One issue that frequently arises in child custody cases is where one parent wants to move a significant distance away from the other parent. These “move cases” might arise when a parent needs to move for economic reasons, or when the parent wants to move (such as to be nearer to friends or family). Where a parent plans to move far enough away that the current custody and visitation schedule is no longer feasible, that parent has the burden of proving to the court that the move is in the ...
Get Your Billion Back? Reality Check.
I was struck by the H&R Block ad campaign, claiming that Americans who did their own tax paid an extra billion dollars last year, enough to put $500 on every seat in every pro football stadium in the U.S. I got to thinking about how, while that sounds like a lot, and seems to imply that people stink at doing their own taxes, the ad might actually indicate that we “self-preparers” do a decent job at it. Firstly, the ads each feature small print stating, “In a study of self-prepared ...
Learned Lawyer In The News
I’ve been in trial this past week and I’ll be there for the week to come. We received some attention from the associated press. Apparently this same story (or a similar one) ran on Thursday in papers around the country! http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/07/17/2658598/trial-over-teens-special-ed-accommodations.html ...
How Can They Get Away With That?
Yesterday a client asked me a very good question. We were talking about something bad someone has done recently, which seems to be a clear violation of the law. She asked, “How can they get away with that?” What does it mean to “get away” with something? It means to do something bad and not to face any consequences or punishment. The truth is that anyone can “get away” with anything, right up until they don’t. In other words, people can do whatever they want or feel like doing and ...
Can I Get A New Judge, Please?
I had the pleasure of attending the annual District of Idaho Bench Bar Conference on Friday – an annual meeting of our federal court judges and those of us who practice regularly in that court. I was once again struck by two facts. First, we are fortunate to have an amazing group of eight men and women who serve this state as our federal judges. They are incredibly dedicated and hard-working jurists, but also happen to be eight friendly and funny people. Judge Lodge had me in stitches. ...
Should I Call Sokolove Law?
If you’ve had your TV on during the daytime lately, you’ve probably seen an advertisement for Sokolove Law. There you are, watching your Judge Judy, when on comes a commercial telling you that you may be entitled to a share of billions of dollars to compensate you for an injury you didn’t know you had. The “paid non-attorney spokesperson” implores you to call Sokolove Law if you or a loved one has been injured. So who is Sokolove Law? More importantly, should I call them? The ads are ...
Non-Compete Agreements
A non-compete agreement is an agreement typically used in an employment relationship, where the employee agrees that he or she will not “compete” against the employer, often even after the employment relationship ends. Such agreements are becoming more common and are now used in a wide variety of fields, as are their cousins: the non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement and the non-solicitation agreement. What are these agreements and are they legally binding? In Idaho, non-compete ...