Most people outside of the legal system have never heard of expert witnesses, a critical part of the legal system. Unlike regular witnesses, who can testify about what they observed or heard, experts can offer opinions. Experts are used to explain a variety of...
When divorces are tough there are usually issues with money. The rules on dividing assets, money, real estate, vehicles, anything of value, are simple, it is generally divided equally, regardless of who earned it, or whose name is on it. The exception is...
It happens every year in the family court business, separated parents fighting over where the kids will be for the holidays. The holiday season has its challenges to begin with, the stress or organizing get togethers, figuring out where people will be, traveling with...
The question comes up for me all the time. Oftentimes, people do not know if they need to show up for court or simply sign a written statement, called an Affidavit. Here are the rules for an in-person hearing, usually called a trial or an evidentiary hearing: anyone...
This week, our office received the news every defense attorney loves to see, a charge against a client was dismissed by the prosecutor. How does a criminal charge get dismissed? The short answer, either the Court dismisses after a request by the defense, or the...
It happens every year, summer ends, and, for those of us with kids of certain ages, they go back to school. Back to school is a project even when parents live together, getting supplies, signing up for sports and extra curricular activities, getting schedules sorted...
It is a quote from Spiderman, but applies to the real world, not just comic strips. I heard it from a prosecutor the other day as he was referring to the impact his decisions could have on people. If he decided to charge a person with a serious crime they could be...
Ex Parte is one of those legalese terms that few who are not lawyers understand. It came from Latin, an ancient language that was the ancestor of the modern French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian languages. Some Latin terms find their way into the English...
I spent last weekend at my kid’s soccer tournament, watching my son's games and coaching my daughter’s. If you have not participated in youth sports before it is a great time and extremely rewarding. If your kids are in sports, volunteer to help out coaching,...
That old saying is a little misleading. There is a good argument that knowledge is always good; the more one knows the better. The old saying comes up a lot in my line of work. I hear from people who have seen material online that tells them a little bit about how the...