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Legal Guides
Mar
8
Should video parenting time be allowed in Indiana?
Illinois allows video parenting time, according to Sam Hasler, publisher of the valuable Indiana Divorce and Family Law blog.
Take a look at Sam Hasler’s post and weigh in if you think video parenting time is a good or bad idea and whether it should be an option that is added to the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines.
Feb
27
D.C. DUI breath tests flawed
Filed Under law, law enforcement | 3 Comments
A scene from a nightclub.
A veteran DUI defense attorney says that prosecutors in Washington, D.C. recently were quietly dismissing DUI cases because of flaws in Washington, D.C.’s DUI breath test machines.
The D.C. lawyer is calling for an investigation.
Hundreds of DUI cases could be overturned, if defense lawyers have their way.
Video: Washington, D.C. DUI breath test machines gave flawed results
DUI defense lawyers are gearing up to challenge DUI cases, according to a news release.
Washington DC DUI defense attorney David Benowitz says “this finding doesn’t surprise me.” Benowitz had noticed that something was amiss in recent weeks when the Office of the Attorney General started dismissing DWI cases. Benowitz, a member of the National College of DUI Defense continues, “This means that hundreds of DWI convictions dating back to 2008 may be vacated. It may take some time to determine the full extent of these malfunctioning breathalyzers and what this fact will mean to those who have been convicted over the last two years.”
If the problem with the breathalysers isn’t just a D.C. police issue, it could have implications for DUI cases across the country. It will be interesting to see how this case develops.
Photo by Robotgoboom.
Jan
29
Divorce mediation before court a winning idea?
Filed Under law | Leave a Comment
A Texas divorce lawyer writes that seeking alternative dispute resolution before going to court with divorce issues can be the difference between happy and unhappy clients.
Writes attorney Dick Price:
It’s great to be confident, but you really lose control of the case when you turn it over to a judge to make a decision. It’s always a gamble. Sometimes it pays off, but sometimes it doesn’t. With high expectations of a favorable result, it can be devastating to a party if the judge picks up on something unexpectedly and rules the “wrong way”!
Jan
20
Debt collection firm fails
Filed Under law | Leave a Comment
A debt collection firm with 24 offices has closed, according to news reports. Is it a sign of a bad business plan that failed in the case of a large law firm, or is it the sign of a deeper problem with assigned debt?
Writes the Baltimore Sun’s Jay Hancock:
In a tawdry coda to the financial crash, one of the nation’s biggest debt-collection law firms has gone belly-up, just like many of the people it had been dunning. Rockville-based Mann Bracken has ceased operation. Maryland judges are tossing out tens of thousands of collection cases the firm was handling.
It’s a tougher environment for debt collectors these days.
Debtors do not have as much money as they did during the boom days. And, the legal environment has shifted in a way that places more scrutiny on assigned debt than in the past.
Judges and attorneys in Indiana (and elsewhere) have been to continuing education seminars about the mortgage crisis. These legal professionals have been alerted to need to check the chain of title in assigned-debt cases since there often is not a clear chain of title because assignments from original creditor to the current owner might not be available. If an assignment is available, documentation from the original creditor might not be available.
This is not to say that debt collectors will be going out of business across the country. But, as the Mann Bracken situation shows, the financial collapse and the continued sluggish economy has not helped the debt collection business.
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