When you are looking for a way out from under overwhelming debt, you may find yourself weighing debt settlement vs bankruptcy as your two main options. Bankruptcy is a powerful tool, but it is not necessarily the only choice you have. 

Several debt relief mechanisms exist that do not require federal bankruptcy protection, and debt settlement is one of the most commonly considered alternatives, each with its own advantages and drawbacks compared to bankruptcy.

In this article, we compare debt settlement vs bankruptcy directly. We explain what debt settlement is and its potential pros and cons as a debt relief…
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Under Arizona product liability law, a failure to warn is a distinct cause of action alongside other causes of action, such as negligence and strict liability. It is also called a “marketing defect” or an “informational defect.”

Unlike a design or manufacturing defect claim, in a failure-to-warn claim, the product may not be defective in its design or manufacture; it may be working exactly as the manufacturer intended. The liability is based on the product being unreasonably hazardous to consumers because its manufacturer failed to provide adequate safety warnings or instructions.

In this blog post, we focus on failure to…
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Creditors use a variety of informal and formal means to recover debts. One of the last measures a creditor will resort to is wage garnishment, which is a legal process to have some of your wages withheld to pay a debt.

Federal and Washington state laws provide for wage garnishment. In this blog post, we focus on how Washington garnishment laws work and what you can do if a creditor tries to have your wages garnished.

Stone Rose Law represents clients seeking bankruptcy. To learn more about your choices if you are the subject of a garnishment effort in Washington,…
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If someone else’s negligence caused your injuries, you may have grounds to seek compensation through a personal injury lawsuit. 

Proving negligence in a personal injury case requires you to establish four elements of negligence: duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages. Understanding how to prove negligence is the first step toward recovering what you are owed.

Stone Rose Law represents plaintiffs in Arizona personal injury claims. In this post, we explain the elements of negligence, the evidence you need, and the burden of proof in negligence cases under Arizona law.

If you have been injured and…
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Under Arizona state law, a defective product is one that, when it leaves the control of the manufacturer or the product seller, is defective, unreasonably dangerous, and causes injury, death, or property damage. 

There is no one single statute that provides this definition. Instead, it comes from how Arizona courts define Arizona’s product liability statutes and common law.

You can prove a product liability claim in more than one way. Perhaps the most common way is through strict liability, but other ways include negligence and breach of warranty claims.

Stone Rose Law represents Arizona residents who have product liability claims.
Continue Reading How Do You Prove Product Liability in Arizona?

Just because you have a pre-existing injury does not mean that you cannot have a legal claim for financial recovery after a motor vehicle accident. Still, many insurance companies will fight your claim in settlement negotiations or in civil court in Arizona if they believe that the cause of your symptoms is a pre-existing injury.

A key issue in receiving a fair settlement after a car accident is whether any pre-existing injury you had before the crash has been worsened or aggravated because of the accident in question. In this blog post, Stone Rose Law considers the factors that go…
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Parking lot accidents in Arizona can raise various liability issues depending on how fault is determined and whether injuries result. Fault is dependent on the circumstances of the accident.

In this blog post, the attorneys at Stone Rose Law address personal injury and property damage liability arising from an accident in a parking facility or lot. If you have been the victim of a parking lot accident, call our law firm at (480) 631-3025 or use our online contact form to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Arizona personal injury attorney.

How is Fault Assigned in a Parking…
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Accidents that occur while merging into traffic are a form of sideswipe accident. These kinds of accidents can happen when a driver is changing lanes or merging onto a freeway.

In Arizona, the general rules of liability that apply to merging accidents are:

• The driver already in a road or freeway lane has the right-of-way.
• A driver changing lanes must yield the right-of-way to a driver already in the lane.
• A driver who is entering a freeway via an onramp or an approach road must yield right-of-way to a vehicle that is traveling on the freeway’s main roadway and

…
Continue Reading A Car Sped Up and Hit Me While Merging: Who is at Fault?

Under Arizona law, by using the state’s bankruptcy exemptions, you can keep some cash and personal property that might otherwise go to the bankruptcy estate. Arizona is an “opt-out” state, meaning that instead of federal exemptions under the United States Bankruptcy Code, bankruptcy filers must use Arizona’s bankruptcy exemptions.

Article 1 of Chapter 8 of Title 33 of the Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS) Sections 33-1101 through 33-1153 contains Arizona’s bankruptcy exemptions. In this blog post, we discuss how much you can claim in cash exemptions in Arizona when you declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

To learn more…
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Neither Arizona law nor the United States Bankruptcy Code requires married couples to file bankruptcy together when one spouse’s financial situation reaches the point where filing bankruptcy becomes a consideration. You can file for bankruptcy individually.

Often, spouses’ finances are intertwined, which can complicate the decision of whether to file individually or jointly. Arizona is a community property state, which can make this decision even more complex.

Stone Rose Law helps Arizona residents who are dealing with overwhelming debt to weigh their debt relief options, including bankruptcy. In this blog post, we specifically cover the considerations that go into whether…
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The bankruptcy automatic stay can put at least a temporary halt to many kinds of creditor actions against you, like debt collection efforts and lawsuits. In some cases, if your Arizona landlord is a “creditor” because you are behind on your rent payments, then if you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the automatic stay may be temporarily effective in stopping eviction proceedings against you while your bankruptcy case is ongoing.

The automatic stay in Chapter 7 is not a cure-all for evictions, and in some cases, it may have no effect.

Stone Rose Law bankruptcy lawyers can give you…
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If you receive an inheritance during your bankruptcy case, a question may arise as to whether you need to include the inheritance in your bankruptcy estate. 

The answer to this question depends in large part on the timing of your inheritance: the general rule (unless an exception applies) is that if you are expecting an inheritance at the time of filing or become entitled to one within 180 days after filing your bankruptcy petition, the inheritance will become part of the bankruptcy estate.

When this happens, you must inform the bankruptcy court and the bankruptcy trustee of the inheritance. This…
Continue Reading Bankruptcy and Inheritance: How it Works

In Arizona, a bank account garnishment is a form of non-earnings garnishment. It allows a creditor to enforce a money judgment award against you by garnishing funds from your bank account.

Here, we examine how these laws apply when a creditor attempts to use legal means to access your bank account through garnishment and what you may be able to do about it.

At Stone Rose Law, we help clients understand their debt relief choices under federal law and Arizona law. 

For a consultation with one of our experienced bankruptcy lawyers, please call (480) 739-2448.

How Does a…
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