DUI - Driving Under the Influence

By Michael SanfordDUI, or driving under the influence, is a very common problem among teenagers today. Too often we hear about several people meeting their deaths on the road because of this. Most of the time, they weren't even the ones driving. That's why it's necessary to arm yourself with the necessary information about DUI, to tell other people about it, and hopefully, with your knowledge, prevent more accidents on the road. People who know about DUI usually just think that the influence is alcohol. That DUI is synonymous with drunk driving. Maybe so. The actual thing is, over-the-counter decongestants can also affect your driving skills. Not only that, illegal drugs also obviously fit the bill of DUI. The worst thing about DUI is, it's not only the drunk driver that's affected. Remember, the intoxicated driver is on the open road. He may bump into other cars, he may affect pedestrians on the road, and most of all, he may affect his very own passengers. That's why for your own safety you should never, ever get into a car if the driver has been drinking. Statistics show that the kind of people most charged with DUI are males within the age bracket of sixteen to twenty-four. They are heavy drinkers and have an average performance academically. Although most drunk drivers fall under these characteristics, it's just as easy for anyone else to be driving drunk. Yet, armed with all this knowledge, and aware of all the dangers, DUI is still rampant up to today. Why? Well, there are several reasons. First, Alcohol-induced loss of judgement. This could be the biggest reason DUI is still at large today. After three or four drinks, a person's judgement is undermined by alcohol. A second reason for DUI could be lack of planning. To avoid DUI, you must figure out how to get back if you plan on drinking. The most common solution is to have a designated driver who doesn't drink and can take those who have been drinking home. Thirdly, rationalization leads to DUI. How many times have you heard the excuses, "I've made it home drunk before, I can sure as hell do it again," or, "My home is only a few minutes away. What could happen?" These thoughts have only crossed drunk drivers one too many times. Another reason DUI is so common, is sadly, lack of education; although due to its alarming rate more information has been spread about it. Too much emphasis has been put on alcohol as a main reason for DUI, all the while disregarding other drugs such as cough syrup or marijuana. Lastly, pressure is a huge factor that leads to many DUI cases. Considering that it is most teenagers who drink and drive, the last thing they would want to do is inform their parents that they need a ride home from drinking too much, or staying over at a friend's house for the night for the same reason. This is stirred by fear but of course, anyone would rather bear these inconveniences compared to staying over at the morgue or being picked up off the road... dead, unfortunately. At the very least, DUI charge can lead to license suspension. At the very worst, DUI can take away several lives. It's important to take your precautions. DUI is reason enough not to trust anyone on the road. About the author:For more info please check out http://www.lawyer-and-attorney.com/

Boating Accident Lawyers Know Best

By Mart Gil AbaretaIf you or someone you know has been a victim of a boating accident, you need an individual who basically understands what you’re going through especially when you are considering to file a lawsuit against the person who is at fault of the incident. I am referring here to a boating accident lawyer who knows the legal implications of your trial and who will be your greatest support along the process. Basically, you need an experienced and competent boating accident lawyer to back you up in your case. Who would want a lousy lawyer? No one. And so, if you’re in this situation, you’ll want an attorney who has all the important set of skills and a winning professional background. What you’re going through isn’t easy so you really need somebody to support you, aside from your family and friends, in the persona of your boating accident attorney. He’ll be the one to evaluate your possibility of having a case and the amount of compensation that you deserve. There are lots of boating accident lawyers who can be found wither online or locally. You can ask your friends and co-workers for recommendations. Also, have a lawyer recommend a boating accident attorney whom he knows too. Remember that a lawyer only recommends lawyers whom they trust and whom they believe in. You can also try online referral services where previously-screened lawyers will be matched to your lawyer requirements. This is the most efficient way to locate a proficient legal specialist. Boating accidents bring pain and suffering to its victims especially to those people who have lost their loved ones from such incidents. Therefore, it is really important to have outstanding legal care to depend on so that you can recover faster. And as expected, your lawyer will guide you all throughout the legal process and towards a successful lawsuit. In addition, an experienced lawyer will always prioritize your case above anything else. When a boating accident lawyer has already been practicing this area of law for quite some time, you can expect him to become a better establisher of truth and justice. He can already view every angle of the situation and say what legal actions to be given consideration. And as a victim, you also need to be knowledgeable and confident on your lawyer that your case will soon end up successfully. This is indeed a benefit on the part of the victims of the accident as you work together in your case. About the author:For more related articles, you may visit http://www.askaccidentlawyers.com

Lawyer Search

By RenardWhen the need for a lawyer arises, it is important to be able to find a good lawyer who is knowledgeable in the area that is required and has a good reputation. Many people would prefer to find a local lawyer whether it is a Maryland lawyer, a New York lawyer or a Kentucky lawyer. A lawyer search can be an overwhelming and often frightening task for anyone who has never needed a lawyer before. Personal, business and criminal problems can arise for almost anyone at any time. From finding a Maryland lawyer to finding a Californian lawyer, there are some different ways a person can find a lawyer that will best suit their needs. When looking for a lawyer in any state, it is necessary to determine what kind of lawyer will be needed. There are a number of different types of law that lawyers specialize in including family law, real estate law, estate law, family law, criminal law and many other types of law. Sometimes it might be difficult to begin a lawyer search when the issue doesn’t clearly fall into a particular category. It is a good idea to make a few calls to see what type of attorney would handle that specific case before continuing with a lawyer search. Once the type of lawyer that is needed is clear, it is time to make a list of the lawyers that are in the area who deal with a particular matter from a local phone book. Once the list is compiled, ask friends, family and professionals if they have had any experience with a particular lawyer and if it was a favorable one. If that particular attorney is on the lawyer search list, he or she might be one of the first ones that are contacted. Next, if the local search is not going very well, there are a number of search web sites on the Internet that a person can use to find an attorney that will suit his or her needs. Sometimes individual states have their own lawyer search web sites. Maryland, for instance, has a web site available for anyone who needs the services of a Maryland lawyer. The Maryland lawyer search is much like the kind of searches available for other states. A Maryland lawyer can be found when searching by city name, county name, zip code, a particular lawyer’s name, by law school and by legal specialty. If all else fails, a person can find a Maryland lawyer or a lawyer in another state by contacting the Bar Association. Once a lawyer search has narrowed down choices to just a few names, it is a good idea to schedule either a phone or personal interview with the attorney. Important questions that can be posed during an interview should include how much experience a lawyer has in the particular area that is needed, how long they have been in practice, what are the fees and what do they include and how successful they feel that they could tackle any particular issue. Once these questions have been answered, it is up to each individual to assess their choices and hire the attorney they feel that will represent them the best. About The Author Renard is the webmaster and owner of " lawyers-that-win.com" and has been researching and reporting on Lawyer Searching for years. Click Here ==> http://www.lawyers-that-win.com/ About the author:About The Author Renard is the webmaster and owner of " lawyers-that-win.com" and has been researching and reporting on Lawyer Searching for years. Click Here ==> http://www.lawyers-that-win.com/

Legal Debt Collection Tricks

By Steve AustinIf a customer owes your local business money, it's hard not to feel angry, like you want to do anything possible to get your money back. But the days of going all out to collect on a debt over. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, designed to protect consumers from harassment or intimidation, sets firm limits on what you can do to collect a debt from a consumer. The federal debt collections law even prohibits practices that were once standard, and that you might not consider harassment at all. Besides, as a local business, you have an even more powerful reason to be especially careful about legal debt collection issues. You have something much more valuable at stake than a lawsuit: your business's reputation in the community. Legal Debt Collection Best Practices: There are plenty of articles on the web that lay out in plain English what the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act says you can and cannot do. Just to give you some idea of the law's requirements, here are some of the biggest: - No telling any third party about the debt (except collection bureaus, collection agencies, or the debtor's attorney). - No calling on the telephone 9 pm - 8 am, or calling repeatedly in a way that is annoying. - No postcards or envelopes that mention the debt. - No threats to take actions you cannot or will not really take, such as seizing property, in the case of an unsecured debt. - No misrepresenting yourself (e.g., "Hi! This is the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. May I speak to John?"). - No paying down the debt with payments the customer has directed be applied to other debts Tips and Tricks for Legal Debt Collections: With all these limits on what you can do to collect a debt, what can you do legally? - Speak with the debtor personally on the telephone; most likely he or she wants to pay but is in over his or her head. Begin by asking what circumstance has kept him or her from paying. Offer to set up a repayment plan. - You should both send letters and make telephone calls. Many people will only respond to one or the other. - Document every part of the collections process. Take notes for each call and keep a copy of each letter. If the debt does ever go to court, you will have proof you acted legally. - Look into reporting the debt to credit bureaus. If you can, and are willing to do it, you can tell the debtor that not paying will impact his credit rating. - Best tip of all: hand over the job to a dedicated collection agency. Small business debt collection services start at as little as $20 per debt. The fight to get paid is a fight no business should have to involve itself in. Unfortunately, debt collections are a part of business. Just make sure that for your local business debt collection law is followed to the letter, or legal proceedings may become part of your business, too. About the author:Free debt collection laws information at http://www.debt-collection-laws.com/

Personal Injury Lawyers at your service

By Karen NodaloAccidents and personal injuries can never be prevented. It can happen anytime and anywhere without even knowing it. You are unaware with the things that are going to happen with your surroundings. Since this is unstoppable, there are certain rules to compensate with your losses and injuries. In doing so, consulting a lawyer will ease the burden and you can fight for your rights just the way it should be. Some people and victims decline to consult a lawyer with the thought that seeking one will only make them spend a lot of money without winning anything and make it even worse. Sometimes they fear of making their case get too complicated so they remain silent and still. Everyone has the right to be defended and reserves to fight for their rights. It is true that cases and hearings are too stressful and nerve-racking but if you caught a good lawyer to handle your case, it is never a problem at all. You just leave it to your lawyer and you will be left worry-free. If by chance you get involved in a personal injury case, you should claim for your compensation with no second thoughts. It will never be difficult in dealing with it as long as you find the right lawyer to guide you with the proceedings. Filing a case will never be a hassle if you have a lawyer because they all do the steps for you and all you have to do is state your claims. This is never a problem anymore because there are so many lawyers to consult. One good thing is you will never think that your lawyers will not exert their efforts because they will be paid if your case gets successfully resolved. So you will never have to pay for nothing and waste a big amount of money. Plus, you get fully compensated with all your claims and make sure you are left with nothing. Your compensation will cover repairs, medical treatment, doctor fee, damages on your vehicle and other evident physical injuries. So if you experienced all these, it is very necessary for you to consult a lawyer. They are designed to keep your case on the right track. So when you feel that your rights are violated, do not have doubts to consult a lawyer before you miss it all! For more related articles, you may visit http://www.mesrianilaw.com About the author:Karen Nodalo came across writing when she was about 11. The whole craze for writing started when she first wrote her diary during elementary years. After school, she would write in it first before doing homework. She finds it cool and until now she still keeps one.

Licensing Your Copyrighted Material

By Richard A. ChapoIf you’ve taken the necessary steps to register your copyrighted works, you inevitably will have an opportunity to royalties off of them. To take advantage of the opportunity, you will need to be familiar with copyright license agreements. Copyright License Agreement A copyright license agreement sets for the terms under which a third party can use your content. In legal language, you will the “licensor” with the other party being the “licensee.” The purpose of the agreement is to set forth the terms under which you, the licensor, will grant the third party, licensee, the right to use, publish or reuse your copyrighted work in exchange for a royalty. Let’s take a closer look at key components of the licensing agreement. Specific Rights Granted This may sound obvious, but the agreement needs to detail exactly what copyrighted material can be used. If you have copyrighted articles, are you granting a right to use all of the articles or only certain ones? It is highly recommended that the agreement contain a detailed description of the exact materials being covered. Once you agree upon the exact materials, you need to determine any restrictions on how the material can be used. Can the material be used on the Internet or will it be restricted to a certain niche’ such as manuals or collections of materials? An extremely important issue is whether the agreement grants exclusive or non-exclusive rights. In English, this simply defines whether the licensor can grant similar rights to other parties. The grant of exclusive licenses should require a much larger royalty rate since you are essentially betting the third party will be successful. Licensing Royalties In exchange for your copyrighted work, the third party is going to make royalty payments to you. The particular amount of the royalty is dependent upon the nature of your work. Issues to consider include: 1) Will you be paid a flat amount or percentage of sales? 2) If a percentage, will it be figured from gross revenues or something less? 3) How often will you be paid? 4) What rights will you have to audit the books of the third party to determine you are getting the full royalty? In some situations, you may decide to forgo a royalty payment. This usually occurs when the third party will use the materials in manner that produces massive publicity for you. For example, many professionals seek to right columns for publications as a marketing tool. Often, they will not charge the publication for the material because the resulting publicity carries enough of a benefit. In Closing If you are considering licensing copyrighted content, keep the above in mind. Since such agreements are difficult to break, hiring an attorney is worth the expense. About the author:Richard Chapo is with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com - providing San Diego businesses with legal services. This article is for general education purposes. Nothing in this article creates an attorney-client relationship.

The New Bankruptcy Law -- How Will It Affect Debt Negotiation?

By Charles PhelanIn April 2005, Congress made sweeping changes in U.S. bankruptcy law that will go into effect on October 17, 2005. It's called the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005," and it means big trouble for Americans struggling with debt problems. What effect will the new bankruptcy law have on the practice of Debt Settlement (also called Debt Negotiation)? Will creditors still be willing to negotiate with consumers seeking to avoid bankruptcy? Will lump-sum settlements for 30À40À50 till be possible now that this tough new law has been passed? The short answer is "YES." It will be "business as usual" in the collection industry. People that choose to file bankruptcy will definitely be affected for the worse, as I'll outline below, but those who choose to privately negotiate their way out of debt will notice very little difference. Creditors will still negotiate. Deals will still be made. And nothing much will change in the world of collections. In fact, a viable alternative to bankruptcy will be needed more than ever. The credit card banks lobbied with millions of dollars to get this law passed. They've been working at it for about a decade. Now they are celebrating. These are the folks who think the bankruptcy system has been abused by wealthy individuals, who have defrauded creditors when they could have repaid their debts. The facts tell a different story: 1. During the period from 1995 to 2004, bankruptcy filings doubled, while in that same period, credit card industry profits TRIPLED. 2. Credit card companies have not been held accountable for their targeting of "easy credit" to individuals who could not afford such loans, which in turn has contributed to the wave of bankruptcies over the past decade. 3. For people 60 or older, 85f bankruptcies are caused by medical bills or job loss. 4. A divorced woman is 300ore likely to file bankruptcy than a married woman. 5. African-American and Hispanic homeowners are 500ore likely to file bankruptcy than white, non-Hispanic homeowners. 6. Approximately half of all bankruptcies are filed because of medical expenses due to lack of health insurance, or lack of adequate coverage leading to uncovered expenses. 7. The median income of bankruptcy filers is $25,000. (So much for the "rich" abusing the system.) The new law was a GIFT to the credit card banks, pure and simple. Some estimates show that it will add another $5 billion to the industry's bottom line. In other words, the bill is about profits and not much else. Since my whole approach is about avoiding bankruptcy, I won't go into a detailed analysis of the provisions of the new law. But just to summarize, the net effect is that many (if not most) people seeking relief under Chapter 7 bankruptcy will be forced to file under the Chapter 13 version instead. In plain English, that means that most filers will be forced to pay back a portion of the debt over a 5-year schedule set by the court. One of the worst aspects of the new bill is the use of IRS "allowable" expense schedules for determining your monthly budget. In other words, your actual living expense are thrown out the window in favor of the IRS standards (and we all know how generous the IRS can be!). So if your actual rent is $1,300 per month, and the IRS says it should be $1,045 for your county and state, that's TOUGH! The court will only allow the $1,045, period. In short, people attempting to file bankruptcy after October 17, 2005 are in for an extremely rude awakening! Goodbye cell phones, cable TV, high-speed Internet access, movies, meals with the family, and anything else beyond the minimum allowable expenses as determined by the IRS and the courts. So what makes me so certain that the banks will be as eager as ever to settle with consumers for 50 cents on the dollar or less? Simple. Two words: Stealth Bankruptcy. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are going to discover the new reality of this tough law, and they are going to forgo the court system of filing bankruptcy in lieu of what I call "stealth bankruptcy." A stealth bankruptcy is when you move (with no forwarding address), change your phone number, and drop off the radar screen to live on an all-cash, no-credit basis. Many people already choose this path rather than deal with the invasion of privacy that comes with formal bankruptcy. After the new law goes into effect, more people than ever will take this approach. Besides the problem of stealth bankruptcy, there are other good reasons the banks will settle as they always have. Consider these points: A. The creditor doesn't know whether or not you'll still qualify for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. They still face the risk that you will qualify for Chapter 7 and end up discharging your debt in full, which means they get NOTHING. B. Even if you file Chapter 13 under the new guidelines, the creditor will still only receive 30-50f the debt on average (much less in some cases). C. Under Chapter 13, it will still take the creditors 3-5 YEARS to recover that 30-50íD. A lump-sum of 30-50 ODAY is far better than the same amount collected over 3-5 years. Of course, I certainly expect debt collectors to use the new law to harass and intimidate people who don’t know and understand their rights. You can expect them to say things like, "You can’t file bankruptcy under the new law, so you’d better pay up today!" They will bully and threaten as always, but at the end of the day, they will still accept reasonable settlements. After October 17, 2005, it will still be "business as usual" in the world of debt collections. About the author:Charles J. Phelan has been helping consumers become debt-free without bankruptcy since 1997. A former executive in the debt settlement industry, he teaches the do-it-yourself method of debt negotiation. Audio-CD material plus expert personal coaching helps consumers achieve professional results at a fraction of the cost. http://www.zipdebt.com