It goes without saying that being arrested on suspicion of murder can be a terrifying experience. When the words, “you are under arrest for murder,” are used by law enforcement as cuffs are placed around your wrists, that’s usually enough to surge someone into a state of panic. However, it is in the best interest of the accused to remain quiet and as calm as possible, until they have had a chance to speak with their criminal defense attorney.

Never trust a police officer or other law enforcement person during the process of your arrest. If they bring you into a room to question you, simply state that you know your rights and will not answer anything until your lawyer is present. Oftentimes, that is when you will be granted a phone call, which should be used to contact a skilled criminal defense attorney, like a criminal defense attorney in Fairfax, VA. 

 

After consulting with you about the murder charge, your attorney may use any of these common murder defenses in an effort to protect you: 

 

Self Defense/Justifiable Killing

Depending on the factors of your case and the claims presented against you, your criminal defense attorney may suggest using the self defense/justifiable killing approach. You and your defense attorney will have to bring forward evidence that shows you were only acting in response to the other person’s threatening behavior. It must be proven that you were truly in fear of impending harm or death. 

 

Insanity/Diminished Capacity

Less often used, but still potentially influential, is the insanity/diminished capacity defense strategy. Your attorney may build a defense case based on the fact that you were too young to have understood what you were doing, highly intoxicated, or clinically insane and weren’t aware of the consequences of your behavior. 

 

 

• Mental Illness/Disorder
  If you have a serious mental illness, it could be used as a defense to a murder crime. Before considering this defense, though, it is imperative that it is used strategically. Your criminal defense attorney may hire a mental health professional to perform an evaluation and request documentation if you have received medical care for a mental illness in the past. If found not guilty due to insanity, the defendant is unlikely to be released freely; he or she will probably be placed in a mental institution instead. 

• Impairment/Intoxication
  Someone with an impaired state of mind may not realize what they are doing and the gravity of what happened due to intoxication, head trauma, or mental illness. If the impairment/intoxication defense is successful, the defendant may receive a lesser convitction than murder or have their charges acquitted altogether. 

• Defendant is a Minor
  If the defendant is under the age of 18, they may be charged with a less severe conviction than murder, because adolescents and young children do not always understand the repercussions of their behavior. 

 

 

Heat of Passion

If the defendant reacted to a situation in a heat of passion, they may be able to avoid charges entirely or be faced with a lesser conviction such as voluntary manslaughter. For example, if a person killed another because the offender was caught harming or violating their loved one in some way, heat of passion could have been the driving force behind their actions. 

 

Thanks to May Law, LLP for their insight into some defenses to murder that a criminal defense attorney might use. 

While most of us don’t like thinking about death, it’s still important to plan for. If you don’t establish a proper estate plan, it could result in many consequences for your loved ones. With the help of an experienced estate planning lawyer, you could draft an estate plan in a timely manner.

Here are some of the dangers of not having an estate plan.

Probate Expenses

If you don’t have an estate plan in place, your family members will definitely have to go through the probate process to obtain your assets. Probate can be a very time consuming and expensive process. If you set up a trust ahead of time, it will help your family avoid probate altogether, saving them money and time.

Wishes Not Met

Without any estate planning documents, you can’t expect your wishes to be met. Estranged family members or unintended beneficiaries may receive inheritances that you didn’t intend for them to inherit. If you have minor children and didn’t state who you wanted to serve as their guardian, the court will appoint a guardian. The person they choose might not be someone you approve of taking care of your children. By taking the time to draft an estate plan, you can take control of your life and ensure your final wishes will be met.

Family Turmoil

If you don’t have an estate plan when you die, it could create many problems within your family. They may not know your final wishes and have arguments with one another. For example, some family members may want to hold a religious funeral while others may want it to be more secular. If you clearly state all of your wishes in your estate planning documents, there may be fewer arguments among family members.

High Attorney Fees

If you die without an estate plan, your family members may get stuck with expensive attorney fees. An estate planning lawyer will have to help them through the probate process and may charge very high fees for doing so. If you establish a proper estate plan, you can help your family members avoid these expensive fees.

Consulting with an Estate Planning Lawyer

If you’re ready to create an estate plan, you should schedule an appointment with a reputable Sacramento estate planning lawyer today. He or she will help you draft an estate plan that ensures all of your wishes are met.

Thanks to Yee Law Group for their insight into estate planning and dangers of not having an estate plan.

 

Brain damage related to stroke is a permanent and often devastating injury.  When a loved one suffers a stroke in the healthcare setting that could have been avoided, a thorough investigation is required by an experienced medical negligence lawyer.  

The term “stroke” refers to brain damage that occurs as a result of inadequate blood flow to brain tissue.  When the brain is deprived of oxygen and nutrients carried by the circulatory system, brain cells begin to fail and ultimately die.  When brain tissue is damaged, called an infarction, it does not recover. Sometimes, recovery is noticed after a stroke, but this is due to areas of the brain that are not affected by the stroke taking over the function of areas that were damaged by the stroke.

Strokes can occur for a variety of reasons.  A major cause of strokes is obstruction of the major arteries that travel through the neck and supply blood to the brain.  The carotid arteries can become clogged with arterial sclerosis that may be part of the normal aging process or related to underlying metabolic disorders.  Vertebral artery dissections can occur as a result of improper chiropractic maneuvers or a chokehold during horseplay or trauma during a sporting event. In patients who experience lightheadedness, dizziness or a fainting spell, or who have abnormal sounds (“bruits”) when a stethoscope is used to auscultate the arteries, narrowing of these arteries should be suspected.  Once there is a high index of suspicion, further testing is required, including an ultrasound. Surgical procedures are available to open obstructed blood vessels to prevent a stroke from occurring. A delay in diagnosis or delayed treatment of clogged carotid arteries can form the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Blood clots can also embolize from the heart.  Atrial fibrillation is a condition that affects many Americans, especially as they age.  Certain populations of patients with atrial fibrillation (“AF”) are at increased risk of developing clots in their heart that can travel to the brain and cause a stroke.  Established medical guidelines require that high-risk patients be placed on anticoagulation, a blood thinner, to prevent clot formation. A physician’s failure to diagnose AF or failure to do a risk assessment for stroke risk after the diagnosis of AF is made may be held liable for failing to prescribe blood thinners to reduce the risk of stroke.  

Another type of stroke is a hemorrhagic stroke, also known as a “brain bleed.”  Bleeding from vessels in the brain can occur for a number of reasons, including a ruptured aneurysm or a fall in an elderly patient.  Severe headaches may raise a red flag about an aneurysm that is at risk of rupturing. Head imaging is available to identify aneurysms before they rupture in patients with a history of migraine headaches.  Again, established medical guidelines speak to this issue. Bleeding in the brain may also occur as a result of an overdose of anticoagulation medication, such as heparin or warfarin. There are tests available to monitor clotting times in patients who are on blood thinners to ensure that dosing is within safe limits.  

Brain injury (stroke) can also occur as a result of inadequate blood flow to the brain resulting from abnormally low blood pressure (hypotension).  Severe hypotension can result from the shock caused by infection (septic shock), blood loss due to trauma or damage to an artery (hemorrhagic shock) and impaired heart function (cardiogenic shock).  Your medical malpractice lawyer in Cleveland, OH will want to investigate the underlying cause of shock leading to brain damage to determine whether the cause of the shock was promptly identified and treated.  Delayed diagnosis or a delay in treatment are common grounds for medical malpractice lawsuits.

Thanks to Mishkind & Kulwicki for their insight into medical malpractice and strokes.

Following the passing of a loved one, there’s a lot on your mind. Emotions can run high, as you may feel sadness, grief, guilt or shock. The situation can be even more challenging if your family member dies suddenly, expectedly or because of someone else’s poor actions. If you believe another person is liable for this death, you may be justified in pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit. You won’t want to go in this direction without professional legal guidance. You need an attorney to guide you through the process so you have a better chance of getting the outcome you want. There are many lawyers to choose from in your area, but not all are equal.

Area of Focus

The legal world can be complex and confusing. There are many areas where lawyers spend their time and energy. Fortunately, you should be able to find some who specialize in wrongful death cases. This matter is too important for you to hire just any attorney. Make sure you begin your search by looking for ones that focus on these types of lawsuits. A wrongful death lawyer should be qualified to evaluate your case and tell you whether it has merit. You are much less likely to get the same level of service and competency if you pick someone who has spent most of his or her career in divorce law, employment law, tax law or some other area.

Experience

Just because you hire a wrongful death attorney, it doesn’t mean this person is automatically the right one for the job. Within this specialty are lawyers with years or even decades of experience. Narrow your search to those you know have a proven track record of handling cases like yours. For an experienced lawyer, no wrongful death lawsuit will be too difficult.

Fearless

Remember, the other side’s legal team will be just as vested in its client as your attorney should be in you. Your lawyer should not back down from any challenge. You need a dedicated lawyer who is willing to spend long hours on your behalf. You want someone in your corner who won’t let setbacks derail your case or get you down. Your attorney, like a Newark Personal Injury Attorney, should explore every possible avenue to getting you the results that you expect.

The outcome of your case is vital to your financial welfare and to getting closure after your loved one’s death. If your lawyer has these traits, you should be in good shape.

Thank you to Rispoli & Borneo P.C. for their insight into personal injury law.

Trademark registration law is full of interesting quirks and cases. In this post, we will answer two frequently asked questions about trademark law in the context of well-known brands.

Can One Product Have Multiple Trademarks?

A product or service can have multiple elements that can and should be trademarked individually. The Monopoly® board game provides a good illustration of this. Hasbro, Inc. has registered trademarks for the Monopoly brand name, the Mr. Monopoly name, and character, and the unique names and symbols of the game board’s corner squares (In Jail/Just Visiting, Go to Jail, Free Parking, and Go – although any game can use the word “go”). Each of these trademarks is a distinct verbal and/or visual element that consumers use to identify a product as coming from the Monopoly brand.

In an interesting twist, US courts have ruled that Hasbro’s trademark is not infringed by other board games that use names ending in “opoly” combined with a familiar-looking game board, i.e., spaces labeled with place names lining the four sides of a square board. For example, no trademark infringement has been committed by Late for the Sky Production Company’s city-based games such as Tampa-Opoly and university-based games such as Gator-Opoly.

These games cannot, however, use the trademarked corner symbols that appear on the Monopoly brand game board nor can they use the Mr. Monopoly character. In addition, when these games use trademarked university logos, they must have permission from the trademark owner.

What is the Difference Between the Symbols “TM” and ®?

If you are the first party to use a particular brand name, slogan, or logo, you can put the TM symbol next to it to signify that you claim ownership but have not yet officially registered it as a trademark. This is referred to as a “common law” trademark.

You can only put the ® symbol next to a name, phrase, or symbol that you have registered as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The owner of a registered trademark has specific legal rights above and beyond those available to the owner who claims a common law trademark. The most important right obtained by registration is the right to sue a copycat for trademark infringement and demand specific financial compensation for damages.

Get Assistance from an Experienced Trademark Lawyer

Federal registration of a trademark can be a long and complex process, but it is strongly recommended for brands that seek widespread consumer recognition beyond your local area. The time and cost you spend registering a trademark will be worthwhile as your business grows and the financial risk of trademark infringement increases. Contact an experienced intellectual property lawyer in Chicago to discuss your legal options.

Thanks to the Law Offices of Konrad Sherinian for their insight into intellectual property law.

If there is any possibility of injury in your job, it is important to take every safety measure possible and do everything you can to keep yourself and your co-workers safe. However, if an injury does happen, you can rest assured that the workers’ compensation system will protect you from financial ruin due to medical bills and other expenses. However, many people still worry about not receiving the workers’ comp they are due. Can you still be compensated even if the injury was your fault? This guide will answer this question and put your fears to rest.

Fault in Workers’ Comp Cases

First of all, it is important to understand that while workers’ comp is a benefit across the whole nation, it is managed on a state level. This means there are some differences in the laws and regulations from one state to the next.

However, it is typically true that fault plays no part in determining workers’ comp eligibility. After all, it would defeat the purpose of workers’ comp if accidental self-inflicted injuries were not covered. Whether you did something to cause an accident, or a co-worker did, you will be covered.

In personal injury cases, fault plays a much more important role. You cannot file a lawsuit against someone unless he or she was at least partially at fault for your suffering. This confuses many people because personal injury lawsuits and workers’ comp claims are similar on the surface. However, this is one aspect in which they are different.

Exceptions

There are two situations where you may not be eligible for workers’ comp due to something related to fault. These exceptions are:

• Intoxication
• Intentional injuries

You can probably already tell why these are exceptions, but let’s dive into them anyway. If you cause an injury to yourself, and you were intoxicated at the time, workers’ comp will not cover your injury. This is true whether your mind has been altered by alcohol or any other substance.

Additionally, workers’ comp does not provide coverage from injuries caused intentionally. There is a reputation that you can purposefully injury yourself in order to profit from workers’ comp. This is faulty thinking from the start because workers’ comp only compensates injury-related expenses. It is impossible to earn more than what you lost from the injury. Even if this was not true, however, intentional injuries immediately disqualify you for any amount of compensation. If you have any other questions, you might want to speak with a workers’ comp attorney, like a workers compensation Attorneys in Milwaukee, WI, today..

Thank you to Hickey & Turim SC for their input into personal injury law.

When you are divorcing your spouse — or soon to be ex-spouse — and children are involved, you may feel confused about your rights as a parent. You might want custody of your child, or on the other hand, you may wish to come to an arrangement that suits you, your ex, and your children. Whatever the case might be, it is advisable to have a good child custody lawyer, like a child custody lawyer in Collin County, TX, on your side. 

Child Custody Cases
When parents are trying to gain custody of their children, often it is the children who suffer the most. Their schooling may be affected, as may be their social interactions, behaviors, and other elements in their life. Child custody battles can result in deep scars that may never fully heal; therefore, it is important to tread carefully and always keep the interests of the child in mind. When you are trying to arrange the custody of your child, a child custody lawyer might ask you to consider the following:

Are You Prepared to Fight for Custody Even When You Know Your Child May Be Affected?
A child custody battle can extend for months, or even years, before a conclusion can be reached. Remember, your child might not be in the meetings or courtroom, but they will know that something is going on. Your child may face an immense amount of stress, especially if one or both parents are making suggestions to them that they might not understand. As a child custody lawyer might explain, children are smarter than many people realize. They often have concerns about where they will live, what school they will go to, whether they will see their mom, dad, or grandparents, and so forth. This is a sensitive subject that must not be ignored.  

Are You Okay with Your Child Being Forced to Partake in Sit-Ins and Interviews?
It is not uncommon for children of a certain age to be asked to partake in interviews with child custody lawyers, counselors, judges, and other personnel of the court. They may ask a broad range of questions that could make them feel worried, scared, or afraid. 

Are You Willing to Risk the Mental Health of Your Child?
A divorce can affect a child for years, or even decades. If there are arguments between the parents or comments made to the child, psychological issues can result. The consequences of this could be broad and include depression, PTSD, high anxiety, and more.    

Reading the aforementioned might make you, as a parent, feel uncomfortable. However, these are things that you should not forget. Regardless of what you might want, don’t let your interests overtake those of your child’s. 

Would It Not Be Better to Negotiate a Child Custody Arrangement?
Most likely you don’t want your child to have to go through emotional and mental anguish. To avoid this, consider turning to a child custody lawyer for help. A good lawyer will encourage healthy dialogue between both parents to create an agreement that is practical, fair, and maintains the best interests of the child. To learn more, call a child custody lawyer today. 

Thanks to Scroggins Law Group for their insight into child custody arrangements.

One of the leading reasons why people rehome or surrender their pets is due to divorce. Thousands of dogs and cats enter the shelter system every year because of couples who decided to part ways. And while many well-intentioned people believe this will be what is in the best interest of their pet, the fact is, studies prove that a stable and loving home with some kind of routine is where pets will thrive and be happiest. Giving up a pet to a shelter means that their future is uncertain. 

So what happens if both people want to keep the dog, cat, hamster, guinea pig, etc.? Perhaps the most helpful way to avoid the anguish and lengthy dispute over who keeps the fur baby if divorce ever happens, is to plan ahead during your marriage with a “pet prenup”. Here we discuss further what a pet prenup can do, how the law views pets, and whether you may want to consider splitting custody. 

A Pet Prenup
No married couple actually wants to plan ahead for what would happen if they were to get divorced. It is normal to be uncomfortable with the conversation. However, just in case something unexpected does happen, figuring out who would get your pets beforehand can make the splitting up process a little less heart-wrenching. Here are some points to consider when making a pet prenup plan for your family pet:

• Which spouse has to work longer hours and travels away from home most? What would probably be best for the pet is someone who is home more often than not. 
• Did either of you have the pet before you began your relationship? Even if one of you grew to love the pet when you entered the relationship, it may make more sense for that pet to remain with the person who had him or her first.
• Does the pet prefer one of you over the other? This may not feel great to discuss, you both know your dynamic with your pet and can be honest about who they’d probably choose to live with. 

The Law and Your Pet

In the eyes of the law, family pets are still viewed as community property. So if you were to bring this dispute to a judge, they are not likely to ask which side of the bed the pet sleeps on or who you think your pet likes the most. Instead, the judge may ask questions such as who has spent the most money when it came to pet supplies, veterinary bills, who purchased the pet, or who’s name is on adoption paperwork. 

Splitting Custody with Your Ex
If you and your spouse are struggling to develop a plan that involves only one person taking custody of the pet while the other has to move on without them, then you may want to consider splitting custody with the legal help of a divorce attorney in Chandler, AZ. You can make the arrangement to where one person has the pet for a certain period of time, and then drops the pet off at the other’s place.

Thanks to Citadel Law Firm for their insight into family law and who gets the pet after a divorce.

Reverting back to a maiden name is a common process for many women after divorce. There are a couple of different ways to ensure your name is legally changed, but other questions may arise as you’re going through the divorce proceedings. Here are the most common questions regarding the name change process.

Can I Change My Name If We’re Separated?

While you can start using your maiden name in non-binding situations, it will not be considered legally changed. This means your driver’s license and other legal documents will still contain your married name. To legally change back to your maiden name, you would need to go through a divorce or other court proceeding.

How Do I Change My Name After the Divorce? 

While this process varies by state, it’s usually quite simple to request a legal name change during the divorce proceedings. Most finalized decrees contain a court order that serves as legally official record of you reverting back to your maiden name. When going to change your name on other legal documents (license, subscriptions, social security cards, etc), just present a copy of the court records.

Do I Have to Take Back My Maiden Name? 

There may be certain situations where you don’t want to revert back to your maiden name. Maybe you have young kids and don’t want to make the process any harder on them. Whatever the case, the court cannot force you to change your name back. Even if the court order contains a name change stipulation, you are under no obligation to legally revert back to your maiden name.

Even if you decide to keep you married name when the divorce is finalized, the decision is not set in stone. Several years later, you can still use the divorce court order to change your name on legal documents.

What If the Name Change Provision Isn’t in my Divorce Decree? 

In some jurisdictions, a name change is not included in the divorce decree. To go through with this change, you would need to research the laws in your state. For example, in California, you must file an Ex Parte Application for Restoration of Former Name After Entry of Judgment of Order, or FL-395 to legally change your name after the divorce is finalized. In other states, you may need to visit the court clerk’s office to determine the right procedure. If not handled in the divorce order, you may need to submit additional paperwork such as a notice of motion for a name change. This process could take longer as name changes usually require publication in the local newspaper.

Divorce can be a tricky process — even when it comes to something seemingly simple like reverting back to your maiden name. If you or someone you know is going through a divorce, reach out to a divorce lawyer in Fairfax, VA. They will ensure your divorce proceedings go as smoothly as possible.

Thanks to May Law, LLP for their insight into family law and changing your name after divorce.