Title: Fucking lawyer (x-post from r/offmychest)

Question:
I was told to post this here, and I'm in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

A few month ago, I got busted for marijuana possession. Just two weeks ago, I found out I had a warrant out for my arrest, and took care of that. The police told me to be at court at 8:30 A.M. on 2/18/15 for an arraignment (for those of you who don't know, I was suppose to show up, and they would tell me I fucked up, and to be at court at a later date to get officially charged). I was content with the punishment I expected which was some fines, and six months probation.

A friend later told me that I definitely did not want to be cool with the charge because I will lose access to student loans. Then I panicked and though, "better lawyer up." Searched google, and read some information about this lawyer who is in a near-ish city. I called him. We talked for a bit, and he said he deals primarily with weed possession and welfare charges, so I was in good hands. He also said he thought he could get me out of the arraignment. I asked him if that cost me anything, and he said no; he would take care of it. He called me again a few days later, and we worked out a payment plan and he said again he was going to take care of the arraignment.

I didn't hear anything from him since then, and with the arraignment being tomorrow(today), I called him at roughly 2:00. No answer. That's fine, I'll leave a message, and he'll get back to me. He didn't.

Surely, seeing how he deals with this stuff all the time, he has taken care of the arraignment? Nope. I now have a warrant for my arrest again. I tried calling him just before I went into class, and he didn't answer, so I left a message again. My mother called him 15 minutes after I called him, and he talked to her, and explained he would talk to the judge. He also went on to tell her that he was waiting on a contact from me, and $50.

WHAT THE FUCK!? IF HE HAD TOLD ME HE WANTED MONEY UP FRONT, I WOULD HAVE GIVEN IT TO HIM.

I've been out of class for an hour now, and have tried to call him 7 times. Each time it went to voice mail. I'm so pissed that he just let me fall on my face, and that because I didn't show up to the arraignment, I don't get to just show up to the police station and have a free court date; this time it will cost money. How much? No idea. Thinking I need a different lawyer...

Answer:
 If the lawyer in question told you not to show up at arraignment, you were misinformed. If one of your friends or the Internet told you, you are looking in the wrong places.

As far as money up front, that should go without saying. The first rule of criminal law is you get your money up front. I'd question any lawyer that would start making appearances without having been paid something.

A breakdown in communication is usually the lawyers responsibility, however you really haven't asked a legal question and you have some seriously wrong ideas about what the process is like. I'd ask for a sit down with your attorney and have him to ELI5 it for you. Answer #2: >I asked him if that cost me anything, and he said no; he would take care of it. He called me again a few days later, and we worked out a payment plan and he said again he was going to take care of the arraignment.

Maybe the lawyer, or maybe you not understanding the payment plan, or neither of you communicating clearly.

Do you have a legal question? Answer #3: >  Then I panicked and though, "better lawyer up."

You got what you deserved.

Anywho, he said he thought he could take care of the arraignment. Clearly some miscommunication. Calm down, stop blowing up his phone. See if you can schedule a time to meet with him or a scheduled phone call.


Title: Can I break a lease and not face an eviction if I'm breaking it due to my disability?

Question: I'm a disabled american (new mexico), my disability being my several mental health related diagnoses (social phobia, agoraphobia, bipolar, general anxiety). My apartment complex has been the victim of numerous car thefts and drug dealings and the anxiety is getting beyond me, I'm terrified of it all. I was wondering if I can get out of a lease legally and not face an eviction? If I could maybe get a written statement from my doctor and present that? Does the ADA cover anything like this?

Answer: No. Talk to your landlord and make a deal.


Title: [Illinois] is it possible to report that i was held hostage in a stranger's home 2 hours away being sexually and mentally abused?

Question:
if it was 2 years ago, is it too late to contact police

if i was lured through the internet and agreed to meet and get picked up and come in their home, is it still a crime?

what if there's no evidence

is it still a crime if i'm over 18

is it a crime that there were four other people in the home who did not intervene

what is the process to report it?

Answer:
 Report it. You don't know what the police can find. It is not to late. Answer #2: I'm going to assume, for the sake of my answer, that this is not a troll post.

> if it was 2 years ago, is it too late to contact police

Report it.  The Illinois statute of limitations for felonies is 3 years.

> if i was lured through the internet and agreed to meet and get picked up and come in their home, is it still a crime?

If you were held against your will and sexually abused, yes, those are crimes.

> what if there's no evidence

Your allegations and eventual testimony are evidence. Once you report to the police, it is up to them to gather more evidence if they can, and up to the prosecutor to decide if there is enough evidence to charge and prosecute the case.  All you need to worry about is reporting it.

> is it still a crime if i'm over 18

Kidnapping and sexual abuse?  Yes, those criminal laws apply to adults too.

> is it a crime that there were four other people in the home who did not intervene

Possibly.  Report it and the police and prosecutors will decide, based on the evidence.

> what is the process to report it?

Call the police.  Unless you are in immediate danger, call the police non-emergency number.


Title: Employer says to dress warm then tells me to take off my jacket because it's not part of the uniform?

Question:
So I work outside in New York and we are required to wear a uniform. We are provided a light jacket and a collared shirt for work.

The weather has been getting colder during winter and my employer has said to dress warm.

So I put on my black down hoodie under the light hooded jacket they give me. Both my down hoodie and the jacket are black. My employer then tells me to take off my down hoodie because it's not part of the uniform.

I am freezing without my down hoodie under the light jacket.

Is there anything I can do in this situation where it is cold and my boss says dress warm then says to take off my warm clothing because it's not part of the uniform? Should I go to HR? What can I do in this situation?

Answer:
 You could wear long sleeves under your clothes, or long johns, or thick socks. Dressing warm isn't limited to wearing a hoodie with your uniform.

Assuming you're an at-will employee, your boss can fire you for refusing to comply with dress code. I'd imagine they don't have a dress code for your undergarments. Throw on a pair of thermal leggings or a thermal long-sleeved shirt under your uniform.


Title: [NJ] Joke Diss Track on another student, can the school legally take the video off YouTube or SoundCloud?

Question: So I have a joke diss track on someone in the works and I want to put my name on it, I'm scarred that the student who I made the diss track on will go to administration about it. Am I protected by Freedom of speech/Freedom of Expression even if offensive humor is used? Both me and the student I'm doing the diss track on are 15. I'm sorry if this sounds like a joke or if I'm on the wrong sub for this I don't know where else to go for this type of information. Please reply as soon as possible.

Answer:
 They can ask you to take it down and punish you if you don't.

They don't really have the power to force YouTube to take it down, unless a copyright strike is filed, which might work.

From a practical standpoint, this isn't a hill you want to die on. Pick your battles.


Title: (Neb)

Question:
Hello everyone.

I’m in a bit of a situation. I slept with a woman I knew from high school, as she was having troubles with her fiancée, and it seemed like they were pretty likely to break up. We were hanging out more and more, and I was never much of a drinker, but she was so I just went with it. We ended up having sex several times within the span of about a week; and then she dropped me like a hot coal and wanted nothing to do with me.

Fast forward to now. She has a child, and she is still with the same fiancée. It looks like they are raising it together, but I have some concerns it could be mine. She had stated (before we stopped talking) that she was pregnant, but had a car accident and told me she miscarried. She didn’t specify who’s it was, and I just took it as a “I don’t know who the father is”.

I believe she lied about the miscarriage and ended up having the baby anyway. It’s more than possible that it’s my child, considering we were seeing each other around the conception date. However, it seems the fiancée and her are still together for the long haul.

What are all the ways, legally, this can come back around and bite me in the ass? I can’t really get into the situation; she doesn’t really want contact and wants to “make it work” with her fiancée. Any comments on my part would be destructive to their relationship, so I am trying to stay out of it.

However, in the long term, if they don’t work out, will this come back and haunt me?

I’m not worried about shared custody, I would agree to that in a heart beat. I’m more concerned with her coming after me for child support.

Answer:
 If you want to know, you have to establish paternity through the court. Since they are not married, there is not a presumptive father. Assuming the fiance is on the birth certificate, he is the legal father regardless of biology.

He can dispute paternity of it comes to light he may not be the father. In that event, the mother can pursue child support and require you to take a paternity test. You can get ahead of this and file for custodial time yourself.

If it turns out he is the father, there is nothing more to do. If it turns out you are, you can assert your right to visitation and increased parenting time as the child gets older and it becomes more appropriate.

If you are the father and decide you do not wish to be involved, the fiance can adopt the child once they marry.

You can best achieve establishing paternity and custodial time by hiring an attorney in the jurisdiction where the child lives.


Title: NYC - Is it illegal to distribute food to the homeless in NYC? If so, what ramifications would occur?

Question: My friend and I want to drive around with a bunch of lunch bags(PB&J, banana, and water) and hand them out to the homeless. But we aren't sure if we would get in trouble or not. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.

Answer: Even better: join up with a group who already does this, like the Coalition for the Homeless. Information on their vans that go around distributing meals: http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/take-action/volunteer/


Title: House got egged, have proof

Question: My house was egged last night on christmas and I have security cameras installed so it was all caught on tape. Although the cameras are not super HD, I can make out what car it is and I even know who owns the car. I have history with the person which is why I was able to identify his car. However, the cameras did not catch the plates or a clear image of his face. What can I do with this?

Answer:
 Second time in 2 days that I've posted this:

If you suspect a crime has occurred call the police.
How is this such a common question around here? Do police need to start advertising their services?


Title: New neighbor called cops on my to report an abandoned vehicle - Oakland, CA

Question:
I live in Oakland, CA and I just got home and received a "Courtesy Warning" about my car. I'm not sure for what as out of the three descriptions given, the officer didn't tick any of them. It could either be Section 10.28.030, 10.64.170 or 12.24.070. I don't know because the officer didn't check anything off.

I'm slightly pissed because I never had problems parking my car on the street until the new neighbors moved in. I don't have space in front of my house, so I park it across the street. There are 3 spaces available daily across the street since the neighbor takes up 1 of them.

I'm not sure what to do about it. I plan to call the cops tomorrow (I'm going to try all three numbers since I don't even know which one I apparently broke). What should my approach be about this? This is obviously the new neighbor, who is not even fully moved in, being as ass.

What I want to know is what evidence are they using that my car was abandoned? Is this notice even legal since they didn't even tick which one they were "warning" me about? I don't know what to do and I want to do something since I think this will start to become an ongoing battle with my new neighbor.

UPDATE:
I talked to the police department and basically as long as the notice is taken off my car, they can't tow it since it means it's not abandoned. For those that say I'm assuming, well, apparently I'm not the only neighbor that has had issues so far with the new move-in.

Answer:
 All three of those sections deal with leaving cars on the street for more than 72 hours. Just make sure you move the car every 3 days, and try to park it in a different spot.

I dealt with this in a nearby city--I had an older car parked in a very nice neighborhood, and was cycling to work most days. So sometimes my car didn't move for a week. I got one warning and two weeks later they gave me a ticket. So I got in the habit of driving the car around the block and parking it 20 feet further down the street every couple of days.

It's a pain in the ass, but it keeps you legal and un-towed.Answer #2: Not legal advice, but Local advice from someone who is also fond of both Mexican street food and felines. A much higher percentage than normal of people in Oakland are VERY protective of the parking directly in front of their homes. Unless the new neighbors across the street are otherwise scary, it may serve you well to just go across and chat with them, and see if they mind you parking there, since you don't have street parking in front of your place.
Otherwise, (if it was them calling parking enforcement) they will continue to make parking there a pain for you.
Answer #3: Let us know what happens after you talk to the police.

As long as you are following the parking rules you should be fine.

You could perhaps put a sign up on the dash that says something like "vehicle not abandoned, driven everyday. Call Bobby @ 555-fake-number if you have a problem.


Title: My mailman has claimed to post office that I leave my door and window open and that my dog is a threat. My window and front door haven't been opened in years. They are now demanding I sign a commitment to restrain my dog. [CA]

Question: My dog always barks at the mailman through my door. In the past the mailman has repeatedly told in me in private, quote "Close the damn door." Never said anything back and filed a few complaints with the post office. Nothing happened. Shortly after the last complaint I sent I received a hold on my mail and a demand that "I will keep my front door shut and my window shut." But as the titles says, they've been shut for years. How do I clear this up and get my mailman to stop harassing me?

Answer:
 If the local post office isn't going to take your complaints seriously, you can escalate the issue: https://emailus.usps.com/emailUs/iq/usps/request.do?forward=emailUs

This is not a legal issue but a postal service issue. Mail carriers have wide latitude to withhold delivery if they feel threatened by a dog, but language such as what your carrier used is considered unacceptable.Answer #2: I'm confused. If the door and the window are always closed when the mailman comes, when/how is he asking you to "close the damn door"?

Are you communicating through a screen door? Answer #3: I’m a mailman. I hate seeing a dog behind a screen door or any other kind of non door. I want the actual door closed. Mailman follow routes and you should be able to predict the time within an hour when he appears. Why not just keep the door closed?

Edit: I saw the comment showing what kind of door it is. Not good enough imo. I’d probably hold your mail too. Answer #4: The fastest/easiest way? Close your door. It sounds like you're leaving something out here.Answer #5: Have you asked yourself why it's so important to him that you close your door? Maybe he's had run ins with dogs in the past and every time he has to walk up to your door it's awful.

I know a few mail carriers. They deal with a lot of dog issues.


Title: Catfishing Issues

Question:
Fool me once...

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So, I've been talking with someone who purported to be a woman in her early 20s for about a month and a half now. We have spent a good amount of time texting and were becoming good friends. Until today, of course, when I suddenly got a message from her mother telling me I'd been reported to the FBI because she was underage. Oh joy.

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Things to know:

1. I explicitly asked her her age the first time we ever talked, and told her if she was underage I had no business talking to her.
2. I've never said anything that could be construed as sexual or solicitation, and neither has she.
3. I have literally every message we've ever sent saved, so I can prove that I didn't know, and that I was never anything other than a friend.

&#x200B;

How do I protect myself? I understand the mother's anger, of course, but I've got a double whammy here--I just lost a good friend who never really existed, and now I might have to deal with whatever the hell this turns into. Given the court of public opinion on pedophiles, I really do not want to be accused of such, nor do I want my and my family's life turned upside down. What if I lose my job?

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What's my next move? Do I call a lawyer, and if so what kind? Should I expect a midnight raid? Is this a long-running scam and I'm about to get asked for money? I think that last one's unlikely since I haven't said anything to put myself in a pickle, but I'm kind of freaking out here.

Answer: There is no girl. There is no mother. This is a scam. Ignore and move on.


Title: Court date already passed when it was given to me (Canada)

Question:
So in October I was given a court date for a small offence for early December. But in late November I got a call that my court date was delayed until January. I picked up the papers in November saying when my court date was, but i didn't realize until today that it says my court date is on Wednesday January the 8th, 2014.

All of this happened in 2014, and the 8th of January is on a Thursday this year. Does this mean I don't have to show up to court or can I get a lawyer to throw it out of court or something?

Answer: You should contact the court and clarify when they expect you to show up. You cannot get the case thrown out because of a clerical error in scheduling.


Title: (SC) Can I break my lease due to excessive construction noise?

Question: I live in a townhouse in South Carolina and my community was bought by a new company who are building new apts about 50 feet maybe less away from where I live. I work 3rd shift, get home around 7:30am and have to sleep from morning til afternoon. That's when construction is most active. I have tried to block out the noise but nothing works. It's affecting my health and my job. I want to move, what should I do?

Answer: Look at your lease for requirements for breaking your lease. Legal construction next door or your work schedule are not reasons to break your lease without penalty.


Title: [CO]Let someone borrow car and it's wrecked

Question:
Alright for starters, I've learned my lesson and will never trust someone enough to loan them my vehicle ever again.

So, I met this kid a couple days ago and became friends with him. I'm currently unemployed and he told me he was going to build a barn for some cash and offered me a job to help him out and get some of the cut and I agreed. I had to leave early for a family dinner and he asked if he could take my car back to work to finish the job and I agreed.

When my dinner was over at 9:30pm I texted him to come and bring the car by and I could bring him home to which he agreed. 30 min pass by and he still hasn't shown up so I call and text him and he won't respond or answer my call. He eventually texts me and apologuzes and says he's headed over and then the same thing happens again. This continues to happen repeatedly to which his reason is that some girl lead him on and then ditched him and he's too upset to drive. Finally around 5am he shows up with my car and comes inside.

When he passes out I go outside to check out my car and my left side mirror is completely removed and is sittong,in my passenger seat slightly broken, my right side mirror's paint is scraped up, my back left tail light is broken, and my back left fire's rim is scratched up,and it's a metal rim. There is also paraphernalia in my car with needles and in my trunk are some pieces to a car that's not mine. I took pictures of all of this.

What do I do? If I call the police will I get in troubke for the paraphernalia and car pieces in the trunk if he denies it all? I'm just not sure on my next best step because I'm almost positive he doesn't have the money.

Answer: I am not sure what questions you are really asking.  Call your car insurance company about the damage, sue this kid for the costs of the repairs (if you think that you can get any money from a drug addict), and that's about it.  Cut all contact with this guy.Answer #2: Call the cops. They'll believe you, since why would someone call them about it if the paraphenalia was theirs? Also, maybe whoever the guy hit already called them, and they can quickly connect the dots. IANAL but you probably wont be held liable for any damage he did with your car.


Title: I grew up in Florida, but was born in Canada and am an Illegal immigrant. What can I do to work legally?

Question: Basically I was born in canada, moved down to Florida permanently with my parents when I was 5. After graduating highschool (age 17,) I temporarily moved to Canada to get my passport (been staying temporarily with my father's cousin and now with my grandmother). Now that I have one (age 18), I will be going back to florida as that is the only place I have support. The family that currently lives in Florida is my Mother, Father, Sister, and brother (Brother is a US Citizen, was born in florida). I've spent the vast majority of my life in the states, and I feel much more of a US citizen than a canadian one, but of course on paper the opposite is true. What can I do to work legal in the states, given my history in the states? ~12-13 years

Answer: You need to speak to an immigration attorney. Are either of your parents citizens?


Title: [IL] I want to take friends who failed to pay me to court.

Question:
My car was hit back from someone I know back in November. Since I knew her I didn't think it was necessary to call the police. So I tried to make an insurance claim but the person driving has a suspended license and the insurance company couldn't cover it. Now since She has failed to pay me and doesn't seem like she will I am deciding to take her to court. So my question is since my car is technically my uncles(It's under his name), can I take my friend to court without getting my uncle involved? I am the one responsible for the car, I am the one who drives it, I am cover with our insurance.

I also want to say that I have messages with her boyfriend were we talked about payments, and also him on video admitting fault, will this be enough evidence for the judge to rule on my side?

Answer:
 This kind of sounds like a case of win in court lose in reality.

They sound like the kind of people that will lose badly in court.  They they will not make the payments which means that you can just ruin their credit.  If they were going to pay they would have.  Pay your uncle and apologize.  Then wipe those people out of your life and be glad it is a small amount.


Title: [NC] Can my HOA force me to pay pool dues if I don't want to use the pool?

Question:
I bought a house in an HOA five years ago. At the time I didn't realize the HOA requires some houses to pay $250 membership fees for the community pool. My house is one of those in the "mandatory membership" category. I've tried to appeal and ask if I could not be required to pay the dues but the HOA has said no, I have to pay pool dues even if I don't want to use the pool.

Legally, can an HOA force some homes to pay pool dues? If I refuse to pay the pool dues, what legal repercussions could I face? Do I have a case should I decide to fight the HOA?

The way I see it an HOA can't force people to pay for a luxury like a pool.

Thanks for any advice.

Answer:
 >Legally, can an HOA force some homes to pay pool dues?

Depends on the community covenants and bylaws.

>If I refuse to pay the pool dues, what legal repercussions could I face?

Liens against your house, possible eventual foreclosure and auction of your house to pay those liens.

>Do I have a case should I decide to fight the HOA?

Unless there is no basis whatsoever in the governing documents for this mandatory fee, no.Answer #2: You bought the house with a covenant, check what it says.

But it seems unlikely you can get out of this. If you didn't want to pay pool dues to the HOA, you shouldn't have bought a house with this clause of "mandatory membership" to the HOA community pool.

It is usually almost impossible to get out of these types of covenants, so pay up or sell out.


Title: (US-Texas)Credit card fraud refund that is not mine. Should I have kept it?

Question:
Hey everyone,

First of all, this issue has been resolved and I already called Capitol One about it. I am just curious what would have happened.

My credit card account info was stolen a month ago and was being used to buy a bunch of stuff. It ended up being around $1,900.  The weird part is, the person using my account actually changed the payment bank and paid off the charges(probably with another stolen account). So after Capitol One called me about possible fraudulent charges, they assumed the bank account was mine and sent me a check for $1,900.  I called today to tell them it was not my money and at first they were adamant that I should be okay to deposit it into my bank account. I had to clearly explain the whole process to the account specialist that it was not my bank account that was used and the check should not have come to me (I am not missing a dime from any of my accounts).  Eventually they realized the error and many times said thank you for my honesty and to just destroy the check.  The guy even made a joke about depositing it into his bank next time.

I am just wondering about the what-if scenario if I kept the money.  They sounded so clueless on the phone and the more I talked to them the more I was like wow, why did I even call.  I should have just deposited the money and kept $2,000 in my bank for a year waiting for them to realize what happened. Would the other bank eventually came knocking at Capitol One's door which would have trickled down to me after I cashed that check?

Thanks!

Answer: You made the correct decision (not cashing the check and contacting the bank). Someone would have realized $1900 was missing at some point and you would have been expected to pay it back.


Title: Need a Lemon Law for Houses

Question:
I’m pretty sure I’m screwed, but I thought I’d check with experts just to make sure.

I bought my first home in December of 2016. It’s the upper left unit of a fourplex. Home inspection went great, the place was built in 1976 but the previous owners did a lot of renovations and it’s a very contemporary home.

A little backstory even though it may not be completely relevant... I’m a lady who has had no real home maintenance experience thus far as I’ve always rented previously and had landlords to handle things that went wrong, or lived with a significant other who fixed things. Also, I live in Anchorage, Alaska and the ground moves a lot between earthquakes and freezing/thawing each year.

Anyhow, this summer I started noticing bulges in the ceiling where nails (screws?) were starting to poke through. It’s gotten noticeably worse as summer progressed into fall and winter. There are cracks all along where the ceiling meets the wall in almost every room, plus cracks along the ceiling from one wall to another in the hallway. My kitchen cabinets even don’t meet the ceiling anymore, there’s at least a half inch gap between them.

Now that this has started happening, you can see where it was covered up previously. There are pieces of plaster falling down from the the cracks where the ceiling meets the wall. You can tell where someone threw a bunch of spackle and then painted over it in all of the seams because it doesn’t match the wall mudding. It’s pretty obvious that someone fixed it up just enough not to be noticeable while trying to sell the place.

Since I am not very knowledgeable in  regards to home ownership, I’m just wondering if I have any options here. Other than contacting a contractor and paying to have my ceiling fixed myself. Since the HOA pays for the roof, etc (basically everything outside my inside walls), I was only given renters insurance when I bought my home and I think that only covers my material possessions inside. Edit, I checked and I do have a “quality plus condominium” policy.

Any help would be appreciated.

Answer:
 >  Since the HOA pays for the roof, etc (basically everything outside my inside walls), I was only given renters insurance when I bought my home and I think that only covers my material possessions inside.

You need to double-check this ASAP.  Renter's insurance **is not** the proper policy for you.  You need a homeowner's policy.  Homeowner's policies for condos are different than single family homes but they're still homeowner's policies.  A renter's policy **does not** cover the liabilities you have as a homeowner.


Title: [FL] Can a individual who committed a traffic(criminal traffic) offense as a juvenile be treated as an adult if the proceeding lasts on past their 18th?

Question:
Florida.

17 year old male here. Have 15 or so open/unpaid traffic violations from the past year. Just got my 3rd knowingly drive on a suspended license charge and will be going to court for it. I have one more DWLS charge I'm still going to court for(judge is expecting me to get my license and possibly get the charge dropped/reduced by the state), I plan on at least getting a payment plan setup, however, even if I didn't just get another DWLS charge, I have so many infractions to where the points more than likely would DQ me anyway from un-suspending my license). License was originally suspended due to the amount of school absences I had.

Impossible to get it the original suspension lifted until the age of 18 because of the fact that I was kicked out of school for having unrelated felony charges.

Anyway, back to the point. Being that my current court proceedings are going to obviously last until my 18th birthday(I turn 18 on Jan 22nd -- next month), and to my understanding, since this is my 3rd DWLS conviction, it'll be upgraded to a felony, can that happen since I'll be an adult during the final court proceedings, and sentencing? I'm aware that any juvenile criminal offenses have to be dealt with in juvenile court as a juvenile unless it's been decided to charge the juvenile as an adult, but because all criminal traffic cases are dealt with in the same way(juvenile or not), I'm wondering if the judge is required to sentence an adult that committed the offense as a juvenile as a juvenile?

Answer: Is this the kind of life you want to set yourself up for at 17 years old?Answer #2: My legal advice is the same as that given by Jim Carrey to his client over the phone in Liar Liar.


Title: Could copyrighting compromising selfies be a way to protect, or at least inhibit their distribution under penalty of law?

Question: A recent post got me thinking that if you sent a SO naked or semi-clad selfies, and they were properly copyrighted, couldn't you at least make the argument that if that SO ever distributed them they would be met with considerable punitive measures? With the proliferation of that kind of media, I'm wondering if there isn't a way to at least offer some basic protection from unauthorized distribution. Thoughts?

Answer:
 All photos are automatically copyrighted by the photographer simply by virtue of taking them.

Civil copyright law provides for damages, which really aren't "significant punitive measures" unless the photographer has evidence they actually lost money as a result of the violation.

Copyrights also have to be registered before suing (not to have the rights themselves), which does take money and effort.


Title: Washington State, Possible Dental Malpractice, Unsure If I Have A Case

Question: Basically, I went to the dentist on XX/XX/XXXX date. Approximately 3 to 4 days later i developed a severe viral infection in my mouth that spread to other parts of my body. I was on vacation for the holidays in Minnesota so i went to an urgent care clinic and a PA diagnosed me with Coxsackie. He said that the corollary evidence suggested i contracted this infection at the dentist, given the timeline and incubation period of the virus. I am now stuck with an urgent care bill and a dental bill that i dont neccesarily feel like i should have to pay, IF the virus was caused by the dentist. I realize it will be hard to prove but what can i do to at least get the dentist to cover my bills? Do i have a case? I can provide more details if you like. Thank you for your time.

Answer:
 In any malpractice case, you have to prove that the doctor (dentist in your case) fell below the standard of care, which caused you harm.  Usually, this requires that you be able to point to some specific act that, if done (or if not done), would have prevented your injuries.  This is usually done with expert testimony.

I'm not a doctor, but risk if infection seems like a pretty common side effect of any medical procedure.

In order to see if you really have a case, you should consult with a medical malpractice attorney - specifically one who has experience with dental malpractice cases (they are a bit if a different animal from regular malpractice cases).  This attorney will want to review your medical records to see if there is evidence if substandard care.

Also, I don't know how high the bill is, but medic malpractice cases rely a lot on expert testimony, which can cost thousands of dollars.  It may be that your damages simply don't merit the expense of a claim.


Title: Moved to OH from CO 6 mo ago. Boss wants me to transport expensive car, 4hr drive. Haven't gotten OH license yet and lost my CO license last weekend. Am I legal to drive

Question:
My friend was pulled over 4/20 in OH with me in the passenger side. She had an expired license and was not allowed to drive away. He used my passport to confirm my identity, but said he couldn't let me drive her truck because he couldn't verify that I had a legal driver's license since my driver's license is still registered to CO (sounded like total BS to me).

My boss wants me to drive a mercedes to Columbus next weekend. I would just go get a OH license, but I don't have a car right now and am not sure I will be able to get it done with my work schedule. I will be in the car for four hours there and back- I'd like to make sure that if something happens I am not going to have to leave the car stranded somewhere because police can't verify that I am a legal driver.

Any advice?
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer:
 If you have no drivers license currently and on your person, no, do not drive.

And no, before someone asks *again*, using someone else's drivers license will not get you out of trouble, it'll just put you in even more trouble.


Title: We took in a 18yr old so he could finish high school...not working out what are our legal obligations to evict. MN, Ramsey county

Question:
we never charged him rent/utilities. there was no string attached except that he attend school which he is not. So in essance he broke our verbal agreement. He was 18 when we took him in so never a minor. At what point is his left behind materials considered abandoned in which we can dispose/donate them and change the locks?

If you have questions will provide info. Thanks in advance!

No formal written agreement, how ever do have witness to verbal agreement.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 There are two possibilities, and it's not clear from your post which applies.

If he moved out voluntarily, and left some stuff behind (as in hasn't been back in at least two weeks, and didn't tell you he would be on vacation), you can assume that he moved out.  You still have an obligation to return his stuff, but you can change the locks & rearrange the room.

If he is still lives there, you need to give him notice (30 days in Minnesota) that you are terminating his lease, and he needs to be out & have his stuff out at the end of it.  If this is the case, you cannot change the lock or otherwise kick him out until the notice period is over.  And after that you still need to follow eviction procedures.


Title: Can my spouse refuse to let me back in? [VA]

Question:
Hi! Hampton Roads, VA

My husband and I have been married seven years, and have a 3 year old together. Throughout our relationship, we have lived together in a house he owns.

About four months ago, we started having problems and I began spending most nights at my mothers place, about an hour away. I also began seeing someone, and spending time at his place. About two months ago, my husband decided he wanted me back and we've been working on our relationship; so I've been splitting my time between my mom's house and our house. I also start a new job on Monday, minutes from our house; but the hours will make it impossible to drop out son at daycare if I try to do it from my mom's house.

However, he just told me on Friday that he's now seeing someone and that I'm not welcome in our home anymore, and he will have the cops arrest me for trespassing if I come home, because I had moved out.

We haven't had any kind of separation agreement or divorce hearing; no custody hearing or anything either. No court hearings at all.

Will he really be able to keep me from coming home tonight?

I know since the home is his, eventually he'll get it in the divorce. I just need a little more time to save up for a rental deposit and to find a new apartment nearby.

Answer:
 The cops aren't going to do shit.

You're married and you live in the house. If he wants you out he can divorce you.

You should hire yourself a divorce lawyer.


Title: Would hitting someone for blowing smoke in your face be self defense?

Question: As the title says, if someone blows smoke in your face (weed/vape/cigarettes) purposefully, would hitting them be an act of self defense? I know throwing liquid on someone is considered assault, so I'm wondering if the same is true for smoke.

Answer: I'd sure as hell not want to make that argument. It's a disproportionate response.


Title: Who is at fault when a driver honks and a startled cyclist falls down and gets injured?

Question: in BC, Canada

Answer: The cyclist. It's not reasonable to assume no one will Honk on the road


Title: Landlord telling tenants we must pay for her chimney to be swept, must use a sweep of her choice

Question:
New York, upstate

Today we received an email from our landlord of a list of maintenance people who will be coming into our house to service and install various things. This is a monthly thing so we just deal with it normally.

The difference is this time she wants us to pay for half of the cost to have the chimney to the fireplace cleaned. Which a secondary source of heat during the winter because the furnace struggles to maintain the temperature during the winter.

Backstory:

A month ago I went over a few things with the landlord that needed to be looked at. One of them was that the air flow in the chimney didn't look good after being used all winter. She then scheduled a chimney sweep to come into our house to look at it (gave us one hour notice she was entering our home while we were at work and had to rush home to put the dogs away). The chimney sweep said yes it needed to be cleaned. I was told to coordinate a time for cleaning. I've been busy and haven't gotten to it in the last few weeks.

In the email she says that the last tenant took care of it so we should to, but she is willing to cover half the cost the first year. We must use the chimney sweep she chose.

I'm not sure how to reply to this, it isn't in our lease that we are responsible for maintnenance costs, in fact we had it taken out of our lease before signing. We haven't paid for any other maintenance related to the furnace breakdowns. We intend to give her 30 days notice of move out this week on a month to month lease because of the constant issues and cost and are afraid she will try to take this out of our deposit.

Are we actaully responsible for the chimney? What should we do if she takes this out of our deposit next month?

Thanks
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 > The difference is this time she wants us to pay for half of the cost to have the chimney to the fireplace cleaned.

Is this part of your lease?   If not, tell her to go pound sand.  If she tries to take it out of your deposit, take her to court.

Answer #2: Tell her you won't pay for anything you didn't agree to pay in your lease. You're also not responsible for paying to fix her car, her dental bill, or anything else you didn't agree to pay.


Title: [IA] I just got a letter from half of my complicated landlord situation essentially telling me I need to move out one month before the end of my lease or she'll evict, yet she has no grounds.

Question:
So I got back in town from a vacation to find a letter from the woman who owns my house in my mailbox. I say "woman who owns my house" because she both is and isn't my landlord. I rent a house from a woman who is going through legal problems of her own, and its actually her mother I pay my rent to, as per the lease we both signed. To spare you the details, she was very behind on house payments, so her mother bailed her out but said they are renting out the house and she and her kids would move in with the mother. So, back to the present, I am in very good standing with the mother. I have never missed a payment, and have taken care of the place. I don't sell drugs, I'm not a danger to anyone, and again I have never missed a rent payment. She has no grounds to evict me just because she wants the house back, correct?

Also quick edit: she of course included in the note "Please contact me. NOT my mother. She is NOT the owner. I am." so. yeah.

Answer:
 Does it state a reason?  Don't ignore it--talk to your landlord. Explain that you have another month on the lease, and that you can't be evicted early without cause. If she wants you out early, you can agree on a buyout price.Answer #2: I’d ignore them, it takes far longer than 30 days to evict someone. They want you out a month early. You’ll be gone before the case even goes to court. I doubt the court would even waste time with it.Answer #3: She can't just kick you out, she would need to file eviction paperwork and take you to court.   It takes months to do that.

You are fine for now.   Talk to the person you signed your lease with.  That is the only person, legally, you care about now.


Title: 20yo bringing alcohol through customs? [MA]

Question:
I'm planning on bringing my parents some fancy beer as a gift from Europe, where I was just vacationing. Obviously, the minute I hit US soil, having it in my (checked) baggage is illegal. What I'm worried about is customs: I'm not planning on declaring the beer, and in the slim chance that they check my bag and find the four individually swaddled bottles, what legal repercussions could I face?

Edit: Would these same restrictions apply to sending it via mail? I might send it directly to my parents (who are of legal drinking age).
Edit 2: ^ Never mind

Answer: You can't legally possess alcohol if you're under 21. Don't risk it.


Title: Being Sued for $6500 for a Ruled "No-Fault" Car Accident in NY

Question:
So back in November, I had an accident. First one ever, we were both stopped across from each other at a four way intersection, and basically we both went at the same time and turned into each other.

The accident was ruled 50/50, no-fault by the police. I was just getting a new truck at the time and the car I was in the accident with was completely worthless to me, and even more so after because it was considered totalled.

I filed a claim, but eventually canceled it because I didn't care about the car and didn't want to bother with the whole thing. The insurance agent told me he was going to check if there was a claim filed by the other party and he'd get back to me. Which he never did. I assumed it was a dead issue for months.

Flash forward to a couple weeks ago, and I get served legal papers saying I'm being sued for $6500 for damages to the other persons vehicle.

How is this even possible? I was under the impression that if the accident was no-fault, that our own insurance companies would take care of our own property. As I stated, I've never had an accident before and don't know how this works.

Since the accident, I've also switched insurance providers...

What do I do now? I'm extremely nervous.

Answer:
 Report this to your insurance co (the one you had at the time). They will provide an attorney to defend you and pay up to the limits of your policy. The police officers' determination isn't the final say. Don't freak out - this is why you have insurance. Answer #2: First, the police don't make the final fault decision. Most of the time it's the insurance companies who investigate to decide fault but sometimes it's decided in court if no agreement can be made. As the top comment says, let your insurance company you had at the time of the accident handle it. They must defend you in court.

Second, 50/50 fault doesn't mean nobody is at fault. It means you're both responsible for 50% of each others damages. Fault can be split many ways and isn't always 100% someone's fault and 0% the other persons. So if the other party had $13,000 in damage to their vehicle then suing you for $6,500 is the right call because you owe them half of the damage you caused. They also owe you for 50% of the damages caused to your vehicle. But ultimately the judge or jury will decide what percentage to assign each of you at fault for this accident.


Title: My brother just jumped into a train and now the train company is saying I'm responsible for damages? Is this true?

Question: (This is hypothetical)

Answer: You aren't responsible for things your brother does.


Title: Kids jumping off my roof into pool

Question:
We had some friends over and their kids discovered it was quite easy to access the roof and jump into the pool. About 8 feet.

We have a lean-to roof over our back porch. It’s built very well and permitted. I have no concern of it collapsing or anything. And the pool is plenty deep. But obviously this is not safe.

I jumped a few times too. It’s pretty fun.

Question is, how can I protect myself from liability? I have no issue with making the parents sign a waiver or something but I’ve read that those don’t actually protect you. Also, if someone got hurt, what is my risk? What can I be sued for? And would homeowners insurance protect me?

If your response is ‘just don’t do it’ then please be patient. I took sex-ex. We all know abstinence is the best protection. But where’s the fun in that?

Thanks in advance!!
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 >obviously this is not safe.

...

>how can I protect myself from liability?

Since you choose to allow an obviously unsafe activity, your only protection is to pay through your nose for an insurance policy that specifically covers jumping from your roof into the pool.

Hint: You will not be able to find and/or afford one - stop allowing anybody to jump off your roof, and take the proper safety measures to stop those jumps from happening BEFORE you get sued and lose everything you own.


Title: HOA Board Entered my unit without notice or authorization

Question:
I recently purchased a condo in a small mountain ski town in California.  We performed a few renovations of the the kitchen, flooring and bathroom tile over the last 6 weeks.  Last week, I discovered that while we were away, our HOA board had a meeting, and one board member led the rest of the board into my unit without my authorization and without notifying me before hand.  The door was unlocked as my brother-in-law was working in the unit that day, though I was away.  I didn't discover this until a week after it occurred, as the management company (who staff the on-site maintenance managers) alerted me that their employees had witnessed the board enter my unit.  The management company has the authority to enter my unit in the event of an emergency but the board does not, and they wanted to be very clear that they didn't grant authority or escort the board into my unit.  The board did not force their way in.  The door was ajar as I had my brother-in-law painting the uptairs.  They informed him that they needed to do an inspection, and he left them alone.  EDIT:  They came in while he was out; he returned to find them inside.  Sorry that wasn't clear.

I spoke to one of the offending board members the following week when I returned and she confirmed that another board member 'led' the inspection.  She said she understood why I would be upset, confirmed the managers didn't escort them or grant them authority, and admitted they shouldn't have done it, but excused it as 'spur of the moment.'  The only reason I found about it was because this board member informed me that when they were in there they noticed a decorative post had been removed and they now want me to pay for an architect to sign off on it.  I don't necessarily have an issue with the request, but I don't like the idea of the board entering a private residence without permission and inspecting.

Several weeks later the condo building I am in had a main line clog.  Our normal plumber that owns the contract with our building was out of town, so the emergency plumber the building manager contacted agreed to come to the complex if he received a credit card number.  As it was the day of Thanksgiving and the on-premise manager couldn't get in touch with his manager to get the company credit card, I provided mine.  A part of me was concerned that I had contributed to or caused the clog--we retiled our bathrooms and reset our toilets, and I wasn't there 24/7 to verify that neither my BIL or his helpers had put any improper material down the drain log.  They said they had not, but had only been in the unit for 6 weeks and suddenly there is a clog affecting 4-6 units in the building.  The plumber came out, snaked the clog and determined it was a grease/hair soft obstruction 30-50 feet from my toilet.  I gave them access to my unit because we are on the second floor and the units experiencing the issues below had backups and he was concerned pulling their toilets would spill waste all over their units.  That's why he inserted the snake in my unit.  After clearing the clog, he provided a report to the management company, who recommended reimbursement from the HOA.

At this point, I was not concerned.  Yesterday, a fellow board member communicated that the same board member who 'led' the illegal trespass into my unit has also begun to suggest that I have bribed the plumber (a plumber I didn't call, and never met as I was 3 states away when the clog and subsequent repair occurred).  I realize this board member has some vendetta against me and I wanted to know if I should pursue legal action vs the Board, the HOA, or criminal action for trespass against the offending board members.

I have only met this board member 6 weeks ago when we moved in.  I met the second board member 2 weeks ago when they communicated with me about the unauthorized access into my unit (solely to let me know the unit looked great, but I would need to pay for an architectural certification regarding a post).  I have had no serious encounters or arguments with the board member who for some reason seems to be targeting me.

Other things to note:  This board member happens to live next door to my unit, upstairs above where the clog manifested.  She (along with the other 4-6 tenants) were without plumbing use for the 20 hours while we waited for emergency drain clearing.  She keeps a bistro set in the common area, stacks wood above the railing on her patio, and has installed little walking mats on the common area stairs to protect her dogs feet walking up the metal frame stairs.  I don't personally have an issue with any of these.  But, I did install a magnet mounted camera on my patio, pointed at my front door to verifiy any AirBNB guests don't abuse our maximum occupancy (book for 2 and show up with 7).  This board member has anonymously (though not effectively as the manager has communicated who made the request) complained that I am violating the common area rules.  This camera was installed after the renovation, after the plumbing line, etc so it's not the cause of any bad blood.  I really don't know what to do.  I have the (3) manager's statements who observed the illegal entry into my unit, I have a camera feed of the inside of my unit showing them walking around, and my conversation with one board member who admitted being part of the entire group that entered without my notice/authority.

How do I proceed?  I am not comfortable with these board members continuing to serve the HOA as they have demonstrated disregard to the rules. I am willing to spend significant $ on any action, plus contingency, because this is an income property, and I have to protect that revenue stream.  Please help!

EDIT:  This board member has emailed the board and the manager (though not me) and directly accused me of bribing the plumber, which I did not do.  I think she is accusing me of fraud, because I'd be wrongfully representing the facts of the plumbing repair for personal financial gain.  Do I just politely ask her to not accuse me of that crime?  Should I just ignore it?  She reported to the manager anonymously about my camera, but he told her if she forced the issue she'd have to remove the rubber mats for her dog, bistro set, and other items she keeps out on the common area.  So now, she has emailed me pretending she has not reached out the manager previously and asking if I would remove the camera out of good will.   I'm at a crossroads.  I don't want to escalate.  It would feel good momentarily but I don't want to deal with a terrible relationship for the next 20 years.  I need to find a balance where I make her and her friends on the board that I won't tolerate bad behavior, but am not unreasonable myself.

Answer: If it's an HOA, they don't necessarily have the right to have a key to your unit. You can re-key the locks so they can't get in in the future.


Title: A sex offender (1st degree sexual assault) moved in right across the street from me and in the same two-family rental as three young girls. Is there anything I can do to get him kicked out of this neighborhood?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Kicked out of the neighborhood?  No, not at all. Answer #2: If his parole is over, he can live anywhere he wants.  You have no authority or ability to do anything other than maybe get yourself sued for harassment.  Or arrestedAnswer #3: Since you don't know the circumstances of the case why are you assuming it had anything to do with kids or that he would be a threat to kids?


Title: [USA, AZ] Sublet turning into a nightmare

Question:
I signed a sublet via Craigslist in September, mid-September. I am subletting a room for $700, no utilities, for the half month of September and 10 months after that, so it's due to expire the end of July. The sublet is not executed by the owner, but my two roommates drew up an elementary contract, about two pages, which I signed. I was trying to be accommodating and was entering this with good faith, and maybe a great amount of naiveté, but I declined to take a copy of this contract, nor did I ask for the contact information of the owner, the repair people, anything. I signed that contract for their piece of mind but doubted its enforceability anyway, but did not mind the rental rate at the time.

Fast forward months, and drama begins with them not liking me bringing dates home. It becomes such a confrontation that I no longer want to bring guests over since it became such a stressor. However, this now compromises my desired lifestyle, and therefore negates the whole reason I pay for a living space. They’re also complete slobs, I am constantly cleaning up after them in common areas, most often the kitchen. They recently left for a week-long vacation and could not be bothered to clean the living space before leaving.

The kicker comes Saturday. It’s 106 degrees out and the AC dies. They’re overseas, but I reach out and explicitly ask for the contact information of the owner. They do not provide it to me and contact them directly, and relay me the updates of potential repairs and times. Long story short, it has been three days and counting and I have yet to hear form anyone about how the AC will get fixed. I have spent going on 3 days and counting crashing at friends’ houses and whatnot, living out of a suitcase and still trying to get to my full-time job. I fully suspect they do not want me to be in contact with the owner because I am paying the lion’s share of the rent and they do not want me to confirm that (but an exact same unit for rent in our building is going for $1350). But in the meantime, I am living in a space that is inhospitable because of no AC. I have looked at the assessor’s website, called two numbers listed as affiliated with the property, no returned calls.

The Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act defines a landlord, among other things, as a “sublessor”, and demands that landlords “keep all common areas of the premises in a clean and safe condition.” This almost never occurs in the kitchen. It demands landlords “Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities and appliances.” This has not happened, and it states tenants are entitled to a proportion of the diminution of the property.

I don’t want to pay July rent and want my security deposit of $550 back. What can I do? They have railroaded me into paying probably 50-60% of the rent of 9 months, and they’re assholes with no follow-through. What can I do? Could I do even more?

Answer:
 If you don't pay utilities, just buy a window AC unit and run it non-stop.

With respect to drama about you bringing dates home, tell them to pound sand. You rent a whole room and get unrestricted access to it. If you want to walk around naked, you're allowed to.

Your situation probably doesn't fall under typical landlord/tenant laws that you cited, since you're sharing the physical premises with the landlord.

Your complaints about rent are without merit. You signed a contract and there's no real laws against one roommate being enticed/contracted to pay a greater proportion of the rent.

If you contact the actual landlord, you could get all of you evicted (if they are in violation of their lease with the sublet). This would severely hurt your chances of getting a rental in the future and leave you more vulnerable to greedy sublessors.

Answer #2: Are you sure that them subleasing to you is even allowed? My lease says I may not sublet to anyone, that may be why they don't want you contacting the actual landlord.


Title: Can you be sued for assault if you lose body control?

Question: Say I have a seizure and when I fall over I kick someone. Or say if I have a seizure and a person holds down my legs and I kick them. Could legal action be pursued or would any lawyer find it petty?

Answer:
 Nope, no intent. It’s not that it’s petty it’s that it’s not legally viable. Also, in that case it’s actually battery. Answer #2: It's an automatism defense. If it is your first seizure, solid defense; you recklessly fail to take anticonvulsants after a history of seizures maybe not so much.

Kind of like Fourth Amendment law, *the question comes down to the reasonableness of the seizure.*


Title: [PA] Male sexually harassed at work by older woman.

Question:
Over the last year, I was harassed by an older woman until I made it clear it had to stop. This then became a classic "hostile work environment" until I confronted her . Then she began harassing my colleague. I filed complaint , she filed counter complaint. Work told me to watch a video and take a course on sexual harassment within 20 days and will not explain why I need to do this. I have expressed they haven't taken me seriously. Should I follow their directive? I said I didn't think it was a reasonable solution. Any advice? I have a witness. They seem to want to make this go away.
Edit: to clarify for about 4 months, every time I met with her directs in a cube, she would stand in front of entrance and touch my shoulders and arms, generally trying to flirt and come on to me.

Answer:
 > This then became a classic "hostile work environment"

How?Answer #2: Hostile Work Environment is a legal term of art and contrary to popular belief, it does not mean that the workplace was hostile in the colloquial sense. Rather, it refers to a pattern of discrimination or harassment as a result of an employee's membership in a protected class. Please see [this link from the EEOC](http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/harassment.cfm) to better understand the advice you may receive. The majority of situations that many consider a hostile work environment do not meet that definition legally.

*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/legaladvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Title: [UTAH] Slipped and fell at Walmart, are they liable for medical bills?

Question:
Hi. So I was walking in a walmart and the next thing i know i'm down on one knee. There was some brown liquid that wasn't cleaned up or marked. So hey I do the responsible thing and I file an incident report with the acting manager at the time, who has someone come by and mop it up. Following family advice I went to the emergency room to get checked out ...just in case. I know in some cases if you aren't checked out in 24 hours of the incident they can try to deny you. It was Sunday and urgent care wasn't open. A few days later I go to the walmart and tell the manager that i have bills so they give me a claim number and the phone number of the claims company. After a while of trying to get ahold of them I talk to the claims adjuster and she tells me in Utah the way it works is I pay the bills and then they MAY reimburse me IF the claim is approved. They need to investigate it and see if Walmart could have prevented the fall and if an employee could have noticed the water on the floor etc etc. I'm worried because they are asking me to pay all the bills (isn't cheap) and they say it could get denied. She asked me a lot of questions about what I was wearing and my shoes etc. It it helps yes I was wearing flip flops.

I'm happy to add more information as needed. Soon after this happened I signed up on legalmatch.com and submitted my story. Two office receptionists replied after a couple of days and both said that it's not likely their attorneys would be interested (and on response from them so far). I just want medical bills taken care of and not go into collections while the walmart investigation is going on, what are my best options?

Thank you.

Answer: So what I'm going to ask is: did you feel you were injured at the time? Because it does rather sound as if (and I'm sorry to say this) you (or rather your family) thought there was going to be a payout over this (over and above the medical expenses).


Title: [MO] Insurance company calls being ignored by apartment complex and contractor who damaged my friend's car.

Question:
My buddy's car was damaged by workers installing carpet in an apartment across from his. The actuary sent out by my friend's insurance determined the damage was done by the equipment/supplies used by the carpet installers because similar paint from the equipment/supplies that were in the dents and scratches of my friend's car was on the railing going up to the second floor of the apartment where the carpet was installed. They've got pictures of all of this.

In addition to the dents and scratches, they busted the driver side mirror, so he wasn't able to drive it until it was fixed.

The fiasco happened maybe a month ago, and by now the damage to the car has been repaired through my buddy's insurance after having paid his deductible. Any contact made by insurance to the apartment complex and the contractor who did the carpet repair is being ignored.

Is there any legal resource for my friend to recover his deductible and expenses having to arrange other transportation while his car was being repaired?

**EDIT:** Not really sure what to flair this post under. Traffic and parking? Housing? Other?

Answer: Yeah, by suing the company that damaged his vehicle (and he should probably name the apartment complex as well) in small claims court. He doesn't have to work through this with his insurance company.


Title: Beating kick starter to market. Legal implications?

Question:
Located in Houston, TX

I'm reposting this from another sub as I think I'll get better answers here.

My partner and I found a product on kickstarter that hasn't hit the market yet.

We found suppliers, and we can get samples / inventory sooner than the kickstarter finishes.

The situation is pretty similar to this.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/30/a-24-year-old-made-345000-by-beating-kickstarters-to-market.html

Are there any legal implications to watch out for?

They have a patent pending.

Answer:
 >They have a patent pending.

That's the legal implication


Title: My 'friends' pranked me

Question:
Edit: This happened in Illinois

Edit 2: while I may have considered them my friends in the past I have been realizing that they are some of the most selfish and arrogant people I know so I have ZERO problem with suing  them if it comes to that.

My friends thought it would be funny to play a prank on me as they were leaving this party. When they left while I was inside they place a box spring mattress they found outside on the roof of my car. Keep in mind it had rained all week and the mattress was soaked/ heavier than usual. When my friends and I were leaving the party we saw the mattress and my one drunk friend, without me telling him to, proceeded to attempt at removing the mattress. In the process the mattress slid down the side of my car and sheered the drivers side mirror clean off, it was hanging by a wire, and broke  the shell of the mirror. The electronics no longer function.

When I confronted the two pranksters they admitted to doing it but would not admit that the damage was directly their fault nor would they agree to pay me back for all the damages. They are under the assumption that since the mattress could have been sadly removed that since it wasn't it must be the person who removed it's fault.

I however think it is 110% the pranksters fault, even though they didn't directly cause the damage.

What do I do? I've been driving around for three weeks now with a taped on non functional mirror because I don't have the money and they won't agree to pay me. What do I do...?

PS I never filed a police report because I thought my "friends" would act like real people and just admit that they made a mistake.

Answer:
 You would have to sue them in small claims court.  Depending on your location that would generally run in the neighborhood of $30-100 to file, some more costs in serving them, and then a healthy few hours of your time in court.  And even if you get a judgement it is often damn hard to collect if they don't want to pay.

Alternatively you could go to a junk yard and pay $20-30 tops for a functioning electronic mirror that fits your car (assuming your car is relatively common model).  And then write these people off as assholes that you don't associate with anymore.Answer #2: A former colleague of mine also had a "friend" "prank" him. When his "friend" refused to pay for the damages, my colleague turned to the parents of his "friend", who agreed paying for the damages.


Title: Is this prostitution (canada)

Question: Just for example say I was a dancer i chose my own hours and people came to my house to watch me dance i could charge what ever amount I want for x of time right (let's say 5 minutes of dancing or w/e artist, photographer, life coach, spiritual advisor could almost anything) after that time I would be off the clock right and me and my client would be two consenting adults right or would this be considered a "bawdy house"?

Answer: If you're selling sex, it is prostitution.  If you're selling overpriced potatoes, and "giving away" sex on the side, it's prostitution.  If you're selling overpriced life coaching, and "giving away" sex on the side, it's prostitution.


Title: [DRIVING] Got 2 tickets while driving home at 1 A.M.

Question: So I'm a college kid commuting to college back and forth, this certain week in December I had finals and needed to go back home asap to finish a paper. I was in school library for a while then picked up my car and headed home, in a bit of rush at night no cars whatsoever, and just 1 cop car on the high way. I hit 79 in a 55 in a safe corridor, on top of that I have a probationary license since I got my test done late so I got 2 tickets one for speeding and another for driving after hours. There were almost no other cars at that time, I don't even know how much to pay since it says I have a court date hearing on the 15th of January in NJ where I live? Should I get a lawyer and approach this or fight  it myself? Thanks!

Answer:
 >I hit 79 in a 55 in a safe corridor

So it was OK to drive faster than the speed limit because you thought it was safe to do so?

>There were almost no other cars at that time

So it was OK to drive faster than the speed limit because you thought it was safe to do so?

>fight it myself?

Good luck "fighting" it.  My only advise is that you not say the things in court that you said above.


Title: Friend accidentally sold alcohol to a minor in a police sting

Question: [deleted]

Answer: "It was an accident" doesn't help.  That said, he should talk to an attorney before pleading guilty.Answer #2: No it's not a defense that he's literally incapable of properly doing his job. If he has a medical condition that gives him problems with numbers, and he sells alcohol, then he needs to find a new job. He should talk to a lawyer before pleading guilty to anything.


Title: Landlady said I could end the lease early via text message, but changed her mind after not being able to find new tenants

Question:
Title covers it mostly. We've been on good terms with our landlady through the 8 months we've been renting. We asked her if it would be any issue extending or breaking our lease sightly if we decided to buy a house and she said extending wasn't an option, but she wouldn't have an issue with breaking it a bit early.

Flash forward to now (or last month), and she sent a text saying that she'll charge us for April's rent (we've been out since March 28th) and subtract any damages from the security deposit and she'll send us on our way.

Well, she's now having difficulty finding new tenants due to high renting requirements like credit score, no pets, and no college students (even though it's a college town and the neighborhood the rental is in is near campus and 95% college students).

Hopefully she finds someone and everything works out, however I'm worried that she's going to go back on her word if she doesn't. If she does, do we have any recourse after being given a text message confirmation that we're good on the lease after April? (There's no mention of lease breaking in the original lease).

Thanks!

Edit: Location is Colorado

Answer:
 Once she agreed to allow you to break your lease, she can't go back on her word because she cannot find a tenant. That agreement will supersede the lease in the way that it creates its own contract. Keep the text messages that shows you she agreed to allow you to break the lease. Answer #2: Your post doesn’t exactly make it clear on whether or not you gave her a specific date that you’d be leaving early. Is that the case?

For example, did you say “I would like to end the lease on March 31.” To which she said yes

Or did you say, “I’m looking at buying a house and may need to leave the lease early.” To which she said “That should be ok, but please give me one or two months notice first, and allow me to find a replacement.”


Title: Teenage pregnancy, paternity, and death-TN

Question:
The teenaged brother of a close friend recently died in a car accident. He was 17.

It's less than a month later and a girl at his school is saying she might be pregnant with his baby. If her story is true she would be pretty far along and this is just now coming out. The boy in question had a long term girlfriend who was not this girl. Rumors have gotten back to the family and they are trying to get to the bottom of it. The girl is now claiming it was another guy as potential father.

My question is this: what legal responsibility would the family have to this child if it is found to be their sons? He was 17 and never held any jobs and he might have had a small college fund. What good would establishing paternity of a dead teenaged father do? We are located in Tennessee.

This whole thing is just a nightmare on top of a tragedy.

Answer:
 I'm sorry to hear about your friend's brother.

You're right that the assets of the average 17-year-old aren't of much use to his heirs.

A college fund very likely reverts to his parents, since it's either just their savings earmarked for his college or because it's a 529 type savings plan.    A 529 plan could also be used by another child in the family.

Sometimes establishing paternity is useful for determining Social Security survivor's benefits for a child.  He would have had to be working for at least a year and a half, paying into the Social Security system, for those to kick in.

As far as I can tell, Tennessee is not one of the 13 States that requires grandparents to pay child support on the behalf of parents who are minors.

The only situation I can see of his parents being financially responsible for the baby is if they undertook raising the child themselves;  once undertaken, that establishes a responsibility.


Title: My dad is losing his business

Question:
Essentially my dad has a pizza store and shared ownership with his brother. Eventually his brother decided he wanted out and my dad payed him his share of the business. So far so good.

My dad was renting the space for the pizza store and the rent got too high so he wanted to moved locations. However he was essentially bankrupt after paying out his brother so he asked him if he could put his name down for a new store that the pizza shop could move to.

So the brother said sure and is recorded as being owner of the property and pu
t 20k into the new building. My dad told him he would pay him back the 20k after the store started rolling. All the rest of the payments for the building were made by my dad.

So anyway 10 years down the road the brother now doesn't have much money and looks to my dad for cash. The brother wants to sell the property the store is in and essentially screw my dad over. He is taking legal action as the sole owner of the building. Is there anything my dad can do?

Sorry I don't really know the legal terms and I can clarify of need be.

Answer: Sounds like your dad's business is the tenant and the brother is the landlord. This comes down to the lease they signed, but your dad's brother can sell the building if he wants to, most likely.


Title: [WI] Abortion While Married

Question:
What rights ( if any ) does a prospective father have regarding an abortion while married?

Is the wife able to get the procedure done without any input from the husband?

Thanks in advance for any replies

Answer:
 >Is the wife able to get the procedure done without any input from the husband?

Yes. Spousal consent is not required, nor can it be, in any state. Answer #2: It's entirely the woman's choice. The father need not be consulted, nor informed. Answer #3: Until the fetus is born and becomes an infant.  The father has no rights.  Marital status does not impact this.  You need to talk this over with your wife.  If you can not jointly decide on what needs to be done perhaps a divorce attorney is in order.  Answer #4: You have a right to discuss concerns with your wife. You have a right to tell her what your wishes are. You have a right to get divorced at any time.


Title: Landlord had hooked up 2 apartments' furnaces to our gas meter; astronomical bills but landlord claims ignorance

Question:
We moved into this apartment in August and in the winter realized our gas bills did not reflect our usage of gas. We had the gas company come to investigate and they told us the gas lines were set up such that both the basement unit's furnace and our own unit's furnace were hooked up to our gas meter. Therefore, the entire time we've lived here, we've been paying for 2 unit's gas bills. Fortunately, the landlord agreed to separate the two lines.

The landlord claims ignorance that things were hooked up this way (it's been that way for at least 5 years - not sure I believe her). What action can we take to get compensated for the gas charges?

Thanks!

EDIT: Location is Chicago, IL

Answer:
 >What action can we take to get compensated for the gas charges?

I assume you've already talked to the landlord, explained how much money you're out, and how it's up to her to compensate you for her error.

If she refuses to compensate, you can bring her to small claims court, assuming it's enough to actually be worth it.  If it's in the high hundreds of dollars, it'll be worth it.Answer #2: This actually happened at a project that I manage. I don't even know how it happened, but it must have been a long time ago and nobody noticed.

Your gas company should be able to supply you with a normal breakdown of how much your appliances consume. You need to take the date from move in until the correction date and send a letter with the back up to your landlord. Really they should be able to pay you back, and also bill unit 2 for the usage. Unit 2 should have been able to provide the landlord with proof that the utilities were switched to their name. Not have a gas utility should have been a red flag.

If the landlord doesn't work with you, you will probably have to go to small claims.


Title: [CT] Unregistered/missing title car in my yard

Question:
A family friend left their car in my yard before going to Greece, her green card expired and it seems unlikely she will return. The cars title is missing and the (massachusetts) title is expired. She is nearly impossible to get in contact with.

Does anyone know what my options are with the car? It would be nice to be able to keep/sell it, but at this point just getting rid of it legally would be wonderful, it doesn't seem like i can do much without the title or get a new one myself.
Thanks

edit: The friend is in a remote village and isn't coming back

Answer:
 Have it towed.

A car that doesn't belong to you has been abandoned on your property; the appropriate thing to do is to call a local towing company and let them deal with it.


Title: How to deal with a threatening boss legally

Question: Sorry I keep asking questions about my relationship with my coworkers and boss but I need to know what I can and can't do, what they can and can't do against me.  I live in Ohio.  My boss has been legit threatening me about my career, raises, promotions and path to success.  He says things like "I control your life" and similar things.  Also threatens to replace me if I go on a 2 weeks vacation with a month's notice(even though our workbook policy says I only need 2).  These are downright disrespectful and quite offensive to me.  Is it possible for me to sue?  Am I allowed to record his abusiveness and use it against him?  Any advice will be good.

Answer:
 Unless you have a contract, you have nothing to sue for.  He can fire you for taking a vacation, or for not taking a vacation, or just because he doesn't like you.

There's no law against being mean to you, either.


Title: My ex is refusing visits of my daughter who is 4 due to gap in visits, wants me to use parenting time centers what can I do ? [IN]

Question:
Some background information I work at a harvest location we work when farmers work so during harvest we are working 16 hour days 7 days a week sometimes so that is why I went with a gap in seeing her. Not because I choose too. I tried to keep in contact via FaceTime, calling etc. her mother then began to say things like the child is busy or she is asleep or she’s playing or she would put cartoons on when I called my child and she would rather watch the tv then be on the phone.

So once worked slowed down I asked to resume my normal visits witch are every Saturday over night and once a week or any time her mother is at work. At first we was agreeing to my visits and then the day before my first visit she changed her mind and said she would feel more comfortable if I seen her at a parenting time center.

The only issue with that is I would have to pay for these visits witch are pricey and only 1.5 hours at a time and I’ve never giving any reason for my Visits to be supervised by a parenting time center. So I refused and contacted a lawyer. Our lawyer found her to be in contempt because she moved out of town without letting me know or giving me her new address, they then asked why my wife wasn’t allowed to pick up my child to maintain my visits while I was working long hours and I couldn’t give an answer other then the fact that the mother of my daughter refuses to let my wife pick her up so that brought up some more issues that concerned my lawyer.

The lawyer filed some papers and set a court hearing. We attended the court hearing and both parties lawyers wanted to come to and agreement outside of the court room after waiting 2.5 hours on her to decide she doesn’t agree to my visitation outside of the parenting time centers. My lawyer offered her 3 weeks to change her mind and take our offer of phased in visits outside of the centers and if she didn’t agree we would go to trial months away because the court house is booked and we are expecting a another child with in the month.

So here we are waiting until the end of April to go to a trial that they are first making us go in-front of  someone to see if they can reach an agreement then if not the same day we let a judge decide. She on the other hand has done said she isn’t going to agree to anything other then the parenting time centers at all.

I guess my question is is there anything I can do to get something set in place immediately to see my daughter because if we wait until the end of April that’ll be a year since I see my daughter and almost 7 months with lawyers involved.

I ask every week for my Saturday visits recording what she says back witch is I’m welcome to use the parenting time centers for a visit. And I file a police report every Saturday that she doesn’t not show like my lawyer advised me to. I call the child every other night and talk to her on the phone and ask about her the days I don’t get to talk to her.

My ex’s reasoning for her decision is because she feels my child will need physiological help if she lets me resume my visits without the parenting time centers. She also thinks she is in the right because she just started studying laws for school.

And advice or similar situations and the outcome would be great. Thank you.

Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 You have a lawyer, yes? Listen to your lawyer. That said, it sounds like you're taking the right steps. I know 4 more months is a long time to wait, but what she is doing will not reflect well on her at trial. You can ask your attorney about other options, including asking for her to be found in contempt, attorneys fees, make up visits for the time she made you miss, etc. Answer #2: Doing what your lawyer advises you to do continue to be polite when you must talk to your ex and continue to try to talk to your daughter whenever you are permitted to.

Her behavior is unacceptable and the courts will find it so but unfortunately the process is lengthy.


Title: Mom just got arrested for smoking a CBD joint while driving. Submit to blood test?

Question: Need legal advice ASAP... mom just got booked for DUI even though she was consuming a CBD only product.  she is a MMP in a medical legal state. Should she submit for a blood test?

Answer:
 Mom needs a lawyer.

What state she is in will speak some to implied consent.  And no state makes consumption legal while driving so the medical status makes no real difference.


Title: CT - Alimony - Wife Filed for Contempt but I Paid

Question:
Hi! I would deeply appreciate any qualified advice! I have to fly from VA to CT to respond to my ex-wife's motion for contempt of court ordered alimony payments in about 1 week. I don't have the money to get an attorney, so I will probably self-represent, because I believe I was in adherence to the court ordered alimony.

My Ex says I owe her $10k+ in arrearages. I was unemployed at the time of my divorce and for the 3 months she is claiming, and I paid her 32% of my unemployment each week, but she claims I owed her $800/week. She wrote:

"The defendant has made no modification to the court order of $800 per week alimony which was not received from 2/24/16 through 5/31/16"

Text of our agreement:

"Husband shall pay alimony to the wife, for a term not to exceed six years from the date of judgement as follows:
Years 1-3: 32% of his gross income, including any unemployment compensation, capped at $800 a week;
...
"Additionally, said alimony may be modified by Husband in the event that Husband involuntarily loses his gainful employment... Said alimony is not modifiable as to term...The parties acknowledge that Husband is currently unemployed and may receive retroactive unemployment benefit. Husband shall give 32% of any said benefit for the 3 week period from unemployment to date of judgement."

I did not return to court to ask for a reduction, because $800/week is specified as a cap, and 32% of income is inherently variable. I paid her 32% of my income (unemployment each week). When I became employed, I upped the weekly alimony to $800/week.

Questions:
1) Can she cancel the motion and appearance in court if I convince her, so I don't have to fly down?

2) Do you think I was in violation of the court order?

3) Did I need to ask for the judge to reduce my alimony for the unemployment period, since I was unemployed at the time and the alimony is worded as it is?

4) Is it crazy to try to self-represent? She will probably have a lawyer

5) Any advice on what evidence I should bring, or what arguments I should make? I plan on bringing bank statements showing my unemployment pay and alimony payments, and simply stating that the alimony order seems to indicate an amount that is automatically variable with my income, so I didn't think requesting a reduction in alimony was necessary.

6) Should I ask for reimbursement of travel expenses or any other expenses (time off work) since I believe she is causing me needless hardship?

Thank you!

Answer:
 IANAL, however:

>I owed her $800/week

Is not the same as

>32% of his gross income,   ...capped at $800 a week;

If the judge (somehow) doesn't notice that, point it out to them. Dont forget to take in bank statements and a copy of the agreement.Answer #2: It is crazy to go without a lawyer. Answer #3: You absolutely need a lawyer.  If you have proof of your unemployment benefits, give them to your lawyer.  Answer #4: Flight there and back plus time off work...might add up to just hiring a lawyer in CT to represent you.  Is there some reason OP needs to personally appear, or could he consult with an attorney local to the court, email relevant documents, and have the lawyer go to court for him?


Title: I told HR that I recorded my boss power harassing me (VA, USA)

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 > Am I in major trouble for recording my conversation with my boss?

Quite possibly.

> What should I look forward to in terms of employment?

Looking for new employment.

Power harassment is not recognized by statute in the US.Answer #2: It sounds like you've likely violated your NDA, hence why she was so surprised you would *tell* her that you did so, and then hung up to go talk to legal.


Title: [CA] Ticket scammer is using my photo (including license & address) for the last year to scam hundreds of people out of concert tickets around California & neighboring states. Police will not help.

Question: So at Coachella last year, I made a HUGE mistake of innocently sending a picture of me with my full license to this guy (Craiglist ad) who I was trying to get last-second wristbands for me & my friends. Fortunately, we caught on that he was not trustworthy but only after I had already sent the picture. Unfortunately, this guy is a full-time scammer who has continued to use my picture (with my current license & full address) to rip off 20+ people that I know of(only the people who have reached out via social media to confirm I was real. Most likely, there have been many more. Basically, he creates an ad, people reach out, he has them send money through Google Wallet or Zelle (a service you can't get refunded on). When they show any sort of apprehension, he sends a picture of me with my license to resolve any concern. He scammed people at Coachella, EDC & recently Monster Jam concert. I know he will continue using my picture & ID until this guy gets caught. Unfortunately, when going to the police, they said they couldn't help me & don't have enough evidence on him (because he was using burner phones & email addresses that couldn't be traced). They also said that getting a new license wouldn't change anything because in the state of California, your license number will not change. This weekend, I received 50+ anonymous calls to my personal phone from a private number where someone would whisper on the other side but didn't say anything loud enough that was comprehensible. It's starting to get a bit scary. I fear that the upset people who were scammed will think I am the scammer & come to my address & potentially hurt me. I have been trying to gather evidence from the people who have contacted me but he is consistent in using fake numbers & emails. What kind of next steps can I take at this time? What has to happen for the police to take me seriously?

Answer:
 I would suggest going to the FBI, since this seems to involve multiple states, lots of money, and you are concerned for your safetyAnswer #2: Report identity theft to the FTC.

Go to [IdentityTheft.gov](https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/identity-theft/identity-theft-and-identity-fraud) or call 1-877-438-4338. Include as many details as possible.Answer #3: It is VERY hard to bring a scammer like this to justice (in fact, the scammer may be located in a foreign country).  It is doubly hard if YOU are not the person who is being scammed.  If you can get enough information from someone who was scammed, to play off that and pretend to be a new victim to the scammer, THEN you might be able to trick him into giving you enough information to identify him (of course you know that you have to be VERY careful about your conclusions as to who he is because you may not be the only person that he's pretending to be).

EDIT:  Just so you know, it is possible that someone using google wallet and zelle to accept payments is located in the US, and it's also possible to trace where payments go using those services (it takes the police to do that or a civil case that allows you to issue subpoenas).


Title: Revenge porn: How can I stop a group of trolls who have been ruining my life for 5 years?

Question:
Five years ago, when I was 19, I sent nude photos to my boyfriend at the time. After we broke up, he posted them to a local online forum where they spread through my town like wildfire.

I am now 24 and these photos crop up every few months. They are posted in local forums and on Facebook. Some of the photos show my face, and the posters always include my full name. There is one man in particular who posts these photos often. I have been called horrifying names and every one of my friends has seen these photos.

The man who most often posts my photos is frequently banned and his posts get deleted quickly, so I only have one screen shot proving that he posted one of the photos. I also have several witnesses who would be willing to testify. My state currently has zero laws regarding revenge porn. I want to file charges, but I don't know what charges I can file. Please help. My naivety as a teenager should not still be affecting me five years later.

Edit: my location is Nebraska. I have researched the laws here. I need to get creative, but I don't have the knowledge. That's why I'm here.

Answer:
 I am a lawyer but this is not legal advice.

You need to contact a lawyer. Without getting more facts, there are myriad ways you could potentially fight this behavior.

Intentional infliction of emotional distress could be one. Intrusion upon seclusion could be another. Public disclosure of private facts could be another (possibly against the bf, though statute of limitations may have run).

Ironically, if you took the pictures yourself, you may own the copyright. I know very little about copyright law, but it may be worth filing dmca take down notices wherever the pictures may be and, if possible, bringing a copyright claim against the guy who keeps posting them.

Now, one big caveat: given the pervasiveness of revenge porn, almost all of these avenues have certainly been tried. I have no idea how successful they have been as I have not done the case law research. But I wanted to throw some options out there for you to maybe bring to a Nebraska attorney.

Might be tough getting an attorney to take the case though if the defendant can't pay out, or if you don't have a good chunk of change lying around to pay a retainer.

I wish I were licensed in Nebraska. This is something I'd consider pro bono. Maybe ask around on that front if you can't afford an attorney. Answer #2: Location matters

There is a link on the wiki to revenge porn laws by state


Title: [PA] Charged with marijuana possession

Question: Was sitting in a parking lot when a friend and I were approached by police claiming we were being suspicious. The officer smelled weed ask if I had any. I gave it up because at this point he’s going to search the car anyway. Only 2-3 grams and a grinder. I was told the charges are being sent through the mail. If convicted what should I expect sentencing wise, do I need a lawyer, and is there anything I can do in the mean time?

Answer:
 Get a criminal defense lawyer.

> I gave it up because at this point he’s going to search the car anyway.

That was a mistake. Giving police permission to search your car or giving them your illegal stuff is [almost] never a good idea.


Title: [US] Can I get compensation for a 13h flight delay?

Question:
I was flying back to NY form Peru and the flight had technical problem while we where already on the air (about hour and a half), so after 3h of flying around we ended up in the the starting point. After that they had us waiting 10 more hours for the next flight, making a total of 13 hour delay.
This also made me miss 1 day of work in which i lost 2 critical meetings that made me look really bad for the company and they discounted 1 extra day to my vacation.

Is there something I can do to get a compensation for this? What would be a fare compensation for this case?

Thanks.

ps: the airline was LATAM

Answer: You might get a free drink coupon if you call corporate and are polite.