic injury lawyer in Las Vegas, NV can advise you on the complexities of negligence law and help you obtain the compensation you deserve. 

Thanks to Eglet Adams for their insight on comparative negligence.