Legal Bugle

There’s no doubt that attitudes towards gender and sexuality are changing, and the effects can be seen across the globe. President Obama recently came out (so to speak) with his cabinet in favor of gay marriage, and polls indicate that since 2010, more than half of Americans agree with him. But it seems that Argentina could quickly become the standard-bearer for sexual liberation. As of last Wednesday, the senate approved a law that will allow citizens (over the age of 18) to decide their own gender identity and change official documents to reflect that, should they so choose. While the concept of gender identity and even gender reassignment procedures are nothing new, the idea that a government would let its people decide whether to list themselves as men or women on official documents is a huge leap forward in the arena of human sexuality. This puts Argentina squarely at the forefront of the current sexual revolution.

According to the new law, the government must now recognize a person not by their physical gender, but rather by “the internal and individual way that a person experiences their gender”. Regardless of a person’s “sex assignment”, or the gender they were born with, a person who feels like a woman must be recognized as a woman, even if her physical form is that of a male (and vice versa). It goes even further than simply supporting those who undergo sexual reassignment surgery or hormonal therapy, which is to say those who take steps to medically alter their appearance so as to virtually become the gender that they feel they are. It also allows for those who have the manner or dress of another gender to claim that gender on their official documents.

This is a truly radical law that could have wide-ranging effects for the transgender community, only starting in Argentina (but perhaps spreading to other parts of the world). At the moment, Argentina is the only country that has enacted such a law, but as more people become aware of gender identity issues and the transgender community continues to spread awareness, the push for such laws will likely grow. According to Vice President Amado Boudou, this move was the right thing to do, and it’s been a long time coming. Former President Nestor Kirchner began the push for this reform with his wife Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who took up the banner when she became president. Says Boudou, the law is a “path towards equality”, one that recognizes the rights of every citizen.

That doesn’t mean it won’t be controversial. But regardless of how people feel about the “right” or “wrong” of gender identity, the fact remains that everyone deserves equal protection and equal rights under the law. This legislation seeks to level the playing field and promote tolerance for those who had the poor luck to be born in the wrong body. It’s hardly a matter to be decided upon by public opinion, or relegated to criminal justice schools; recognizing the rights of all in regards to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is only proper. And Argentina has proven itself a forward-thinking and tolerant country by making this move on behalf of those who struggle with the societal and legal issues related to gender identity. Let’s hope the rest of the world follows suit.

It’s nothing new for criminals to seek out easy money solutions to their problems. One recent fraudulent trend is swiftly becoming a major issue in the United Kingdom. There has been a proliferation of criminals packing public buses with ringers and then hitting the buses with their cars. Insurance payouts for whiplash claims have turned this ‘cash-for-crash’ scheme into a profitable scam, and incidences are on the rise across Britain.

The ‘passengers’ on those buses file their claims, and the insurance scam is now costing millions of pounds each year in Britain. One of the newer cases being investigated by British detectives involves claims made by thirty-six of those ringer passengers on a single bus. An Audi TT hit the bus, and those three dozen whiplash claims followed. The scam was identified for what it is only after five additional incidents following the same pattern compiled false claims tallying over one million pounds. British police launched their investigation, which is now well into its eighteenth month. While they originally suspected a small group of criminals, the focus of the investigation has now turned towards an organized group of underworld criminals.

British Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke was the first to publicly note the disturbing trend. He organized a ‘Whiplash Summit’ within the Parliament, hoping with additional governmental focus they can catch the people responsible and dissuade copycat incidences of this dangerous activity. Parliament has declared that individuals claiming new injuries would now be required to go through extensive exams by doctors trained in detecting fraudulent injury prior to any claims being filed. Additionally, lawyers representing these claimants would no longer be allowed to put forward no-win-no-fee arrangements for their clients.

Personal injury claims are on the rise all over Britain, with 70% more of these incidences occurring over the past six years. In fact, Britain now holds the negative distinction of being the whiplash capital of all of Europe. Edmund King, President of AA spoke about the issue to The Sun. He declared that it is impossible not to notice that while Britain has far fewer automotive crashes than the rest of Europe, they have far more insurance claims on record. Clearly, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that fraudulent claims are causing the disparity.

So far, seven people have been taken into custody, with a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud. These individuals under suspicion were all based in Cheshire, but Phil Bird, speaking for the Insurance Fraud Bureau feels this in no way represents an isolated incident. General Practitioners have long noted that while as many as a quarter of all of the insurance claims made in a given year are either overdiagnosed or wholly falsified, they continue to be paid out. More than two billion pounds in compensation go to these claims, with potentially 150,000 claims made that are completely without merit. The Commons transport committee feels that no-win, no-fee litigation deals offered by lawyers are impacting all insurance holders, to the tune of ninety pounds of additional costs on the average policy. That seems to hold merit, as the average cost of an insurance premium in Britain has doubled in the past four years. This couldn’t possibly be caused by that large an increase in legitimate personal injury cases. It remains to be seen if the British government is equipped to do anything concrete about the situation.

Author: Sarah is a contributing writer for Atlanta Injury Lawyer, the premier personal injury law firm in Georgia.

Singer Flo Rida, best known for his sample-based sound (he takes riffs, hooks, and even entire choruses from other artists to use as the background for his own lyrics), is clearly not above taking from others. Some may recall that in addition to sampling the tracks of better musicians he was also responsible for launching singer Kesha’s career, or at least he would have been if he’d credited her vocals on his song “Right Round” (she was credited internationally, but not when the single was released in the U.S.). So it should come as no surprise that he took money to appear at an event and then failed to show up. Now it seems that his decision not to respond to legal proceedings for breach of contract could work against him as the court processing the claim has allowed the injured party to serve him with legal notice of their filing via Facebook.

Mothership Music, a festival promoter in Australia, is seeking damages from Flo Rida, who allegedly received $55,00 to appear at the annual Fat as Butter festival in Newcastle, New South Wales in October of 2011, but then failed to show up for the event, giving no notice or explanation for his absence. Since Mothership Music filed suit against him, the New South Wales district court has seen fit to freeze any assets Flo Rida (nee Tramar Dillard) holds in Australia, but that apparently hasn’t been enough to ruffle the singer. And in truth, until he is served with paperwork to inform him of the legal proceedings against him, Mothership will be unable to move forward with their lawsuit.

Brent Lean, Managing Director at Mothership Music, has said that company officials have been trying unsuccessfully to serve the musician, most recently attempting to approach him during a trip to Australia in which he attended another music festival, Supafest, as well as the Logies (Australia’s award show for the television industry). In both cases they were unable to serve Dillard in person due to an excessive security force that kept them at bay. According to Lean, Dillard “got wise” to their attempts to serve him and hid behind an entourage and security throughout the duration of his trip.

However, the execs at Mothership were well aware of his popularity on Facebook, and thanks to past cases in which legal claimants have been allowed to serve papers via the social networking site (particularly in Australia), they were able to get a judge to agree to let them give legal notice of the proceedings via Flo Rida’s Facebook account. This means that Dillard now has 28 days to either file a response or appear before the court before a judgment will be rendered against him. Mothership is seeking not only the $55,000 in appearance fees they paid up front, but also $25,000 in damages (for a total of $80,000).

According to website Celebrity Net Worth, Flo Rida is worth a cool $14 mil at this point, thanks to five top-ten singles and two gold albums. So it doesn’t look like he’ll have to sell off his Marshall amps or Numark Mixtrack Pro in order to pay the debt. But even if Mothership is able to get damages out of him, they won’t likely get what they really want, which is to say “an explanation…and an apology”, according to Lean.

Hollywood seems to love the idea of a horrible boss.  The Office is a hit with viewers, and the latest all-star movie Horrible Bosses promises to be a big hit.  While we all love to laugh at Ricky Gervais or Kevin Kline acting highly inappropriately, in reality living with a horrible boss is not that much fun and can cause considerable stress and anxiety. (more…)

No matter how amicable/vicious your divorce gets in and out of the courtroom, there’s one thing that will always tie you to your ex-spouse: your children.

Settling on a child support payment amount, timeframe, and schedule is one of the most grueling, sensitive issues you’ll experience during the divorce proceedings. Your children are the most important people in your life, and whether or not you have full or partial custody, showing your love for them includes taking responsibility to ensure any financial support improves their well being. (more…)

With an impending raise in student loan interest rates and considering the poor job market for law school graduates, finding ways to save money while in law school is a necessity for law students these days. Here are 5 ways to help you save on your law school costs.

Prepare Early
Law schools offer tons of merit-based scholarships to help their students lower costs and attract the best students to their schools. Start preparing yourself to earn those scholarships early on, before you even take the LSAT. The better your LSAT score is and the more impressive your applications and essays are, the more likely you are to receive merit-based scholarships, the hardest kind to obtain. You may want to hire a law school application specialist or have a knowledgeable friend or family member help with your application. Have a writer read your essay and suggest ways to improve it. Investing extra time and effort in your applications could end up earning you thousands of dollars in scholarship money so it’s worth it. (more…)

They say there are two sides to every coin, but this particular “coin toss” is about to get really interesting.

On March 3, Jordan Ramos, a 21-year-old college student currently attending Iowa State University, was at a bar that featured dance platforms. As some of her friends were up on one, she attempted to join them when a bouncer denied her the opportunity to get on the stage. The claim was that they were currently at capacity. (more…)

There are certain things every driver should know in the event they get pulled over for driving while intoxicated (DWI). It is dangerous and illegal to drive while intoxicated but you still have rights and options if a police offer catches you doing so. (more…)

If you are thinking about applying for bankruptcy, a professional bankruptcy attorney can help you. Filing for bankruptcy is not as easy as you think. Although it is possible to do the filing on your own, there are items and conditions you may not know about that an attorney will. With the help of a professional, you will be able to find out things and get assistance in ways you may not have thought possible. For the best possible outcome for your bankruptcy case, hire a professional. Bankruptcy does not have to be the end of your life, and a lawyer will be able to get you better results. (more…)

When the Family Court decides what Orders it should make in relation to the care of a child, it must first look at whether the parents are to share responsibility for the long-term decisions of that child. If it finds that the parents are to share responsibility for the child, the Court must then consider the possibility of a shared care arrangement.

In doing so the Court looks at whether or not a shared care arrangement, which usually involves the child spending time with the parents on a week-about basis, is “reasonably practicable”. It takes into account factors such as how far apart the parents live from each other and whether the parents are able to communicate with each other.

If the Court finds that a shared care arrangement is not workable, it must then consider an arrangement where the child spends “substantial and significant” time with each parent, which includes weekdays as well as weekends, school and holiday time. The law is attempting to avoid a situation where one parent (usually the father) is a “weekend parent”, as was often the case in the past.

Realistically, an arrangement where the child spends equal time with each parent only works when the parents can communicate with each other, can work through their issues together and are supportive of the child’s relationship with the other parent. The risk exists that a child will lead a “double life” in a shared care arrangement, which is obviously not a healthy situation for any child. This risk must be kept to an absolute minimum, if not completely removed, and for this to happen a good working relationship between the parents is needed. If the Court becomes involved in a dispute about a child’s contact arrangements, the chances of shared care happening successfully are already lessened.

Many Judges and Magistrates will be wary about ordering that a child spend equal time with each parent, especially when it is obvious that the parents do not get along.

Furthermore, a Court will not order a week-about arrangement if the parties live a distance apart from each other. This is not necessarily restricted to situations where parties live in different towns; a Court may decide a shared care arrangement is not workable where two parties live at the opposite ends of the same city. This is to prevent, for example, children travelling long distances on a regular basis for handovers or even to attend school every day. (more…)