The Alternative Broadcasting Online News Station

You have been in a accident, automobile, slip and fall, workplace, etc.. Should you see or speak with an attorney?

As far as I am concerned, the answer is always yes.

When should you consult with an accident attorney? You should seek the advise of an accident attorney as soon as possible after the accident. Do not wait. You could be giving up certain rights. You should definetly speak with an attorney before speaking with the other sides insurance agent, adjuster or attorney.

You say that you can not afford an attorney. Most accident attorneys will consult with you for free and, if they take your case, will handle it on a contingency basis, not taking any fee untill the case is settled. Most settlements are increased to cover the cost of the attorney and therefore normally the attorney costs you nothing. Many attorneys will also advance all court costs for you if they are forced to file suit.

You say that you were injured, however, the insurance company has offered to pay your medical bills and you do not feel it is right to take advantage of them by asking for additional money for your, pain, suffering, lost work, etc.. Don’t you feel that you as a person are worth something? Do you think so little of yourself that you feel that your pain, suffering, inconvience, etc. is worthless. You did not cause this accident. What you are going through was caused by someone else. You deserve to be compensated. The insurance company, as a matter of good business, has already built these types of costs into the premiums that they charge their customers. If the money does not go to you it will
probably go to their shareholders or to increased salaries or ?. Why shouldn’t you be properly compensated. Remember most good attorneys are ethical and although they will attempt to obtain as much money for you as is due, they will not take your case unless they feel that it is proper.

You say someone else admitted liability and said that their insurance will pay all your damages. That’s great, however, what if the person changes his or her story later on and says that you were at fault. Or what if the other side’s insurance company refuses to pay what you think is proper. In fact, how do you know what is proper? Remember, an insurance company may pay claims, but it is in business to make money. It normally will not offer one dollar more than it has to and if you are not represented by an attorney the insurance company adjuster or attorney may feel that he or she can “get away” with paying much less than the claim may be worth. Additionally, what
people state at the time of an accident is not always what they state after having spoken with a friend, insurance agent or attorney. Finally, an insurance adjuster or insurance attorney works for the insurance company, not for you. How do you know that what they are telling you is correct or true. Remember, in most instances, they are there to try and save the company money. You need an attorney on your side to tell you what your rights and obligations are.

You say that you were not hurt that bad or at all. How do you know how badly you were hurt. Some injuries do not show up for months. Other injuries may aggrivate a prior problem. Even if you have been found to be “ok” by a doctor, how do you know that a problem will not come up later. If you have insurance and did go to a doctor, who is going to pay your co-pay or deductible. If you do not have health insurance, who is going to pay for your examination which should include xrays, etc.. If you retain an attorney he or she can probably refer you to a doctor who will accept a lien against the insurance settlement, thereby saving you from paying
money out of your pocket.

You say you have accident insurance, why not let them handle everthing for you. Your insurance company is there to defend any claims against you not to represent you in any claims against other parties. Additionally, they also are in business to make money. How do you know if they are trying to settle a case to help you or to save themselves money.

The foregoing article was written by the author based on experiences he has had as a private investigator representing both accident attorneys and insurance companies. This article is not stated as a legal opinion or as fact but instead is stated as opinion of the author.

Permission is given to reprint this article providing credit is given to the author, David G. Hallstrom, and a link is listed to Resources For Attorneys the owner of this article. Anyone or any company reprinting this article without giving proper credit and the correct link, is doing so without permission.

David G. Hallstrom, Sr. is a retired private investigator and currently publishes several internet directories including www.resourcesforattorneys.com a legal and lifestyle resources directory for attorneys, lawyers and the internet public.

As the publisher of a website devoted to disability issues, and as one who receives occasional mail from claimants, one thing stands out amazingly loud and clear: too many disability claimants are waiting way too long to get their applications going.

In fact, it’s almost stunning how many people are out there in their forties, fifties, even in their late fifties, with significant physical and/or mental impairments and yet have not filed for social security disability or ssi.

I don’t use the word stunning lightly, either. In the last few years, I’ve been, in varying capacties, in daily contact with disability claimants (several thousand). Even prior to becoming
a disability examiner, I had been a medicaid caseworker, taking applications for medicaid that would go to disability determination services for a medical determination Yet, not in any of that time, did I get a clear picture of how many disabled individuals there must be who are not pursuing their benefits.

Why do so many people put off filing for benefits? There are lots of different reasons, I suppose, and one that I can’t discount is that a certain percentage of individuals have probably been intimidated by all the “bad stuff” they’ve heard about the program (high denial rates, files and paperwork getting lost, rude social security employees, etc, etc).

However, I have the strong impression that many potential claimants either do not file or put off filing because A.
they feel embarassed about filing or B. they want to go back to work and are truly hoping their condition will improve to the point that this will become possible.

This is what I would tell a friend, relative, neighbor, and anyone who reads this: if you believe you are disabled, file your application ASAP. Because if your medical condition does
indeed prevent you from returning to work, any embarassment you feel over filing will weigh very little against your immediate financial concerns. And if you’re hoping that your condition will improve to the point where you can work again, that’s a great attitude…but what if it doesn’t. You’re always safer and wiser if you hedge your bets.

The federal disability system in the U.S. is presently in a “slow-mode” meltdown and (that’s just my opinion) and right now, start to finish, it can take up to three years to get through the whole process (initial claim, reconsideration, alj hearing). So, don’t THINK about filing. Just FILE.

You may have read in the news that the social security disability system is slated for improvement soon. Again, this is just my opinion, but don’t count on it. The reform proposals being advocated by the current SSA Commissioner may arguably make things a lot worse for claimants and the process in general. Commissioner Barnhart’s proposals will certainly make the SSD-SSI system more hostile and adversarial to claimants. And there’s good reason to believe that her proposals will not even speed things up. They may, in fact, have quite the opposite effect. Please remember that this is the same administration that thought it was ok NOT to pay overtime to people working 50 hours a week as long as they would classified as “working supervisors”. It’s also the same group that thinks it’s ok for individual citizens to be barred from debt relief while individuals occupying the ivory towers (I’m thinking of “The Donald” here) seem to be filing for bankruptcy protection every time you turn around.

I will leave you with this thought. It was under the current Social Security Administration Commissioner that HPI was instituted. This was an efficiency program that, instead of bringing efficiency to the disability hearing process
actually slowed things down by at least a FACTOR OF THREE (hearings in north carolina, for example, used to take at most 5 months to get—now they take up to 15-24 months, depending on
what hearing office you have to deal with).

To reiterate: If you are disabled, don’t think about filing. Just file and get it done.

The author of this article is Timothy Moore, who, in addition to being a former food stamp caseworker, medicaid caseworker and AFDC caseworker, is a former disability claims examiner. He
publishes information at http://www.disabilitysecrets.com

There are numbers of impartial computer forensics authorities in developed countries who provide all litigation function at request of courts and their services can obtain for getting computer evidence. Computer Forensics identifies, acquire, restore, and analyze electronic data in litigation.

The computer forensics performs their legal duties regarding digital discovery of the documents. When we look into the legal history of these digital discovery authorities, their function as certified authorities to all document produced in digital form developed with advanced with electronic communication. The assistance of computer forensics is employed by foreign courts for purpose of getting forensic view about the e-data or electronic evidence.

The Computer Forensics authorities’ employs various tools for purpose of verification of documents, starting from identify, acquire, restore, and analyze electronic documents for their admission and production before court of laws. There verification of documents is not limited to local disk data but even the remote server data is verified. From authentication of record to local hard drive to remote server, the certified forensic discovery authorities help in testifying acquired from data from NT, Novell, UNIX, and Linux servers and PCs, among others.

IDENTIFICATION: There procedure adopted by the digital discovery authorities start from electronic discovery is identification. The electronic discovery is the identification of likely sources of relevant information comparing it with original electronic document. The identification of computer document and its comparison with original record through critical step to help ensure that data is not overlooked and each aspect of date is properly maintained and there is no tampering of database while its production before court of law. There view about the electronic document are requested of disk or remote documents and go on-site to inventory the data and look for hidden sources of taxpayer for evasion of record. In many cases, they present a written e-discovery report of web site and its links with database where it has been hosted.

ACQUISITION: The identification of electronic documents is only the first step for proper identification of website link with data base. Once identified, the second step that they have to follow to gather the relevant information for authentication of the electronic evidence as to judge the reliance of the evidence. They take care to collect relevant information for coming to right conclusion regarding the authenticity of e-documents. They take care to avoid tampering of record and to maintain defensible chain-of-custody. There are three critical procedural phases judging the reliance of the electronic evidence and its presentation before the court of laws. Computer forensics employs uses forensically tools, their written protocols and internal procedures ensure that their work product with stands scrutiny in all jurisdictions where it is going to be presented before the court.

RESTORATION: There are many hidden sources of electronic evidence that can not be retrieved without seeking the assistance of the authorities of foreign jurisdiction. Once information regarding the evidence existed out state jurisdiction gathered, document must have to follow the same procedure of as defined in acquire. Rather it is foreign jurisdiction or not, important information is not retrieved without tested forensic procedures and documentation. The computer forensics helps courts to avoid any unnecessary production of documents, while ensuring that potentially relevant documents are presented, including encrypted, compressed, and password-protected files, are presented before court properly.

SEARCHING: Another method is used is filtering of electronic database received in electronic discovery. While undergoing search of the electronic evidence, the computer forensics uses a variety of methods, tools and appropriate search technique to widows and other operating system for increasing reliability of electronic document to the court of law. The electronic forensics authorities are given number of powers in connect with assessing the reliance of the electronic and figuring out the hidden sources of evidence.

PRODUCTION: The production and admission before the court of law is primary function of these forensics authorities and the computer forensics produces legal documents of data to court by their certification. They are granted certification power by statute or they are working as independent autonomous bodies being famous for their impartial reports, they are often asked by court to give opinion about the electronic having agreed by both parties to suit. They produce copies of the data selected for review and offer recommendations and certification regarding the nature of electronic database to be viewed, organizes data as evidence.

VERIFICATION

The computer forensics perform number of function, one of them is offering detailed written certified reports and analyses to courts to just adjudication of matter. As being declared as “friend-of-the-court” by experts, they assists judges with the interpretation electronic evidence being presented in court proceedings and the testimony of other electronic discovery experts. The court often needs the opinion of these experts regarding the building of the electronic evidence and reliance. For getting appropriate and meeting the reliance standard, although careful attention to detail in the early stages of electronic discovery builds solid expert testimony. The real aim of computer forensics to assist the court in reaching just conclusion regarding production of data as evidence but in Pakistan we have not yet legislated on role of computer forensics as expert role for identification, production and its admission before the court of law.

Here need to encourage the computer forensics in Pakistan for getting accurate information for digital evidence. Their services can be obtained by contractual basis, or they can be incorporated in taxing authorities as confirming them special inspection power.

Currently no computer forensics authorities are running their business in Pakistan, reason may be, and no efforts are made to provide legal framework for establishment of certification authorities and to discuss the economic measures for their promotion. The specific amendment should be made to incorporate, computer forensics, proposed vigilance authority as part of the tax structure so that the avoidance of the tax can be minimized.

The writer is an advocate of High Court and practicing immigration and corporate laws in Pakistan since September 2001. He is a self employed and pioneer in research on electronic commerce taxation in Pakistan. His articles were published widely in the critical areas of cyber crimes, electronic commerce, e-taxation and various other topics. He wrote LL.M thesis on titled “Legislation of electronic commerce taxation in Pakistan” in which he provided comprehensive legal proposals for statutory reconstruction of tax laws for purpose of imposition of taxation on e-business in Pakistan. Currently he is conducting is research on topic ‘Electronic commerce taxation: emerging legal issues of digital evidence’.

Author can be contacted by adil.waseem@lawyer.com.

The drums are beating along the banks of the Potomac. Interest groups on the left and right are positioning themselves for the ugly Senate confirmation fight that will surely follow once President George W. Bush gets done choosing a nominee to fill the vacancy left by retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Who knows? Perhaps the Chief Justice will retire and give us a doubleheader.

It should be quite a spectacle, even a raucous circus, despite Bush having made conciliatory noises that he only wants to choose someone that will interpret the Constitution and not legislate from the bench.

The president even says he won’t make the nominee’s position on abortion a litmus test. But don’t get all giddy just yet. This enticing language is simply coded message to his true-believers: since “abortion” is not in the Constitution, no right-minded judge would interpret the document to identify that right in the first place. Ergo: he will choose an anti-abortion nominee and rightwing ideologue.

But Bush, becoming more concerned now with legacy than during his administration’s first-term macho strut, will at least try to select someone who will “seem” to be of the mainstream.

Appeals Court Judge Michael W. McConnell would be a perfect choice if one wanted a Trojan horse. McConnell is a bright, soft-spoken former academic. Well-liked by his liberal colleagues, he even has some unconventional views that might irk the far right.

But he is also someone who would take us a huge step backwards as far as church/state separation is concerned. He would bring back graduation prayers and creationism in the schools and push vouchers and more government involvement in religion.

McConnell claims the whole doctrine of separation is, historically-speaking, flawed. I will risk the wrath of fellow freethinkers and take the unpopular view that he is about half right.

Let’s give the other side its due. Despite the intent of men like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, separation of church and state was not a slam-dunk at the founding of our republic. Even after the passage of the First Amendment a few of the 13 independent states continued to tax citizens to support the dominant Protestant denomination. Many states had blasphemy laws; a few had blue laws prohibiting working and dancing on the Sabbath; some even prohibited Catholics and Jews (not to mention non-believers!) from holding office well into the nineteenth century.

And all these laws were perfectly constitutional! Like the rest of the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment had no legal bearing on the 13 newly-independent states, at least not initially. The states could do as they liked. Nonetheless, some, like Virginia and Pennsylvania, chose right from the very beginning to hew very closely to our present-day understanding of church/state separation.

Now, even most of those who oppose the doctrine of separation acknowledge that the generation that ratified the Constitution wanted the federal government out of the business of religion. From there the natural development of separation doctrine shifted to the states, whose politicians and populaces began to realize, over time, that religion and government do not mix. Most began to eliminate religiously-infused statutes from their law books. The High Court accelerated this trend by holding that the Fourteenth Amendment made the protections of the Bill of Rights — including the Establishment Clause — applicable to all levels of government. Not only is this “incorporation doctrine” accepted by most jurists, but it made sense to go this route because the nation was steadily becoming more religiously diverse in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

But McConnell and justices like Clarence Thomas have a point if you believe the Constitution doesn’t grow.

The larger question is this: Is the above snapshot of our nation’s distant past something we want to go back to? Perhaps the far right might want to, but I have a sneaking suspicion that even most conservatives would recoil at Justice Thomas’s radical view that the Establishment Clause resists “incorporation” and that states are free to create state-sponsored churches should they choose to do so. I can see it now: Instead of red and blue states, we would have all sorts of colored states to recognize fundamentalist, Catholic and Mormon ascendancy in different regions of the country.

That is why all this talk about nominating someone who will interpret the Constitution and not legislate from the bench is particularly grating.

At first glance, original intent and strict constructivism arguments seem to be common sense approaches to deciphering the Constitution. The original intent approach says we should, when trying to understanding some provision, seek to discover the initial purpose(s) of the person(s) who drafted that provision. Sounds straightforward enough. Strict constructivism means that judges should construe the language of the Constitution to mean what the words say. Again, what’s wrong with that?

The only problem with “originalism” is that it is often difficult to divine what the drafters intended. Or, even more problematic: since there were many drafters, there may be many intents. This allows an unscrupulous judge to choose the purpose that best aligns with his or her political agenda, all along claiming that he/she is neutral and simply applying the law.

So why not interpret this venerable document in the context of modern understanding, instead of the past, which favors conservative politics? In fact, it happens all the time. As far as I know all nine justices have no problem with the government providing lawyers to indigent defendants, even though that was not the original intent of the Sixth Amendment guarantee. Chief Justice Rehnquist’s interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause to prohibit sex discrimination departs from the original purpose which was to provide legal equality for African-Americans. And Justice Scalia has defended flag burning as free speech, even though one wonders whether such a notion even entered the thoughts of the founders.

Which brings us to strict constructivism.

Strictly construing words is fine when we have such self-defining phrases as the requirement that the president must be at least 35 years old.

But what do we do with vague generalities like government shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion? Does that mean that you should be able to mainline heroin or sacrifice your firstborn if that is part of your religion? Obviously, some reading between the lines has to take place here.

As a secularist I happen to take the unorthodox approach that the doctrine of separation of church and state was not fully-formed at the beginning, but naturally evolved with time from the seeds planted by our most prominent and thoughtful founders. In a largely Protestant nation, solicitude for Muslims and Wiccans was probably not an important consideration. But in a nation as religiously diverse as ours is today — with several million unbelievers to boot — strict separation is the best course of action, or else we’re in for some rocky times ahead.

So don’t be fooled when you hear these pious utterances from the far right about how a judge is supposed to do her job. The U.S Supreme Court is a legal institution. But it is also a political one — always has been, always will be.

And while we’re at it, we better stop listening to these cynical eighth-grade civic lessons that nominees should be judged on their qualifications alone — not their political convictions. You can be sure that the right would not play by the same Marquis of Queensbury rules if they were in the same weakened condition as progressives are now.

About the author:

Tim Gordinier, Ph.D., is the director of public policy of the Institute for Humanist Studies. The Institute for Humanist Studies is a nonprofit advocacy organization, based in Albany, N.Y., that promotes the rights of the nonreligious (http://www.HumanistStudies.org). A registered lobbyist for humanism, Gordinier earned his doctorate in public law with a concentration on the religion clauses of the First Amendment. He is a board member of the New York Civil Liberties Union - Capital Region Chapter. He is the author of the online course “Religion and the Constitution”, offered through the Institute’s Continuum of Humanist Education (http://www.HumanistEducation.com). Gordinier’s commentary appears regularly in the Institute’s weekly e-zine, Humanist Network News (http://www.HumanistNetworkNews.org). To contact Gordinier, visit: http://humaniststudies.org/feedback.html

At arraignment, the District Attorney may offer a plea to a lesser charge than what you were arrested for originally. Pleas are offered to unburden an extremely congested criminal court calendar, as well as to get rid of lesser criminal cases so the District Attorney can rightfully concentrate on the more serious crimes.

If you were arrested for misdemeanor shoplifting and you arrive at the arraignment with no prior arrests, most likely the District Attorney will offer you the option of pleading guilty to a lesser violation and a few days of community service with a fine. You have the option to end the process by accepting the lower charge of a violation, which is not a crime but will appear on your record in the future.

If you accept the plea then you will actually plead guilty to a lesser offense on the record and the court will most likely impose a fine and community service or counseling, depending upon what you and the District Attorney agreed to.

If you don’t accept the plea, you will simply plead “not guilty” and continue your criminal court appearances. Your attorney will file various motions and hold hearings to discover what evidence the District Attorney has against you or to get the charges dismissed. An example of such a hearing would be called a “Huntley Hearing”. In that hearing your attorney’s objective is to get any incriminating statements you made suppressed, meaning they can not be used against you. The point of that hearing is that the police obtained statements from you invlountarily. At the hearing your attorney will cross-examine the police involved in your arrest by asking them detailed questions. If your attorney can prove your statements were coerced or obtained form you in some way involuntarily then you have just eliminiated a criucial piece of evidence against you, making your case of innocence stronger.

As you proceed further through the criminal court process, the plea to a lesser charge may or may not be offered again. Whether or not you accept a plea is something only you and your attorney can decide, based upon your circumstances. Just remember that the plea will always be on your record as opposed to fighting the charges if you’re innocent and getting the whole criminal case dismissed, clearing your name.

Your Criminal Court Appearances

If you plead not guilty and are released “ROR” (meaning without bail and on your own recognizance) or on bail, you’ll be given the next date to appear before the court. At that time the court will set deadlines for your attorney to complete certain work on your behalf.

The District Attorney has a limited period of time to complete his investigation and state on the record he is ready for trial. The time limits are mandatory to protect your constitutional right to a speedy trial. So you should be prepared to quickly prove your innocence. Being accused of a crime is a stigma, and the reality is that you are actually presumed guilty until you prove your innocence (contrary to the belief that “you are presumed innocent until proven guilty”).

If you miss a court appearance, a warrant for your arrest is issued

Your Right To A Speedy Trial

The time for you to get a speedy trial starts running from the date the criminal complaint is filed against you. A trial for a violation must be held within 30 days. A misdemeanor trial must occur within 90 days. A felony trial must take place within six months.

The time periods for a speedy trial are “tolled” (stopped) because of certain motions made by your attorney or certain hearings. They are not tolled if the District Attorney requests adjournments without your consent. They are also not tolled if the District Attorney is not ready for certain appearance dates. This is called “excludable time” for the purposes of determining when a trial must be held.

Making A Record

At each court date, there will be a stenographer typing every word of the proceeding to make a record of it. Your attorney must make sure the record is clear that you do not consent to an adjournment or that the District Attorney was not ready. Being clear is important, because the court is overwhelmed with hundreds of cases a day. Sometimes the judge will not keep a good record or his notes on your file will be unreadable and the judge later can’t recall what happened.

To be clear and to protect your rights, state on the record that “defendant does not consent to the adjournment and time should be charged to the People” or state that “The District Attorney is not ready and time should be charged to the People.” Make sure the stenographer hears what you say because you may later have to order those records from the stenographer to prove what happened at the hearing. If the stenographer did not hear you or your attorney then you will not have a record that will benefit you. Make sure you both speak loud and clear at each court date to protect your record.

Law Offices of Susan Chana Lask

853 Broadway, Suite 1516

New York, NY 10003

(212) 358-5762

©2004 Susan Chana Lask All Rights Reserved

About The Author

Susan Chana Lask is a New York attorney with law offices in New York City. She has over 20 years experience and practices in State, Federal and Appellate Courts nationwide, handling civil, criminal and commercial litigation and appeals. She represents high profile cases and appears on all major television, print and radio news media, earning the title “High-Powered” New York attorney. She can be reached at www.appellate-brief.com.

sue@aol.com

There are a number of situations in life when you have to
decide whether to hire a lawyer. For instance, if you’re
purchasing a house or having trouble paying your bills,
hiring a lawyer may not be a necessity, but it’s a good
idea nonetheless. However, if you’ve been charged with
driving under the influence, assault, or some other crime,
hiring a criminal lawyer is mandatory. You’ll want to make
sure that your legal rights are protected throughout the
entire judicial process.

But where do you begin, when you’re hoping to hire a
qualified criminal lawyer? One of the best ways to find an
effective attorney is to consult with your family and
friends. There is nothing better than a personal
recommendation, especially one that comes from someone who
is close to you. However, there are times when it might be
difficult to obtain a personal referral. In those
situations, you might consider consulting the local bar
association or an Internet site such as lawyers.com. The
Internet, in fact, can provide a wealth of information
about individual lawyers. For instance, you can find out
about a lawyer’s level of expertise in criminal law,
biographical information, whether the lawyer is in good
standing with the bar, and other pertinent facts. In
addition, online archives of your local newspaper might
include articles about cases that a particular lawyer has
tried. You’ll want to hire a lawyer with plenty of
experience in the area of criminal law involved in your
case, whether it be traffic offenses, drug crimes, or white
collar crimes.

The next step is contacting the lawyer’s office. If an
attorney cannot meet with you on short notice, don’t count
the lawyer out. Effective lawyers are quite busy, so, if a
lawyer is short on time, that may actually be a positive
sign. Pay close attention to how your call is handled by
the lawyer’s staff. The staff should be courteous and be
willing to answer all of your questions.

You should be aware of the fact that criminal defense
lawyers tend to charge by the hour. As an alternative,
they may charge a flat fee up front. Generally speaking,
rules of professional conduct bar a lawyer from charging a
contingency fee for a criminal case. Since legal fees can
vary, you might want to engage in some comparison shopping.
However, be advised that the better lawyers tend to charge
more for their services. Since your freedom and reputation
are at stake, you should invest in the best lawyer you can
afford.

Given the fact that criminal cases are often settled
through plea agreements with a district attorney’s office,
it can be important for a criminal lawyer to be on good
terms with the D.A. Certainly, good relations between the
two can only enhance your case. Therefore, you’ll want a
lawyer who has fairly regular contact with the prosecuting
attorney in the county in which your case resides. Also,
it’s a good idea if you hire a lawyer who is affiliated
with a group such as the National Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers. Such an association shows that your
lawyer wants to keep abreast of new developments in the
area of criminal law.

Prior to hiring a criminal lawyer, be sure to ask for
references. You’ll want to know how clients view the
attorney’s expertise. You should also obtain a copy of the
law firm’s brochure, so you have a clear understanding of
the outfit you’re dealing with. It is also vitally
important that you obtain a copy of the lawyer’s retainer
agreement so that you’re aware of any up-front costs
involved in obtaining legal representation.

In the end, you’ll want to select a lawyer that you’re
comfortable with, one that truly understands your case and
can work well on your behalf. You’ll find that an
effective criminal attorney is well worth his or her fee.

Criminal-Lawyer-Central.com is a directory of criminal
lawyers across the United States.
http://www.criminal-lawyer-central.com

FFC…PO Box 1586…Broken Arrow, OK 74013…918-451-0270…Terry Dashner

“Hodgepodge Truth” Does Absolute Truth Exist?

All men want to find truth, or so thought Aristotle. He said that philosophy begins with the desire to know truth. I agree that men want to find truth; however, not all men agree on what truth is. To one truth is relative, existing in one’s own mind only. To another truth is elusive and can’t really be understood, except in a metaphysical sense. (Metaphysical is a fancy word used by philosophers and theologians. It is concerned with issues such as the existence and nature of God. That’s heavy. But let me get back to truth.)

Someone once said that a straight steel rod immersed in a glass of water may look as though it’s bent, but it isn’t. So appearances can be deceiving, can’t they? Keep that illustration in mind while reading this paper for this reason: If it’s easy to misinterpret the true nature of physical things, then it can be easy to misinterpret metaphysical things. Now I’m going to drop another “heavy” on you. To deny the existence of truth is to affirm its existence—truth is inescapable! Therefore, the affirmation that true statements can be made about reality is a rationally justifiable one. For example if I say that truth does not exist, I’m purporting my belief to be true. And if I believe that my statement is true—truth does not exist—I’m banking on it being true. Using this logic my argument goes no place. I’ve just canceled out my statement by asserting what I believe to be true; nothing is true. (Keep scratching your head. This gets clearer as it goes along. I hope.)

I want to write a little bit about relativism. A relative view of truth has been deeply ingrained into the minds and hearts of contemporary people, especially in academic circles. Relativistic thinking has influenced us so much that it is now considered anti-intellectual to believe in absolute truth. The majority of educators and students regard truth to be obsolete, not absolute. Of course you know, as a Christian, that relativism has no place in the church house. A Christian’s belief in God is not based on relative truths. God’s truth, the Word, is absolute truth.

Now being the tolerant and wise person that you are, you may be thinking this: In light of tolerance what value is there in believing in absolutes? There is much value. Think about this: You may tolerate different tastes, but you can’t tolerate relative truth as a child of God. Does that make sense? As a firm believer in Jesus Christ, you may and you should tolerate different cultures, different ideas, different philosophies about religion, different political parties, different races of people, but you can not compromise the fact that Jesus, Himself, said that He is the ONLY way, truth, and life.

You may remember the story about the six blind men who felt different parts of an elephant. In describing the elephant, each told about his part of the elephant. Each was telling the truth, but each description alone did not paint the entire picture. They each had a part of the whole, and the part did not adequately explain the whole. Granted, Christians do not all agree on every stated topic in the Bible; however, Christians do have a consensus on Jesus. He is what He said He is—the only begotten Son of God. The Bible says that believers see through a “glass darkly.” That means that the understanding we now have can only be fully understood in the life that is to come. So, Christians should not boast arrogantly that they know everything there is to know about Christianity or the Bible. It just isn’t true. Christians should stand humbly in the truth that has been revealed to them by the Spirit of God, and win others to the absolute truth about Jesus: He is the way, the truth, and the life. This must be done with a loving heart for all mankind.

If there are no absolutes in this world then 2+2=12 or 6 or 8 or whatever it wants to equal—this is a child’s dream. If mathematics is relative, then a math student may use any answer he or she pleases. If there are no absolutes in this world, then why do we hold criminals accountable for wrongdoing? Why do we tell our children not to lie to us? How will they know what is a lie, and what is truth? There has to be absolute standards because there are absolute truths. God’s laws are absolute and universal. Honest—they are. I certainly wouldn’t lie to you about that!
Pastor T.

About the Author

Pastors a small church in Broken Arrow, OK. U.S. Navy veteran. Retired police officer. Father of three grown children.

When you are injured at work, you will probably be eligible for workers’ compensation. At some point the insurance company will approach you and ask you if you are interested in a settlement. How much should you settle for? Based on my 30 years of practice, I have compiled what I think are some of the most important factors you need to consider.

FIRST, you need to understand the insurance company will put a value on your case based on what it projects it may need to pay you.

SECOND, if you have a Virginia Workers’ Compensation award, you know you have a life time medical award and thus the insurance company may be looking at paying your medical expenses for the rest of your life.

THIRD, if you have an ongoing award of compensation, the insurance company may be looking at paying you 500 weeks of compensation under Virginia Law.

FOURTH, if your injury is to your eye, arm, finger, toe, hand, arm, foot, or leg, you can usually expect to be paid for any permanent damage to that part of your body.

FIFTH, if your injury is very serious and leaves you totally disabled, then you may have a claim of compensation that could go longer than 500 weeks potentially for the rest of your life.

SIXTH, on the other hand if you have returned to work and you are not incurring any medical expenses and your injury has not given you any permanent work restrictions, then your claim may have little or no value for settlement purposes.

SEVENTH, if you face an expensive operation in the future such as a knee replacement, you would need to consider this in negotiating any settlement.

EIGHTH, many insurance companies in Virginia will not settle a workers’ compensation case and allow you to keep lifetime medical coverage. If you do not have an alternative way to pay medical expenses, this can prevent a settlement.

NINTH, if you are on Social Security Disability or are applying for it, then you need to know the impact a workers’ compensation settlement will have on your Social Security benefits.

TENTH, if you have a third party case arising out of the same accident as your workers’ compensation accident the workers’ compensation carrier may have a lien on your workers’ compensation case.

IN SUMMARY, there are many factors involved in settling a workers’ compensation case; therefore, the best advice is to contact an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to evaluate any settlement before it is signed.

This may be considered AN ADVERTISEMENT or Advertising Material under the Rules of Professional Conduct governing lawyers in Virginia. This note is designed for general information only. The information presented in this note should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.

Gerald G. Lutkenhaus has been representing claimants in Virginia for over 30 years. In the July 1999 issue of Richmond Magazine he was rated one of the Best Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Central Virginia. In 2003 he received the “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for lawyers. In 2005 he was selected for the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. You can get more information from http://www.virginiadisabilitylawyer.com or http://www.geraldlutkenhaus.com.

As your Internet business grows, the value of your domain name increases. The issue of a domain name trademark should move to the top of your list. You need to guard against unscrupulous competitors that may try to incorporate your domain name in their meta tags to obtain search engine rankings under your name. If you have a domain name trademark, you can go after these individuals and compel the search engines to remove their listings.

What Is A Trademark?

A trademark is a distinctive item that is used to identify a logo, product, device, package or service. The trademark identifies the item as being provided by a particular firm. To protect these items you can obtain a mark from the patent and trademark office that prohibits others from trying to gain economic advantage from your mark.

Domain Name

The patent and trademark office views domain names in a unique way. The office views the “http://www” element as a part of the file transfer process, not your domain name. The “.com”, “.net”, etc., designations are considered top-level domain identifiers and are also disregarded for the purpose of a domain name trademark. For example, our domain name is http://www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com. If we submitted the domain name for registration, only the “sandiegobusinesslawfirm” portion would be considered for a mark.

Locators Cannot Be Registered

A domain name is a locator for file pages. When you type in your domain name, a server locates and displays files. If a domain is used solely for this purpose, it will not be granted a mark. Instead, the domain name must be incorporated into the site. For instance, Amazon is recognized as an online bookstore and the site actually has the word “Amazon” on every page. Since “Amazon.com” is more than a locator, Amazon can apply for and receive a trademark. If Amazon used the domain name, bookstore.com, the company would be able to register “Amazon”, but not “bookstore.”

Generic and Descriptive Terms

Domain names that are generic or descriptive in nature cannot be registered because they fail to designate a distinctive product or service. For example, “sandiegobusinesslawfirm” is comprised of generic terms and describes who and where we are, to wit, a San Diego business law firm. This domain name cannot be trademarked. The same result would occur with bank.com, book.com, advice.com, etc.

You may be thinking, “What about ‘Coke?’ “Coke” is a trademarked term because it is a distinctive term for a soft drink product. It just so happens that a brilliant marketing plan has convinced most people to refer to soft drinks as “cokes”, even if they actually prefer another brand!

Trademarks are an important factor in protecting your Internet business. Armed with a trademark, you can keep competitors from pulling traffic off the search engines when people search for your site.

About the Author

Richard A. Chapo is with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com - This article is for information purposes only. Nothing in this article is intended to address the reader’s specific situation nor does it create an attorney-client relationship.

Given that there are more than 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States and that information on U.S citizens is scattered across various databases all over 3,142 counties, it is safe to conclude that an instant background check is not possible at present. Yet, there are innumerable companies that purportedly offer instant background checks. These checks are offered at very low rates and sometimes are done free-of-charge. The apparent speedy dispensation of information and low cost are the main reasons that employers try out this option.

As of now the unavailability of a universal database on American citizens means that a background check can take time and requires a fair amount of follow-ups and co-ordination. Companies offering instant background checks have mushroomed because the demand for background screening has gone up and H.R departments are invariably stressed for time. However, what one needs to understand is that outsourcing background checks is a recent phenomenon and there are still no standards set regarding the extent of information to be mined and the manner in which the information should be construed.

Companies that opt for instant background checks often end up losing money instead of saving it. The cost of a thorough background check that covers criminal records, education, driving records, and drug tests is well worth the money spent because it is far less than having to recruit an employee all over again if a job-seeker once selected and trained turns out to have a record less than satisfactory. The costs that a company may face if an unqualified employee is made to leave include rehiring, retraining, loss in productivity, healthcare, as well as potential lawsuits.

Instant background checks may be possible if the database is on the residents of a limited area such as a county or even a state. In such a scenario, it can provide efficient pre-employment screening including social security number checks and employment credit reports. It is important to understand that in order to provide instant credit checks the databases need to be updated in real-time so that changes in an individual’s records can be incorporated.

For instant background checks to become the norm, several technically innovative solutions will need to be implemented. These solutions would enable the installation of registration depots across the country that would contain records such as the name, date and place of birth, social security number, photograph, fingerprints, and driving records of individuals. This information would be fed to a central database that would be accessible from anywhere in the United States. An instant background check would not only help employers but also enable transparent business and help the government in curbing drug running and fraudulent activities.

Stanley Alpin recommends www.backgroundcheckguide.net/2006/03/is_an_instant_b.html for more information on ordering an instant background check.