I just saw a Facebook post protesting the Supreme Court’s decision making some campaign finance rules unconstitutional. The post said “Speech doesn’t corrupt, money corrupts. Money isn’t speech.” But they’re mistaken - how you spend your money IS speech under the first amendment, just like flag burning, sign waving, protesting and rude finger gestures. It's
The Texas Attorney General is appealing the ban on same sex marriage in DeLeon v Perry. No big surprise there - lots of people are terrified of the idea that a gay couple might enjoy the same state-sponsored benefits that heterosexual couples have had available for a hundreds of years. Yes, I said state-sponsored benefits.
Twenty six years ago, when I got out of law school, half of my class were women. So why is it that virtually every time I arrive at another lawyer’s office for a deposition, the receptionist assumes that I’m the court reporter? When I was a younger lawyer, I thought it was because of my
It happens sometimes - one of our customers files bankruptcy. What does this mean to you as a creditor? Your first notice that this has happened is probably either going to be a verbal notice when you call for payment, or a notice from the court. If you receive a verbal notice, ask for the
Getting Out Before Trial One of the questions I am often asked is whether there is any way to avoid trial, in a case that cannot be settled, or which for some reason you don’t want to settle. “This is a dumb case - can’t the judge just throw it out?” Like any answer in
It seems like every month I see invoices that say “1.5% interest per month on unpaid balance”;“Interest will be charged at 18% on accounts over 30 days,” “Accounts not paid in 30 days are subject to a 3/4% monthly service charge”, or similar language. However, the creditor may incur serious penalties if the interest is
PART 1: Greetings - You Have Been Sued You’ve been operating a business successfully for years, and one day a constable knocks at your door,and serves you with a lawsuit. He hands you a stack of papers, including at least a citation and a petition. After your heartbeat returns to normal, you call your favorite
PART 2: What Happened? Discovery & Mediation In most cases, after an answer is filed, both sides need to do “discovery” before the case is ready for trial. Discovery is just like it sounds - each side has the right to ask questions and obtain documents to determine what the other side would say if
PART 3: Trial - Your Day in Court Most cases in Harris County are tried within 6 to 18 months of the time they were filed. While this sounds like a long time, it may not be. Before trial there is a lot of work to be done in gathering the facts, making sure