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One of the “benefits” of this horrible coronavirus crisis is that it makes it easier to provide professional education by video.  Virtually all of us have become proficient in using video and so it is easy to produce programs that many people will want to see.  As a result, we can much more efficiently produce, spread, and use knowledge while reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.  This doesn’t radically reduce risks of catastrophic effects of climate change, but it’s a move in the right direction. People have been producing videos about dispute resolution for a long time.  Some explain…
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To the list of the many, many damaging effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, you can add that it makes medical malpractice cases more difficult. In order to successfully pursue a medical malpractice claim, a patient must prove that the health care provider fell below the “standard of care” applicable to that provider under the circumstances. Of course, that is not the end of the proof needed. The patient must also prove that he or she was damaged by the breach of the standard of care and that the injury would not have occurred in the absence of the breach. This…
david-veksler-HpmDAS1Dozs-unsplash Photo by David Veksler on Unsplash
Photo by David Veksler on Unsplash
This is a guest post by Philip Hall.  Philip is a rising 3L and a member of the Moot Court Board at Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law.  After law school, he will be a civil litigator at the law firm of Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, P.C. in Erie, Pennsylvania. Unpublished, or “non-precedential,” judicial opinions are especially misunderstood creatures of appellate litigation.  Yet they’re extremely common.  A 2019 report from the Judicial Conference of the United States revealed that in recent years, almost ninety percent of federal appellate opinions have been designated as non-precedential.  If you’ve ever cited…
visuals-PuNW11NRjI4-unsplash TikTok Photo by visuals on Unsplash
Photo by visuals on Unsplash
On Wednesday August 12th, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the extension of the Clean Network Program aimed directly at guarding America’s sensitive information from “malign actors” like the Chinese Communist Party. This extension will include five new programs rooted in internationally accepted digital trust standards. Below is a listed breakdown of each new program: Clean Carrier: This program will ensure that China’s network carriers are not connected with U.S. telecommunication networks as it would pose a threat to national security.  This means Verizon Wireless, AT&T and other U.S. networks will need to ensure their networks are in no way …
Most of the time, a claimant leaves her Social Security disability hearing not certain of the outcome. But, in some instances, it is clear that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) is going to award benefits.  This is good news, of course. But, it can lead to some confusion about the process following the hearing. Not Official Until It’s Down In Black and White Even though the ALJ commits to finding in a claimant’s favor, nothing is official until the ALJ’s decision comes out on paper. Following the hearing, the ALJ sends the case to a group of Social Security workers…
Martin McCaulay saw the future coming. He suspected that the NFL franchise “Washington Redskins” will eventually replace its trademark. In 2019, McCaulay filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) dozens of trademarks applications the team may use to substitute the racially controversial name.  He filed for “Washington Pigskins,” “Washington Bravehearts”, “Washington Monuments,” and more. Offensive and racist brands are on their way out, even as the Supreme Court expanded the limits of free speech in trademark registrations.  We wrote a blog about this topic before. Companies are rebranding products such as Aunt Jemima and Land O …
risen-wang-20jX9b35r_M-unsplash gym Photo by Risen Wang on Unsplash
Photo by Risen Wang on Unsplash
Arizona gym and fitness center owners are now dealing with a new kind of “resistance training” that takes the form of ordinances, laws, regulations, guidance, and practical considerations for operating in the age of COVID-19.  The most recent and notable being Governor Doug Ducey’s Executive Order (EO) 2020-43 and the resulting legal battle.  In particular, EO 2020-43 ordered “indoor gyms and fitness clubs or centers” to “pause operations until at least July 27, 2020, unless extended.”  This executive order survived a temporary challenge in Mountainside Fitness Acquisitions LLC v. Ducey, CV 2020-093916, on July 27, 2020.  Governor Ducey sought to…
christina-wocintechchat-com-jzonFmreWok-unsplash diverse law office Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
In the Spring of 2018, Justice Sonia Sotomayor visited the University of Houston law center, where I teach, and inspired our entire community. She shared some of her life experiences, and included the struggles that she encountered in college as she received feedback on her writing. We came away understanding that much of her success in law school could be credited to the work that she put in to strengthening her writing skills during her undergraduate studies. She was a brilliant student, but needed support to achieve her goals at the next level. That same summer, I taught legal writing…
brandon-griggs-wR11KBaB86U-unsplash apartment Photo by Brandon Griggs on Unsplash
Photo by Brandon Griggs on Unsplash
By:  Kevin J. Parker In a recent Arizona Court of Appeals case, Ibarra v. Gastelum, 2020 WL 4218020 (7/23/20), the Court of Appeals addressed the question whether – in a tenant’s personal injury claim against the landlord – a landlord’s violation of the Arizona Landlord-Tenant Act constituted negligence per se. The tenant alleged he was injured by stubbing his toe on a crack in the floor. The tenant alleged that he had made repeated demands that the landlord repair the crack. The statute required the landlord to make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the…
The launch of a new business can be an exhilarating period. Allowing that rush of enthusiasm to push you into a hasty, ill-organized launch, however, could all but ensure your new enterprise’s failure before it has even opened for business. I usually recommend that business owners begin discussions with our Arizona-based law firm from four to six months before their anticipated launch date. This schedule gives everyone the time needed to sort out such important issues as: Business Formation Organizing your business entity is one of the most crucial actions in the startup pre-launch process. Whether you decide on a…
Chief Justice John Roberts’s influence on the United Supreme Court’s jurisprudence has been substantial. Importantly, however, Chief Justice Roberts’s judicial philosophy and approach to constitutional interpretation have raised more questions than answers. By way of background, when former President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court, most commentators speculated that Roberts would be a reliably conservative justice and embrace an originalist approach to constitutional interpretation. Indeed, during his confirmation hearings, Roberts emphasized the limited role of the judiciary, analogized judges to “umpires,” and rejected any suggestion that judges decide cases based on policy predilections.  As Roberts stated…
In the early part of July, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure that backers say could eventually eliminate drunk driving. The House passed a bill that would require auto manufacturers to include technology in all new vehicles that would function as an ignition interlock device. Here’s how ignition interlocks work Regular readers of our Arizona DUI Defense Blog know that state law mandates that drivers convicted of DUI must install an ignition interlock in their vehicle at their expense. The devices sample the driver’s breath; if an impermissible level of alcohol is detected, the vehicle will not…
morning-brew-d-1dT0uY3CY-unsplash covid Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash
Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash
This blog post, which is my first on COVID-19 in a while, is an update on our observations about how the business of law firms has changed with a focus on how solo practitioners and small firm owners are thinking about their online marketing. The information in this post is based on our conversations with prospective and current LawLytics customers about their law practices, as well as on directly observable information about the website traffic and behavior of consumers of legal services since the COVID-19 shutdowns began. COVID-19 is likely to widen the chasm between attorneys with “engage and invest”…
visuals-PuNW11NRjI4-unsplash TikTok Photo by visuals on Unsplash
Photo by visuals on Unsplash
If you haven’t already heard, many people on the Internet are speculating that President Trump may choose to ban the popular video sharing app known as TikTok. There is fear that because TikTok is owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, the app may be used maliciously by China to collect data from it’s American users. Just last week, Congress advanced legislation to block federal employees from using the app on government-issued devices, according to NPR. Many American TikTok users are wondering if it is even legal for the U.S. government to ban the app. Is it a violation of…
A summary here. Present law provides that if a background check is delayed more than three days, the FFL can (but doesn’t have to) make the transfer. This bill would remove that provision; no transfer until the background check comes back. I think the present rule (1) accords with the reality that the vast majority of background checks (99+% as I recall) come back with “proceed with the sale” and most of the remainder prove to be mistakes or involving ancient offenses; (2) give the government an incentive to process them at least moderately quickly, whereas if there was…
jesse-collins-ICXMkhRdquA-unsplash Photo by Jesse Collins on Unsplash
Photo by Jesse Collins on Unsplash
Do you have a claim against the state of Arizona or a city or any other governmental entity or one of their employees? If you do, the Arizona state legislature has an unpleasant surprise in store for you. Rather than the two years that every other citizen of Arizona has in which to make a claim, you have only 180 days in which to file a notice of claim against the state, municipality, entity or employee. Miss that 180 day deadline and you lose your right to bring a claim. The state is the modern-day substitute for the king. In…