The Pointing Finger Defense

Squabbling neighbors sometimes provide more entertainment value than one would have thought possible. However, these disputes have the potential to turn quite ugly.

When it comes to neighbor disagreements and pointing fingers at each other, the top reason for getting into a battle royale happens to be trees. Yes, that's right, fallen trees. When things like that happen, one hopes there is a cordial rapport between the neighbor whose tree fell and the neighbor who now has the tree right in the middle of their picture window.

"In theory, a tree falling over during a major storm is considered to be an act of God. That would mean no one would technically be responsible for the damage, even if the tree was at one time in one person's yard. The house that sustained any damages would (also in theory) have homeowner's insurance and be able to place a claim," said Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

That's just one example of what has the potential to light the fuse under one neighbor. Another one, with a few small changes in details, may tell a totally different story. "For instance, if the tree that crashed into the neighbor's picture window was being trimmed at the time, chances are the tree owner is at fault. What if the tree's owner was negligent in maintaining the tree properly and it had rotted away inside becoming a hazard just waiting to be blown over?" suggested Barron.

In many of these cases, it's pretty hard to actually prove anything about causation after the tree has taken a tumble, which means in a lot of instances, the victim’s insurance antes up payment to allow the victim to get repairs done. Herein lies the conundrum. In order to maintain a good relationship with one's neighbor, it might make some sense to offer to help pay the deductible for the insurance – so long as it was truly an act of God that caused the tree to fall. If it wasn't, and things go from bad to worse with the neighbor, it's time to consult with a lawyer and salvage what's possible.

"Mediation is another alternative solution, and there are other cities in the US that have programs especially designed to assist fighting neighbors in dealing with issues like fallen trees and barking dogs – the second biggest complaint one neighbor has against another, along with excessive noise and encroachments on property like – well – trees," added Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

When all else fails, then speak to an attorney who is able to handle situations like this with skill and a fair dash of mediation skills as well.

To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Blowing the Whistle for the IRS

Most people would just love to get money from the IRS, and not just their regular tax refund, but instead a major chunk of change that would set them up for life.

While this isn't always a reality for everyone, getting a large payment from the IRS is entirely possible depending on what is done to achieve that goal. "In this instance, all a person would need to know is how to access the IRS Whistleblower Reward Program and then have pertinent information that pans out," outlined Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

All the IRS wants from people who access the Whistleblower Program is for them to step up and report tax fraud. It's that simple, and yet that complex all in the same breath. "It takes a great deal of courage to step forward and be counted and identify tax fraud," added Barron.

This particular rewards program actually pays out a hefty amount of money based on a percentage of any underpaid taxes recovered by the IRS. The percentages aren't small potatoes either and range from 15% to 30% of the money the IRS recovers. They keep the balance, of course.

The bigger the tax fraud reported, and subsequently verified and acted upon to obtain recovery, the bigger the reward payout. "For instance, let's just make mention of one well-known $3.4 billion tax recovery from a major drug company who had been cheating on their taxes. They'd been participating in offshore tax fraud and someone blew the whistle," explained Barron.

It seems like it was a good year for drug companies to pay the piper what was stolen, as yet another drug company had to ante up $2.3 billion to settle on allegations of tax evasion. This particular big Pharma outfit shifted profits offshore and once again, someone objected to the less than honest tactics and turned them in. "In both instances, the whistleblower rewards ranged as high as $1 billion. Imagine that kind of money for merely telling the truth," said Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

The kind of tax evasion that typically pays the bigger rewards to whistleblowers are instances where a company (drug, high tech, telecommunications, etc.) is hiding ownership of patents and other large assets (manufacturing processes, franchises) or other intangible property rights to an offshore company it either owns or is affiliated with in some way.

If someone has reliable evidence of schemes like the ones discussed here, the IRS will get on it. If there are taxes owing and they collect, there is a reward. This is a real short cut to becoming a billionaire.

To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

The Confusion over Trademarks

Many people don’t seem to understand the differences between trademarks, copyrights and patents.

It's an interesting world out there, full of signs, slogans, logos, books, artistic work, and too many other things to mention in a short article. But the main thing to know is that there is a distinct difference in what a trademark is, what copyright means, and what one does with a patent.

Trademark rights act to protect a word or logo as being "the" source for goods/services. E.g. Nike. The instant anyone says that word, we all think of running shoes and well, Michael Jordan. This is the true definition of a trademark. Now here is the interesting thing. You don't need to file for trademark registration to have common law trademark rights, but let's put it this way - if you don’t file and someone infringes on those rights, you'd have a tough time enforcing them. So, it's best to be safe and not sorry, and file with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Other things that registering will do for you is provide the "presumption" you're the trademark's rightful owner and gives you statutory damages against someone using your mark in bad faith. Once your "mark" is registered, you need to remember to always keep protecting it to keep your trademark rights.

The Copyright Conundrum

The easiest way to explain copyright is to say that if you create something and it falls under the definition of being a creative work, it's up to you who makes copies and how many copies. Of course, there are exceptions, and knowing what those exceptions are happens to be important.

At this point, it's usually smart to contact a lawyer well versed in this area, as this type of law has the potential to be extremely complex. By the way, you may sell or even license this copyright, or if you have done work for someone else, then they buy this right in advance.

The major difficulty is defining what constitutes a creative work. Legally, it has to exist in some tangible form – on paper, a disk or even written in stone. However, what it's written on isn't what makes it creative. To be creative, it can't be just straight factual data; that is where an easily understandable explanation usually ends, as there honestly is even an element of creativity to coding in computer language.

Anything you do that is classified as creative writing, creative editing, etc., is copyrighted. So the distinction is this: the facts can't be copyrighted, but a very clever and creative organization of those facts may be. This is referred to as compilation copyright. In short, this area may make your head spin, so speak to a copyright lawyer who has their head on straight and can outline what you need to know.

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Medical Reluctance to Change

Medical errors in the US are noted to take the lives of roughly 98,000 patients a year. Medical mistakes are alarming and seem to be on the rise.

The number of people that die in the US every year as a result of medical mistakes is higher than the number of people killed in car crashes on an annual basis. This is hardly a spectacular record to be proud of either.

Aside from death as a consequence of errors, injuries resulting from medical mistakes are even more common, and sadly, don't get reported that often. In fact, there is a lot of carnage that seems to lie just below the surface of the medical profession that no one wants to directly address. You know it's more than "just a problem" when the Kaiser Family Foundation actually carries out a study on medical mistakes.

The results of the study were quite interesting and raised a few eyebrows in the process. There were 1,200 adults involved as well as 800 doctors. Turns out that roughly 35% of the physicians commented that either they or members of their family had experience with medical errors. The errors were not of the benign nature either, and resulted in severe pain, long-term disabilities and death.

The very fact that doctors were the victim of other doctors and medical personnel should have awoken a few people. In fact, the Kaiser study did collect data that pointed to the medical community being unwilling to change to make a difference. This of course, left medical malpractice attorneys on the leading edge of demanding change in the medical system.

It's interesting that taking legal action against a doctor would seem to be the only solution to get any real changes made within the system; however, this makes much more sense when put into perspective. Most physicians are relatively indifferent to regulating themselves and/or making changes to procedures to avoid mistakes. Now that's a chilling thought in itself.

Oddly, doctors also seem resistant to trying built-in system checks, such as taking a pharmacist on rounds or cutting back the number of hours a resident has to work. This is odd because these things would make a big difference in addressing the issue of fatigue, a primary cause of medical errors.

In the meantime, the other option appears to be suing for redress of a medical error and perhaps forcing the medical community to begin to police itself.

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Racial Discrimination California

Racial discrimination has never been something that any nation is proud to proclaim exists within its borders.

While the labor law in California attempts to find a delicate balance between the employer and the employee's rights, much of this balancing act is undone by the unfortunate occurrence of discrimination in many forms, one of which is racial discrimination.

Also called racial prejudice, racial discrimination is something that people would like to think went out with the advent of the human rights movement. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case in many workplaces in California. "Although the law clearly states that a person may not be discriminated against because they are a different race, unfortunately there are many companies – even today in the 21st century – who go out of their way to make things difficult for some to be treated fairly at work," stated Deborah Barron of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

Some of these discriminatory acts include things such as adverse hiring procedures weighted against certain racial categories, the assignment of difficult or dirty tasks to those of color, a greater workload for those individuals, lower salaries, fewer benefits, fewer chances or no chance of promotion and lack of training that others are required to have for the job.

Several other areas where discrimination may rear its ugly head also include not allowing those of color the same access to company facilities and equipment, not offering them the same kind of support and access to dispute resolution opportunities, and terminating them for vague reasons and hiring a white person to replace them. "While many of these activities may look innocent enough on the surface, when all of them are taken into consideration during an investigation, it's hard not to assume there is evidence of racial discrimination," said Barron.

There are two types of discrimination a worker may face on the job and those include disparate treatment and disparate impact. Disparate treatment mainly refers to acts of discrimination that an employer perpetrates against a person of a different race.
Those acts might involve insults and offensive remarks that create an intolerable workplace. Disparate impact refers to the company implementing rules and regulations that exclude certain classes of individuals applying for a job, asking for a promotion or a raise.

The bottom line is that racial discrimination laws guarantee protection for workers who have faced harassment or have been fired from their jobs because of their race. "Consulting with a knowledgeable attorney will go a long way toward getting justice in situations like this," commented Deborah Barron of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Same Sex Harassment

While sexual harassment is usually thought of as being between a man and a woman, there are cases of same sex harassment that are also subject to the law.

"If a case of sexual harassment is filed in California, it is filed under the auspices of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and may fall into one of two categories – hostile work environment or the quid pro quo theory," indicated Deborah Barron of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

To further differentiate these two categories, in one (hostile work environment) the complainant needs to have been harassed by a fellow worker; in the other, the harassment could have taken place at the instigation of a supervisor (the quid pro quo theory).

"Without getting too technical, if an employee is complaining of a hostile work environment, then that person's co-workers or supervisor needs to have been making repeated unwanted sexual advances in such a pervasive manner, that working conditions are totally intolerable (meaning the workplace is a hostile environment)," explained Barron.

If these kind of shenanigans are going on already, it may be that the employee feels their job security is predicated on giving in to the other person's sexual advances. This situation is a prime example of quid pro quo. Nowhere in the code defining these categories does it specifically state that the people involved need to be a male and a female only, nor does the code address same sex harassment specifically. "This is usually where case law comes into play," said Barron.

"We know of one landmark case in which the court held that a cause of action for sexual harassment may be filed by a member of the same sex as the harasser under the auspices of either quid pro quo or hostile work environment," commented Deborah Barron of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California. The whole point is that even if someone of the same sex harasses a person, it does not deny him or her the right to protection under the law.

If facing a situation such as this, now is the time to contact a highly qualified employment attorney to get advice and find out what protections the law offers people in this kind of a situation. Knowing what rights are accorded to people facing these types of situations goes a long way toward making informed decisions about how to proceed with any potential lawsuit.

To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Driver Pedestrian Negligence

There are far too many pedestrians hit in crosswalks due to the negligence of drivers. Victims of an accident such as this should know they have a right to file a personal injury lawsuit.

When you're walking across the street, you should feel safe, not like you're a moving target. Unfortunately, walking across a crosswalk is not a cakewalk any longer, as the incidents of car versus pedestrian accidents are on the rise. All it takes is for one inattentive driver, perhaps talking on a cell phone, to run a red light and – the consequences may be deadly.

One of the most disturbing statistics, when it comes to car/pedestrian accidents, is the fact that many of the "at fault" drivers insist they never saw the person they hit. How could they have not seen a pedestrian? Most often the answer may be one of several things, including the fact that they were combing their hair, trying to access their email on their phones, paying attention to a GPS device or yakking with their passenger, and not paying attention to their surroundings.

It's rather obvious that in an accident of this nature, the pedestrian is going to wind up on the short end of the stick, with either very serious injuries, or they may not live through the experience. If you don't think the number of deaths as a result of being hit by a car are that high, consider the statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, that indicate almost 70,000 people meet their death in this manner yearly.

The end result of this carnage for survivors is quite often head trauma or Traumatic Brain Injury, broken or shattered bones, and either permanent or temporary disabilities. To say that the individuals who were hit experience a significant change in lifestyle thanks to a negligent driver, would be an understatement.

If you have been hit by a car crossing at a crosswalk, or have experienced injuries as the result of a car accident caused by the negligence of another, contact a highly skilled personal injury attorney. S/he will sit down with you and discuss the facts of your potential case. Your attorney will ensure you receive justice.

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Know Your RESPA

Not a lot of people like dealing with acronyms, as they find them confusing, but if you are in real estate this is one that you need to know – RESPA – The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

The regulations that accompany RESPA actually represent one of the biggest shifts in the real estate industry since the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act came into being. What do the new regulations mean? In most instances, they mean you will need to redefine your sales and marketing strategies. It may seem a bit confusing since you've likely been doing just fine prior to this new wrinkle being introduced.

Here’s a bit of history about the RESPA, which has a significant impact on everyone involved in real estate transactions. It came into being with the stated goal of standardizing the buying of residential real estate and the reforms in it, among other things, raised the bar for making disclosures to consumers and also streamlined loan processes.

What the RESPA was intended to accomplish is to provide consumers with the benefits of cost savings and better, more transparent disclosure of things such as settlement fees, loan terms and costs. You can well imagine how pleased buyers were to have this new legislation working "for" them and making their ultimate purchase less confusing financially.

Let's deal with the "less financially confusing" part now. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (or HUD for those who want another acronym to learn) figures that the more information about the loan application process a consumer has – all the way through settlement – the more informed consumers are; thus, they make smarter purchases. That makes sense if you stop to think about it, but also be aware that HUD has another objective and that is ensuring there is a competitive market for settlement service providers.

So what do we have in the final analysis? The RESPA rules and regulations now include changes to two previous forms (HUD-1 and the Good Faith Estimate document) and the term "required use" has finally been spelled out so people understand what it actually means.

The most interesting change, however, is one that deals with the yield spread premiums lenders pay for loans, and the fact it must be stated as a credit to the borrower upon closing. These reforms have been a long time coming and are a refreshing change to the industry, not to mention a benefit for consumers.

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

The Various Faces of Employment Discrimination

There is a huge difference between being yelled at by an employer and being discriminated against. It is wise to know these distinctions prior to speaking to an attorney.

Illegal discrimination is one thing, being given work that isn't challenging, being given a poor performance rating at work or even being yelled at in the workplace is not cause to file a discrimination suit. "The major distinction is that discrimination takes places when an employer treats an employee differently because that person is a member of a "protected" class – age, race, religion, disability, gender and/or familial status," commented Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

While being treated differently might not be hard to prove, proving why those differences exist and finding out what the motive is for the conduct is another can of worms altogether. Suffice it to say that it would be a challenge to find out those factors and be able to prove them in a court of law.

It is often difficult to prove discrimination, but it should be pointed out that some forms are easier to get a handle on. "For example, racial discrimination may be quite evident if the employer/supervisor makes constant remarks of a derogatory nature about a person's race, constantly tells jokes about them and/or uses slang terms to refer to them," said Barron. Often another telltale sign is if the employer is slowly replacing workers of a certain race with others of a different ethnic origin, which may be the same as the employer.

Discrimination of a medical nature (disability) often may be implied or outright proven causally if an employee was let go or given a demotion right after they suffered a serious injury or had been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition.

In the area of age discrimination, the proof may lie in demonstrating the company fired an employee over the age of 40 or 50 without any other valid reason (poor performance, etc.) and then got a new person who is younger. "If a consistent pattern exists of the company doing this kind of thing, it's fairly strong evidence of age discrimination," explained Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

There are many faces of discrimination in a workplace and if faced with a situation such as this, consult with an attorney who has experience in this area. "The attorney will advise the plaintiff of their rights and outline what steps would need to be taken should the complainant wish to file a discrimination lawsuit," explained Barron.

To learn more, visit http://www.lawbarron.com.

California Has Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training

Every state has sexual harassment laws on the books, but very few states, California being one of them, mandate sexual harassment training for supervisors.

The idea with sexual harassment training in California is to stop it before it gets a foothold in a workplace. "The specific legislation used in California is dubbed the AB 1825 law and it outlines some incredibly stringent requirements for sexual harassment training," said Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

What is unusual about AB 1825 is that it has a very high level of accountability attached to it. The driving point behind this piece of aggressive legislation is that education is the best protection against any potential sexual harassment claims.

California's legislation also specifically outlines that companies who have 50 or more workers must hold this type of training, although the only people required to receive it are those that hold jobs as supervisors. "The Golden State mandates that sexual harassment trainers must be from one of several pre-determined categories that include an attorney, a law school/college professor, a harassment prevention consultant or human resources professional," explained Barron. The ideal trainer would have in-depth experience in not only harassment, but discrimination and the boomerang companion complaint in these kinds of cases, retaliation claims.

It is no longer acceptable to just give sexual harassment training a cursory nod and put out a newsletter with tips now and then or have a lecture on the topic. Employers are being mandated to have properly trained personnel teach their staff what they need to know about this inflammatory workplace issue.

California also requires complete documentation of all people who have taken a sexual harassment course. "This doesn’t just mean their names and addresses, it means every supervisor must have a copy of the company anti-harassment policy and provide proof that those supervisors did receive it," said Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California. This isn't just because someone wants to keep good records, as the documentation on the training process must be kept for two years.

Last but not least, California takes the lead over other states in how they teach sexual harassment awareness and prevention. No other state has anything like this. The course must feature skill-building exercises, ways to assess learning, interactive questions that involve all participants, real life examples, methods for reporting harassment, and ready access to the trainer to get questions and concerns ironed out.

Sexual harassment is an issue long overdue for the attention it is now rightfully receiving. "California has taken the reins and proactively put legislation into place to prevent this kind of harassment in the workplace," added Barron.

To learn more, visit http://www.lawbarron.com.

Copyright Is Alive and Well

Yes, there is indeed such a thing as copyright infringement, meaning people should not be using other people's written works without express permission.

In this day and age, with things changing at the speed of light, ideas being transmitted around the world with a click of a mouse and books being published online and in print, it becomes almost second nature for people to think it's OK to use someone else's writing and call it their own. The same seems to apply to paperbacks, hard copy books, and other written materials.

Copyright law has its origins from earlier times when authors, individuals working in the printing and publishing fields, and journalists needed to ensure their work was protected from unauthorized copying. Legislation to accomplish this protection was first introduced in the 18th century in England. The first attempt at embodying a copyright law gave authors, etc., the right to keep ownership of original works. If anyone wanted to copy those original documents, they had to get permission.

You might see this is where the term copyright came from – because the law recognized a writers "right" to not be copied. Over time, this area of the law expanded and was applied to musicians, photographers, all original drawings (engineering, maps etc.) and even scientific formulas. These days the laws cover even more areas and are far stricter than the original ones.

Imagine if you lived in a time where you could freely take and copy anyone's works or documents, change them and sell them without the consent of the person who first wrote the material. You'd be making money for the fraud of selling someone else's work as yours, but the original writer would not be getting any profits. Again, all the more reason for copyright being in place, not only to protect an author's original works, but to protect their potential source of income.

In 1886, there was an international agreement on the nature and extent of copyright law. The same general agreement, except for it being reaffirmed in 1952, has remained in place (with some legal tweaking) until the 21st century. We're not so different these days that we don't see the value in protecting original works of writing, etc.

Today's copyright laws are very clear on their definition of rights and because they are so clear, there are far fewer legal disputes over its infringement. What may vary in this field are how the law applies to copyright renewals, how long the rights apply, and the question of eligibility for a copyright. This isn't to say that copyright cannot be transferred because it can, so long as the original author gives their consent.

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Read Eviction Notices Closely

You've been evicted and you panic. Stop, calm down and read the notice very closely, and if you have questions, contact a lawyer with experience in this area of the law.

Renting at the best of times might not be the most wonderful experience, depending on the landlord you have. That having been said, you need to be aware that there are a complete set of rules, regulations and laws that govern not only what rights you have as a tenant, but what rights the landlord has as well. These laws do apply to evictions, which tend to vary from state to state – all the more reason to consult a lawyer if you are faced with eviction.

The first thing you should be aware of, depending on where you live, is that the landlord might not need to provide a reason for evicting you. Check this out before you rent if you don't want any unpleasant surprises later. In California for instance, there are a fair number of jurisdictions with laws on the books that say the landlord doesn't have to give you a reason for evicting you. So, before you fight eviction, check with an attorney to find out what laws apply in your state.

Just for the record, other states do have various good reasons on the books for a landlord to evict. Some of them include failing to pay the rent, that a provision in the lease was violated (always read the fine print on your lease first), there are damages to the rental unit or you are a nuisance and/or doing something illegal.

Another reason that landlords may also use is that the tenant is not letting them into the unit to repair things or to inspect it. If you don't like the idea of someone going into your home to inspect it, then you might want to think twice about the concept of renting.

A notice of eviction cannot be verbal, it must follow specific rules as laid out in the laws of your state. Generally speaking though, the eviction must be contained in a written notice. Whether the reasons for the eviction are contained in that notice may depend on the reasons for eviction in the first place. The length of time to vacate the premises may also range (depending on where you live and the reasons for the eviction) from 3 to 120 days.

Landlords may also file something called an Unlawful Detainer, which indicates you have violated the terms of the rental agreement in some manner. Do not ignore this notice, as it was filed in court and is a valid legal document. Speaking of legal documents, there is another method of being evicted, being served by a Sheriff. Again, this is usually the result of a case that has gone to court.

Read every document you get during this process very carefully, as it might not mean you need to leave right away. There may also be things you are able to do, with the help of a highly skilled attorney, to fight the eviction. You won't know until you call an attorney and ask for a consultation. Don't think that you have to fight an eviction on your own, not when competent legal counsel will be able to sort things out for you.

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.