Legal Industry News

Diplomas, Disability and Discrimination: New Issues in Disability Law

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
The New Year is off to a rickety start for employers after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sent out letters stating that requiring a high school diploma might violate key tenets of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Employers are facing more uncertainty in the wake of a letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission warning them that requiring a high school diploma from a job applicant might violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. The development also has some wondering whether the agency’s advice will result in an educational backlash by creating less of an incentive for some high school students to graduate. The “informal discussion letter” from the EEOC said an employer’s requirement of a high school diploma, long a standard criterion for screening potential employees, must be “job-related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity.” The letter was posted on the commission’s website on Dec. 2. Employers could run afoul of the ADA if their requirement of a high school diploma “‘screens out an individual who is unable to graduate because of a learning disability that meets the ADA’s definition of ‘disability,’” the EEOC explained. It’s more of a suggestion than a regulation; nevertheless, many employers are sounding the...

Read More »

The Importance of Elder Law

Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Every Christmas I go to a nursing home with my kids and greet the elderly people there, singing carols with the choir and listening to their stories. I’ve been doing this for going almost two decades now and started when I was very young. Our church would visit the same nursing home every year to cheer up the residents, and seeing the joy that we brought them made a deep impact on me. Things changed when my father had a stroke. The man who had led us on our yearly trip to the nursing home was now suddenly incapacitated. Once he was back from the hospital, we all learned how to care for him. I moved back in to help my mother, who still had to work her full-time job. After six months, and with the aid of a medical alarm, he was able to be in the house by himself. After a year I left for graduate school, and he had deteriorated further. Since we couldn’t afford home care, we all agreed that a nursing home was the only choice left for us. We made the move in June, the same month of his stroke, and promised that we’d...

Read More »

History of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
With every step we take towards a glorious new future, we should always strive to be better than we were. Energy production can become cleaner, design can be more functional and we should raise the basic quality of life for everyone. In the 21 years since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the landscape of America has become more accessible to people with mobility challenges. Nearly all government and public facilities are required to have wheelchair accessibility. The roots of the ADA can be found in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, which also spurred the Women’s Rights Movement and Disability Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Act was expansive and covered rights with regard to discrimination in receiving federal funds, race, religion, and accommodation at lunch counters and drinking fountains. It did not, however, cover the rights of Americans with disabilities. It wasn’t until the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that persons with disabilities were included in Civil Rights legislation; this federal act protected from discrimination in receiving federal financial assistance. The ADA regulates accessibility as it relates to public accommodations and the surrounding architecture. Public accommodations built before the act would be subject to a rubric of...

Read More »

Intellectual Property Wars in Silicon Valley

Thursday, September 1st, 2011
A Silicon Valley stand-off is underway. A potentially apocalyptic patent lawsuit exchange between Google and Apple keeps both parties in check--much like the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. These two tech giants are battling it out over rights surrounding the Android mobile phone platform and with Google's recent purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. Google has a few more guns in the fight over Android rights. Read More »

What is a Court Bond?

Thursday, July 7th, 2011
A court bond is a surety bond issued by the court to ensure due payment, to guarantee proper financial management of a ward, or to protect the assets of an estate. There are three different types of bonds you might encounter during a court proceeding:

1. Appeal Bond: An appeal bond is a bond posted by the losing party of a court case hoping to submit an appeal. The purpose is to save the court time and money by ensuring that if the appeal is lost, the losing party still pays the original judgment of the court.
2. Guardianship Bond: A guardianship bond (also sometimes known as a custodian bond) is a bond issued by the court when a person applies to serve as a guardian for a minor or an incapacitated person. The goal of a guardianship bond is to ensure that the legal guardian fulfills the custodial duties honestly and manages the ward’s finances to the best of his or her abilities.
3. Probate Bond: A probate bond (also referred to as a fiduciary bond, an executor bond or an estate bond) is required by the court to protect the assets of an estate as they are distributed by an executor....

   Read More »