Title: Arizona - father's right during pregnancy, if any.

Question:
My step daughter is pregnant and has broken the relationship off with the father.  We are more than willing to move forward legally but want to make sure we are helping her CYA as she goes.  She does not want to be in a relationship with him but will not be stubborn about him being involved in the baby's life.  She's just getting ready to enter her 2nd trimester.  She has been very straightforward in replying to his pleas in texts about their relationship to say she doesn't want to discuss getting back together but will keep him informed about the baby.  Our advice has been to keep it civil and focused on just talking about the baby.  She has obliged him retrieving his items from her apartment in a timely manner.  At the last appointment they went to, while still together, he made a general ass of himself in the waiting room and wasn't pleasant in the room with the doctor.

She doesn't necessarily want him at her prenatal appointments, but at the same time doesn't want him to not be able to be there if he'd like.  Although, with as much as he is continuing to be a general jerk she is quickly leaning to him not being at the appointments.

My question is- is there anything he could pull legally that would allow him to be at least at sonogram appointments?  And more to the point, in the interest of trying to show she's not trying alienate him as the father what steps should she take?

We aren't sure if he will claim paternity or not, so I'm pretty sure we won't be able to move forward with her perusing sole custody and child support until after the child is born.  We are pretty sure that he may not end up wanting to be involved given he has another young daughter that he isn't involved with and my step daughter found out today that he also may have a 4 year old but he doesn't claim her as his.  I know that during the pregnancy and birth of child #2 he wasn't involved but after the mom gave birth and what not he filed all paperwork for visitation but hasn't used his visitation and the other mom is taking him back to court to have custody/visitation changed.  We don't know the particulars and my step daughter isn't really sure she wants to deal with talking to the other mom right now.  She may well do it in the future because the kids will be siblings, but she may not.

TL;DR:  in order to CYA, how much does my step daughter need to allow the baby's father to be involved with Dr appointments and other related pregnancy decisions?

Answer:
 He has no right to her medical records or to even know who her doctor is, much less accompany her to appointments. He also has no right to be anywhere near her when she's having the baby, and if she doesn't want him there she should tell hospital staff when she goes in to have the baby--they will keep him away.

Similarly, he has no right to visit the baby in the hospital without her permission, unless and until he is legally recognized as the father. And that will take a while--the hospital will ask her who to name on the birth certificate (the actual birth certificate doesn't even come in the mail until a few weeks after the baby is born) and AFAIK she can leave "father" blank, and have it changed later.


Title: Chances of Jail time vs PBJ for first time DUI

Question:
Hey guys, I'll be brief

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I live in the state of Maryland where they sometimes give out Probation Before Judgment plea bargains.

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I got pulled over on the street. I parked the car at a stop light intersection and fell asleep. A police pulled me over after the light went red and green several times, as he said.

&#x200B;

Legal limit for BAC in Maryland is : .08

My BAC :    .12

&#x200B;

This is my first offense, and I also got myself a defense driving course certificate a week after the incident. I was also very cooperative with the officer.

 **I plan to plea guilty. I know that nothing is guaranteed but considering that no one was injured, the care was on park, and I didnt crash into anything, what are the chances of going to jail (worst case scenario) vs just getting a PBJ (Best case scenario)?**

they gave me 6 citations. Briefly, they are:

1: obstruction of free vehicle passageway:  **$60**

2: DUI per se :       **Must  Appear in court (MAC)**

3: negligent driving, endangering property, life and person: **$140**

4:reckless/wanton driving/disregard for safety of person and property:**$510**

5:Driving vehicle while under influence of alcohol: **MAC**

6:Driving veh while impaired by alcohol: **MAC**

&#x200B;

**Finally will it help my case to pay what I can now and simply go to court or simply go to court for all of them and make a guilty plea?**

Answer: Getting a lawyer should be your primary concern right now.


Title: Is it legal to own an opossum in North Carolina

Question: Just curious

Answer:
 If someone ever offered me an opossum for a pet,  I’d def do the time.   Now I want a possum..
I don’t even think we have them in azAnswer #2: [No.](https://www.ncwildlife.org/Licensing/Regulations/Nongame-and-Other-Regulations/Nongame-Possession-and-Collection) At least not without a permit if you are talking about Virginia possums. If you mean an opossum from South America or Australia you still need an [exotic wildlife permit.](https://www.animallaw.info/administrative/nc-exotic-pets-0212-importation-requirements-wild-animals)


Title: I applied to and got interviewed by a FAKE company today and they have all my personal information including my SSN. I was deceived, manipulated, and extremely violated by professional scam artists. I have all their info..

Question: [deleted]

Answer: That's all pretty dedicated for a scammer, especially if he only wants your sensitive details, he can get those online and anonymously. This is probably some dude with an MLM/a pyramid scheme and a dream.


Title: Employer Docking Pay in South Florida

Question:
Hey all. Wanted to post to ask about the legality of what my boss is doing and what my options are.

I work in landscaping in south Florida. The company owner had an issue with people being late, so he introduced a late fee. He takes $3 from your paycheck for every minute that you are late. Doesnt matter what the reason. If you're late, you lose the money. Whats more is that he brags about it. When someone walks in to the morning meeting room, he loudly announces to everyone something like "Hah hah! You late guys are making me a lot of money!" Essentially stealing from poor employees and bragging about it to their face. Classy.

Last week, I was a little over an hour late due to my car breaking down. I could not prevent this, and did not expect it. I was charged $228 for that time. That is over half of my paycheck. I don't like admitting it, but I live paycheck to paycheck. I got paid $222 for 37 hours of work at $13 per hour. I have a lot of bills to pay, and now no money to pay them. I'm freaking out over this. When I went to my direct supervisor (owner is away on one of his almost-monthly vacations to Costa Rica) and was basically told that it was my fault for having a bad car, and that I need to stop complaining because I make more money than most of the people who work there.

Another example: A friend of mine was VERY sick and tried to call out two days in a row. The company owner told him no, and said he had to come in. He docked him $150 for being late. He was late because he could barely function as sick as he was.

What can I do about this? I dont want to lose my job, but I don't want to essentially work for free just because my car breaks down, or I get stuck in traffic. How is it legal to take over half of my paycheck for being a little over an hour late? Whats next, $100 for every unexcused absence?

Edit: Forgot to mention that I am paranoid over being fired for reporting him. I understand that he cant fire me for whistleblowing, but he will fire me for absolutely anything else, claiming it had nothing to do with the whistleblowing.

Answer:
 If you are hourly he must pay you for hours worked. No if's and's or buts. He paid you for less than the federal minimum wage.

I would contact an employment lawyer, and start looking for another job right away. He can't directly fire you over this but working there would be hellish.

In response to edit: still report him, look for new job.


Title: Apartment Complex called to tell me my apartment is no longer available in Fremont, CA.

Question:
I applied for an apartment with my friend earlier this month and we were accepted to move into an apartment on October 22nd, 2016. I signed a lot of paperwork, made the deposit, ordered my furniture and was overly patient waiting an extra twenty days to move in.

I got a phone call last night (October 19, 2016) stating that the apartment we were set to move into on Saturday (October 22, 2016) would not be ready because it was trashed. The property manager stated that the apartment was too damaged for us to move in to and they needed time to fix it. By time she meant it wouldn't be ready until end of November or Early December. She offered to set us up in another apartment, but for more money and that apartment would also still not be ready by this Saturday. We had just turned on the electric for the new place and were about to set up our internet access. We also have furniture being delivered on Saturday. She offered to deduct $200 a month off the new apartment since this happened, but it will still be more money each month.

I feel like we are being baited and switched. We signed up for a good apartment at a good price and they're taking it away and trying to give us a larger apartment. When we asked her how they were going to make this right she said either the newer apartment or she would give us back our deposit and tell us to have a nice day. She also said that the contract we signed was not legally binding in any way. I am so confused by this. I just moved across the country and have been living out of my suitcase for over a month now and am at my wits end. Is there anything that I can do or am I supposed to pony up this money to be able to actually sleep in a bed again?

Answer:
 It depends.  If the apartment is actually trashed and unlivable, then they're doing the right thing by letting you out of the lease.  They can't give you an apartment that doesn't exist, and they aren't legally obligated to give you a free upgrade to a bigger apartment.  If I were in your shoes, I'd at least ask to see the "trashed" apartment to make sure they're not just trying to weasel out of a lease.

> She also said that the contract we signed was not legally binding in any way

I don't know what you signed.  If it's just an application, then she's right.  If it's a lease, then she's wrong and you're bound to the lease


Title: He persued me, and was underage apparently

Question:
(Throw away for obvious reasons)

I know it's always questionable getting legal advice from reddit, but this isn't exactly widely covered elsewhere...

A few weeks ago, I was on a location-based dating app. This guy messaged me, I messaged back, his profile said he was 18, he suggested we start texting outside of the app, so we exchanged numbers, and then a couple of pics. He definitely looked 18.

Messages were flirty, maybe a little explicit but we never talked about getting together or anything. Frankly, I was losing interest in him and never even saved his number in my phonebook.

Fast forward to this morning: I get a phone call from someone claiming to be a private investigator. He tells me this person I'd been texting with is 15, advises me to contact this kid's father to see if we can "work this out".

Contact the father, explained that definitely wouldn't have been talking to this kid if I had had any idea that he wasn't of age. He says he's going to try to cancel the kid's phone, and if his phone provider will let him without any fees, he's content to just let it go, but otherwise he's planning on turning the phone into the authorities on Monday morning. I told him I would be willing to foot the bill on the ETF for him for that line if his provider tells him they're going to charge one (apparently got this phone for him just before Christmas with the understanding that he was not to use internet on it or anything).

So....where do I stand here, legally? I just went back on that dating app to try to get a screenshot of his profile stating he was 18, and surprise surprise, his profile is gone.

*UPDATE*

Update: so, after looking, yes, my state has a "mistake of fact" statute.

A bell went off in my head that the "investigator" made no reasonable attempt to verify my identity before launching into exactly why he was calling.

When on the phone with the "father" he provided info about me that the "investigator" had found about me, including my age and location, both of which were incorrect, but close enough that while on the phone with him I agreed were correct. I would have to assume a private investigator would be able to find my correct address and date of birth.

After determining what the ETF would be (allegedly) and telling me, I told the "father" that I was looking at my finances and trying to figure out how to make that payment. He then called me 3 times in the course of 5 minutes, and texted that if I didn't answer the phone and agree, they were going to move forward. This definitely felt like a pressure tactic rather than someone trying to act in good faith.

Both this phone number and the "investigator" have been blocked. Thanks to severe anxiety, I'm likely going to spend the rest of my life worrying and waiting for something that will hopefully never happen, but I guess I can at least find some comfort in the fact that if/when it does, I've got that mistake of fact statute.

Answer: Total and complete scam. There is no father, there is no boy. They are the same person. This is posted in here and /r/scams daily. Do not pay. Block and move on.Answer #2: It's a scam, there is no kid, there is no father. Just block and move on.Answer #3: I doubt that an actual PI would suggest that you try to contact the father.


Title: Help in PA

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Three things you need to do right now,

1. Find a place to stay even if it is just for a week, you need a roof above your head.

2. Keep all evidence to back up your story.

3. Get an attorney, call one today.


Title: 550$ worth of perfumes has been stolen from the store I work at, boss wants to cut money from salary/commissions to cover the cost of the stolen products, is it legal? (Quebec/Canada)

Question:
Today a man came to the store I work at and stole around 550$ worth of perfumes and got away with it. We called the police right as the man stepped out of the store when we realized what he was doing.

Later on today, every salesperson who worked received an email from our boss who says that he feels obligated to take away from what I believe is going to be our allocations in order to compensate for the 550$ loss.

I live in Quebec City/Quebec/Canada, am not in the best financial situation and find this outrageous. My paycheck is salary + commissions.  Is this even legal?

Edit : Added more details.

Answer: $550 retail or his cost?  If it does turn out he can deduct, I'd be sure of what I was paying for.  Pisses me off when employers want profit from employee on top of losses.


Title: Being misclassified as an independent contractor for 3 years, could I be liable if I report now?

Question:
After a recent problem/disagreement with changing my schedule at work, I began researching what an independent contractor really was. Turns out I am really an employee.

I have been at this company for 3 years. There are 10 other employees classified as IC's at this company as well. I have also found out that the company has been in trouble for classifications in other states(California is one) before and had to make payments to the IRS because of it.

Could I be in trouble if I report this to the IRS now? I am in Florida.

Answer:
 It's not your job to classify yourself. It is your employer's job to classify you appropriately. And various agencies might take issue with your employer's systemic misclassifications, not just the IRS.

As long as you have been paying your taxes, then the IRS is unlikely to find fault in your behavior, but it might not hurt to speak with some kind of accountant or tax attorney to see how this might possibly affect you financially.


Title: If I modify my car in such a way that it is legally an NFA controlled item, can it be repoed?

Question:
Suppose I add screw threads and baffles to my car to allow a gun barrel to be attached in such a way that it fits the [ATF definition of a silencer](https://www.atf.gov/firearms/firearms-guides-importation-verification-firearms-gun-control-act-definition-silencer), and I successfully submit a Form 1 for it and receive a tax stamp, making it legally an NFA item.

If, afterwards, I were to fall behind on my car payments, could the car be prevented from repossession since it would be illegal for the tow company or the bank or the dealership to take possession of an NFA item without it being properly transferred with a Form 4?

Answer:
 >it fits the ATF definition of a silencer

From your link: "*The term “Firearm Silencer” or “Firearm Muffler” means any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm*"

Just because you succefully attach a device that is defined, under your linked document, as a silencer, it does not then follow that the thing the silencer is attached *to* qualifies as a firearm.

I can put a transmission in my bedroom and run an axel through the walls, but that won't turn my apartment into a car.

Your car remains a car with a silencer welded to the front of it.

>I successfully submit a Form 1

Lol, no.

>could the car be prevented from repossession

Unlikely.  The financial institute repossessing the vehicle is allowed to do so because it's in the contract you signed when you financed the car.  It's really unlikely that, even if you found a parallel universe where a car could be counted as a firearm, that the lack of a form 4 would prevent the bank from executing its right to reclaim the vehicle.


Title: I don't want to lose my son.

Question:
I just need some advice, after two years of not being able to sort child care plans with my ex partner she has decided to throw the rape accusations around, with (I assume) hope to get our son full time.

She is mentally unstable, has attempted to take her life before and relentlessly abuses me in person or through messages.

During our relationship, she made no effort with our son, I did everything as a dad. The bond my son and I have is unbreakable and she wants to sever it.

Today, the police were called when she assaulted me trying to take my son to live with her. He is registered living with me. After the police asked my son where he wanted to go he said with me, and that's that for now.

She has regular visitation on weekends with him, and now I know if I send him there this weekend coming, I will not get him back.

I just want to know if anyone can advise me on stopping access and legal recourse.

Sorry for the ramble. I'm so lost.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: The only advice is to talk to a local attorney. That is who can tell you what your options are based on your current court order and what local judges would do with the information you haveAnswer #2: Tomorrow, I would try to get a meeting with a lawyer to discuss filing for an emergency hearing.


Title: GF's job closes by the end of the week and she hasn't been told by her boss, will lose job and no pay for the month. What should we do?

Question:
Hello everyone.
I'm asking this question out of two motives:

a) I do not work in the US but my GF does, so I am unsure about employee rights and labor laws.

b) I rather have an unbiased opinion rather than the advice from family members / friends of hers ("Don't worry about, the job was shit anyways / there's tons of other jobs out there").

So here's the situation:

She is (currently) still working at a day care/kindergarden but was told today by another employee that the whole business would shut down by the end of the week and all workers are being laid off and won't be paid anymore. Of course she is expected to work for the rest of the week though ?! Biggest issue is that she has been notified by a co-worker that overheard her employer talk about closing the daycare by the end of this week. She hasn't even been adressed personally yet and her boss is already on a leave and not reachable.

Now, she's currently a bit too upset to bother with legal issues and my alarms went off in all directions when I heard what happened. I know from my home country that you cannot just lay people off short notice and refuse to pay them - Here, there's definitely a minimum notice periode (4 weeks of pay). Plus the place didn't file for bankruptcy, it's simply shutting down because of (what she was told) issues with not enough children being enrolled for the spring quarter. That's something her employer definitely should have known more than a week before closing everything down.
Although it is just a min. wage job (and a shitty one at that), she's been loving it and her working conditions, although stressful, have been fair (regular pay every two weeks, no awful hours etc.). She is still dependant of the income and every little money that we can get out of this would be very welcome.
Is there a way to ensure she is getting the pay for the rest of the month? It may only be a few hundred dollars but those really count. We do not expect her to magically keep the job just by playing the legal card and I'm sure she wouldn't want that, but a transfer option or something would be welcome.
I do not know anything more about this situation and I would love to help her out. My hands are tied though. What would be the best step for her now to:

- Ensure she is getting her rightful payment for the month
- Won't be negatively impacted by being laid off
- Won't be getting legal/tax issues resulting from unpaid income that would be taxed.

Thank you for any tips!

**TL;DR** - GF heard from co-worker that the daycare she works at closes by the end of the week, she hasn't been notified yet. Co-workers also refuse to work because they heard they wouldn't be paid for the week / rest of the month.

**Edit**: State of Arizona
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 > There's definitely a minimum notice periode.

 There isn't.

 The only problem in your entire post will be if your girlfriend does not get paid for the hours she worked. If she doesn't, she can file a complaint with the Department of Labor in her state.


Title: Simple

Question:
 How do I deal with a spiteful theft by finding?
Question:(California)

As a bit of background, I had a night out drinking and met someone I made friends with. I accompanied him around, having a good time and continuing to drink. When we made it to what I assumed was his home, he began to get ready to sleep when I asked if I could cook some breakfast.

I woke up needing to go to work immediately, not having cleaned my plate from the previous night. After getting to work, I received a text from the owner of the home telling me I had no right to trash his home and that I should never come around there again. I accepted the blame and wanted to make it up to him.

Here's the thing: I left a computer charger there as well as, possibly, a blazer containing my passport. I say possibly because this man confirmed that I had left my charger, but says he doesn't see a jacket. But he is not going to let me retrieve anything. I have text confirmation, but there is nothing direct. It's written as my charger "conveniently fits [his]", etc. He is also refusing to give me the phone number of the person I had spent the night with who might know the whereabouts of my jacket.

My question then, is that is there anything I can do to retrieve my property? Does this constitute an admitted theft by finding? I broke some rules of household manners, but I am more than willing to make up for them rather than give up my personal property.

Answer: You can sue him in small claims court for conversion of your personal property.  In reality, this will be much more work than a charger warrants, though.


Title: Employer lied about work being done- I was a high level manager-blew whistle - lots of fallout

Question:
Hi everyone:

I was a remote high level manager at a company which hired people from home to make international calls (via land and mobile lines) to given numbers to "stress test" new VOIP systems.

(Edit:  I am in Virginia, US, he is in Massachusetts, US).  The company hires people from USA, Canada, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and UK)

I joined early on - and the person who owns the company is very affable and quite convincing.  Although I researched and questioned him extensively, he was always able to convince me that this is what we were doing and it was above board and legit.

I did a lot of heavy lifting and helped him build this business.  He went from having 30 US "testers" to about 500 US and international "testers" thanks to me.  I built systems and wrote manuals and really got him off the ground.  Further, I hired and managed the new recruits.

Fast forward to about a week ago.  In addition to managing, I had several mobile phones of my own making these international calls.  They were suddenly shut off.  When I spoke to the phone company - turns out the calls were going to premium numbers and violated their TOS.

I did more research with this new information and found that basically what he is doing is called traffic pumping - except instead of routing the calls within the US, he is sending them overseas to premium numbers and raking in the dough.  He is paying people to make the calls - he is not hijacking anyone's lines as far as I know - but he is being dishonest about it and also causing everyone to violate the TOS of their phone carriers.  Many others got their phones shut off too.

As soon as I was sure of what was truly happening, I discussed this with him via chat.  I kept the transcript.  To sum it up, the minute I mentioned my suspicions, he behaved very strangely.  He told me that if I wasn't comfortable with what we were doing, I could just leave.  He danced around my questions without answering.  So I point blank asked for proof of any kind that we were, in fact, testing VOIP systems.  He suddenly became a victim, saying I was being unfair to him.  Then he said I was threatening him (I literally said "please show me proof".  That is not a threat).

We ended the conversation with him saying that he would provide proof as soon as he had permission from his contacts to share it.

The next morning, my company email and all passwords were changed and I received an email from him stating that it was time to part ways.  He elected to keep my manager pay for the month (over $1,000) and the money from the calls I had made that month (almost $3,000), justifying it by saying that I owed him money since he allowed me to pay for my phone lines with my company credit card.  The same lines that were shut off for fraud.

The money issue sucks, but I pretty much want to just put that behind me.  Since it was earned in (what I now know to be) a fraudulent business I think it's best I leave that behind.

However, I felt horrible that I was inadvertently complicit in deceiving hundreds of people into joining this business and committing fraud.  Including friends, family and acquaintances from my other job.

I emailed the "testers", letting them know that I was no longer with the company and shared my concerns as well as proof and apologized for putting them in the position they were in.  I did not encourage anyone to do anything (like quit) except to research the business, if they felt compelled to.

Now, my former boss is emailing them and stating that my email is baseless, that I am stroking my own ego, and that he absolved over $3,000 in debts to the company (when in fact, he owes me $).

He and I traded emails where he said it would be satisfying to pursue damages against me for blowing the whistle.  I don't think he will, but if he does, I have proof that what I'm saying is true.  However, I feel he is also defaming my character with what he is saying in his emails.

I'm sorry for the long post.  I guess what I'm asking is if it seems I did anything wrong by sharing my research and concerns with the people I hired - I hired them based on what I believed we were doing and felt morally obligated to tell them the truth once I found out.

Additionally, is he wrong for making false statements about me?

Further, are there other concerns here?  I have researched traffic pumping and it doesn't seem to be illegal, just unethical- but he IS knowingly having people violate their cellular and phone TOS.  There has to be something wrong with that.

Thank you.

TL;DR:  Employer lied to me about what business was doing - I hired people based on his lies - he is now threatening me for blowing the whistle and defaming my character.

Answer: Either file a wage complaint if you were an employee or sue him if you were a contractor for the money you're owed.  If he sues you or says anything untrue, feel free to consult a lawyer about suing him.


Title: United States Government Shutdown - January 2018 MEGATHREAD

Question:
Please ask your questions regarding the government shutdown below.

We will remove overly political comments.

Answer:
 Am I still bound by the Hatch Act while furloughed, or can I run for partisan office right up to the point where the gov lights come back on?

If the gov isn't open by April 15 do I still have to file taxes?Answer #2: My brother just submitted his financial aid paperwork for this semester, including PLUS loans. He attends a state university. Will the shutdown delay or otherwise affect his financial aid?


Title: I could really use someones help here.

Question:
Hello! I'll try to make this quick. My cousin is visiting a friend for the weekend and asked if I would cover his schedule at his restaurant while he was away. As I am jobless and have just spent my last money on college textbooks I was happy to do it. As I am without a car, he lent me his. So, I get the car and park it on the street in front of my apartment. I get ready to go to  my first day on the job, and the entire street has been towed. There were no notices around, just cones blocking to street. I can't even find out where the car is as the PD is telling me I need his license. He is not due back for days and when he does it will be a lot more money to get it out. I wasn't able to go to work because the restaurant is in another city and I am so broke I cant afford to uber (I have like 20 dollars in the bank, so I really needed this).  I really feel this is unlawful and unfair, so general advice would be greatly appreciated. The restaurant was understanding of the situation, but I'm set to work the next 3 days and I have no means to get there.

If it helps, I was parked there from 1am and it was towed sometime before 3pm the same day. There were no notices anywhere and the street was packed full when I parked there. Thanks for any help.

Edit: I live in Detroit, Michigan.

Answer:
 Where are you located? Is parking allowed in these spots?

They are correct that you won't be allowed to retrieve the vehicle. Your cousin will need to do that.


Title: Is just hiding for 2 weeks a sound strategy to avoid getting sued? (Tx)

Question:
A friend of mine is filing suit against a former business partner for violating their agreement and squandering hundreds of thousands of dollars.  His attorney filed the suit with a judge who attempted to call the people being sued from the bench.  She left a voicemail about an order preventing them from selling off assets and now they need to be served with the suit.

They have since fallen off the map and are pretty obviously avoiding being served (they knew this was coming).  The attorney has told my friend that if they can't be found in 2 weeks, the whole thing basically just goes away.

Is this real?  Can I just civilly screw over someone, hide out for 2 weeks and then since I can't be served it all goes away?

Also, who can serve a lawsuit in Texas?  The attorney hired a PI who basically just sits at a computer and finds stuff but at this point I'd be willing to wait at this guy's kid's school for him to pick them up and serve him there if this 2 weeks thing is real.  We are talking high 6, low 7 figure sums here and everyone's treating it like it's a couple of grand that all parties can afford to lose.

Answer: For the sum of money you're talking about, you should hire and official/professional process server.  They will wait outside home, office, school, etc. and serve them.  Well worth the money.


Title: Boyfriend's Mother is being sued by her neighbor who claims to have broken his ankle helping her shovel her driveway.

Question:
I live in Western New York. For some background, my boyfriend's mother is a 44 year old single mother raising her seven year old son. She makes around 30,000 a year and is currently in medical debt from when *she* broke her own foot around a year ago.

The neighbor in question is in his 40s and lives with his wife and two children two houses over from her and broke his foot shoveling his own driveway around a month ago. Their kids have been having playdates for a long time and MIL actually invited him over a few months ago when she threw a party. MIL actually had a conversation with his wife after it happened in which his wife stated very clearly that he hurt himself shoveling his own driveway. Today MIL gets a letter from his lawyer stating that he is suing her under the claim that he broke his ankle helping her shoveling her driveway. This claim is even more ridiculous considering MIL pays someone to shovel her driveway because she can't do it.

I don't think he will win this lawsuit but the lawyer fees alone are going to completely cripple her financially, even more than she already is. She's been in and out of the hospital for the last few months due to gall stones and a heart problem. Does she have any recourse here that doesn't involve her going into even further debt from lawyers fees? None of us have any experience here and little guidance would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

TL;DR- Broke MIL being sued by neighbor who claims to have broken his ankle shoveling her driveway.

Answer:
 Not a laywer, but can your MIL provide proof that she pays someone to shovel her driveway, invoices perhaps, or get a statement from him? It may not do much, but it may help.

Also, I'd like to think any decent judge knows that ice is slippery and you run those injury risks going outside, then laugh in his face.Answer #2: IANAL, but does your mother have homeowners/renters Insurance? They would probably cover the legal costs, depending on her plan.


Title: My great grandmothers house was sold and I'm one of the heirs. Haven't seen anything from it and it's been years.

Question:
My great grandmother died many years ago and her house was finally sold earlier this year. The house was left my grandmother and her brothers, all of which are dead. So it's gone down to the next generation which are my aunts, uncles, my great uncles ex wife(who is dealing with most of the legal stuff), and me(my mother passed). Last I heard from her regarding the house sale was that the judge was waiting on genealogical test from my great aunt. It's probably been 4 years since this whole deal started and I'm hoping I'm not getting screwed over considering it would be a life changing amount of money for me. Any idea why they would be asking her for genealogical testing? Should I attempt to contact a lawyer regarding this?

The house was in Connecticut and my aunt is living in South Carolina, she goes up to CT occasionally to deal with all this legal stuff. Thanks in advance for any help.

Answer: You can do some sniffing by yourself. Many court documents are publicly available, or at the very least you can find out the status of the case. Call the court clerk for the county she lived in and see where things stand. At some point you will likely have to show up in person, and you'll probably need a local lawyer as well, but this is a start


Title: My dad was assaulted during a home invasion by a gang. Despite forensic evidence and my dad identifying the perpetrator (who was known to the police), he was found not guilty by a court. How does this happen?

Question:
Basically my family got into some problems with a gang in their neighbourhood. My parents are devout Christians and very law abiding and have never had issues of this kind before. One night a member of the gang smashed through the glass door to the house and assaulted my dad who was still awake in the hallway. My mother and young sister were sleeping at the time but woke when they heard the commotion. I wasn't there at the time.

My dad saw the attacker's face and when the police came they also took fingerprint evidence. A few weeks later we were told that the guy had been arrested, that his fingerprints matched, and that he was known to the police for similar crimes.

Fast forward some months, there is a court case which my dad attends to give evidence against the attacker. The attacker's whole family are there and lie on his behalf, claiming to be alibis. The judge finds him not guilty on the basis of mistaken identity despite the evidence and he walks free.

My parents tend to be very passive and haven't done anything about this since. How can this happen and what can be done about it?

This was in New Zealand if that helps.

Answer: Not sure about specifics in New Zealand, but in the US you would have no recourse for the criminal trial. You could sue him, and in the US, civil trials have a lower standard for a guilty verdict so you may be able to get some compensation from the attacker.Answer #2: Are you asking if it's ok to become a masked vigilante in order to fight crime?   Answer #3: Unfortunately, this is just something that happens. The judge doesn't know your parents or your neighborhood situation as intimately as you do. He doesn't know who is more credible--your parents or the defendant's alibi witnesses. So he listens to everything and has to make a decision on what he's seen. I don't know NZ law specifically, but here in the US the burden of proof in a criminal trial is very high. So it can be hard to get a guilty verdict when there's even a possibility (based on alibi witnesses) of innocence. It is a downside of many Western court systems that there will be mistakes and sometimes guilty men will go free, but the contrary positive effect is that it makes it much less likely for there to be a mistake where an innocent man goes to jail. It's probably no consolation to your family after suffering through this ordeal, but that's at least how the system is supposed to work.


Title: Dad was cheated out of inheritance while in prison, now his brother is suing him along with the sister who caused it.

Question:
Like the title says, my dad is currently in prison (drug possession charges, nothing related to this post). He currently has two living siblings, a brother and a sister.

For the rest of this post, I'm going to be talking as of I'm not in the family, just for the sake of clarity.

Their mother died a few months ago, and before doing so, she gave power of attorney to the sister. Unbeknownst to the others, the sister used that power to submit a modified will that gave her everything, effectively cutting both brothers out of the will. After the mother died, the courts gave everything to the sister.

However, the brother was, understandably, angry, and after some digging, found the original will.

Yesterday my dad received a notice in the mail stating that he's involved in a case, and it's worded as "Brother vs Sister, Dad" or something like that.

Obviously my dad had no part in having the will modified, and has been in prison the entire time this all has been happening.

Should my dad (or myself) contact an attorney to get him removed from the lawsuit, or should I contact the brother to try to convince him to take my dad off it?

My dad has no money or possessions, everything he owned was in the mother's house when he was admitted to prison, and he already knew that the sister had thrown out everything.
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer: If your uncle is trying to challenge the will that was probated it is very likely that your father is a necessary party to that lawsuit. That is why he was named.  The reason that he is a necessary party is he is named in the will that was probated, the will that the plaintiff thinks should have been probated, or is an intestate heir if there is no valid will.  The court cannot fully adjudicate the wheel without affecting your dad. Because he is not the plaintiff, he is on the defendants side of the “V“ as a default but that does not necessarily mean that the uncle is claiming your dad did anything wrong.  Your dad would be well advised to hire a lawyer to look over the situation for him and determine if he needs to do anything to protect his interests.


Title: 24 over, what can i expect?

Question: Southern Pines, NC. was stopped for doing 90 in a 55, didn't look at the speedometer before I came to a stop. Typically I stay 5-9 over so it's kinda of hard to believe I was even going that fast. would it be worth it to beg the court for leniency or should I just bite the bullet and try to lawyer up?

Answer: Get a lawyer -- a local one who does almost nothing but traffic work, if possible.  Those are the folks who will have a relationship with the ADAs that allow them to cut deals for you that you can't get on your own.  This is especially so in NC.  On a ticket like this, without a lawyer, you're toast.


Title: Prospective California landlord wants funds deposited directly into his BOA Account before he will send lease agreement and keys? There’s got to be a safer way do a long distance exchange like this...

Question: The landlord is in another state and wants a cashier’s check deposited in his account and cleared before he overnights the keys and paperwork.  This sounds like a scam but there must be a legit way to make this type of a long distance exchange of monies and keys.  Any ideas from the community? Aside from the obvious just find another super great place for cheap?

Answer:
 This is 100% a scam, and that money will disappear promptly once you send it.

There are ways to do this transaction without so much risk. One of the more common is to hire a real estate agent who specializes in tenancies to handle the local parts for you, so that they can go and meet up with the landlord in person to go over paperwork, confirm ownership, and get the keys. This person will not participate, because they are not legitimate.

It's super great for super cheap to try to bait in people.


Title: (indiana) police took my gun, no crime was committed. (two questions)

Question: about a month ago, I had an accidental discharge of a firearm in my house. Cops came, it's not a crime, or even a ticket in Indiana. they said it's 'regular procedure' to take the gun for testing, and I'd have it back in 7-10 days. no big deal, plus I was rattled by the incident. Well, I called and was told that that was totally incorrect, and that they would be holding it for 6 months. so, is there any point to trying to fight this, and also, could I have told them no, you can't have my gun?

Answer: I've owned guns since I was a kid (grew up on a farm) and there's no such thing as an accidental discharge.  There's negligent discharge, but this was no accident.  You failed in some way that caused your gun to fire.  Please take this as a learning experience and consider that maybe you shouldn't own a gun.  Further, negligent discharge is a crime in nearly every city.  If you are in the county, then yes, it's possible that it's not illegal, but then why did the police show up?  If you aren't being charged, it's likely only because of officer discretion.


Title: [Oklahoma City, OK] Neighbor claims he bribed the mayor to get cops to not ticket him for any offence, what to do now?

Question:
This is a throwaway account. Friends know my real one.
Anyway, my neighbor was telling me last night how he bribed the mayor to get city cops to not give him a ticket for any offence, not to ticket him for parking or speeding, said he bribed the mayor with a payment of $200,000, tickets for a Beyonce concert, a meal at a pizza place, and some fancy men's underwear and suits, plus "a night of passion in a hotel room of your choice, you choose the location.".

My neighbor lives literally right next door, he's been here 12 years now, seems like a nice enough dude.

Just wondeiring, legally, what state laws did he break if any?

Answer: Probably none, because that didn't happen.


Title: HELP - Roomate has been stealing cash from my wallet approx. $500 by my memory.

Question:
So I've (30F) been living with a 56M (Ben) for about a year now. There is also a girl (Clara) about my age that moved in a few months ago. She is employed by the government and has security clearance, and amongst other details, I am sure she is not the culprit. Ben is living paycheck to paycheck delivering for Instacart, and has borrowed money from me multiple times (which he paid back). Our rooms are right next to each other and he knows my routine and where my purse is hung. I've also given him permission to enter my room for specific reasons.

&#x200B;

The last couple months I have been helping my friend sell some of her jewelry, etc. So I had a small inventory and people paid me cash and I PayPaled to her, leaving me with up to $400 in cash in my wallet. I started missing some of the cash, particularly the hundreds. At first I thought that it was me buying something I did not remember. The reason I think it is Ben is because today I was home all day and knew exactly how much I had since I was getting change for my girlfriend that stopped by. Ben knew I was busy around the house, packing for my trip as well as doing some work in my office. He had every chance to go in my room. If I had walked in, he could easily have said he was borrowing some of my vape juice which is close to my purse. Also, Clara was not home at the time.

&#x200B;

I don't want him to catch on that I know, so I ordered a camera and some fake bills to catch him. I was going to send an email to our landlords and inform them on the situation, but is it too early? should I wait for proof? I would tell them to stay quiet, but you never know.  Once i have proof I will go to the cops.

&#x200B;

Is this a solid plan? am i missing something? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I assume small claims would be my go-to, but what proof do I provide? Also, should I inform Clara? I'm sure it is not her, but if it is, I'd be making a mistake.

&#x200B;

Sidenote - this didn't start happening until Clara moved in and Ben had had a grudge against her the whole time so i wouldn't be surprised if he blamed her. I also only started missing the cash when I knew I had $100 bills in there. Usually I don't carry much, so it's possible he has been doing it longer without my noticing (I use my card so I don't carry cash frequently). It is possible she is a victim too or he's been doing it before she moved in but I haven't noticed.

&#x200B;

And yes, I should have deposited, but there were some things that i needed the cash for.

&#x200B;

Another question - can I ask the guy that paid me with those hundreds to ask his bank for the specific numbers on them so they can be traced? I'm pretty sure he will pay me with my own money for something he owes me.

&#x200B;

UPDATE: Ben just texted me that he was leaving some cash in my room to pay me back for a debt. He never carries cash and always uses venmo. This is 100$ the cash he stole.

Answer: Ben reads reddit.


Title: (RI) single mom, father wants to file for emergency custody

Question:
I will be 29 years old, my daughter is 4. When she was 13mo old I left her dad. We fought for 8 months in court for custody. The judge said he never saw a case like this one in all his years, actually said to the court room (off the recorded) that the only person suffering was ME! Because her father was just being ridiculous.

50/50 custody with possession of minor child to be with mother is what the ruling was. We worked out a visitation schedule. Like its 4 years later, things smoothed itself out until recently. I was living at my mothers this whole time. This week her dog bit my daughters face. I left immediately. Stayed with my daughter at his house for a few days. Finding an apartment that's not crazy expensive in the pass couple of days have been hard but I can find one I know it.

So, everything was going well, the plan was since I couldn't stay at his house bc it was awkward  for him, I called my dad who had a unused bedroom I could use to share with my daughter until I found a place. Her dad was being very helpful, making plans with my dad to help clean out the room, and get a mattress there for me. So that nite I called my friend and asked him if I could spend the nite, and told him the situation. This friend was my BF for a year and we broke up bc of whatever, but I was stuck. At 9pm the nite before the move to my fathers her dad found out where I was. Freaked out, said I abandoned my kid, now he won't let me see her and is filing for custody all over again.

My question is, I can't afford a lawyer and get a new apartment, could he file emergency custody and win because I am moving into my dads until I find my own place? This was something he approved of all week, and only changed his whole tune 9pm the nite before I was to go to my dads. Also he never went to my dads or brought the bed over for me, so now I have to do all of that today (rent a truck, look for a place and go to file for assistance programs). Also he is letting me take her today and is asking when I will be giving her back and I don't think I have too, his exact words were 'I make the rules until you find a place'.

I have texts all from this week about how he agreed with my decision with going to my dads. And how I'm a good mother and whatever I need he can help, and I'll be on my feet by August and he knows this. I do have a well paying job, but I was living rent free at my moms, and have been there since I left him.

Answer:
 I'll repost from your previously deleted post:

> could he file emergency custody and win

Possibly. Unlikely, if all you're doing is moving from one home to another.
If, however, you're planning to be homeless for a while, even just couch-surfing, he's got a good chance of winning temporary custody. Additionally, he's always free(more or less) to go back to the court and ask for a change in custody.


Title: (Bellevue, WA) How clean can my landlord expect my apartment to be?

Question:
    Hello legaladvice, I'm a long time lurker who needs a bit of help. On Wednesday annual apartment inspections were done, I always make sure the place is reasonably clean so I don't get roaches (Many reviews residents of the complex write mention roaches in the complex).
    The kitchen floor was sorta dirty since I didn't have a mop (I now have one that my father gave me and will be mopping the floors tomorrow) and 2 dishes from that day were in the sink soaking since some food I was cooking earlier got burnt a little.
    When they inspected all they did was walk through the apartment for about a minute just looking in each room really quick, the lady wrote something down on a notepad and then left. Well, today I was leaving to go to my father's house, and when I opened my door a paper fell onto the floor of the hallway. The paper was from the landlord saying that my apartment isn't being kept clean and that I have a responsibility to keep it clean and orderly, I have 10 days to cure or vacate.
    First off, I do want to cure this, I don't think my kitchen floor is dirty enough to attract roaches, but it does need to be mopped and I'm going to do that tomorrow morning. My dad pays my rent as I'm disabled and am looking for work, I think he has a copy of the lease but I don't. I'm going to the leasing office tomorrow to tell them I'm going to comply with the notice and figure out what specifically needs to be fixed. Me and my father would like to know  how clean they can expect my apartment to be? My dad looked at my apartment earlier and said it's not filthy and the only problem may be the kitchen floor needs to be clean.
    I do have some stuff a tad bit disorganized but I'm definitely not hoarding or have stuff all over the floors. Other then the kitchen floor possibly my apartment isn't dirty enough where I'd attract roaches.
    So I'd like to know before I talk to the leasing office tomorrow, how clean can my landlord expect my apartment to be?

TL;DR My apartment isn't dirty enough where it would attract roaches but inspection people left a 10 day comply or quit notice saying my apartment isn't being kept clean. I want to comply but how clean can they expect it to be?

Answer:
 I got one of those once. There was a bunch of dirt on the kitchen floor because college students and never taking our shoes off. Give everything a good scrub. Act like your grandma or your boss or a Hemsworth brother is coming to visit. Your landlord doesn't really want to evict you, he just wants to make sure it hasn't gotten bad by the time your lease is up.

Unless your landlord *does* want to evict you??? That could change things. Any reason to think that?


Title: [TX] My friend and I got caught smoking.

Question:
For background information, my friend and i are both 17 going to be 18 soon.
To start the story off my friend and i were smoking a blunt on the side of the road when a cop pulled up behind us and walked to the door. After making eye contact with the officer he opened my door (drivers side) and asked us to get out and put us against the wall. After that we were patted down and put into the cop car. About 2 more cop cars came and they started searching my vehicle where they found about 2 grams of weed. When suddenly the officer pulled out 3/4ths of an Ecstasy pill and asked me to identify what it was. We were eventually taken to the local station where they filled out the paperwork and than after about 6 hours transported to downtown. my friend and i were both charged with the marijuana but i was charged with controlled substance on top of that. This is my first offense of any kind. But, on the police report they stated that when the police were patting us down they found weed on us which isn't true. The only thing on me was my wallet and my friend had nothing on him at all. They also stated that we were going door to door selling weed, that they found the X pill in a pill bottle with my name on it which also is not true. There was a pill bottle with my name on it but it had marijuana in it. they also stated that when we went to the local station we were being questioned by detectives the whole time but in reality we were put into singular cells and chained up the entirety of the time there. if i'm being completely honest i really am unsure of what's gong to happen. Is my life over? Is it even possible for me to have an ending that will be relatively okay? Also, I'm enrolled in an EMT program for this upcoming senior year and we have to do a background check and i suppose that's over for me? i appreciate whatever advice you can give.
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer:
 You need to have your parents get you an attorney. Now. Don't talk to your friend, don't talk to the cops, don't talk to anyone. Answer #2: IANAL, but your life is not over. Don't even think that. This is a blip, and it's going to be a hassle and suck for a while, but it will be over and done with and you'll be able to move on with your life. [This is Bill Gates' mugshot](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/670xX/photos/gatesmug.jpg). He did pretty ok for himself after that. Tons of people have been arrested at one time or another, and if you don't make it a pattern, your life can still be whatever you wish to make of it. (Tim Allen was even caught at an airport with 1.5 pounds of cocaine.)

Get a lawyer and stop talking.


Title: [Ga] I'm 17 and someone hit my parked car, left there name and number parents don't want police or insurance involved.

Question:
So when I was at school some one hit my 96 Honda accord which was parked in the street in front of my house. His story was that he was working on my neighbors house across the street and was backing up and he didn't see my car and busted the driver-side turn signal and some minor scratches. He talked to my step-dad and left his business card and said he would pay for any damages he did.

well me and him have been in steady contact about the incident since oct, 1 (the accident was on sept. 29) and it was all pretty polite and calm conversation. Until today, he was supposed to call me yesterday but didn't so i waited until today to call him and i did. so i call him and ask him why didn't he call me yesterday in a calm and polite manner then he gets angry and starts bringing up his kids and random stuff and started saying he feels like hes being harassed and he would call me back when the dude who hes paying to repair my car would call him back. which seems pretty sketchy to me
(also the car is under my moms name and under her insurance as a liability)

Am i handling this correctly what should i do?

Here are the picture of the damages

 http://i.imgur.com/byI6tfr.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/06izypv.jpg

Update: step dad came home and said i didn't give him enough time to get the parts and that i am harassing him (only talked to him 4 times)  and should just wait for him to call me. so thats what im going to do...

Answer:
 He doesn't pick who repairs your car.  You do.

He doesn't pick if you call your insurance or not.  You do.

Take it to a couple of places and get an estimate.  Give him the lower amount.  That's what he has to pay to fix the damage.  If he doesn't want to pay that, then you can sue him in court or contact your insurance company.


Title: Landlord thinks my mother might be doing drugs and gave us a 3 day warning

Question:
Ok so about three days ago my mother was doing laundry in our apartment complex laundromat.  Another one of the tenants walked in and noticed a little baggy on the ground and picked it up.  She walked up to my mom and asked if it was hers and my mom said no its trash and so they threw it away.   Now being as my mother used to be a addict years ago she knew strait away what it was.  It was speed and we told the landlord about it.  Now today the landlord just called us in and gave us a three day notice and told us the the lady who showed my mom the baggie told her that when she asked my mother about it she supposedly said "Oh i meant to throw that away".  Now the thing is my father heard the conversation and all my mother said was no its trash.  The landlord has no evidence that the baggie belonged to my mother and we were the first ones to report can she legally give us the 3 day notice without evidence and do you guys have any advice.

Srry for any bad grammer i am typing this fast as it just happened.

Answer: Is it possible your mother is using again?


Title: (Palm Desert, CA) Got a court order by the DA to testify in court as a witness for a case, a bit confused

Question: I have no clue who the defendant is, and no idea why I am being summoned if I wasn't a witness. This is in my hometown, but I go to school 6 hours away. I don't have the resources to just travel freely to testify in court for someone I don't know. Any suggestions? I don't want to be arrested for missing court.

Answer: Call the DA and ask what this is about. If you truly have no idea what it is about they may have just gotten your name mixed up with someone else and by calling the DA you could straighten this out. However, if this isn't an error and you are actually being summoned you MUST show up. IANAL


Title: FL - Can my parents legally prevent me from changing my name?

Question:
To make things short, I've always hated my full name. My first name is an awkward spelling of a very popular name in the late 90s that looks like it would be pronounced completely different than what it actually is. Think.. Ashley - Aslea, Hannah - Hanha, Sarah - Siera. They wanted to make something original, beautiful sounding to let me stand out from everyone else. The spelling of it has never made the top 1000 charts, no actors/actresses named it, and I've only managed to find a few baby websites to have the version of it. Probably not too hard to understand why I wouldn't like it. My middle name on the other hand, is shit. The amount of girls that you'll come aross with some variant of it. Nikki, Nicole, Nicky. I can call the name out in an airport and 1 in 1,000 people coud turn around. Just like my first name, it has a million ways to spell it. It's Nycole. Ny-quell. So, sadly, not exactly the same, but according to the baby name websites; it's just another spelling of Nicole. Still, it's annoying for no one to ever be able to pronounce it correctly, first or middle.

I've brought this up with my parents a few times, the first few times was me asking them to call me by nickname. They refused, stating that my name was too beautiful to call by anything else. [They call me by my first and middle name. Sigh.] Last night, I told them that I would be looking into legally changing it to something more common and normal. They started screaming at me, telling me that I don't have any right to change it [under 18], and that they can serve a cease and desise papers so that I may not change it. Ever. While I'm doubting that they can actually do this, even after I turn 18.. is there any legal way for them to be able to do so?

(Okay, thatgot longer than I hoped it would. Sorry. Also, on phone, sorry for any mistakes.)

Tl;dr: don't like name, never will. Parents don't approve.

Answer:
 You are entitled to change it after your 18^th birthday.Answer #2: >that they can serve a cease and desise papers so that I may not change it. Ever.

This is laughably incorrect. You can change it after your 18th birthday, at which point you're a legal adult. At that point, there's nothing they can do about it.Answer #3: [I've got to assume that your name is in this scene.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7URSM_ShQQ)  If so, sorry.

You can legally change your name after the age of 18, and they have absolutely no say in the matter.  No judge would ever give them a cease-and-desist. Answer #4: Once you are a legal adult they cannot keep you from changing your name.

However, they can cut you off (stop paying for college/stop having a relationship).  So think carefully about the cost/benefit analysis of the name change.Answer #5: Not a lawyer, but a former name changee (swapped first and middle names)

I was 14 at the time (in PA), and the process required documented consent of a parent/guardian, and me going in front of a judge to give a brief 'why'.

If you are a legal adult, the only person signing the forms is you. They're bluffing.Answer #6: Definitley not legal advice, but might I suggest that if your middle name really is in the area do Nycole/ Ny-quell to contact Vicks to see if they would pay you something to change your middle name to NyQuil^^TM. ;)


Title: Superior asked me to cover up alleged abuse

Question:
Okay, please bare with me as I just got done working a 15 hour overnight nursing shift, and my brain is starting to malfunction.

I just had an incident at work that has me more than convinced that one of my co-workers abused an elder patient during my shift. I reported my concerns to my higher up with photographic evidence, and she stated that it sounded to her like it was just a rough transfer of a patient, and didn't believe that it was necessary to report it to state and authorities, and instead they would just fire the individual in question.

Our facility just went through a lengthy legal situation regarding a previous abuse allegation, and it was suggested during my talk with my superior that her reason for not wanting to report it was to avoid having to go through all of that again.

My issue is that if this person is fired they will keep their license, and just end up working at another facility, and can continue abusing patients, and I'm not sure that I can live with the fact that I knowingly allowed this to happen.

What can I do in this situation?  I put in my charting, and mentioned that I informed my superior of the patient's statements and injuries, but did not put in the suspected abuse paperwork as my boss told me that it is not an alleged abuse situation, and so it's not necessary to file it.

I'm at a loss here.

Answer:
 Report it. If your facility is suspicious enough to fire the employee there is enough suspicion to report him.
The facility is protecting itself at the risk of others, which is immoral, and likely against its own policies and mission.
If you still have doubt, and it is a hospital, they always have lawyers as employees, and you could discuss it with him.
Your instincts are correct.
Legally, elder abuse has different reporting requirements, so I can't state if you're legally a mandated reporter. Morally, you are. You heal the sick, and protect the weak.
IANAL, but I would never be able to look that patient or her family in the eyes of I didn't report it.
Also, belated Happy Nurses week. We appreciate all you do. You are truly the patient's advocate.Answer #2: Report it or you are part of the cover up. It's up to the state to determine if a law was broken, companies don't self-police.


Title: My college fund

Question:
26 F living in VA, my mom is 65 living in MD

I’m curious to what I can do in possibly retrieving my college fund. I recently got in contact with my Paternal grandmother and informed me that my father sent a $80,000 check when I was 18 for me to go to college. I was unaware of this until earlier this week. My grandmother advised me to speak with a lawyer.

Could this actually be a case? Should I seek a lawyer and if so what kind? Thank you in advance.

Answer: Who do your father send the check to? What kind of account was the money put in? Did you go to college or are you currently attending? Have you asked your father about this?Answer #2: I am assuming he sent the check to your mother.  She has had $80K for 8 years and there is any left but good look.


Title: NJ/NY How can I establish New York residency during college ?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Not for the [SUNY system](https://www.suny.edu/smarttrack/residency/). Like many other policies of this nature, it explicitly excludes OOS students who move to the state in order to attend school. If it's not a SUNY, then you should call and ask, this is generally an institution-specific issue.


Title: Depression due to restaurant employee

Question:
Hi, I'm sure this one is going to seem a bit unusual, but I've been seeing a therapist for a while now working on fighting my depression and building some self confidence. My therapist recently made some comments that I was making some progress and I've been doing better in general. This past Saturday night while visiting a restaurant, the manager made a directly offensive statement, more or less, undermining my manhood. I don't believe that it constitutes harassment, but I've experienced serious regression in my treatment, have had suicidal thoughts, and on one occasion acted recklessly to the point of self endangerment (I've increased the frequency of therapist visits, which seem to be helping the reckless behavior). I was advised by a family member that I should seek legal council, but I'm not really sure there is grounds for a case here. Am I wrong or could I actually seek discourse here?

Edit: I am in Pennsylvania.
Topic:
Personal Injury

Answer:
 If you are at the point where one comment from anyone, especially a random stranger, is enough to push you into a spiral, you need to talk to your therapist about checking into a clinic. Mere therapy and pills are not going to cut it. Not being critical of you -- this is a sincere and concerned observation.

And no, you have no legal case here, not by a long shot. You likely wouldn't want to go through the process of bringing suit anyway, as more mean things would be said to and about you. Imagine: the press and bloggers who hear about the case (it would be public) will almost certainly call you a pussy, wimp, limp-wristed pajama boy, and worse. So to avoid being called a Nancy, wuss, pansy, or sackless tosser, I'd recommend avoiding public actions (such as lawsuits, attempts at media campaigns, public comments, etc) that will draw unnecessary attention to you.

Honestly, take care of yourself, you have more important things to worry about than some over-worked, under-paid jerk at a restaurant. Answer #2: If your manager is being an asshole find a new job.  If you are feeling suicidal call  (800) 273-8255 or speak with your therapist.

 It is very  unlikely that one comment from your manager would be worthy of legal action.


Title: If a mechanic has a crush on a customer and he puts a GPS tracker on her car and then gets caught a week later and the customer is a cop who arrested his friends before but he didn't know that, what could happen to him?

Question: The location is Florida. Asking for my friend. He had no idea she was a cop even. He just got arrested for the first time in his life and we're wondering what will happen and if he'll get bail.

Answer:
 Whointhefuck handles a crush by placing a GPS tracker on the crushee's vehicle?????Answer #2: He needs a lawyer and a therapist. Answer #3: >The location is Florida.

Like clockworkAnswer #4: He'll likely be offered bail.  Whether or not he can afford it remains to be seen.

Your friend will be charged with some fun crimes, I'm sure.  That is creepy as fuck.Answer #5: Lol just so you know... https://twitter.com/tinybaby/status/766821517044752385


Title: I work as a driver, and saw something fucked up at work. My boss talked to her boss, and they both said that I cant contact the police about it. What CAN I do?

Question:
So the story is that I was delivering to a man who let his  Two-year-old with a soiled diaper open the door for a stranger, and when I came in he had his belt unbuckled his pants unbuttoned and unzipped.  Is other younger daughter was sitting on the dirty floor next to his desk playing with something, I didn't see what it was. Something in the air reminded me of a pet parrots unclean cage, it smelled horrible in there. He had a very sexual video/ movie going on his computer monitor (man undressing a woman, camera on her ass). He told me his pants had fallen down(but  Belts don't just come unbuckled).  I set the pizza down on the table, and once he signed the credit card slip I excused myself.

 When I got back to the store I had written  Everything down so that I wouldn't forget it talk to my manager about calling the police. She talked to her boss about  It and they came to the conclusion that I "can't call the police because it would fall back on the company and we can't have that".
What can I do to help these children? Their living conditions are terrible with his small, disgusting apartment and him beating it in front of them
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Report it. See about getting CPS to check it out. Don’t tell your employer and if they happen to fire you, get a job at one of the other pizza joints.Answer #2: Call CPS and make an anonymous report. Your bosses are being morally repugnant over this.Answer #3: I would call CPS anonymously and report what you saw. I know it’s shitty but you can always find another job if need be. These children obviously have no one on their sideAnswer #4: I am not a lawyer, but I would call the police and have them do a welfare check. I would call CPS as well. I would undermine my bosses and go against what they said.Answer #5: Definitely contact CPS and the police and also report your boss and boss' boss for saying you cannot tell the police about this. Make sure to record the conversation with the police.


Title: Now that Jim Acosta's Press Pass has been restored, what happens if Donald Trump just doesn't call on him again for a question?

Question:
Is the President legally forced to give Jim Acosta a question? If he just took questions from other reporters and not Jim Acosta, does that violate the law?

Secondly, if a Press Pass is guaranteed and not a privilege, why can't any journalist demand a Press Pass?

Answer:
 A press pass isn’t guaranteed, it’s just that once it’s given it can’t be taken away without going through the proper process and having a good reason.  That’s where the administration stumbled here.

Not calling on reporters who have been behaving badly is how many recent presidents have handled situations like this.  They could certainly just not let him ask a question but I doubt they’d do it.Answer #2: You are not guaranteed the chance to ask a question at these press conferences. In fact, the judge who ordered the restoration of the pass noted in his judgement, that the president is under no obligation to call on (Acosta). Here is a quick rundown from the BBC.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46240975


Title: [PA] School now offers my currently enrolled master's degree online for $50k less, will not let me take the cheaper classes

Question:
I am currently enrolled in a Master's degree program in Pennsylvania, USA which costs $70k in tuition to complete not including room and board. My school recently came out with an online version of the degree which only costs $25k to complete, consists of online versions of the same courses taken in person, and grants the exact same degree.

Because the online version of the courses are much cheaper, and have much more flexibility, I requested to take some of the classes online but was told that only people who apply to the online program can take those classes. When I asked if I could transfer into the online version with my existing credit, I was told that they are essentially "separate but equal" programs and I would need to restart.

My legal questions:

1. Can they prevent someone already enrolled in the "same" degree from taking the online versions of the course?

2. What legal obligations does the school have to its current and former students? If they offer a rigorous in person version of the degree, then offer a much easier, cheaper version online which grants the same degree, that potentially destroys the value of the degree for people who have already taken it in person.

Answer:
 1. Yes, schools have been doing this with continuing education classes since before the internet existed.

2. None.


Title: [Texas] Do I have to say the Texas Pledge?

Question:
My family recently moved to Texas, and during school we say two pledges: the Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Flag Pledge. I've never said the Texas Pledge before, and can't really find a source that says I *must* say it.

**Update:** Thank you for the help guys

Answer:
 West Virginia State Board of Educations vs. Barnette says that schools can't compel you or punish you for not saying the Pledge of Allegiance. The same reasoning would presumably apply to the Texas Pledge.

There's always that one kid who won't say the Pledge and has the court cases available to back it up, just waiting for a teacher to complain so they can be a little know-it-all shit about it. Source: was that kid.Answer #2: [TX Ed. Code 25.082](http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/ED/htm/ED.25.htm) says "On written request from a student's parent or guardian, a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall excuse the student from reciting a pledge of allegiance."  But you'll probably be fine to just stand quietly even without a written request as others have said.Answer #3: you don't have to say either just stand their quietly and don't be a distraction for the others


Title: Made a logo for my work to use on flyers, growlers, and anything else they could put it on, they pissed me off, I might quit fairly soon, but is there anyway I can make it mine or put a trademark on it.

Question: So I work for a beer store, we sell craft beer, growlers and what not. When I first started they were talking about a logo and such for the store so they could put on our own growlers. Anywho, I offered to make the logo, and help out with the whole process, I'm not a professional graphic designer, I took classes in high school, so I know how to make logos pretty well. Well now since we got a new manager and shit, they put me on the back burner, hired someone new who is getting more hours than I am, and I only got a recognition for even making the logo, they just told me "good job" didn't offer me a small bonus, or anything for even making it on my time off, on my own computer. So now the logo has been finished for a few months now, we have it set for our facebook, have it printed on 500 growlers, it's in all the ads, and also our door decal. If I were to quit since I'm not getting my hours and don't think I'm going to stay here much longer, is there a way I can trademark the logo, to either make a settlement where it's theirs, and they can pay me for it, or get some sort of profit off of it. We haven't signed any contract, I highly doubt they copyrighted it in their name. Or should I just call a lawyer and ask them for advice on what could happen.

Answer:
 Almost assuredly not.  You developed it for them, while you were an employee.  The rights very very likely belong to them.

You can talk to an intellectual property lawyer for a more specific read on your exact employment situation.


Title: Baby mama drama

Question:
Hi,
     This is happening in Nj. My ex is telling me she's getting a roomate with our baby at the house. I am 100% against this. I don't know the person and don't want a stranger living with my child.
     We never had a custody hearing, just a verbal agreement, I also pay child support without court. Basically we never went to court because we never needed to but now she absolutely refuses to even talk about it. She claims she needs help with the rent but has been fine for months before and rents a three story condo and could easily just downgrade.
     Is there anything I can do?

Answer: She does not need to justify her choice of roommate to you. She doesn't even need to yell you that she has a roommate.


Title: Wife's messed up colonoscopy appointment

Question:
We are in the US, Michigan and the Metro Detroit Area.

My wife was supposed to have a colonoscopy on Tuesday of this week. She had to book it a month in advance. She spent all Monday preparing by taking the medications and laxatives and going through the general unpleasantness of the situation. We arrived for her appointment and were kept waiting for a long time. Eventually we were told that there was no insurance authorization for her to have the surgery. The person at the hospital spent about an 1 1/2 hours making phone calls to see what was going on. She said she spoke with the Gastro office. She also claimed that the Gastro office/doctor had never sent it in for approval and that we were supposed to have been called last week and informed that the surgery was cancelled. She said she showed 5 attempts to get approval. My wife said that didn't make any sense, because the Gastro doctor who recommended the surgery was the one performing surgery at this hospital today for her. (Her doctor does the surgeries at this hospital instead of her Gastro clinic apparently). So how would she have not submitted it when she was also the one doing it. So we left, with my sobbing on my arm and obviously very upset. I get home, and immediately called the Gastro office, who weirdly wasn't open. I finally got ahold of them at 9AM when they opened. I was immediately suspicious, how had the person at the hospital spoken to anyone at the Gastro office when the were closed? The person I spoke with immediately said, that's not right, we have the authorization for the surgery. She said that she was the one who called and sent it to the hospital on Friday. We then called the hospital back and my wife spoke with them. Whoever she spoke with was extremely rude and just kept repeating that they didn't have the authorization at the time, and offered for her to come in later in the day and see if they have an opening. By that time my wife had eaten since she was extremely hungry and she needed food. I called the Gastro office back and asked her to find out what was going on. She also mentioned she had a suspicion on who we had dealt with at the hospital. My question is, this was very traumatic and upsetting for my wife, and we have now rescheduled for two weeks down the road. Do we have a case for malpractice or something from the hospital? It seems pretty clear that the employee at the hospital either called a wrong office or just completely lied about the speaking to the Gastro office since they were closed at the time. I'm just frustrated about the whole thing and my wife has been extremely upset and she has anxiety and depression that was really set off by all of this, compounded by the fact she is having this done to pinpoint medical issues she has been having.

Answer: Malpractice is medical, not clerical.Answer #2: There is no case for malpractice as there was nothing medically done to her with a doctor acting negligent. I also doubt you would have a case for anything else. This was an administrative mess up. Stuff like this happens all the time


Title: What steps do I need to take to legally change my name and get a new identity ?

Question: I'm a victim of cyber harassment, cyber stalking and exposure of personal info. These group of trolls from yahoo answers have literally found my home address, bank records, court records, social security number and etc. The police is failing to help me in this. Because I am planning on moving in the near future, I want to be able to change my name completely. I cannot have these people from finding my new address. These people have threatened to send a hitman to my current address. So I want to completely change my name and have a new identity. What steps do I have to take to be able to accomplish this ? Would it cost me money to do this ?

Answer:
 You can change your name, not your SSN, though.

Without your location, we can't point you toward the correct resources to change your name. If you are in the US, the information will be on your county court website. It usually takes a month or less and a couple hundred dollars.

Other than that, this isn't a legal question but a practical one. Move, change phone numbers, delete all of your social media permanently, get a new email...

Those are things you need to figure what needs to be done on your own. That said, it's extraordinarily unlikely a bunch of dummies from Yahoo Answers have the capacity to send a hitman anywhere. Hitmen aren't exactly something you can post on yahoo answers "how do I hire a hitman" and get an accurate answer. You could just change your phone and email and delete social media, and continue being you. Maybe spend more time outdoors and less online. Ignore them; they will lose interest soon.


Title: Having a service dog in a no pets apartment

Question:
Background: I live in Cincinnati, Ohio and attend the University here. I recently moved into an apartment where I took over a lease. The previous tenant owned a dog for a semester and never had any problems. I also know of at least 5 other tenants who also own dogs against the lease agreement. My case is a bit different though.

Current situation: I received an email from the apartment company stating that they were informed I own a dog and it must be removed immediately or I would be asked to evacuate. I did some research of the Fair Housing Act and that states that if the dog provides emotional support and alleviates a symptom of a mental condition the dog can not be refused. I am diagnosed with severe depression, anxiety and ADHD. I am currently prescribed two different medications. I adopted this dog as a therapy dog and she has greatly improved my quality of life. Do I have a case against my landlord to keep my dog?

Answer:
 Do you have a prescription for this dog from a licensed mental health professional? Answer #2: Service dog ≠ emotional support animal. [**This page**](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/wiki/esa) on the wiki will give you the info you need. Answer #3: 1) An emotional support animal is not a service animal. It is not trained to perform a specific task.

2) Emotional support animals must be prescribed by a mental health professional.

 Answer #4: Shame on you some people have a real need for service animals and ESM’s. The law is not put in place so people can use it as a loop hole to have pets.

Thanks to people like you.  People with legitimate problems have to deal with the speculation of is this just another person trying to find a loop hole to break the rules?
Answer #5: [ESAs and Service Animals are not the same thing](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/wiki/esa), not only that but in either case you need a prescription first, then to request an accommodation of the Landlord in writing, then to get the animal.

Doing it out of order, is going to cause you a lot of problems.Answer #6: Do you have some sort of documentation of this dog being an ESA?


Title: Can I be charged with defamation?

Question: Long story short, I found out that my (former) friend (22yo, gay, let's call him Bob) had a relationship with a 15yo boy a couple years ago. At the time Bob told me he was 17 but I was recently informed that he was 15. I also found out that a friend of his was having sex with an 11 year old. An incident happened recently where I met up with him at an ice cream shop at 10pm. He had a an 11yo boy with him while he was selling cannabis. He told me he barely knew the kid and was one of the two kids his friend was luring but he said he was just trying to be a good male rollmodel. Can I be sued for defamation for talking to my co-workers (Bob also worked there untill recently) and the police about what I knew? I only made statements that were true and let other people infer for themselves. His cousin who also works there also knows about the 25yo as do a bunch of other people.

Answer: Talk only to the police, not the coworkers, and you will be fine. Tell them who you think may have more information and let them go talk to those people. Do not play detective; that's their job. Unless you personally witnessed something it's all hearsay anyway.


Title: Kidnapping, identity crisis, 2 social security numbers

Question:
Hi every one. I'll admit I don't know much about how Reddit works but I have seen amazing things get accomplished with this website and was hoping I would get some help.

My oldest brother, Scott, was born in 1973. We have the same Mom but different Dads. Our Mom was not with his Dad very long. They did marry but only from '73 to '75. Then he disappeared. Our Mom began working for a guy named Eddie at a Church's Chicken in Dallas in '75 where she developed a crush on him. He won her trust and one day asked her if she and Scott wanted to go on vacation with him. That vacation ended up in Columbia in 1976. Our Mom was beat, tortured, and starved, while she was there. She couldn't do anything about it though. She didn't know Spanish and even if she did she was a Blonde haired Blue eyed young woman in her early 20's stuck in a foreign country in the 70's, no one was willing to help her. In 1979, they came back to the states and ended up in New Jersey. Eddie put Scott in a private school using baptismal papers as identification showing that Scott had Eddie's last name. My Mom ended up getting a job as a waitress at Denny's but Eddie would talk all her money. So, she got smart and would save her change and any other money she had and she started calling her Mom back in Texas to let her know she and Scott were ok, and she hid the other money and started making plans to escape. Once she had her plan and money in order she waited til she was supposed to go to work and instead went to the school to try and get Scott. But, her name was no where on his paper work so they would not let her have him. This made Eddie furious. So he took her savings and of course beat her. One day he told her he would send her home so she could see her Mom but she couldn't take Scott. She had to leave him there so Eddie knew she would come back. He bought her a one way plane ticket and told her when she was ready to come back to call him and he would send her a ticket to come back. When she called him he had changed his number and took off with Scott. She searched and searched but back in that time it wasn't easy at all to find people. I am not sure if she ever filed a missing person for Scott or anything. I do know that from the time that I was a little girl ( I was born in 86) we have searched for Scott. Our Mom spent thousands of dollars on private investigators and various other resources searching for my brother. The only information they were ever able to find was Eddie's. This was after Scott was 18 years old. She called Eddie and the only information he would give her about Scott what that he was alive and had ran off with some girl. So, we continued to search. Then one day in 2003 out of the blue, Scott called us. He found us in the white pages of an entirely different area then where we lived at the time and we just had our phone turned on the week before. Also, it was 3 days after my Mom's mom passed away and she always said that was the first thing she would ask God to do when she died was to bring Scott home. I am a firm believer that God had everything to do with us finally finding each other.

My reason for telling you all this is because Eddie had a whole new social issued for my brother in 1987 when he was 14 years old. I have no clue how he did it. The new number has my mom listed and his mother and Eddie listed as his dad. There was never a legal birth certificate signed by Eddie. But, I also found that in 1987 there was a law changed that required all dependents to have a social security number. Eddie didn't know my brothers social so he had one issued some how so he could still file him on his taxes is what I honestly believe. Scott, has his original birth certificate given to him by my mom. He also has his social but my mom messed things up too.. His BC has his dad's last name. His SSC has my moms maiden name.. We don't know what to do to get this fixed but my brother is currently in Medical School and will be an RN next year.. Only issue is he does not have proper identification. He needs a social and and birth certificate with the same name on it to get his RN license. He has one birth certificate with his dads name, 2 socials (1 with my mom's maiden and and the other with Eddie's last name) He has 2 passports that expired 25 years ago one with my mom's maiden name and one with Eddie's last name. But he does not have either pass port he just knows he had them.

Scott is busy asking Eddie how he got the new number issued, but I don't see how that will help anything.. Scott still talks to Eddie, he grew up calling him Dad. I think that is the only reason he has not tried to file charges on him for Kid Napping. I think if we can just figure out how to get his name changed so he can follow his dream of healing sick people then all of the other stuff won't matter anymore.. He can live the rest of his life as a normal person finally. Please offer any advise that you can. We desperately need it.

Answer:
 TL;DR for you OP:  Brother has ended up with 2 SSNs and 2 passports under 2 different names (and with different sets of parents). He still has his original BC  - - how to consolidate all into one name? What to do first?Answer #2: Bro, you need more help than I think we can give you. Try maybe contacting legal aid in your county/state? See where they might direct you?Answer #3: Okay, maybe I'm being cynical, but your mom dies and three days later someone claiming to be her long-lost son turns up?  I'd get a DNA test done to confirm this is actually your half-brother.Answer #4: >how Reddit works

Smaller paragraphs help, please. It's difficult to read a wall of text.


Title: My sex offender and drug addict ex wants partial custody of our child after taking her to go buy drugs. Illinois

Question:
So basically, I have a 1 year old with my ex. I recently caught him taking our child to a strange house to buy weed (I know weed isnt like heroin-bad but it doesnt need to be around my daughter. It's also illegal here). I have text messages that confirms this. I told him he cant see our child unsupervised anymore and that if he wants to fight it he can take me to court. He said he didnt want to take me to court to fight it, but now hes saying in a few years when he gets caught up financially and gets his classes done and moves out of state, that hes going to take me to court for summer custody. I'm absolutely panicked because he is neglectful, selfish, and has put her in dangerous situations multiple times.
I'm looking into getting a lawyer now, but I'm scared I wont be able to stop him from getting partial custody.
I have texts proving he took her to go buy drugs
He is a registered sex offender (rape of a 15 year old when he was 17)
I dont think I have proof of it, but I know he has brought strange men over to his house to get high with while she was asleep.
He literally starved her for a day. He only fed her a cup of fruit and milk. I sorta have proof.
Proof he put her in danger by sleeping with her in his bed specifically to get revenge on me.

Please help me. I dont know what I need to do to keep my daughter safe from him. I know if he has complete access to her, she will end up in danger and I can't watch it happen. He thinks that if he gets clean and takes the stupid classes that somehow help with the sex offender thing that he will be able to get partial custody of her no problem. Is this true? Any advice is welcome, I'm desperate.

Answer:
 Document everything.   Every call, every conversation,  every visit, everything.  Like seriously get a binder and calendar/organizer just for this.  Store them in a safe place. Do not tell him you are doing this or threaten him with it.

And make backup copies of everything.  Thumb drives and cloud storage are your friends.  Save those texts, download them, save them.

If he tries to get custody/visitation, hand a copy of everything to your lawyer.


Title: [Ohio] Is it a crime to browse the Darknet and publish data from it?

Question:
I am pretty sure that this is ok, but I thought it might be good to check here just to make sure.

I have always been interested in the intersection of technology and society, and the Darknet has been a fascinating topic to study.  Specifically, I am interested in the online drug markets.  I know it is illegal to run a drug market because you are actively involved in an illegal activity.  However, from my understanding it is not illegal to browse a market.  Of course, browsing a market could be used as supporting evidence of criminal activity if there was some other evidence.

My interest is a little past browsing, though.  I would like to do some in-depth analysis (big data stuff) of the markets, and publish the results online.  Stuff like prices, trends over time, etc. - basic sales analysis.  However, I am just publishing data.  No one could initiate a transaction from my site.

If I do that, it could make it easier for people to buy drugs.  Would I be guilty of somehow facilitating an illegal activity?

Answer: I talked with an interesting guy a few months ago.  He works in IT for a company who's business model is to use the TOR and other software out there and to automate scanning and collecting SHIT TONS of information from sites on the "dark web".  Then, they automate scanning the SHIT TONS of information that they collect for anything related to their paying customers.  So, for instance, if you are "Company A", then they might find that someone hacked into your servers, and stole your employee list or your contracts with your customers, and thus someone is now selling your sensitive company information on the "dark web".  I thought it was a VERY interesting business model.  But it's apparently a hard sell.  They found that the are not received well when they go to Company A "cold" and say "Hey, we've found your private very sensitive data on the dark web, if you pay us, then we will tell you about it, etcetera".  So basically, they have to find companies that they can sell the idea of being proactive about this.  Apparently they find a lot of child porn, and they send all that information for free to their contacts at the FBI.


Title: [RI] Former employee is messing with me and I fear legal action. (Small business owner - bakery)

Question:
Wtf

Yesterday I verbally fired an employee for reoccurring tardiness. Today I got an email from him asking me to confirm that I fired him for discussing his wages with other employees.

It's true that he made more than the others, but that's because he had the qualifications. I run a small bakery in a vacation community and he'd been to Paris and knew how to make real croissants. He was fired because he would often come to work hungover and late.

How can I cover my ass here?

Answer: Don't respond to any attempt at communication.  Answer #2: Do you have documentation of the former employees tardiness? Also, do you have a written policy about how you handle tardiness, and did you follow that policy?


Title: [California] What are some good websites and other resources in performing a background check on a potential attorney that i would like to hire.

Question: My dad is a landlord and we think we found someone that could really help us, but I just want to be safe before we shell out the fees.

Answer:
 The state bar web site has a record of any public discipline and license status.

Not sure what else you are looking for.