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kenny-eliason-JXg7Yq5b1wE-unsplash police DUI Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash
Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

No branch of the U.S. Armed Forces allows an individual with a driving under the influence (DUI) conviction to join. However, there are ways you can work around this rule if you wish to join the military with a DUI on your record. With assistance from a Scottsdale DUI lawyer, you can take advantage of expungements and loopholes to prevent one mistake from ruining your future.
What’s the Connection Between the Military and DUIs?
The military is very selective when choosing its new recruits. To join the military, an individual must go through a process known as a “…
Continue Reading Can you join the military with a DUI?

clark-van-der-beken-CSkriQWeTVs-unsplash car auto crash Photo by Clark Van Der Beken on Unsplash
Photo by Clark Van Der Beken on Unsplash

At Torgenson Law, we always put an emphasis on driver safety in an effort to decrease the chances of personal injury. As an example, we always encourage Arizona citizens to utilize ride share options particularly to avoid drunk or buzzed driving. With that said, Uber and Lyft drivers can and will make mistakes on the roadways. Ride sharing drivers are just as likely to get involved in a car accident as you are. Just like any other car crash or personal injury matter, it is crucial for the victims to follow specific steps to insure that their injury rights are…
Continue Reading Injured in an accident with an Uber or Lyft driver? Don’t panic, follow these steps

milad-fakurian-1r0TPtmhEZA-unsplash prison innocence Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash
Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash

The Law Library is excited to launch an ongoing series in which we will be reviewing newly published books authored by faculty of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. This is the first review in the series.

As a prosecutor, Valena Beety, author and law professor, had been a carceral feminist, seeking to promote justice for women by incarcerating those who harmed them. But she realized that her passion for promoting justice needed to involve confronting criminal injustices, and freeing the falsely convicted.

Her new book, Manifesting Justice, illustrates the dangers the legal system presents to innocent people,…
Continue Reading Innocence found: Former prosecutor turned innocence advocate’s new book takes intersectional approach

jason-wong-ogz10BWwt4k-unsplash parole prison Photo by Jason Wong on Unsplash
Photo by Jason Wong on Unsplash

The rules for parole differ by state. Generally, parole is the conditional release of an inmate before the end of their sentence. If approved for parole, the inmate will spend the rest of their sentence outside of prison but under community supervision.

If the parolee violates any terms of their parole, the court may revoke parole and send them back to prison. The court may also reinstate parole but add stricter rules and conditions for remaining on parole.
What Are the Types of Parole in Arizona?
Most criminal offenses may qualify for parole. However, the Truth in Sentencing Bill exempted…
Continue Reading How does parole work in Arizona?

steve-allison-LRx-y4bRdMA-unsplash bar saloon Photo by Steve Allison on Unsplash
Photo by Steve Allison on Unsplash

It is not uncommon for drivers who are accused of driving under the influence (DUI) to wonder about the responsibility of the people who served them alcohol or encouraged them to drink past their limit on the day of an arrest. This may include a bar in Arizona, such as if a bartender continued to serve you despite the fact that you were obviously intoxicated. While it is possible for an injured DUI car accident victim to hold a bar responsible for damages, in some circumstances, you generally cannot sue a bar for your DUI as the drunk driver in…
Continue Reading Can you sue a bar if you get a DUI?

gary-meulemans-J8sh37XZ8ww-unsplash well Photo by Gary Meulemans on Unsplash
Photo by Gary Meulemans on Unsplash

The Arizona Department of Water Resources (“ADWR”) regulates the abandonment of wells in Arizona. ADWR’s well abandonment rules require that well abandonment be accomplished “through filling or sealing the well so as to prevent the well, including the annular space outside the casing, from being a channel allowing the vertical movement of water.”
Overview of the Well Abandonment Process
The first step to properly abandoning a water well is to file a pre-abandonment notice with the ADWR. A.A.C. R12-15-816(B), (E) and (F).
standard abandonment method
There are two overarching ways in which a well can be abandoned. First, through the…
Continue Reading How to abandon a well in Arizona

neonbrand-maJDOJSmMoo-unsplash student loan cash coins dollar Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Student loans are a rising issue. Private student loans are primarily an issue because they have high interest rates and are not afforded the same options for relief as federal student loans.  However, they are similar to federal student loans in that they are extremely difficult to qualify for bankruptcy. Going to college or university is essential to accessing many quality career paths. However, the need to take on private student loans to obtain a higher education can affect your career choices.

Your student loan decisions can impact many of your decisions further down the road. If you’re having trouble…
Continue Reading How private student loans can affect your career choices

nubelson-fernandes-Y376h7VN27c-unsplash skills Photo by Nubelson Fernandes on Unsplash
Photo by Nubelson Fernandes on Unsplash

Charles blogged recently about leading with your strength – that is, starting with why you’re right rather than why the other side is wrong. I wholeheartedly agree with this approach. It’s rhetorically more persuasive, it comes across as stronger, and it forces you to think through your case more. I would add one caveat to this approach: get the procedural stuff out of the way first.

When I was a law student, one of my mentors said that in appellate briefing, you need to go 1. procedural before substantive and 2. positive before negative. The latter is what Charles addressed.
Continue Reading Lead with your technicalities

ian-hutchinson-U8WfiRpsQ7Y-unsplash (1) Supreme Court SCOTUS Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash
Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee begins confirmation hearings on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Every objective measure demonstrates that Judge Jackson is exceptionally well-qualified to take a seat on that Court. One argument that her opposition has latched onto asserts that her nomination reflects identity politics, rather than a search for some hypothetically best-qualified person. The idea that a best-qualified person exists wrongly presupposes that metrics exist that can rank otherwise qualified persons. It also disregards the lessons of history.

John Marshall earned the sobriquet, the “Great Chief Justice,” for establishing the judiciary as…
Continue Reading The best possible nominee

gijs-coolen-CRmcBeINxtg-unsplash motorcycle Photo by Gijs Coolen on Unsplash
Photo by Gijs Coolen on Unsplash

If you or somebody you love has been injured or sustained property damage in a motorcycle accident caused by the actions of another individual in Arizona, you will likely be able to recover compensation for your losses. However, every case is unique and the value of your injury damages depends on a variety of factors. Here, our motorcycle accident lawyers want to examine how much a motorcycle accident claim is really worth in Arizona.

Calculating Medical Bills
The absolute most important factor after a motorcycle accident occurs in Arizona is for the crash victim to seek medical care. Unfortunately, motorcycle…
Continue Reading What is my motorcycle injury claim worth?

tingey-injury-law-firm-6sl88x150Xs-unsplash jury gavel Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Nearly all lawyers and law students are familiar with the conventional advice regarding how to perform and maximize the persuasiveness of an appellate oral argument. For example, law students are taught to develop a persuasive theme, begin with the strongest argument, know the record, the law, and the standard of review, concede (or reconcile) unfavorable facts and precedent, never attack the adversary or lower court, never misrepresent the facts or law, and craft a compelling narrative.

This is good advice that can certainly enhance the persuasive value of an argument, increase the likelihood of success, and ensure that an advocate…
Continue Reading 6 tips for successful appellate oral argument

Shareholder-Rights

As we have witnessed on the world’s stage, those who have power sometimes oppress the rights of those who do not possess power of equal measure. Forms of oppression can also occur in the corporate arena, specifically between majority and minority shareholders in closely held corporations. A “closely held corporation” has relatively few shareholders, and their shares are not listed on an exchange nor actively traded by securities brokers. Minority shareholder oppression can happen when majority shareholders’ conduct improperly impairs the rights of the minority (non-control group) shareholders.

Shareholder Oppression

Shareholder oppression occurs when the majority shareholders in a corporation…
Continue Reading Colorado law protects the rights of minority shareholders

clark-van-der-beken-CSkriQWeTVs-unsplash car auto crash Photo by Clark Van Der Beken on Unsplash
Photo by Clark Van Der Beken on Unsplash

Unfortunately, fatal collisions occur every day across the United States.  Most commonly, fatal crashes occur when two or more vehicles collide.  But outside of other vehicles, what are drivers most likely to hit in fatal crashes? Poles? Trees? Curbs? Or something else? We examined 20 years of fatal crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to find out.

A fatal crash can involve multiple factors or events, however. Therefore, this analysis focuses on the “most harmful event” for each crash. According to the NHTSA, the most harmful event is defined as “the event that resulted in the…
Continue Reading Data analysis: the most harmful event in fatal vehicle crashes

micaela-parente-YGgKE6aHaUw-unsplash dispute resolution Photo by Micaela Parente on Unsplash
Photo by Micaela Parente on Unsplash

The January 2022 issue of Dispute Resolution Magazine includes results of a survey of past contributors about the dispute resolution field.  One question asked about cases, statutes, regulations, or standards of practice that had the biggest impact on the field, and another question asked about changes in case law, statute, or rule they would like to see.

These questions focus on important issues to consider to lay the groundwork for possible future initiatives.  This post summarizes the responses in the survey and describes how members of our community can develop realistic theories of change to achieve specific goals to improve…
Continue Reading Survey results: How to improve dispute resolution

randy-tarampi-cPVj7QlcKyM-unsplash autonomous vehicle Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash
Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash

Criminal Matter or Product Liability Case?

In January of 2022, a criminal case in California was filed against a driver who was involved in a fatal collision while operating his self-driving autonomous vehicle (AV). A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous vehicle, is defined as a driverless car that can sense its environment and moving safely with little or no human input. In 2019, two people lost their lives when the driver ran a red light while using his Tesla’s autopilot AV system. He has since been charged with vehicular manslaughter, and the criminal charges filed against him are…
Continue Reading If you’re hit by an autonomous vehicle, who’s to blame? 

scott-graham-5fNmWej4tAA-unsplash zoom meeting Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

As I often mention during the meeting when clients sign their estate plan documents, that an estate plan is “not designed to be set in stone forever.” For the most part, estate plans and their respective documents are designed to evolve as the individual’s life changes. Without the ability to amend or revise the documents, and as the years pass by, an estate plan becomes outdated and practically useless.

Oftentimes an outdated estate plan causes logistical problems for those individuals in areas of responsibility as they attempt to unravel what should occur. Unfortunately, it also leads to the estate ending…
Continue Reading The importance of updating your estate plan