Understand Your Rights. Solve Your Legal Problems
If you are faced with criminal charges, the experience can be frightening and stressful. Initially, you may have no idea what the future holds or how to counter these charges, which is where a criminal defense lawyer comes into the equation. Hiring an experienced criminal defense attorney will help you navigate your case and strengthen your side of the story. Whether you’re off to your first consultation or next meeting, here are five things you can expect from a skilled criminal defense attorney.
When it comes to choosing the best criminal lawyer for you, they need to know how to communicate effectively from start to finish. Understandably, you will want to be kept up to date with how proceedings are going. Therefore, having an attorney who understands the importance of consistent communication is essential. If you have any worries that your case isn’t being kept private, consider picking another lawyer to represent you.
Whether you’ve been charged with assault, driving while intoxicated, or a drug crime, you must select a criminal defense attorney who has handled dozens of similar cases. For example, if you have been charged with drunk driving, having a lawyer who has more experience in drug crime won’t do you any favours. When going for your first consultation, you can address any worries or fears you may have to ensure you end up with a lawyer who fully understands your needs.
You will want to choose a criminal defense attorney who has a range of transferable skills that they can use effectively throughout your case. Whether it’s having compassion and empathy for your situation, critical thinking, or knowing how to problem solve, your attorney must possess such skills and then some. There may be tense periods throughout your case, meaning you need a criminal defense lawyer who can work well under pressure.
If you’ve started the hunt to find a criminal defense lawyer, a great way to narrow down your search is by reading past client testimonials. After all, they are the people who have been in the same shoes as you. Also, past clients will give an honest and upfront account of their experience with their lawyers. The more positive reviews you read, the better chance you have of the lawyer winning your case.
When being charged with a crime, the last thing you should do is give up at the beginning. Not only do you need to be confident in your beliefs, but you also need a lawyer who shares the same sentiments. If your case goes to court, being in such an environment can be unnerving. Therefore, hiring a criminal defense lawyer who is confident in their abilities and can keep their cool is key.
Regardless of what charges you’ve been presented with, your first step should be to hire a trusted and well-respected criminal defense lawyer in your area. Knowing you have the best person for the job by your side will not only strengthen your case but give you peace of mind.
American multinational enterprise information technology company, Hewlett Packard, has had a complaint filed against it in the Western District of Texas on Friday. The complaint alleges that the company has infringed a number of patents held by American private equity company Intellectual Ventures, which has accused Hewlett Packard of illegally using its patented works in its products.
Intellectual Ventures is a top patent filer in a diverse range of fields, including computer hardware, medical devices, semiconductors, and software. Its business model focuses on buying patents and collecting them into a large patent portfolio, then licensing these patents out to third parties.
Hewlett Packard specialises in developing high-performance storage solutions, including hyper-converged infrastructure solutions and virtualised storage solutions. It has come under fire for its 3PAR StoreServ Storage System and the SimpliVity series of HCI solutions, with Intellectual Ventures’ accusing the technology company of infringing upon its patents. Intellectual Ventures is currently seeking a declaration that Hewlett Packard Enterprise breached its patents, as well as compensation for damages, attorney’s fees, and other relief.
Under the new law, which was adopted by a large majority on June 11, any company above a particular size will be required to implement due diligence procedures that intercept abuses of human rights and the environment throughout the company's supply chain. As of 2023, the law will apply to any company with over 3,000 employees. As of 2024, that number will drop down to just 1,000 employees. Companies that fail to implement the procedures, or fail to act on any recognised abuses, could face fines of up to 2% of their international revenue. Additionally, if a company is found to be in violation of the law, then it could be excluded from public procurement for a maximum of three years.
The Bundestag has been praised by human rights groups and activists, who have long argued for the German Parliament to take action to ensure companies are operating both ethically and responsibly. However, they have also stated that, although the introduction of this new law is a significant step in the right direction, more still needs to be done. A group of 50 companies, including Ben & Jerry’s, has called upon the German Parliament to strengthen the law. The group believes the Bundestag should apply the UN Guiding Principles invariably.
Former bosses of German car giants Volkswagen and Audi will pay millions in compensation for their roles in the Dieselgate scandal. The payments come as part of a €288m (£248.5m) deal, with €270m of this sum coming from the directors’ and officers’ liability insurances.
Aman Johal, Lawyer and Director of Yours Lawyers commented: “We welcome the news that former bosses of Volkswagen and Audi will face financial penalties concerning the ‘Dieselgate’ scandal for the vehement breach of their duty of care under stock corporation law. It is important that the individuals responsible no longer hide behind the corporate veil.”
It was back in March that Volkswagen first announced it would seek damages from Audi chair Rupert Stadler and Professor Martin Winterkorn. Following an investigation, Volkswagen said that both Stadler and Winterkorn had breached their duty of care under stock corporation law. Stadler will pay €4.1 million, while Winterkorn is expected to pay €11.2 million after prosecutors on Wednesday charged the former boss with providing the German parliament with false testimony over the scandal.
The scandal arose after it was admitted that illegal software had been used to rig US diesel engine tests and has cost the German car manufacturer over £32 billion in fines, legal costs, and refits.
Faxing has come a long way since the first commercialised version of the fax came out in the 1960s. Since then, fax machines have become a standard piece of equipment that every business or organisation must have. However, fewer and fewer businesses and organisations such as law firms use those big, old fax machines that do nothing but collect more dust and eat up important office space. This is because, with the help of the internet, law firms, most offices, and businesses changed the way they do everything, especially when it comes to sending and receiving faxes. Online fax services have replaced physical fax machines, allowing law firms to work paperless and in a more secure way. To help law firms decide which online fax service to choose, we’ve created a list of ways online faxing can help attorneys and lawyers.
Embracing online fax means you’re going paperless from now on. This means that ink, paper, and all other things required to run fax machines are no longer needed. By doing so, you’ll be able to cut down on expenses and also help the environment. Furthermore, fax machines can’t beat online fax services when it comes to productivity. A good online fax service is capable of sending and receiving faxes using five different email accounts. Not to mention that it also comes with amazing additional features that you and your team can use. There’s no need to compress large files anymore as you’d do with emails. Online fax also allows you to attach large files such as high-resolution documents or videos. Some online fax services are even capable of faxing more than 20 recipients at a time, which is a great feature to have for law firms to increase productivity even more.
Perhaps the most important factor attorneys and lawyers should consider when it comes to faxing is the privacy and security of the documents they’re going to fax. With traditional faxes, legal documents that contain sensitive information are left unattended for hours and are thus at risk of being seen or collected by the wrong person. However, with online faxing, all the legal documents that are going to be faxed are encrypted during the transmission and can only be opened by its recipient using their personal credentials. Most online fax services provide password protection and SSL encryption, which is essential for law firms. Some online fax services also come with extra security features such as secure log-in prompt and two-factor authorisation.
Faxing is an important part of everyday operations at a law firm. Attorneys and lawyers should be able to send and receive important legal documents quickly. This is because clients, courts, insurance companies, and other legal professionals often require them to send and receive faxes quickly. The timestamps and dates found on faxes can also become key evidence when it comes to legal disputes, as it allows attorneys to study when the document was sent or received. Online faxing allows legal professionals to save a great amount of time when sending or receiving important legal documents. Since legal teams are often struggling to handle their busy schedules, along with dealing with multiple clients, they must make the most out of their billable hours by becoming more productive.
Maintaining hardware equipment such as fax machines can be very costly, not to mention that you still have to purchase ink cartridges and papers. However, using online fax services can help your law firm save a significant sum annually, which can make a big difference, especially for smaller firms. Aside from buying printing supplies and paying for the energy consumption of fax machines, you also have to think about additional expenses such as repairs, maintenance, long-distance charges, and telephone line services. Online faxing, however, is extremely cost efficient. It allows you to pay for the services that you only use without paying for any additional or unnecessary expenses.
Faxing is still one of the most secure and reliable ways of exchanging important documents. However, the idea of using traditional fax machines today is somewhat dated. This is not to say that the fax machines of today are redundant. There are still many businesses and organisations using fax machines. However, they aren’t as reliable as online faxing, particularly for those who work in the legal field. Find a good online fax service that works for your law firm so you can reap its benefits.
On Tuesday, the state of Ohio filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming that the multinational tech company should be regulated as a public utility on account of its anti-competitive and discriminatory practices. State Attorney General Dave Yost asked a state court to declare Google a public utility as a means of ensuring that the company cannot prioritise placements of its own products above others in its search results. The civil action does not seek monetary damages. It instead asks that Google comes under oversight from a body such as Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission.
AG Yost has expressed his concerns over Google’s ability to create no click searches, a predicted query or phrase that leads users to other Google platforms, such as Google Shopping, Google News, and YouTube. The suit argues that Google has a responsibility not to prioritise Google services and links artificially.
However, representatives for Google have commented that the lawsuit will not succeed, arguing that the suit would only worsen Google Search results and make it more difficult for small businesses to connect directly with their customers.
Getting a divorce can be physically and emotionally taxing. After investing your time and emotions into a relationship, seeing it go down in flames can be heart-wrenching.
Afterwards, you might even feel lost and empty. We understand that, and we're here to help. If you're struggling to pave a path for yourself after the divorce, you've landed on the perfect article.
Here we've enlisted five steps you must take after a divorce that'll help you in the long run.
Draft Your Will
A divorce might not nullify any existing will you might have written. But, once the formal decision of divorce is final, the testator's spouse is assumed to have died. In such a case, the division of assets could become a cause of conflict.
If such a conflict reaches the court, it leads to evoking the Rules of Intestacy. To avoid such a situation, drafting your will is crucial. It ensures the division of your properties and assets as per your discretion and intention.
Change Your Surname
After your marriage, you might have taken your husband's name or opted for a double barrel surname. However, after a divorce, you might want to reclaim your maiden surname. The Deed Poll serves this purpose for you. It is legal and the easiest way to change your name.
There are two types of deeds, Enrolled Deeds (For 18 years and above) and Unenrolled deeds (for below 16 years). They will let you put your new name in the public records.
Separate Your Finances
Once the divorce is final, you should shut down all your joint accounts credit cards or surrender them to the companies. Let the bank know that you are no longer liable for your spouse's previous or ongoing debts.
Check Your Financial Settlement
A financial settlement is an official court order deciding the splitting of assets between the spouses. It might include things like:
Property Transfer: The ownership of Marital Property goes to one of the spouses in the form of transferring a mortgage or transitioning a joint mortgage into an individual one.
Putting the Family House on the Market: Both the spouses split the profit amongst themselves in such a case.
Maintenance Payments: This stands for the payment of spousal or child maintenance for a specific period.
Look After Your Kids
No matter how much you try to shelter your kids, they'll have to cope with the after-effects of the divorce. One of your priorities should be ensuring that your kids know they are not to blame and making sure you meet all their needs.
Divorce can be an unfortunate thing. But don't let it bring your spirits down. Enjoy your freedom to your heart's desire. Reinvent yourself, put yourself out there and make the most of life.
Meet your financial advisor and invest your money into things that will give you returns. Let the tips mentioned in this article help you tackle your post-divorce issues and chores.
The law is such a wonderfully infuriating thing. It can give you a sense of justice, or sully your life beyond recognition. The convoluted processes, excessively complex wording, and sheer force of the law will leave an indelible mark on whoever is (un)fortunate to have come into contact with it. Long story short, if you find yourself subject to the long arm of the law due to criminal allegations, it’s imperative that you find yourself a criminal defense attorney, although not all criminal defense lawyers are created equal. Consider this against the diversity of a Los Angeles backdrop, and the requirements for what you need in an attorney are compounded again. Here, we take a look at what qualities you are going to need in a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer.
Los Angeles is America’s second most populated, and second most densely populated city. These factors, coupled with the city’s work-in-progress public transport network, mean that having your own vehicle (and being willing to use it) is essential for some criminal defense attorneys to reach their clients. This geographical reality is compounded by the fact that car ownership in Los Angeles is not universal. Despite having a bigger economy than the entire UK, California—and Los Angeles in particular—is home to a disproportionate amount of poorer people. This means that travelling lawyers in Los Angeles are more of a necessity than in most other American cities.
Los Angeles is an anomaly across all of the world’s cities. Sometimes, it feels like we’re living inside our own insular bubble that is influencing, rather than being influenced by, the rest of the world. These characteristics of the city are essential for your lawyer to be aware of. On top of adhering to the federal law, California has its own state law which differs from the rest of the country. Your lawyer needs to be intimately familiar with this in order to navigate the law for the best outcome in your trial.
At a minimum, this means they will have passed the bar exam which allows them to legally practice as a lawyer. Like all professions, there are specific fields and subcategories in which people specialize. In this instance, it is expected that your lawyer is specialized in the field of criminal defense. This expertise will mean that they are aware of legal precedents and appropriate defenses for your case. Ideally, this will be somebody with years of valuable experience. Hiring an inexperienced lawyer can hurt your case, and adversely affect your chance of freedom.
A criminal defense case, or any case for that matter, can take a huge financial toll. This can be for the more obvious reason of legal fees, but also stems from the fact that many court cases are drawn out for much longer than intended. This then reduces your capacity to work and earn income during this time.
Good criminal defense often includes trained lawyers, and highly efficient admin staff, all of which are sadly not cheap. Some firms will allow for flexible fee arrangements. This means that you will not be expected to pay your fees upfront, as is sometimes the case. Additionally, if your firm can fit a package of representation around your budget, this can give you the best shot of success within your financial means.
Los Angeles is famous for its beautiful people and their cosmetic enhancement. However, regardless of how perfect your cheekbones are, this is not going to win you your day in court. In summary, you have to talk the talk. This is two-fold, relating to both your lawyer's articulation of your case in court and communication with yourself (their client). When you have initial meetings with your (prospective) lawyer, make sure that they can effectively communicate complex legal jargon to you in a way that you can understand. This also includes things like plea options, relevant laws, and constitutional ramifications. If they can’t clearly explain these to you, then chances are they won’t be able to explain them to an audience of jurors either. Additionally, communication is not solely about speaking, but listening too. They should be understanding of your situation, and able to competently respond to your queries, even though you are coming from a place of lesser legal experience. Remember, we can’t always know what our lawyer is thinking, but this doesn’t matter so long as they are saying the right things.
Los Angeles is a city full of Hollywood elites, scandals, and paparazzi looking for their next scoop. The infrastructure to spread sensitive information at the drop of a hat is not only in place, but in constant motion. When it comes to your day in court, the last thing you need is your information getting out to the public.
Attorney-client privilege is a very real thing and needs to be observed at all times. The specifics of your case, whether sensitive or not, should be treated with the utmost care.
Unsurprisingly, industries are often closely knit, and this means that most criminal defense lawyers will know other criminal defense lawyers. This is no excuse for being too liberal with the finer details of your case with an associate at a bar after work.
The art of closing deals is crucial to any courtroom, although especially those within the district of Los Angeles. Interestingly, with so many hundreds of cases being tried every month, many of these will settle outside of court, sometimes before even entering the courtroom. This option can be looked upon favourably in some instances. By settling early and out of court, you are saving the state time and money, and it’s perceived to be a sign of good character when you admit partial or full responsibility before going to trial. This kind of deal gives you a lot of leverage, and it’s up to your lawyer to use this to their and your advantage as best as they can. They will need to negotiate and persuade the court to enter an agreement and push for the best possible outcome for your case.
Navigating the legal system in Los Angeles brings its own set of quirks and nuances. When finding the right lawyer for the job, make sure that they can travel, have experience, are considerate of payment, able to communicate, respect confidentiality, and have strong negotiation skills. This will lead to the best possible outcome for your case.
On May 26, The Hague’s District Court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell must make a 45% reduction to its global net carbon emissions by 2030. The court stated that Shell has a duty of care to the citizens of the Netherlands, in which the company’s headquarters are based. Almost half of the Netherlands’ 17 million inhabitants live along its 350km coastline or live in regions that sit below sea level. Consequently, many believe that large companies like Shell must act to protect Dutch citizens from the consequences of the climate crisis.
Ben van Beurden, CEO of Shell, has voiced his disappointment with the court ruling. For many years, Shell has maintained that condemning energy producers without a concurrent effort to change global consumption habits is pointless. Van Beurden stuck by Shell’s commitment to continue producing fossil fuels, which are behind the majority of the company’s profit. While most of Shell’s investors supported its existing energy transition plan, others have urged the company to commit to more progressive targets.
Despite Ben van Beurden's disappointment with the court ruling, Shell plans to act quickly and has promised to accelerate its emissions cuts.
On Tuesday, a bill that will increase fees for the biggest mergers was passed by the US Senate. Under the new bill, companies that plan the largest mergers will pay out more to government antitrust agencies, and in turn, these agencies will receive greater budgets.
The bill was co-sponsored by Democrat and top antitrust senator, Amy Klobuchar and top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley. It aims to lower fees for smaller mergers under $161.5 million. At current, smaller mergers pay $45,000, but under the introduction of the new bill, the cost will reduce to $30,000. However, where a deal is worth $5 billion or above, the fees would increase substantially, from $280,000 to $2.25 million.
Mergers are assessed by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division to check that they observe antitrust law. The bill would amplify authorisations to each of these agencies. The Federal Trade Commission would receive a budget of $148 million, and the Antitrust Division would receive $252 million. The Federal Trade Commission would receive $389.8 million for the next fiscal year under the Biden administration. With the yearly budget currently sat at $351 million, the FTC would see an increase of approximately 11%. Under the Biden administration, the Antitrust Division would also see a significant budget increase of 8.6%
The bill comes as part of a Senate package directed at boosting the US’ ability to compete with Chinese tech. It is hoped that the measures will improve the system for assessing mergers and bring an end to anti-competitive practices.
